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Celebrating One Year!
11 Plays9 days ago
Celebrating One Year!
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Transcript
Celebrating 'Whose Am I?' Anniversary
00:00:01
Speaker
We all have a story, and at times we feel we're walking it out alone. Let's pause and think. Join us for honest
00:00:23
Speaker
Hi, we are so excited Jackie and Aisha, we're in Guatemala City and we're recording a very special episode because today we're celebrating a year of the launch of our book, Whose Am I? The Quien Soy? And we are joined together by the man who believed in our project, who got the manuscript and said, let's do this. So we have Matt McKee with us today and we are so glad to have you Matt, welcome.
God's Role and HarperCollins' Support
00:00:54
Speaker
I'm glad to be here on this very special one-year anniversary of such a wonderful book, one of my favorite projects that I've ever worked on. So thank you for having me today. It is an honor to be here.
00:01:06
Speaker
Oh, thank you. Well, we are so honored to have you, Matt. The Lord knew who we needed as our leader to lead this whole project. And not just as a leader of HarperCollins, Grupo Nelson, but I 100% believe that God orchestrated all
Matt's Personal Adoption Journey
00:01:25
Speaker
this. He knit our hearts together. And we would love for you to share with our viewers, our listeners,
00:01:31
Speaker
about how when the manuscript came across your desk, what were your thoughts? how How did this all come to be? Sure. Well, my wife and I, Brooke, we were in the process of adoption. We had tried throughout the years, probably three or four beginning three or four years prior to the the book ah being published, we had been trying to adopt and of course it's a long journey and sometimes it's a successful journey at the get-go and sometimes it takes a while. In our case, it took a while. We had just been matched with the little girl from Columbia who we ended up adopting, a special needs girl who has a ah troubled past and um the manuscript strip cra came across my desk and um it really it gripped me.
00:02:21
Speaker
ah just because of your story, Jackie, and then to understand ah some of the things that you've gone through. And as we involved Aisha, ah even more so in the process and hearing more about Darlie, it just was one of those things where the Lord was making it abundantly clear that this book needed to be published and that I, and the whole team, the whole editorial marketing and publishing team here at Harper Collins Christian Publishing Group of Nelson would have the honor of of publishing it.
Challenges of Presenting the Story to Children
00:02:51
Speaker
um My boss, Christopher Garrito, we were talking about it just in an impromptu, informal conversation. He said, I can see you reading this book to your daughter when she starts to have those questions. And that was essentially the straw that broke the camel's back in a good way, where we said, you know what, we're going to do this. And the Lord's going to Do with it what he sees fit. And of course, a year later, we can rejoice and see the great number of lives that have been impacted by this wonderful, wonderful book. Yeah. It's wild to think everything that came together because it is a very challenging biography to present to a child because Jackie's beginning is is terrible. No baby should go through what she went through.
00:03:47
Speaker
And then that the Lord put in her heart through that um
Aisha's Contribution and Initial Hesitations
00:03:53
Speaker
um dream 30 years ago or more. ah that it was to be a children's book presented us with a challenge. When she first came to me and approached me with the idea in because she was bewildered. I mean, no clue as to how to ah present this, who to talk to or anything. And I was the only published author that she knew. And I
00:04:18
Speaker
Honestly, before the Lord, he knows that I was just there as a friend, as an adoption advocate, as someone that was a cheerleader to her and to the project, to the story, because I knew it would impact so many. And so when I first came along as that, although Jackie always had you know suggested like she she mentioned that she was dreaming up a book in which I could be illustrator. I didn't think like I was pulling it. ah I was going to be able to pull it off because of my time. And I was very involved with it with my first full-blown children's book project because I'd illustrated here and there, but not a full project. So I felt like I did not have the bandwidth to pull it off.
Matt's Leadership and Collaborative Success
00:05:10
Speaker
And then um
00:05:12
Speaker
Chris Garrell suggested you guys, you know, he got to see the initial manuscript and then suggested that that, you know, something be done with it so it could be more palatable to younger audiences and stuff. And I believe the Lord gave me the idea to introduce their relationship, ah Jackie with Darlie's relationship, which I had witnessed firsthand. And I said, well, Jackie has shared her testimony with my child and it's been pretty explicit and it's been a blessing and it's healed so much in her. So why don't we take that in a form of a book? and
00:05:57
Speaker
and word it in such a way that it will be memorable for for parents and for children, put in lines that make make it to their minds and part of their vocabulary as family. So anyways, that's how I began to collaborate with the story. And then we had a Zoom call very similar to this. And then Jackie remembers it and we laugh all the time about how you were just like hands down, very insistent on what you had in mind for the project.
