She's FINALLY here!

Our precious daughter is FINALLY here! She has been a blessing ever since we met her! I pray that she will grow in Christ and that she will someday come to accept him as her savoir.

She is trying to get used to the food here! We gave her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich yesterday, and she wasn't a big fan of it! One of her favorite foods is boiled eggs:)

Everyday, she is learning more. She will be speaking english in NO time! She says "Good morning, Hello, Bye-Bye, Peachy" (our dog), and a few other things. Sam will be a great help in teaching her-since he talks non-stop!

Preparing to come HOME!:)

All the families who have adopted with us on this trip!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

This will be the last blog update before we return home to the US. Tomorrow we will be taking care of final visa processing and will be packing and preparing for the 5 am bus ride to Hong Kong on Friday morning.

Today was quite eventful as we went with our group to the US Consolute to sign paperwork and take our oath. It was very moving to stand alongside about 50 families from around the United States and take our oath together. There was every age, gender, and special need child being adopted. One family was there adopting their fourth child from China....my first thought...."how sweet"....my second thought..."wow, they must be rich....or broke!" All kidding aside, it was a wonderful day filled with memories we will treasure always in our hearts as we were not allowed to take cameras past security. Rosalie Grace Kennebeck is legally our daughter after today's ceremony! After the oath, there was a huge cheer from the families as we all kissed and hugged our children. It was funny because you could hear a lot of children starting to cry....they just have no idea what is going on! Yet, it is very evident that each one of them has a new sense of belonging like never before. I pray even now for one family whose little boy never stopped crying the entire time we were there (about an hour and a half). He was really struggling and we don't know why....then there was the family sitting in front of us with their 11 year old adopted daughter who could not stop hugging and interacting with her father...these little girls adore their daddies!

Well, I had my official cry for the lost souls here last night...I wondered if it would come as my heart is so very burdened for them to know Truth! Our hotel has many tables throughout the lobby where they allow hotel guests to sit. We decided to try roasted chicken from a deli last night for dinner. Instead of eating in the deli, we brought the food to the lobby to eat. As the three of us were spreading our little "picnic" out, two men came and sat right next to us. Both of them locked a stare on us and literally did not stop staring at us for the entirety of our meal. I smiled at each of them a few times and neither of them changed their expression. At one point, I just looked into their eyes and saw such emptiness. I can't describe what I felt inside. When we came back to the room, I was fine, but for some reason, when I climbed into bed and Peter and I were reading our Bible, I begin crying for these men...it turned into a cry for the Chinese people. Or rather a weep!! I love these people!

We never cease to be amazed at the organized chaos here...there is literally no crime rate compared to the US...we can't imagine having all of these people living in the cities of America and feeling safe on the streets. The streets here feel so safe. One reason we discovered is that the penalty for drug sales (buying or selling) is DEATH. That sort of limits the accessibility of drugs. Also, the penalty for murder and bribery is death. They don't "play" around here! Things are steadily changing here...the western world has shaped and influenced these people in such a way, I guess many of them wonder what in the world is going to happen next...the cities are as modern as New York City, yet there still lives the "ox cart generation"...this is an amazing time in history to be here. The fields are certainly ripe for harvest.

Our stay has been exhilarating and memorable! We pray above all that God will bless the efforts made in His Name to reach these people with the gospel of C----! Our guides here, Linekar and Amy, a married Chinese couple, will too, receive the gospel of John upon our departure...please pray for their salv-----!

We are SO ready to meet our family at the airport in Charlotte on Friday night. It will be so incredible to be reunited again. Our family can never thank you enough for your prayers and support on this endeavor we have made to bring Rosalie into our family. We ask for your continued support as she and all of us adjust to one another and begin a new life together..

Merry Christmas with much love!!

