The Archibald Project

I am interrupting my own blog posts about our trip to China to go in depth about something God orchestrated with this adoption.

There are so many God moments we have witnessed throughout this entire adoption process.  One of those special God things was having the huge blessing and privilege of having our adoption documented.  Not just by anybody, but by The Archibald Project.  This was something that we did not seek out, however one of the employee's of Bethel had it on her heart and as God would have it, all the details worked out.  You see, older boy adoptions are very, very low.  The fact of being an older boy in and of itself is considered a special need, not even considering that most also have a special need.  What we felt God put on our heart, was out of the realm of "typical" or "common" or "comfortable".

Tabitha Terlunen served as the sponsorship coordinator for Bethel and was the one that helped us as we began our sponsorship of Nate back in 2014.  She had a vision for the work of Bethel to be highlighted and child advocacy as well.  Turns out she had wanted to work with The Archibald Project and contacted them about that and also documenting an older child adoption while they were in China -ours! 

Lo and behold, Nick and Whitney Runyon, founders of TAP, live right up the road in Austin, Texas. They don't really spend that many nights there because they travel all over the world shedding light on the orphan crisis, locating and sharing about wonderful orphan care organizations and simply loving on and caring for those that have no voice.  Their hearts are just simply amazing.

So on the morning of June 7th, the Harris 5 boarded our plane in San Antonio as the Runyon duo boarded one in Austin and we met up in San Fransisco a few hours later.  During our layover before the BIG flight to Beijing, we had fun getting to know each other  a bit and they got to really hear about the beginning of our journey.  I admit, it was also nice to just have the emotional support of well seasoned travels along with us. We just cannot thank Nick and Whitney enough for the beautiful work they do, not only documenting but advocating.  Their heart is that there is not just ONE answer to the orphan crisis, and they are working hard to really look outside the box.  I love that they have a heart to research and locate ethical orphan care organizations because these children are some of the most vulnerable and who knows what is happening to them.  But there are many wonderful organizations out there doing a wonderful job.  Bethel is one of those.

You can learn more about both The Archibald Project here and Bethel here.  These are two organizations that I believe in and pray for and love dearly.  I pray you feel the same after you take some time to click and read.  Keep an open heart.....you just never know what our sweet Father might whisper to your heart.  Lean in, silence the fear, and listen.