00:06:32
Speaker
Well, I love that part of the story because you know, Matt, I was very green. I told you many times, I know nothing about this industry. You know, I just shared my dream. And when I talked to Aisha, I knew in the back of my mind that Aisha is a very talented illustrator, very creative in her writing as well. She's an author. um But the Lord knew exactly who we needed to lead this project this um vision dream for us and I remember that meeting so well that call when you know Aisha was trying to say that she would love to be um maybe directing the illustrating but you know she had a lot on her plate and you emphatically said no.
00:07:20
Speaker
And when you said that, I was clapping on the inside because I knew that, you know, her being an adoptive mom ah with Darley, she knows my story well. She knows clearly the story of her child.
00:07:39
Speaker
And you were just meeting you know all of this and hearing all of this, but I really believe that God used you. He chose you to lead us because ah that's a good leader to to know how to say no as well. And you said no, and I i love that because that's why we're here celebrating one year later.
00:08:00
Speaker
because of your leadership and just how God orchestrated
Resonance of Book Themes with Readers
00:08:04
Speaker
all this together. And it it blows my mind that we didn't even know. I had no idea you were adopting. like we We know each other and we were cordial toward one another, but we it's not that we chat or anything. I had no idea you guys were going through that. And mind you, it was a columbian Colombian little girl. So this was your book. it was like And it's very unique.
00:08:29
Speaker
in everything that it brings together, because it's a Korean-born American adoptee with a Guatemalan mom. And ah so it's a very multicultural project. And the fact that we went out there and made it bilingual, I mean, it it it's quite a challenging thing to get into on board. And and you did. and the And the team did. So I don't know what your perspective is on all of it.
00:08:57
Speaker
but Are you sure it was emphatic? I thought it was just a suggestion. Oh, no, it was emphatic. You just said, no, I don't accept that. It's funny how we remember things. Well, and and here's why. um
00:09:17
Speaker
I should knows Darlene, and she knows Jackie. And you I actually could have been directing this, been providing creative direction.
00:09:28
Speaker
But um actually, you you know the the the the facial idiosync idiosyncrasies of Darlie. I mean, if you take a look at the the book behind me, you've got um down to the to Jackie's facial features and and the way her hair looks. And dar I mean, I had never met Darlie until a couple of months after the book went on sale. And I walked into a church in Lima. I'm like, oh, there's Darlie.
00:09:58
Speaker
How do you know? And you capture that. I mean, that like capturing even natural sitting on the floor and and Jackie and Darley at the counter making cookies. so You can have that that shot from behind and you can kind of see um just the little nuances of their the physical appearance, but also the personality shines through there. A creative director,
00:10:25
Speaker
giving guidance to an illustrator, it was just not going to to capture that. So um and in in word, Jackie captured exactly what needed to be said and in illustration, Aisha, you captured what needed to be said. And even as we take a look at the promotion of the book and talking about the book and the number of conferences and media appearances, I mean, you guys have been on with some really high-profile people. We think of Shannon Breen, we think of Focus on the Family. That whole teamwork and working together from the start, I think, has made this a really, really special project and taken you both as authors to levels that you may not have been before, but even more important than that is the story of adoption, the story of redemption, the story of our identity in Christ. It has ministered to so many different people and it all started with a manuscript
00:11:21
Speaker
crossing my desk and then getting into the story and saying, hey, this is the way it needs to be done. And then, um you know, you ladies accepting um that type of, I guess you could say leadership and saying, okay, let's do it. And we see what has happened. And that is a microcosm in my estimation of how the body of Christ works. You have someone in Jackie who has the story. You have someone in Aisha who has the the illustration prowess and also the experience as an author and then myself who's been in the industry long enough to at least be moderately dangerous. And you know here we are a year later and we see what the Lord has done. And this is one of those books that isn't just a, it's it's we call it an evergreen book because every one of us in some way or another has experienced some kind of failure or trauma. And um
00:12:19
Speaker
There are so many kids out there in the world today, whether it's throughid you know through being found in the garbage dump or in the case of my daughter being abused where at three months of age and then living the first almost four and a half years of real life in an orphanage. Those types of things are realities. And as brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, um
Facilitating Family Discussions
00:12:40
Speaker
we're called to disciple one another through that. And this is a resource that's phenomenal just for that that very thing.
00:12:49
Speaker
Oh, we are so encouraged um that a publisher the size, not not the size, but the substance of Harper Collins and Nelson really believed in this project because it's not a very profitable one. let's Let's be honest. It's not a best seller. It's not like ah um a front runner in many respects, but you guys, you especially Matt, have been really passionate about it because you live believe in the message.
