04/24/2017
Last week we received the heartbreaking news from the Guangdong Provincial officials that they will not be approving any foster care programs for any organizations now, or in the near future. As you can imagine we are devastated at the implication of this decision not only for our Grace Village babies, but for the hundreds of babies who will not be able to return to their foster families.
ZKO has served the children in the Zhanjiang orphanage faithfully for the past ten years and have always remained in excellent standing with all branches of the government. But while our hearts desire is to continue to serve the orphans in Zhanjiang, it is unknown if or when those doors will re-open.
So with this ruling from the government came the daunting task of deciding what our next steps would be. After much discussion and prayer, it was painstakingly clear that the best interest for ZKO at this time was to dissolve as an organization.
Please know that we remain committed to our Grace Village babies and because we continue to have an excellent relationship with the Zhanjiang orphanage, we will continue to request updates on the progress of each one of them.
Currently there are still three of our children whose files are prepared and are still waiting for a family to adopt them. Because our goal is to continue to serve these children in any way possible, ZKO will be establishing grants which will go towards the adoption expenses of these three children—Ben and Cody will have a grant of $3,000each, and Faith will have a grant of $4,000. If you would like additional information about adopting any of these three children, please contact Wasatch adoption agency at, [email protected]
While our hearts are broken with the loss of our babies, and this is certainly not the outcome we had hoped for, we felt passionate we needed to see how the beautiful work of Grace Village could continue to serve children who have special needs in Zhanjiang City, and to do all we could to support that.
Therefore, we are extremely grateful to announce that Grace Village will continue to operate under the current leadership of Directors, Jim and Vickie Bennett, and will run as its own 501(c)(3) charity.
Next month Grace Village will begin construction of a new community center for those local families who have children with special needs—including children with Down syndrome. This center will provide a much-needed service to these children by offering them special education, therapy, and support services. Additionally, the parents will be provided training and support by connecting them with a network of other families in the community who are also raising children with special needs.
We want to send out a HUGE thank you to all our ZKO friends and families who have supported us over the past decade. While this outcome was not what we had hoped for, we are excited to see the impact Grace Village will have for children with special needs in Zhanjiang City and the surrounding villages.
Please continue to pray for our babies, and for all the children who have been affected by this very difficult situation in China.
ZKO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
