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Show AlO ____TheSalt Lake Tribune NATION/WORLDSunday, December 27, 1998 Church Agency Provides Link to Adoptions in China Lutheran Social Services works to bring together children, U.S. families BY S. ROBERT CHIAPPINELLI THE PROVIDENCEJOURNAL. days. “One thing I love about my adoption work is, I use every single skill I have,” she says. Drawing on her experience years ago with an ambulanceservice, as an assistant emergency cInnis says. If the second alsois might female, shesays, the family abandonthe infant and continue trying for a boy are infants “Most abandoned found in a busypublic spot, MacInnis says, often with a note giv- “T've seen an absolutely stun- ning dren, MacInnis says. But that re- port, she says, unfairly judged a Third World nation by our na- emphasizes having a boy, and She knows the Chinese culture and language, which helps immeasurably. Children in most Chinese families, she says, subsist on the same diet as the orphansreceive. There may not have been anyheatin the orphanages that were shown, she Andsheis an Episcopal minis- through a cemetery to visit his wife and newbornin thehospital, ter, which helps her in counseling he discovered a baby abandoned fore they receive their child in a ditch that wasfilling with rain improvementin orphanages farmers enjoy. medical technician, she is able to reassure parents abouta child’s prospective parents through those anxious moments just be- tion’s higherliving standards. familyin thecountryside may ‘ ‘A decide tohave a second child if the firstborn is a daughter, Ma- in China,” she says. Some Chinese children are abandoned because the culture minor health problems When Peter MacInnis was born in China in 1948, floods menaced the land. As his father, the Rev. Donald MacInnis, took a shortcut Many Americans recall a “60 Minutes” report a few years ago about Chinese orphanages with no heat and meagerdietsfor chil- —| ‘0 afford. mostfamiliesarerestricted to one child. But MacInnis says that every- one she knows approves of the ingthe child’s nameandbirthday Withnoincometax, the governmentin China lacks the moneyto care for everyone, MacInnis say she says, Chinese families are al- houses, either, and some rebuilt orphanages nowprovide better lowed to pay fines and have more children, though that is a re- But since the number of adoptions has grown, and a $3,000 donation has been instituted for each child, conditions have improved markedly. The money accommodations than the local course that most maynot be able pays says, but there’s no heat in the one-child limit as a populationcontrol measure. What's more, for nurses, nannies and medicine, and allows for one care. taker per child. The Amity Foundationalso has| helped tremendously, MacInnis says. After China lifted its restrie. tions on churches in 1981, funds that had been earmarked for(hj, na, and had been building upfor years in U.S. accounts, were final. ly released. Untold thousands of dollars were sent to Chinese! churches, and devoted to prob. lems such as dealing with or.’ phans. The improvements, MacInnis says, have made herjob tremen. dously rewarding. “T think I can rememberalmost every parent, when they mettheir babyfor thefirst time,” she Says, “It’s so monumental.” The MacInnis family covered ©1998 AirTouch’ all six months’ hospitalization for the babygirl, who was then adopted by a Chinese accountant. Donald MacInnis returned years later and found her, married to a doctor. The accountant had named her Abundant Rain. Today, Peter’s wife, Elyn Ma- “Innis, helps LutheranSocial Ser- vices of New Englandtofacilitate the adoption of Chinese orphans by Americans. Her work mirrors that episode so early in her hus- yand’s life, which she says was like a flash of what was to ‘ome. Her involvement with Chinese hildren beganin 1989, when she and Peter donated a handsome fold-up jungle gym that their ters had outgrownto an or- ge in Nanjing, China. The acInnises had moved there a year earlier to work on a United Bible Society project, to print and distribute Chinese Bibles. Their jonation won them friends at the Evening & Weekend rphanage, which Elyn_ visited ynee or twice a week for a few ears Two and a half years ago — ong after Elyn MacInnis had vrapped up her orphanagevisits a friend who lives in Conne it heard that a neighbor, Eliza th Kendrick, was headed Minutes to hina in her capacity as head of the Lutheran Social Services of New England officein Rocky Hill The agency, which opened a Cranston, R.I., office earlier this ar, has handled adoptions in New England for more than 125 years, and for the past eight has expandedto foreignsettings. The mutual friend suggested that Kendrick contact MacInnis in Chi- na That led to MacInnis’ current role of shepherding parents hrough the international adop. ich are burgeoning 8, accordi fo State Deent figures dozen U.S. ies adopted Chinese chil- 1996, the number grew to amilies, said Sara Dumas. rogram manager for the Luther. al Services of New Eng: { office in Cranston What we've beentold.” Du mas says, “is, really, the only rea son there aren't more is that there rer h families adopting y links prospective ar clinics and doctors, for nt ations and for help in d with en's special role, Mac neets parents in China, the day be are to pick up their Anytime Minutes For Only dj stays with them for five PRefinance Your Home Now | 6.25%" fired ! “ E ee " x eR Dont trade it — donateit « a ‘\ —v until the year 2000. if AMERICAN LUNG AssocUTION Call 1-800-LUNG-USA fe is gi we oe aiden ; z= Save up to $125.00° § i 8 hetwi [A aeee a Caviar Salmon ¢ Shrimp 7™N the year 2000. 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