When we requested an info pack from CCAI (our adoption agency) we had no clue what to expect from an agency. We didn't know what to look for in an agency. We were told by two of our friends (and mentors) who are adopting in our town, that CCAI is the best of the best. We looked at every agency we could find and researched everything we could about them. We received our package in the mail very quickly from CCAI that contained our application, the process of international adoption, a video and a book. I was thrilled to see the book as I love to read!! The book, "bound by love" was finished by me in three days! I couldn't put it down and was saddened when it was finished. The book, was an account of Joshua and Lily Nie's life growing up in impoverished China, through their education in China and America and ultimately starting the first American/Chinese adoption agency based out of Colorado. The book was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed learning some Chinese culture, about their lives and especially how they came to know and follow Christ. We didn't choose this agency because they are Christians -there are many Christian agencies. We chose them because of their passion for helping the Chinese children! That is what it is all about. This couple had the odds stacked against them, but they prevailed. Joshua and Lily grew up in a country where it isn't acceptable to love Christ. Joshua would sneak into the back room of the public library where one copy of the "forbidden book" was tossed aside like a rotten fruit. It wasn't allowed to be placed on the shelves. He snuck in at a different time each day to read that book. When an American approached him one day while he was holding a tour guide position the government demanded he do, she whispered to him if he knew Jesus Christ. He didn't know him, but he wanted to know more! That is where this journey started! The moment he decided he wanted to learn more was the moment his life became all he could dream of it becoming. There were still unbelievable trials to come his way, but it was all a part of his journey. He never gave up in doing what he knew to be God's will. Lily and Joshua have an awesome agency that I am so proud to call ours. With each phone call, I become more and more blown away at the kindness I receive. This journey of ours gets better and better the more we obey Him. It feels so great to know we are pleasing Him. Lily and Joshua's story reminds me of this verse. They not only obey, but they follow.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
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