00:13:22
Speaker
And that's what we have you know come to so appreciate. And we have some stories that have transpired in this year and that we would like to share with you. And I think that is like ah the answered prayer um and of giving birth to a book.
00:13:40
Speaker
we envision how it's going to touch people's lives. And so, Jackie has a few little anecdotes. Yeah. So, again, i we so appreciate how the Lord orchestrated and brought us all together. yeah it wasn't It's not it's not a um about profit, but it's about um putting that message out for for the Lord to use. And all that I live through, um I understand now um that God wanted to use my story to bring hope and encouragement regarding our value and worth in Him and ultimately our adoption in Him as as His daughters and sons. And so I so appreciate that. And, you know, I think about my parents
00:14:30
Speaker
back in the 60s, if they could have had a resource like this that they could have read to us, because I have another adoptive brother and sister and my parents also fostered. And so if they could have had a resource, I often think how that could have helped me at an earlier stage of life to understand my identity and my worth in Christ, even though I received love for my parents and everything that I physically needed. you know But I'm so thankful in how we've talked about that this message um clearly is for adopted children
00:15:08
Speaker
and the parents to be a resource, a tool. But one thing that I've been so surprised and so grateful for over this past year is to see how it has ministered to adults as well. The adults who've been who've been reading it to their kids, who we've been hearing, they were adopted.
00:15:30
Speaker
And they didn't even know how to talk about their adoption to their kids. And so it's been a tool to adults. And it's also been a tool, um just a story that God wanted to use in the lives of children who aren't even maybe physically adopted here.
00:15:49
Speaker
you know uh they were birthed by their biological parents but i can think of two specific stories one a little boy who um is from korea and he wanted to read the story time and time again but he kept asking his mom so many questions about adoption and about his own beginning. And the mom said it was such a great way to have these conversations with my child and to explain to them, to him, what adoption is about. Because so many children nowadays, especially in the States and here in Latin America, they're in school or Sunday school with adopted kids. But if they have never heard of the word adoption,
00:16:35
Speaker
How can they even be empathetic or kind to those children? And so I loved hearing stories like that as well about kids who even weren't adopted, but was introduced the word adoption at such a greater level that really, really touched my heart. Yes. We were recently at Field Gathering.
00:16:56
Speaker
an excellent retreat for adoptive and foster moms. And it it's so cool that we had women come into the workshop that we facilitated because they have read the book. And one very ah serious commitment for me as I was working on the project was those images stay with the child. My son said, mom, the books that we enjoyed as little kids, they've stayed with us.
00:17:26
Speaker
So you're drawing something that will be so important to a little boy or a little girl. And I'm like, you're right. And so we have moms that will come up to us and say, oh, my kid is not going to believe that I met you guys.
00:17:42
Speaker
Like, let's take a picture. And in in mom's showing us their pictures of how they bake the adoption cookies. That's what her son
Publishing the Book Bilingually
00:17:53
Speaker
calls ah the the cookies that Jackie generously shared her recipe with the world. And so it's just the kind of of outcome that you pray for. The fact that it's bringing families to conversations that are very worthy.
00:18:11
Speaker
very worthwhile, very deep, um and just making them curious about certain things. And we provide a way to touch subjects that they want to talk about, but can't really find the way around. And we are like, hey, we can bring it up for you through the book. And so that's been super, um fulfilling for me, um very warm to my heart, and just very special. Yeah, and I just want to add ah the fact that you and Chris seen the need for it to be bilingual, and maybe you want to touch on that, um how that all came to be as well. Well, it's hard to tell the story ah without it being in the heart language of you, Jackie, in the heart language of Darling. That's number one.
00:19:08
Speaker
Number two is we are a ah Spanish-speaking publisher. Number three is all of us on our team are bilingual, so we wanted this book to be made available to as many people as possible, and it's something that we could ah promote and market in both languages. And of course, with Aisha being a native, both of well, both of you being bilingual, Jackie, you being natively but speaking, Aisha, you being natively Spanish-speaking, and both,
00:19:38
Speaker
ah speaking fluently in both languages, it just made sense.
