Heath's Story

No one expected us.

It was as if we had dropped in from another planet.

No child had ever been adopted out of Aaron's Level 4 Mental Institute.

Not one boy.  Ever.

Who would want any of those boys?

Every single one was labeled as severely physically and mentally disabled.  Every single one of them had been discarded for life.  Every single one of them.

Visits from family were rare.  The village was too far away and travel costs were too steep.  In the system of transfer, the boys are sent to the place with the next available bed as opposed to a place that is close to their baby houses.  So once transferred, many families are cut off.  They become true Lost Boys.

It was a closed facility.

Set in a village that had not seen many foreigners and few if any Americans.

Our presence was a shock and for the long wearisome weeks we visited our son in that place we knew we were not wanted.

But on that first day, the day we dropped in unannounced, the director, in a moment of weakness that she has not shown since, handed two files to our facilitator.  Two files.

Brady and Heath.

We immediately went on a quest to find them.

Brady was easy.  He was the little wild child who sat at Aaron's table and slept in his bedroom.  He had just been transferred in and was desperate to get out.  He tried his hardest to break free from the caretakers and into our arms.  

He was the tiniest. The one they always had to hold. The little one at the back of the line.

Heath was harder.

It took us days to agree that the little boy in the shared wheelchair was actually Heath.  There were 60+ boys who paraded to the eating sheds every day.  Finding one little boy in the midst of the chaos and cacophony... one little boy with only one picture to go by... we had to make sure that that tiny little guy was the right one.  

Of course we couldn't let the caretakers know we were looking for him.  They did not trust us and were already bothered by our presence.

So hunting for Heath was quite the stealth operation.  

We had to look quick and fast without indicating that we were looking. Once we were convinced we knew which one was Heath, it was all we could do not to outright stare. We wanted to memorize the little boy in the chair.  We knew we were his hope.  We knew we were his voice.

Picture taking was forbidden.  

We learned that the hard way.

So all we had to offer for Heath were our words.  Our pleas.  Our memories of him.  I want to share those with you.  The little tidbits we have.  I want you to understand why, two years later, I can't let him go. I can't just walk away.  Heath needs a family.  A loving, Godly, patient family who will love him in all his dirt and grime and nothingness.  

I want you to know Heath.

------------------ to be continued ------------------

P.S. A few months after we came home yelling... a family stepped up and Brady/Judd was adopted and is now free to run, free to roam!   (http://happyhartmanfarm.blogspot.com)

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IT'S A MATCHING GRANT AND A GIVEAWAY!!

$5,000.00 is being offered in a matching grant for Heath.  Every dollar is doubled up to $5,000.00.

Heath's grant account needs to read $15,347.00 in order for him to get the full matching grant!!!

It is currently at $10,885.00. We still need $4,462.00

WE CAN DO THIS!!!

OUR GOAL IS TO GET HEATH AS FULLY FUNDED AS WE ARE ABLE!!
 (Fully funded for an adoption in his country is about 24,000)

As a wonderful incentive.... we are giving away some fun prizes...

$400.00

BRAND NEW Apple iPad 2 

MC979LL/A Tablet (16GB, Wifi, White) 2nd Generation

$300.00
BRAND NEW Kindle Fire HD 8.9"

8.9" HD Display, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Dual-Antenna Wi-Fi, 16GB

$100.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE
Take your pick...

OR you can use the $100.00 to PICK A CHILD OR FAMILY on Reece's Rainbow and donate the money into their account!


ANOTHER

$100.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE
Take your pick...

OR you can use the $100.00 to PICK A CHILD OR FAMILY on Reece's Rainbow and donate the money into their account!

A BRAND NEW SIGNED COPY OF PEAS AND THANK YOU
BY SARAH MATHENY!!
Sarah is advocating for Heath on her blog...peas and thank you
THANK YOU SARAH!!

A BRAND NEW SIGNED COPY OF BIBLIOPLAN'S NEWEST COMPANION BOOK...

Honestly - IT IS NOT FINISHED YET so the winner is going to get this HOT OFF THE PRESS signed by my husband and me.  

Pray we get it done by the end of September!! LOL!

THESE ARE THE RULES:

You can enter our giveaway just by making a donation to HEATH'S GRANT ACCOUNT!  I'll leave the amount of your donation between you and the Lord.

Every dollar you donate is doubled!!!

That's it.  One donation to Heath puts your name in our giveaway, with a chance to win one of these prizes!


As an added incentive for making extra donations, we've come up with this simple point system:

We'll put one entry beside your name for every $5 that you donate. 

$10.00 - 2 entries
$20.00 - 4 entries
$35.00 -7 entries
$50.00 - 10 entries
$75.00 - 15 entries
$100.00 - 20 entries
$150.00 - 30 entries
$200.00 - 40 entries
$250.00 - 50 entries
$500.00 - 100 entries

There is also another way to earn entries: by sharing our Giveaway on Facebook, Twitter or your own blog.  After you've donated, just leave a comment on my blog to let me know that you've shared as well.  Every share gets you an entry.

And finally... for the next THREE days...

YOU GET DOUBLE ENTRIES IF YOU NOT ONLY DONATE TO HEATH BUT ALSO TO THE SHARP FAMILY!!



 

They are desperately trying to raise money to send their dossier to Ch*na to adopt two little children with dwarfism.

This is Obrion Sharp and she has been working for THREE WEEKS to raise 1000 prayers (dollars) before her sister's birthday WHICH IS TUESDAY...


Frustratingly enough.. her little quiet voice is NOT being heard and she has only raised 336 of the 1,000 that she needs.  She still needs $664.00 prayers/dollars!!  Her parents CANNOT send the dossier off without this as they have already taken every bit of their extra cash to cover the rest of the adoption expenses up to this point.  An adoption from Ch*na for TWO children is going to cost them $40,000.00.

 I am desperately trying to help them!!  These babes are too sweet to leave in a country where they will be rejected because of their stature!!  So if you donate both to Heath and the SHARPS... you get DOUBLE POINTS!!  How cool is that??

I KNOW we can raise that $664.00 by Tuesday night.... PLEASE HELP... Donate to BOTH Heath and the Sharps...

And for all those who do... as an added incentive.... This sock monkey was made by another set of young girls to raise money for their own family's adoption but they are DONATING it to Obrion to help her raise what she needs....  I LOVE WHEN KIDS GET INVOLVED IN ADOPTIONS!!!

So anyone who donates in the next three days will be given a chance to WIN this Sock Monkey!!!

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO:

• Use the links and go donate.
• THEN, come back to this blog and leave a comment to let me know two things: (1) your first and last name and (2) the total amount that you donated to Heath and the amount you donated to the Sharps. Because I always moderate my comments, I will be able to keep this information private.
• If you prefer not to leave a comment, you can e-mail me at covenantb@yahoo.com.

NOTES:

• None of the money that you donate will flow through our hands; it will all go directly to the people who need it.
• This Giveaway will end on September 30, 2012.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO HEATH

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE SHARPS