Tuesday, Dec. 14

Yesterday was a fun day! After taking the children back to the medical clinic to get their TB results (all children with us were negative- praise God!), we took a bus to Shamein Island which is surrounded by the Pearl River. There are many shops on the island along with Western restaurants. This is the place where great bargains are made. We were told to make offers and stick with them. We found that to be true. We bought a China doll for Rosalie and stuck with our initial offer...after we walked out of the store, the shop keeper followed us out onto the street and told us she would sell us the doll for our price "although she would make no money". We had to laugh as we knew she was making plenty. Now wouldn't Dave Ramsey be proud of us?

We found a children's park and the children had fun playing. We have noticed that the playground equipment here is mostly metal; very few plastic equipment. While we were at the park, we saw a Chinese lady walking with a Down's Syndrome boy. This is something you do NOT see here. We assumed she must be the foster or orphanage caregiver. (however, to see them in public is extremely rare!) We spoke to them only to find out that they live in Australia and are back here visiting. The boy was her brother. We communicated to her how precious her brother is and how sad it is that he would be scorned if he lived in China. She admitted how it breaks her heart that the common person in China misses out on ever seeing special needs people, therefore they have no "real" view of what the world is like. You can only imagine the stares we receive. We have many special needs children with us in our group including three severe cleft palates and lips. I just pray the Chinese will genuinely see the love we have for our adopted children and somehow understand that the love we have was first given to us by our Abba Father!

Sunday was a difficult day for me...I am missing my children, family, and friends terribly. The wireless here in Guangzhou is very undependable so we have been unable to skype home. We see the Christmas decorations and hear the music, but it brings zero warmth, just a longing for home. No J---- in it all, just many snowmen and Santas. We know that is is good to be here so long, as we are bonding so well with Rosalie and it is very important for her to have our undivided attention as we love and discipline her. The discipline gets less and less daily. She is learning to listen very well. She has a difficult time controling her hands and is just as quick as Sam (we didn't think it was possible). She plays much like a 3 year old, yet we think secretly she has a college degree and no one has told us (hee!) She is incredibly smart!! We can't wait for her to meet her family and friends in America!

Our Consolute appointment is today and our consolute swearing in is tomorrow. After that, we will be issued Rosalie's American Visa and we will fly home first thing Friday morning. She will be an American citizen the second our plane hits the runway in Newark. Too exciting!!

We love you all!

Nancy, Peter, and Rosalie

Sunday, Dec. 13

We did not attend a church service this morning which made us sad....we just think of the many underground church services that took place this morning and wish we could have been a part of that. Today, instead of church, we visited a Buddhist temple and museum. So many aspects of that temple with the many courtyards and altar rooms were so beautifully designed. But the coldness of the place is overwhelming. I could just feel the hoplessness as I looked around thinking of the Chang Dynasty and its many heirs which ruled in China during the time the temple was built. I see little change in the people today. They are without hope and have a government that blocks access to that hope. My heart breaks daily here but I pray throughout my day as we interact with so many people, for God's Spirit to break through and take these people on a journey in their own hearts- to seek the Savior and break away from the culture's religions.

After the temple, we visited a tea house which was a very special event. Rosalie has had tea since she was a baby and loves it all. We tasted jasmine tea, rose tea, ginseng tea, and many more. The Chinese are very proud of their tea history and drink ONLY fresh tea. They taught us how to tell if tea is fresh or not by the shaking and smelling technique. They never keep the boiling water and the tea leaves together longer than about 20 seconds. They pour the hot tea into the pot of tea leaves and lift the leaves out with a little strainer in the pot. They insist that if you keep the water and the tea together any longer, the tea gets bitter. That's why Chinese tea is so very weak looking, but the flavor is full when the tea is fresh. We had a wonderful time at the tea house. (They put down the way Americans make tea, however. I have to say I am quite proud myself of my tea heritage and love the way we make tea)

My sweet Uncle Danny , who ironically taught me at a very young age never to boil my tea bags when making tea, died last week. I am so very sad to miss the funeral. My mom has lost two brothers in the past 6 months. The girls and Sam will represent the Kennebeck family at his funeral in Estill on Monday. I praise God that we got to spend Thanksgiving with him-- he was excited about meeting Rosalie. They will meet in heaven one day.