Real-life Impact Story
00:19:44
Speaker
And if you take a look at both languages, English being the world's most widely spoken language, kind of the language of trade, and then Spanish being the second most widely spoken native language behind Mandarin, that's almost a billion people who are a potential audience for this book. And we've seen how both the promotion of this book in English and Spanish has made the book, made people aware of the book so that they can consume the message in their heart language. And also a number of parents who are English speaking are adopting out of Latin America. So it's something that they can, with those children who are coming here, a lot of those children come here, you know, five years and up. I think of even in my own case where Yvette is, my daughter is, was
00:20:36
Speaker
almost five years old, almost six, five years old, yeah, five years old when when she arrived here. Had we not been bilingual and communicate could communicate with her, it's something that I can read to her and she can follow along in her own heart language. So that's that's important. um And we've seen the opportunities that the book has, that it being bilingual in English and Spanish has afforded you ladies in terms of the promotion of it I mean, it's been absolutely wonderful to see how you've been able to to share your testimony about the book. Let me tell you, if you don't mind, my own story of of Who's Am I? And um I was in Mexico not too long ago, back in November, end of October, early November, and for a large conference. And Jackie was at that conference as well. And I happened to be staying with the
00:21:33
Speaker
a ministry friend of mine who become friends over the years. And he's in his mid 40s. His wife was just a couple of years older than than he is. They have adolescent and grown children. um So they're, for all intents and purposes, in that next stage of life, you know, almost to being immun pastors, you know, kind of on that border, kind of the no man's land, if you will, of aging. And, um of course,
00:22:04
Speaker
She's about to go through some significant physical changes in her life, the the M word, the menopause word and things of that nature. So they're trying to evaluate ah some things in their lives and they visited an orphanage in a large city in Latin America and saw a little girl, special needs basically alone in the corner of that um orphanage. And the father's heart was immediately broken and the mother's was as well.
00:22:34
Speaker
And they were praying about whether or not given a lot of the changes in their lives, they should even take this on. And um because of the book, because of my visit there and also taking advantage of Jackie being there in the Lord, weaving the tapestry of his providence, ah we sat down to lunch with them one day and um they were able to just speak with Jackie and Randall, Jackie's husband, myself about this issue.
00:23:04
Speaker
And long story short, that next Sunday, she wrote a little note to her husband during the sermon that says, I'm ready to be obedient to the Lord and adopt this little girl.
Identity in Christ and Universal Relevance
00:23:13
Speaker
So um you know if it were just that one story that we published a book, that would be worth it. But that's one of countless. And um as I've said about this book on more than one occasion, this is an evergreen book. This is a book that's not going to go out of style because or not going to go out of relevance.
00:23:33
Speaker
because um we all have an issue of identity in understanding who we are in Jesus Christ. And this book helps us to answer that question. So you ladies have done a phenomenal job and I'm proud of you and I'm grateful for you. Thank you for your support always, Matt. Yeah, we are so thankful for you, Matt. Thankful for Harper Collins Grupo Nelson.
00:23:59
Speaker
um The support, the vision, you know, it was you and Chris who said, you know, this needs to be bilingual. ah We're just so thankful for how you projected and seen things that we didn't. And we are seeing the impact, I believe, this past year of, you know, we mentioned a couple stories. And like you said, if if it was just for that one story, it was all worth it. If it was just for this other story, it was all worth it.
00:24:27
Speaker
But between Aish and I, and I know you as the publisher, we've heard a lot of stories this past year, how God is using, who's am I, the kyun soi? to minister to the lives of many children, many adults. I've heard people in their 20s who are like, oh my goodness, I needed this message for me and I'm not even adopted. I just needed ah um to have my perspective realigned about my identity and worth in Christ.
00:24:57
Speaker
And i ah we're we're just so thankful um how God has orchestrated all this. You know, like you said, the tapestry woven it all together and brought us together um to minister through this message of of the book, to take um this message out beyond beyond anything we could have asked or imagined or thought of.
00:25:21
Speaker
And that's why we serve a ah great God, our Heavenly Father, who um knows so much more than we could ever you know think we know and orchestrate it all. And we are just so thankful for you, Matt. thank We're thankful for this one-year anniversary.
00:25:38
Speaker
and all the lives that have been touched because of it. And we we just see God um using it, like you said, as an evergreen. The message is going to continue to be relevant and minister life and hope to those who read it.
Gratitude and Future Podcast Announcements
00:25:52
Speaker
And so we're just thankful for your time, thankful for joining us on this one-year anniversary.
00:25:58
Speaker
And we are thankful for you who who are listening to our podcast pause and think and we just hope you'll continue to ah Tune in because we will have Matt and Brooke in the future share their adoption story um about their daughter So continue to tune in and listen to pause and think yes share your stories and share the episodes that have blessed your life we are so happy to be part of this adventure together. And we're the first ones to be blessed. So thank you and see you again on Paws and