Hi Daniel!

Below read two amazing stories and also see how you can support Nightlight's "Both Hands" Project to serve widows and orphans (James 1:27) and how you can support important adoption legislation.

Wade's Adoption from a Host Program



Seven years ago, Nightlight brought 9 kids from China to Kentucky and California for hosting. As I was trying to find families for the kids, a couple I had babysat for as a teenager reached out to me through Facebook messenger after seeing one of my posts. They were both retired from teaching, their kids were grown, and they had become grandparents. They wanted to know if they could host a child even though they were not interested in adopting. They made it clear they would do their best to advocate for a home for him but that they were not interested in adopting. I was having trouble finding a host family for a 12 year old I had named "Wade." They agreed to host him and provided a wonderful family experience for Wade in Kentucky.

During the first week of hosting they were constantly advocating for him on Facebook and even offered opportunities for their church family and friends to come meet and spend time with him. During the second week, I noticed they had stopped advocating and I knew in my heart that God had changed theirs. Not surprised, I received a call from them asking if they were too old to adopt and what they needed to do so that Wade could become their son.

For all the Chinese dossiers I sent over the years, Chuck and Cindy Stallard hold the record for the fastest dossier submitted from inquiry to DTC (Dossier To China)! It helped that we had a good start to the home study through the Psychosocial Hosting Assessment.

Earlier this year, Wade participated in the State NASP (National Archery in the Schools Program) Tournament. He went with high expectations and did not disappoint. With several thousand participants in the 2 day tournament, Wade placed Number 6 in the state and was 1st in 11th grade boys. He was 3 shots out from being the overall winner. As a 10th grader, he won the KHSAA (Kentucky High School Athletic Association) Championship. His dad always posts with pride how well Wade has done in archery.

Earlier this week, Chuck and Cindy posted the following "Do prayers really matter? Seven years ago, a 12 year old Chinese orphan was introduced to our family. Cindy and I agreed to host Wade for two weeks. We had no intentions to adopt but God had a different plan. Within a week, we felt God's call to become Wade's parents. Seven years later, after a lot of prayer, Wade asked Jesus to be his personal Lord and Savior. Wade did this at a Christ in Youth conference in Michigan with his Indian Hills Christian Church Student Ministry group. He was baptized in Lake Michigan surrounded by his youth group. We are overjoyed in his decision. We have watched him grow physically, emotionally and spiritually. What a blessing."

What a blessing indeed! The opportunity for Wade to become a Christian would have been nearly impossible had he remained an orphan in China. Thank you, God, for nudging Chuck and Cindy to provide a good Christian home where Wade could grow, not only in mind and stature but also in Christ.

--Dana Poynter, KY Executive Director

Learn more about hosting a child here

Instead of a gala this year, the staff of our California office are planning a fundraiser projected to raise $25,000 not by a dinner and auction, but by a SERVICE PROJECT! The service project will be done by our board, staff members, donors, and friends of the same.

We are partnering with Both Hands, an organization that helps Christian non-profits and adoptive families by coordinating a service project for a widow or widower in need. This is where you come in! If you can sweep, rake, clean windows, paint a wall, stuff envelopes, make phone calls, arrange food, or simply pray… then we need you! With your help, we have a chance, not only to raise the funds for orphans, but to also serve a widow, just like it talks about in James 1:27. Here’s how it works…

We have asked some churches to nominate a widow in need and now we are assembling a team of friends to complete a Both Hands Project. Then the team (including you) will send out fundraising letters to everyone we know asking people to sponsor us for the day, as we work on this widow’s house. All the funds raised go to Nightlight. It’s just like asking someone to sponsor you for a jog-a-thon.

This idea has been done over 1,000 times around the country already! Here is a link to a video that might help give you a good idea of what the Both Hands Project is all about.

Both Hands in 30 Seconds on Vimeo- Watch this video to understand in 30 seconds what we are doing.

Click here to Sponsor our "Both Hands" Team

A Sister Surrogate Blessing

When Matt and Charlie DeVore got married, there was no question they would be parents. Matt had always dreamed of having a big family with five kids. But getting to that first baby seemed impossible. Charlie struggled to get pregnant. After unsuccessful fertility treatments, the couple was matched in a domestic adoption. Everything looked final, but then at the last moment, the adoption fell through when the birth mom changed her mind. After ten years and $35,000 spent in their attempts to build their family, Charlie was trying to accept the idea that she wasn't meant to be a mom. "I think I went through a lot of emotions. I was just broken. I felt like a broken person," she recalls.

The couple didn’t have the finances to try again and Charlie was left wondering and trying to decide if she could just walk away. Then Matt’s uncle died in a car accident, so the couple drove to be with the rest of his family. Matt’s uncle was a farmer and had buried money in buckets. Part of the time spent together as a family was spent digging up the farm to find the inheritance he left behind. Everyone thought Charlie and Matt should have the first bucket to try again and have a baby.

Matt’s sister, Julie, volunteered to be a surrogate. But Charlie’s eggs had been problematic and didn’t get large enough to fertilize. They were beginning to feel they were out of options. That’s when Julie came back to suggest embryo adoption through Snowflakes. Charlie and Matt had never heard of it.

They were matched with a placing family welcomed a little girl into their family through donor egg IVF. Afterward, they conceived naturally and decided to donate their remaining embryos through Snowflakes. They chose the DeVores.

Julie carried the pregnancy for Charlie and Matt and gave birth to her niece, CJ. "Right away she held on to Matt's finger," Charlie reminisces.

CJ will know the other little girl - her biological sister - born from the same batch of embryos. And the DeVores will make her a book of her life story, so she knows all the people it took to make them a family and to erase their heartache.

"You know, she may not understand it all, but so she grows up with it. It's never a shock or something that's a secret," Matt said.



The struggle and the hurt feel long ago. "There's nothing left of that," Charlie smiled. "It's just a complete joy having her. Our dreams. Our dreams are right here."

Learn more about Snowflakes® Embryo Adoption here

Nine legislative acts are before congress regarding adoption and foster care. We urge you to the very easy action steps at NCFA's website where, in just 1 minute, you can automatically contact your congressmen and ask them to support these bills.

These bills address the Adoption Tax Credit, adoptions from Ukraine, the prevalence of unlicensed adoption facilitators, the need for a putative father registry, expanding the availability of Hague accreditation to home-study-only agencies, and several other important issues.

Daniel Nehrbass, Ph.D. | President

Nightlight^® Christian Adoptions | Snowflakes® Embryo Adoption | Healing Homes Foster Care| 

Post Adoption Connection Center | Adoption Bridge

1528 Brookhollow Dr #100, Santa Ana CA 92705

(714) 693-5437 x 129 | daniel@nightlight.org