Waiting Wednesday: Maxim

This Wednesday (since it should actually be Waiting Wednesday instead of Mazing Wednesday!), meet Maxim!

Maxim (7)

Boy, Born September 15, 2004

Maxim is a precious little boy who has already been sent away to the institution. He needs a family immediately!! He is 6 years old, with blonde hair and blue yes.  He struggles with strabismus in both eyes and a significant tongue thrust, but surgery/glasses and OT will help with that!  Please give Maxim the chance to grow up in a loving family, so he can realize his full potential!!  We have already had a family adopt from this institution, so Maxim still has an opportunity to be saved and to live the life he so richly deserves!

From one of our adoptive families who visited with him in October 2010:   I don't know if I can openly share how the whole encounter went so I will just say that we were able to go and while we were there I was able to see Maxim. To hold him and love on him. To laugh as he passed gas and laughed about it. That was one of the best parts of the visit, how he thought "tooting" (is it called that when boys do it?) was just the funniest thing – just like any other 6 year old little boy would. He was so sweet and so alert and attentive to those who had come to visit with him. Here's a little rundown of his abilities that I witnessed first hand:

• He can pull up to stand and walk with assistance.
• He knows his name and responds to it.
• He has a sweet nature, personality, and sense of humor
• He copies hand motions (I believe he could learn to sign)
• He can crawl
• He likes cars!  They said he crawls through the window to look out when the car comes to their building.

In the one pic above where  you see his hands, he kept touching his thumbs together and so I put his pointers togehter to make a heart and after that he kept trying to do it himself. His worker was a really sweet lady who obviously believes that people with DS are capable. She hopes to see change in her country someday. That really touched my heart to know that he is being cared for by someone who believes that he can be something if given a chance. AND HE CAN!

I AM ELIGIBLE FOR AN OLDER CHILD GRANT

Maxim's Mom and Dad? Where are you? I've seen him. I've held him and kissed his sweet face. He is waiting patiently for you to come for him. I KNOW, I just KNOW, that he will be the biggest blessing to his family. Please hear the call – for Maxim.

I've mentioned in several of my Waiting Wednesday posts (Logan and Ryan), and in one of my 'Mazing Monday posts (Liza Lorenz) that I visited their orphanage (orphanage (14) on RR) on my mission trip last summer. During my trip we not only got to visit the baby orphanage, but also the children's handicapped home in the same city! This children's handicapped home also happens to be orphanage (7) on RR! Even though I didn't get to see Maxim (we only played with the kids outside, and I'm guessing from his profile he doesn't get outside much), I was at his orphanage, and he is close to my heart as with all the kids of (14), (7), and (63)! Note: these numbers are made up by RR, they do not relate to the orphanages at all. 

I wish I had some photos to share of the other kids in his orphanage, but I was having so much fun with those precious kids that my camera didn't even make it off my hip! :) So I am going to share a post from Andrea G, who has met him, and posted about him for her Forever Family Friday post a week or so ago.

Maxim is at the special needs orphanage and although he is not in one of the groups I was working with, I have met him and can tell you from personal experience that he is a very sweet little boy.

I first met Maxim back in October when Liza’s parents were in country waiting to bring her home. Liza’s mom Melissa had fallen in love with Maxim on Reece’s Rainbow so we spoke with the director at the special needs orphanage and arranged to visit him. What a sweetheart! He was a tiny little guy with a shy smile who was proud to show off his standing/walking skills and then simply cuddle in our laps. We didn’t get to spend much time with him but by the time we left, there was no doubt that Melissa and I were both smitten.

 

A month or so later I got to see Maxim again when I went to visit another little girl from Reece’s Rainbow who was in the same group as him. I got to spend a little more time playing with him this time and once again, little Maxim captured my heart. He is such a happy, joyful little guy and as we played ball together I got to hear his adorable little laugh before he came to snuggle with me once more.

A while back Melissa wrote a very touching post about Maxim where she pointed out something that she had not noticed before. In one of the pictures she took of Maxim during our visit with him, Maxim was signing family!

 

The sign for family

When I first read that and looked up the sign for family, I literally got goose bumps – Melissa was not exaggerating, Maxim was doing it perfectly! Do I believe that Maxim miraculously learned sign language and was consciously letting us know what he wanted? No, but I do believe that God used that little boy’s hands to let us know what he truly needed – a family of his very own.

Maxim is nearly seven years old and with every birthday his chance at a family grows slimmer and slimmer. Maxim is loved by his caretakers who would love to see him find a family and be able to reach his fullest potential. Unfortunately, there are some changes going on in his orphanage right now (change in management, lower staff-to-child ratios, etc.) that have me concerned for Maxim’s wellbeing. Maxim has waited long enough, he needs a family now. Like Liza, because Maxim is considered an “older child” he does not have a grant of his own but right now there is $826 in the older boys’ grant so if you’re considering adopting Maxim, that grant could be his if you act fast. You can help Maxim find his family by sharing his story and praying that this forgotten little boy would be forgotten no longer. For more information or to donate, click here.