Julia Norris is pleased to welcome Christian Jiacheng into her family! |
Born on: August 6, 1993 In: Dong JiaGou Shaanxi Province People's Republic of China Date of adoption: April 5, 2001 Age at adoption: 7years old From: Luoyang SWI, Henan Province Ht: 53.5 inches Wt: 64 lbs. Hair: black Eyes: black DTC: 10/9/00 DOR: 3/5/01 DOT: 4/1/01 |
Mission Trip 2000 |
My desire to adopt a child began in 1987, when I traveled around the world by ship in college. During that trip I visited many of Mother Theresa's orphanages and some refugee camps and the images I saw had such a profound impact on me, my life forever changed after that. In the spring of 1999 I saw an announcement in our Church bulletin about a mission trip to an orphanage in China, which was co-sponsored by a local International Adoption Agency. Ever since my trip around the world in 1987, my heart's desire was to work in the International Adoption field. I contacted them about this trip and went to one of the informational meetings. I wasn't able to go on the trip, but a month after they returned I was hired to work for the adoption agency. The following summer as staff of the adoption agency I led a mission trip to the Luoyang orphanage in China. I thought for sure that I would come back from this trip longing for a baby girl from China. However, the Lord had other plans for me! The number of older children and boys at this orphanage caught my attention. It was the older children that really spoke to my heart. The sadness in their eyes was so hard to ignore. We took 30 of the kids to the zoo and out to lunch one day. Each of us was responsible for a child. My little boy was 6 years old and stole my heart right away. He was so smart and so amazingly polite. When I returned to the US, I searched for a family that would adopt him but those doors soon closed. After a lot of prayer and encouragement from those on the trip, I decided to try to adopt this little boy myself. It was not an easy task since it is against China's policy to request a specific child. All I could do was request a boy in his age range from the Luoyang Orphanage and hope that we would be matched. I had prepared myself that I could be referred any child, and might not even be in the age range I requested but somehow I knew that Jiacheng was going to be my son and that it would all work out. Nine months later, I was blessed with the referral of Jiacheng. His name is now Christian Jiacheng Norris and he is an incredible kid with a heart as big as China. He is smart and very talented in sports, music and art. In almost 2 years that he has been here, he has learned to ride a bike, swim, rollerblade, skateboard, ice skate and many other things. He has grown 7 inches and gained over 30 pounds. Sometimes I look at him in awe that the Lord trusted ME to be his mom! |
Christian Jiacheng Norris |
Luoyang Orphanage Feb 2001 |
Referral photo 3/5/01 |
Day at the Luoyang zoo |
Our last day together at the orphanage |
Christmas 2001 |