Peter, Rosalie, and myself are getting to know one another a little better each day. The language is working itself out. Love speaks all languages or rather knows no language. This morning at breakfast, Rosalie was saying, "good morning" to everyone. She has taught me how to say "fish" in Mandarin. I absolutely love to hear her say fish. I will never let her forget that word. Yesterday was a difficult day of testing on her part. The consistentcy is KEY these days. She is a joy and delight despite any challenge she may bring our way. All in all, things are going very well and we believe she knows fully that we are her parents.

Thank you for your prayers and love! We will go back to the medical clinic tomorrow for tb readings. Our consolute interview and paperwork is on Tuesday.

We send our love to you all!

Saturday, Dec. 12

We arrived safely to Guangzho and were happy to see Western influence once again. At one time, this province was the only province in China that allowed western trade. Although there is NO doubt we are still in China, there is a definite flair of the western world here and it is quite refreshing to say the least. Still a lot of stares from everyone but they seem to understand what we are doing and seem to be staring more out of interest rather than absolute confusion (as in Guangxi). Every American family who adopts a Chinese child must pass through Guangzhou as the American Consolute is here. We have seen many Americans here with Chinese babies.

It has been wonderful to meet up with the other 24 families once again.. Oh, to see how God has matched each child with each family is a blessing hard to describe. I have been touched deep into the depths of my heart today in many ways. We have families with us who have adopted an 8 year old boy who has been burned with cigarette butts and hot wires on his neck, a 13 year old girl with cerebral palsey, a 10 year old girl, etc. A family from Minnesota, who Peter and I have become very close to, adopted a 13 month old girl with developmental delays. They have no idea what her special need is but are ready to deal with whatever it is. Each family is embracing their new child and accepting the challenges that come with that child as well as the joys of knowing they are giving each child a new opportunity in this life!

This concept could not have been more clearly demostrated than at the medical clinic today. Including our group, there were 70 families lined up to have their children's medical exams and vaccinations. I wish you could have been there to see all of the special needs children being adopted by American families. It blessed Peter and I so very much to see the tender love and compassion for each child as they comforted them during the examinations and shots. There were many screams resonating from that building for certain. I really don't want to sound so negative but I have to say, the system here is beyond disgraceful. The doctors show little to no regard for these children. They crowded us in like cattle at an auction and ushered us from station to station. Every parent there had the same mentality Peter and I did, "Let's just get through it and get us out of here!!" We sat and watched baby after baby scream getting immunizations...the room was wide open
for us all to see. I didn't want Rosalie to be afraid. She seemed to not be too effected by the crying; she was watching intently into the room, however. The, we found out that she had to have 4 shots plus the tb. We've been through this with all of our children, so we were ready to comfort little Rosalie. When they called our name, Rosalie stood tall and walked with us into the room. She said something to the nurse and the nurse told me she said, "I am not going to cry!" The nurses were amazed at her bravery. We had not seen one chld walk out of that room who did not cry, but Rosalie was the one! She did not cry!! Amazing! After it was over, she did put her head into my neck and hug me tight, but no tears. We praised her. We feel she has been through so very much in her little life, a series of shots is minor.

We wrapped up the day with a LOT of adoption paperwork. That took up the rest of the day. We received our consolute appointment for Tuesday, Dec. 15. Rosalie loves the hotel room and we have had a good day- still very consistent with discipline. The other 2 families with us who got 5 year old girls are having the same issues. These girls have quite a few bad habits that need to be dealt with consistently. We are learning the Chinese strong wills we have been told the girls have! We know that Rosalie has been through so much and is trying to see just what these new people in her life are made of!

