Huang Luli Anne Heerkens’ Story

Rob and Anja Heerkens live in the Netherlands and adopted Luli from Xining Home in 2001 when she was two years old. I always make it a habit to keep in touch with all the children through their parents by sending yearly birthday and Christmas greetings. Join me to give thanks to God for Rob and Anja, who give Luli a forever family, shower her with unconditional love, and help her grow up in a nurturing environment. I have invited Anja to write about her lovely girl and I am so happy to share her reply with you!

With love,
Siew Mei

Hello everyone at Christian Action! I am thrilled to share with you about Luli.

We live in a tiny village near Gorinchem. When she first arrived, Luli adjusted very well to her new environment; she learned our language very quickly and was very curious to find out all the possibilities of her new home. We had the luxury of taking months off work to build a family in the beginning. From day one, we deeply cared for her. She learned she was our daughter forever, and she began to trust us. She was a curious child; she loved playing and was quite busy exploring her world in the small village. When she was twelve years old, she went to secondary school in Gorinchem. Cycling for an hour each way, in any type of weather, is something all Dutch children who live in small cities must do. During her formative years, she became more disciplined and graduated with excellent grades. She chose to go to Erasmus University to study business economics. Despite COVID and all the restrictive measures, she managed to finish her Bachelor degree in three years, after which she finished two Masters qualifications with very good grades: Management of Innovation and Financial Economics. During her school and university career, she made many friends.

In 2004, Luli became ‘big sister’ to her brother Yon from Harbin, and they have had a strong bond from the beginning. For vacations in 2007 and 2011, and then in 2015, we made a so-called 'roots journey' to China. In 2017, she visited Xining with her best friends, and they spent some time doing volunteer work at the Xining Home. It was lovely to see that nobody has forgotten Lu Li!

Luli, a working young woman, lives in Rotterdam with her cat. She has a demanding job and has picked up studying again, but she also enjoys a comfortable social life. Luli is a child of two cultures, and we are beyond proud parents when we see the woman she has become. Thank you, Christian Action, for giving her a positive start!

Much blessings,
Anja Heerkens

Luli is graduating from Erasmus University
with two master degrees When Luli was at the Home