“Through this journey, there was a lot of resistance. Understanding the Korean culture… we know that for both of our parents, it was a huge jump for them to actually be supportive of this. I don’t think many parents, especially of the Asian decent, would be supportive of this.”
JT and Grace Park shared these words with us about their parents just over a year ago. It’s remarkable how much can change in such a short span of time.
Above: Grace’s Father, Young Hwan Lee, back in the day.
If you’ve been following our blog, you’ll remember that about a year ago, the Parks adopted a baby boy from Korea named Joel, and welcomed him into their family. [See our previous blogpost we are the the park family 5 | homecoming]
Before long, they were moved in their hearts adopt another child from Korea, and began the process of bringing Sarah into their family. In the midst of the process, some challenges arose.
According to the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, There are currently 20,000 children in South Korea waiting to be adopted. Of these children, many have special needs, and their hopes are bleak for one day finding a forever family. [Of special needs children in South Korea, only 1.5% are adopted by Korean citizens via domestic adoption.]
Despite these numbers, and due in part to pressure from anti-adoption groups, there are now restrictions impacting all international adoptions. A quota has been established, drastically limiting the number of children that can be adopted internationally.
Above (from left): Joel, Anna, and Timothy Park
In light of this news, and in the midst of their second adoption process, JT and Grace approached us to help create a video for the Voice of Love Campaign, whose sole focus is advocating on behalf of orphaned children in South Korea.
Composed of Koreans, Korean-Americans, American churches and ministries, adoptees and their families, and friends all over the world—Voice of Love is brought together by one goal: restoring the futures of waiting children and reminding South Korea that adoption is a beautiful thing.
As with all of our films, we aimed to create a meaningful and visually rich story. Having filmed the Homecoming video for the Parks and experiencing their heart of love for their baby boy, Joel, we knew we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to tell their family’s ongoing story.
We felt that the strongest angle we could take with this piece would be to hear a testimony from someone who changed his mind along the way–Grace’s father. It was remarkable to hear him speak about his family, especially understanding that just over a year ago, his perspective was much different.
In the end, we hoped to create something that everyone could watch–not just those involved in the adoption community, but a film for everyone to enjoy, and hopefully share.
This is Young Hwan Lee, and this is his story.
Cheers,
Chris
When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by the Park Family–their whole family. JT & Grace’s two children donned shirts that read “older brother” and “older sister in Korean and their cousins held up homemade welcome signs.
While the grandparents prepped bottles and gifts, JT & Grace nervously and incessantly checked flight monitors to see if Joel had arrived . The look of anticipation on these expecting parents’ faces was so beautiful.
When it comes to creating our films, we are all about the story. Sometimes we can tell a story in a couple of minutes–maybe even a few seconds. Those who frequent this blog are probably in habit of liking short videos. This video, however, is decidedly longer, because we wanted to make sure we told their story in its fullness. So if you have a few minutes, please, take a seat, and enjoy. You really won’t regret it.