When Hosting Happens in the Heart and Not the Home

February 4, 2020 Michelle Cuthrell

He was supposed to arrive in January, this 8-year-old superhero who wheeled his way into our hearts when China re-opened orphan hosting this fall. 🦸🏻‍♂‍

And then, because of issues with passports and appointments and embassies and bureaucracies, his hosting trip was rescheduled for February.

For the last month, our team has been preparing hearts and homes and beds and business cards, scheduling appointments with doctors and therapists and photographers and businesses generously opening their doors and services to a little boy who has never known the love of family. This sweet face already had a mental spot at our dinner table, and all four superheroes couldn't wait to love on a boy who had no concept of "ge ge" and "di di," because in real life, he had neither.

But, after airlines cancelled his flight from Beijing last week, we received the official notice from our hosting agency.

Because of the coronavirus, a virus that actually began in Superhero 4’s birth city of Wuhan, China (see our blog about our week in Wuhan here – because truly, this gem of a city is so much more than just the epicenter of a virus), Harry’s trip (as well as most flights from China to America) has been canceled.

Be Their Voice, Tell Their Story

April 3, 2019 Michelle Cuthrell

Orphan Warriors, international adoption is in crisis here in this country. (Read all about the crisis HERE.) And that means special needs orphans around the world are in danger of losing their opportunity to grow up not in an institution, but in a HOME.

For many of these superheroes whose special needs are superpowers in disguise, a family literally means the difference between surviving and thriving, between life and death. (Read about why this matters HERE.)

And we in this Orphan Warrior community refuse to sit idly by while an entire nation of people slowly grows deaf and indifferent to their plight.

The Power of a Dream

January 21, 2019 Michelle Cuthrell

For the last few years on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I've started the day by reading the original "I Have a Dream" speech from the National Archives. (Want to be totally inspired by this incredible orator and strong man of God? Find the speech HERE.)

It never ceases to amaze me how the words of one Jesus-loving man literally changed the laws.

Changed the culture.

Changed the story for an entire people group in this great country.

This godly man is one of my all-time heroes, because he reminds me of the POWER of our PRAYERS and our WORDS.

The POWER of our ENCOURAGEMENT and our ADVOCACY.

The POWER of our LAVISH LOVE — a love that puts the needs and rights of others before the comfort and desires of ourselves.

And he reminds me that, with God and persistence and passion, change really is possible.

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