A letter to China

Christine and I wrote this today for our China dossier. Thought you'd like to read it…

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Murphy Crowson.  I am the firstborn of my parents.  I have one sister who is married with children of her own.  My parents are very happily married now for over 40 years.  I come from a very close family who enjoy good relationships with each other.

I have a Bachelor of Business Administration in Professional Sales from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. In addition, I have a Master of Arts in Missions and a Master of Divinity from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas.  For the past 9 years I have been employed by the Homewood Church of Christ in Birmingham, Alabama.  I was commissioned by that church to be a missionary first to Benin, West Africa from September 1998 until January 2002 and presently to Togo, West Africa.  My job situation is stable with a reliable income.  I have no plans of changing jobs in the near future.

I am 35 years old and married for the past 13 years to Christine.  Christine has a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas and a Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. She has chosen not to work outside of the home in order to be with our children.

We have two biological sons, Stephen age seven years and Matthew age five years.  Both my wife and I want to add to our family through adoption.  We long to have a daughter and know that there are many girls in China who need a loving family.  For these reasons we want to adopt from China.

We plan to preserve our daughter’s Chinese heritage to the best of our abilities.  We are educating ourselves now in the best way to do this through books, videos, online courses as well as participating in a large community of other families who have adopted from China.  My wife’s good friend, Maureen, who is Chinese from Singapore, is teaching my wife Chinese traditions to observe in our home.

I pledge that I will never mentally or physically abuse my daughter.  My wife pledges the same also.  We will never abandon our daughter and to the best of our abilities we will provide our daughter with a happy and stable home.  We will love her with the same passionate and unconditional love that we have for our two biological sons.

We will provide the best education available for our daughter. Furthermore, we will encourage her to pursue the highest education she desires.  We desire to be proactive parents providing our children with an encouraging and affirming environment.  We promise to provide and take care of our daughter physically and emotionally to the best of our abilities.

My wife and I are thankful to China for her willingness to allow American families to adopt her children.  I believe that our daughter will be a tremendous blessing to me and our entire family. Our biological sons are very excited to have a sister from China to love and care for.

We plan to return immediately to the United States upon adopting our daughter.  We will expedite her immigration to the United States and obtain her United States citizenship as quickly as possible.

Thank you for considering us as adoptive parents. We ask that you grant our request to bring a precious little girl into our home to be a part of our family.