When we pray, she likes to hold our hand and say "Amen" She has a little praying doll and she likes to hear the prayer over and over again. When we pray in our room, she goes over to her crib and picks up her little doll and presses her tummy so the baby can pray too. She is learning very basic concepts about prayer...it is something you do, you talk to someone, and you do it daily. We prayed over her crib tonight for her salvation to come quickly- for her to see her own sin clearly and to be convicted to ask the Savior of the world to take her sins away. We are so in love with our new daughter. I am so humbled by this day I have had and I have asked God to never take that medical clinic experience out of my memory. China clearly says they give Americans the special needs babies and keep the healthy ones for themselves. My response to that is, "Thank you for seeing America as a country who will take your special needs babies and love them just as they are!!!" We met one little 18 month old who is the size of a 3-6 month old...she is a cleft lip baby and was clearly not being fed enough. My heart just breaks for these people.

Let's never stop finding ways to reach the people of China with the g-----! They are so oppressed. We were told today that for every car purchased, the owner of the car must pay the government 100 % of the price of the vehicle. Our guide Amy was telling us about this and said this is how the government keeps us from getting rich, they tax us to death.. Yet, she said, the government is so rich, they can do anything they want to do such as right now "give the city of Guangzhou a face lift" for the 2010 national games. They are investing 10 billion dollars (cash!) for this little update. Brand new building shooting up everywhere around here! So very sad! These are oppressed people and their lack of joy is evident even though they do know how to enjoy themselves.

We hope you all are enjoying the cooler weather these days back home. It will be 78 here tomorrow! Merry Christmas to you all!!

December 11, 2009

We are now on the flight to Guangzhou from Guangxi. Rosalie said "Bye-Bye" to her home province as we boarded the plane. She is such a trooper! On the 45 minute bus ride to the airport, we asked Glenn, our guide, to please communicate to her that her ears may pop on the airplane. He told her that we would give her gum to help with the popping. As soon as we arrived at the airport, she looked at me and pointed for the gum. She mentioned to Glenn a couple of times that she did not want her ears to pop. He reassured her that it would not be so bad and that a plane ride would be a lot of fun. She is doing fine! She's coloring next to us right now. She is by the window, then Peter, then me on the aisle. We are coming to the clear conclusion that she is afraid of very little. God has put a very brave spirit in our little girl and we pray He will mold her to use that strong personality for His glory. Everyone who meets her (who can speak English) tells us they think she will be a "star" in America. The only "star" we are interested in is one who shines for Jesus throughout her life!

We gave Glenn his gift. Peter told him that we wrote on the inside cover. He commented that he suspected it was a C------ book and we said yes. We communicated to him that we believe God has put him in this place in time to hear the Truth and to know Him. He seemed to know very little if nothing at all about the message of Truth. He told us earlier in the week that he has been a guide for over 100 families just this year. It truly made me sad to think that many of these American families are believers, yet fail to speak the simple, powerful truth of the message of C-----!! These families have amazing opportunities to build a relationship with their guide over the week, yet many walk away without uttering a word about the g----- message. I pray we will all be bold in our verbal expression about salvation. There are SO MANY without the truth, who believe in fairy tales because no one has ever spoken Truth to them. We look forward to sharing the message with our Guangzhou guide.

We love you!

