Teachers Saving Children^® of Pennsylvania Inc.

Here are President Bush's recent words on adoption:

""Common sense and social science lead to the same conclusion: Children thrive in secure, loving, and stable homes. Providing that kind of home through adoption can be a long and a time-consuming process. I understand that. Adopting a child can add to the normal challenges of one's daily life. I fully understand that, as well. Yet adoption changes a single life forever, and it brings countless blessings to the lives of parents...And every child deserves to be a part of a permanent, loving family. That's our hope. We live in a great country full of really loving and decent people. And there's no doubt in my mind, when people hear the call, they will respond to the needs to a lot of our children."

Let's support them with our prayers. May many children be adopted into loving families.

As we began researching adoption, we realized that many, many decisions had to be made before even receiving a child. First we had to decide whether we wanted to adopt domestically or internationally. After being told by several agencies that it would take from two-and-a-half to five years to adopt domestically, we felt led to international adoption. Being an international family already helped to make the decision a little easier, until we had to decide from which country we wanted to adopt. After much soul searching and researching, we decided Guatemala was the place for us.

The first task required us to gather important documents, fill out many forms, write letters, contact agencies, etc. While many people warned of the difficulties of getting paperwork ready for adoption, we found the task relatively easy, although tedious. We, however, weren't going to let paperwork get in our way; after all, we were teachers! Once completed, we submitted our paperwork, and it was sent to an adoption attorney in Guatemala. Then the waiting began...

After three months we received "the call" and then photos of our new son. A sweet face with ten fingers and, we hoped, ten toes (his feet were always covered with socks, so we were unable to count the toes). We were told that in three or four months we could bring him home. The waiting was excruciating because we were unable to find out what was happening to our son, to see him, to receive news about him, but we put our faith in God that all would turn out well. The first four months passed with no news of going to Guatemala. We were told only that there was trouble with the paperwork, that some of our documents, such as our birth certificates were lost, and there were other extenuating circumstances delaying the process. This lack of control over a situation, and having to literally put everything in God's hands, was emotionally difficult at times. The prayerful support of family and friends was a great blessing that gave us strength and patience.

After almost ten months, we were told, rather unceremoniously, that we could fianlly go to Guatemala to get our son. We were given less than one week notice, which was fine by us, but plane reservations were less easy to come by a month after September 11, 2001. We were nervous about flying, but nothing was going to prevent us from our mission to bring home our son. The flight down to Guatemala went exceedingly well, and we were escorted to our hotel by the facilitator. Sleep was somewhat elusive the first night, as we were emotionally preparing to meet our son the next day.

The next morning we nervously and anxiously met the facilitator, foster mother, and our new son in the hotel lobby. As we awkwardly exchanged pleasantries, without seeming too eager to hold him, we sensed that this was not easy for the foster mother. In the next hour we learned that we were very blessed to have our son spend the first ten months of his life with this woman. She was kind and gentle, and obviously loved him very much. These traits shine through in any language.

Before long the foster mother and facilitator left, and we were left alone for the first time with our new son, Joseph Erick Moyer. Wow, now what should we do? We were ecstatic, elated, and quite nervous being brand-new parents. We tried to acquaint ourselves with each other, and for awhile it was awkward, but what happiness and joy we felt. This son of ours didn't know what his future would hold, but we could only imagine. How wonderful for us and for this little boy that his birth mother chose to give him LIFE, so that we could share our lives with him.

Our son's journey to his new home was an exciting one for all of us, and he did quite well on his first plane ride. The journey to Guatemala had ended, but our lives together had only just begun.

Those of you who have adopted know that adoption brings the greatest possible joy to the lives of those it touches: a child to hold and love unconditionally. Adoption can, at the same time, bring the greatest heartaches when the process does not go as planned. There are many challenges to face even if the process goes smoothly. Adoption is full of many unknowns, and you have to deal with the ups and downs of the process like anything else in life. As adoptive parents, we do not know when a child will come home; we trust it will be soon, but adoption must answer to bureaucracy and "red-tape." Our child may never physically resemble anyone in our families, and when adopting internationally, as we did, there is usually little or no medical history for the child.

Our adoption journey has immersed us in a life-changing adventure. It also has helped us to appreciate the gift of life even more than before. While adoption is not an easy process for the birth mother, nor the adoptive parents, it is a worthwhile and awesome experience that is surely better than the alternative. Joseph's birth mother chose life and has given us a gift like no other. Thanks be to God and to her for the special gift of our son. Our life has been blessed beyond words!

As we are working on this article and newsletter, we have been matched unexpectedly with a little girl from Guatemala. We are going to adopt "Joseph's baby sister," as he so fondly calls her. The suddenness of this news and the expediency of our new adoption agency has forced us to do a lot of paperwork before we anticipated and make many more improtant, life-changing decisions. We are, however, eagerly looking forward to adding another LIFE to our family!!

(Scott and Cornelia Moyer are current members of the Board of Turstees for Teachers Saving Children^® of PA, Inc.)

I have been married to my wife Helen for 15 years. Our daughter Brigid is 14, our son Brandon is 11, and the newest member of our family is Brian who was one in December. Two years ago, our son, Kevin Charles, died at 19 weeks. Kevin was born alive, but was too little to survive for very long. Knowing that many babies are aborted at 19 weeks has made Kevin's death especially poignant and has stirred me to take a more active role in the fight for life.

My wife has been active in local pro-life organizations, and my mother-in-law, Mary Catherine Scanion, continues to be a strong supporter of the right to life through many activities, including serving on the board of the Pittsburgh-based group People Concerned for the Unborn Child (PCUC). My wife and her family have shown me by example how important the right to life cause is.

Besides school-related activities, I have been involved in my church as a lector and religious education instructor. I enjoy running, weight lifting, fishing with my son, climbing sports, and the great outdoors. Like George W. Bush, I also defeated Al Gore in a race. It was not a presidential race, but the Marine Corps Marathon in 1997. Of all the things I enjoy, I enjoy time with my immediate and extended family most of all.

As I serve on the Teachers Saving Children^® of Pennsylvania board, I hope to contribute innovative ideas to increase membership and awareness of life issues among teachers in Pennsylvania. Please use your talents as an advocate for children and strive to support right to life issues by helping us increase our membership.

The active members exchanged many ideas on how to improve membership, inform the public of our pro-life mission, and gather more pro-life educational materials to share with all our members and those interested in presenting pro-life information to their family, friends, and students. Discussion also included the setting up of a website for Teachers Saving Children^® of PA, Inc. This has been accomplished through our national organization. When you have an chance, please visit www.teacherssavingchildren.org.

We are now in the process of organizing our second regional meeting. Everyone is invited. Please come and bring along your valuable ideas and suggestions.

Robin Ross, York County (Executive Director)	(717) 292-2021
Linda Burroughs, Warren County	(814) 757-5077
John Dunkle, Berks County	(610) 796-0627
Michael Grella, Dauphin County	(717) 939-6431
Scott Moyer, Northampton County	(610) 863-8213
Cornelia Moyer, Northampton County	(610) 863-8213
Barbara Purcell, Cumberland County	(717) 737-9459
Jeff Remington, Lebanon County	(717) 838-7538