The Saga of "Rheann"

A while back--think like 2011-2012--I was praying for my second Reece's Rainbow child, a little girl in R*ssia whom Reece's Rainbow called "Erin," then "Rheann."  When I first started to pray for her, Reece's Rainbow was displaying the following picture; I hoped that it was very old because otherwise "Erin"/"Rheann" was very stunted in growth:





Over time, I continued to pray for "Erin"/"Rheann," and I was hungry for an updated picture.  After a while, Reece's Rainbow posted this picture:

"Erin," as RR was still calling her at that point, looked stunted in growth, but not nearly so much as in her previous photo; also, the toys and plants around her reassured me that she was still in a relatively decent place.

When P*tin closed off American adoptions from R*ssia in 2012, and Reece's Rainbow reallocated the grant money of their R*ssian kids, I asked to be reassigned as a Prayer Warrior as well, because I wanted to go where I had half a chance of making a difference.  I was assigned to a sweet-looking girl with Down Syndrome from Ch*na, "Isabella."  She found a home in a  matter of weeks of my praying for her.  After that, I was assigned to a little Ch*nese boy, "Jacob," with Down Syndrome and heart problems; I have been praying for him for almost two years now.

Even as I prayed for "Isabella" and "Jacob," "Erin"/"Rheann" remained in my heart.  Yesterday I decided to look up her listing on Reece's Rainbow (they kept all the R*ssian kids even though they cannot be adopted right now) and to my delight I discovered a new picture! Here it is:

  

Words cannot express how relieved this picture makes me feel.  My "Rheann" is OK: she is well-dressed and smiling.  She is OK.  She is OK.

Praise God.

 

The Oldest Ones

This morning, as I sat at the computer humming and muttering one of my favorite songs--"Sing unto God, sing a new song, oh sing praises to God give thanks with all of your heart; sing praises unto the Lord thy God..."--I felt a...tugging, if you will, to go "visit" (look at pictures of) the children on Reece's Rainbow's "At-risk of Ageing Out" page.  Wordlessly, I brought the issue to God, asking how that would help.  Then I got another tugging, this time asking me to share each and every picture of each and every child who is at risk of ageing out.

The children on the "At-risk of Ageing Out" page are the ones who will become too old to stay in their orphanages on their birthdays this year.  That age is 14 in China (and I think other Asian countries), 16 in Eastern Europe.  The healthy ones, or those who are HIV positive with no other disabilities, will go to trade schools where they will learn skills for menial, mindless jobs, and they will always carry the stigma of "orphan" with them.  The disabled ones--both mentally and physically disabled--will be sent to horrific mental institutions.

Now.  It is my honor to share these children with you in an attempt to save them from this fate.

"Dagmar":


"Francesca":





"Russ":


"Reid":


"Erich":
 

"Walt":
 

"Clarice":
 


"Zebadiah":
 

"Heidi":
 

"Garion":
 

"Calder":
 

"Benji":
 

"Blaine":
 

"Marty":
 

"Bree":
 

"Reign":
 

"Emil":


"Amos":


"Joseph":


"Isolde":


"Jianna":


"George":


"Trace":


"Yerick":


"Charlie":


"Shepard":


"Ezra":

Shouting From the Rooftops for My Boy

Today I feel it necessary to "shout from the rooftops" for "my" "Jacob."  I've been praying for him, posting his picture, etc. for a year and eight months since I started working on "praying him home," as they say on Reece's Rainbow.

In that time, many things both big and small have happened in my life.  I have completed many college classes with grades both good and not so good, gone through bipolar episodes, gone through RND episodes, made friends and lost a few as well, explored who I am as a Jew.

And for all that time, "Jacob" has still been waiting for a home and parents to call his own.

Please, someone see him! Oh, please, someone see him!

"Jacob":