Thursday, Dec. 10

As you begin your day today, we are headed to bed. We are skyping our kids as often as we can but it gets tricky with the time difference. We are 13 hours ahead of you. It feels so good to finally be ahead of time for a change!!Today was a very special day as it was the last full day with Rosalie in her province. The market experience was amazing! We were able to find Rosalie an authentic dress from her ethnic group. Our guide has been so helpful helping us learn about her region. We wanted to go to the park where she was found but Liuzhou City is over 2 hours away so we did not get to go. I also wish so much that we could meet her foster mother. The orphanage gave us a photo album of photos of Rosalie; three include photos of her foster mother with her. She looks so kind and loving. It seems strange having adopted Sam with an open adoption and seeing the healthy relationship we were able to have with his birth mom to go to the opposite extreme of being told we can not even rent a car, pay a driver, and go to visit the woman who has taken such good care of Rosalie for the past 2 years. Kristin, thank you for your faithfulness to pray for this woman so diligently. After having Rosalie for only 3 full days, I can NOT imagine the void this woman is feeling with her gone. Strangely, when Rosalie looks at photos of her foster mom, she tells me in Mandarin (this is my nanny-mama and Jingxue (her Chinese name), but NO sadness in her voice, just a matter of fact comment. Oh, God is so in the midst of this. I just can not get over the bond we have with her. She is our daughter through and through.This morning we took Rosalie back to the huge park behind our hotel. She got to ride many rides and we had so much fun just laughing and playing together. After the park on the way back to the hotel, she got a little withdrawn and wanted to walk ahead of us for a while. She seemed to be in her own world. Peter and I talked as we walked behind her wondering what was going through her mind. Of course, my thoughts are, "Oh no, what if she is sad and misses her old life." Peter wondered if she is scared that we will leave her because we had such a happy time at the park. I had not thought of that. Regardless of what she was thinking, this is an adjustment. By the time we made it back to the hotel, Rosalie was her cheerful self again and kissing and hugging us, wanting us to hold her and play with her on the beds. She loves for us to tickle one another. The rest of the day was perfect. Her behavior was so much better today. We are already seeing her exercise self-control over bad habits. We have met a precious C------ family from Edmonton, Alberta, who is here adopting a little 3 year old boy who was born with club feet. His condition has been corrected and he is walking beautifully. What a cutie pie! This family and one other family are the only westerners that we know of in this city and the Canadian family is the only C------- family we know here. We have fallen in love with one another. It's hard to describe the isolation you feel when you are so set apart from everyone who passes you. It doesn't help matters that you get stared down like you have 2 heads. So to find this family has been a reprieve for certain. They are on the same floor with us. We walked with them to McDonald's tonight- about a 20 minute walk one way. Okay, tonight beat all as far as stares go!! After about 5 minutes of walking and wondering, "Really, why are we getting stared at worse than ever?"...we realized what it was. Both daddies (Peter and the Canadian father) were pushing the strollers with the Asian babies while the moms were walking behind them. You DON'T see daddies pushing strollers in this culture. So not only are the men pushing the babies, but the babies are Asian and the men are westerners with the women walking behind them. It got comical after a while especially at one intersection where (I kid you not) there were probably 500 people on bikes, motor scooters, cars, walking, and they almost wrecked staring at us cross the street. I had to pull out my video camera at this point just to film the people. It's just hilarious! We fly out to Guangzhou tomorrow and leave the hotel at 4:30 pm. Please pray for Glenn as we share a Bible with him tomorrow. Pray he will read it and come to the saving knowledge of J----!!"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of C-----, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe!"

Romans 1:16

Much love to you,

Nancy

Hello All!!I just wrote an 8 paragraph update and internet went out and I lost everything. Now I am short on time so this will be brief.What an experience of a lifetime we are having. Words seem inadequate to truly describe all we are seeing and "living out". Nanning is an amazing city. Our Notary and Civil Affairs appointments went very well. We only have to receive Rosalie's passport on Friday and we will be finished with all legal matters in this province. We fly to Guangzhou on Friday and will stay there one week before returning home to the US. We miss you all very much and can't wait for you to meet Rosalie. She is so very precious and filled with love and gratitude for her new family. We are adjusting well. She had a severe temper tantrum in the park today and is testing the limits. We have had to "hit the ground running" with discipline; she is responding well and learning that we mean what we say.Please continue the prayers for us; we are so grateful! Pray for our guide as we are sharing TRUTH with him. We will update soon. Love to you all! "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Praise God we've got her!

Dear Family and Friends,

Peter and I slept 2 hours last night and by the time we flew to Nanning, Guangxi at 7:30 am, we had only a brief time to take our luggage to the hotel and meet our guide to go pick up Rosalie. On the way to get her today, our guide, who was trying to prepare us for the worst, told us to expect a lot of crying from the "little girl". He went on to say that ages 4-9 seem to handle adoptions the hardest and to expect quite an adjustment. Peter and I felt the timing of that conversation was a little "off". We understand that he was trying to prepare us, but on the way to meet our little girl? We had already heard that before and had turned it over to the Lord. Still, our guide goes on to tell us that a few weeks ago a family got a 4 year old and the child completely rejected both parents and had an absolute meltdown from the time they got her to the time they left China. Wow, thanks for the encouragement, Glenn (his American name). Peter and I looked at each other and just prayed. Needless to say, I was nervous but walking in absolute faith.

We go to a hotel down the street from where we are staying. (Words can not describe the difference between this province and Beijing. Although we are in a "small town" (words from Glenn the guide) with 6 million people, it has a third world feel while Beijing has a true western influence.) The hotel is where the orphanage workers come to bring Rosalie to us. We walk in to the room where there is a family about to get their 18 month old baby.

We are so happy to see their baby walk in with the caregiver, that we barely see Rosalie come barreling in! Out the corner of my eye, I see a figure on the couch next to where I was standing- I look down and when I looked into her face, I knew it was Rosalie. I say, "Peter that's her!!" He opens his arms and (get this!), she runs into his arms and says "Ba-Ba!"(Daddy) She is laughing so loud and squealing with so much joy, I don't even hear the caregiver speak to me. I'm just standing there in awe. Her foster mom had little hair attachments in her hair and she had curly little pig tails. Oh, what a sweetie. I held it together beautifully mainly because I was in shock when she ran to me and said, "Ma-Ma!" I pulled out a dolly from her little Winnie the Pooh bag we had brought for her, and she just hugged and hugged the baby and laughed! She never looked back and I can say from the bottom of my heart that she is one of the happiest little girls we have ever seen.. She is so happy to have a mommy and a daddy.Our guide says he place 100 babies with families this year, yet he has never seen such a bond with adoptive parents from the beginning. She has super high energy and is the size of a three year old, weighing in at 30 pounds. She is tiny and as tough as nails. After having her for only a couple of hours, we had to say "Boo-Boo" (Chinese for "no") about 5 dozen times because she wants to play too hard and hits while playing. We see clearly that her foster mother (we found out there is a father also) loved her but spoiled her! She has met her match however and she will learn fully how to show respect. She is so sweet in her heart despite the strong will and I already see her loving the gentle perimeters we are already having to put on her. She runs around the hotel like a 2 year old and loves to jump on the beds (a big no-no in the Kennebeck house). Yet, we are sensitive to what is happening and are letting her "get away" with more than she will be allowed to in the near future. I just can't believe we have her. She is asleep in the little crib next to our bed right now. She settled right down and held her little baby (Jennie she absolutely loves the praying baby- please tell your girls thank you for sharing!) and went to sleep. When the baby says, "amen", she says "amen". Not speaking the same language is tough at times but sign language is working great. At dinner tonight, she had to go potty so she held up her dress. She clearly knows we do not speak her language. We love her so much and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was hand-picked by God to be a Kennebeck. We can't wait to take her home to meet her sisters and brother! We KNOW you were praying for us especially today and felt the prayers immensely!! Pray for us as we spend the next 3 days in Guangxi; that all paperwork will go smooth and she will continue to adjust well. Oh, and please begin praying for that 17 hour flight home.

PS- I can not connect to my blog in China, so Kathleen is updating it for us, so if you are leaving a message for us on our blog, just know we will get it when we get home.Praising God for keeping His promises to give strength to the weak and hope for the weary- we are headed to bed right now...I can only live on so much adrenaline! I love each and every one of you!!

Faithfully His,Nancy