Melissa, an assistant professor of social work at Cedarville University, graduated from the college in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in the field.
The university shared in a recent press release that when Brown learned from a fellow church member in 2015 that a child needed a host family in the United States in order to receive medical treatment, she felt compelled to open her home.
The boy, who had suffered burns to his face as a result of a field fire accident when he was just 3, received treatments that year and then returned home to China.
But in May 2019, he needed further treatments, so he and his family arranged for him to return to the United States. The plan was for Joey to stay with the Browns for just six months to undergo one or two surgeries before returning home again.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic put a wrench in these plans and this time Joey was here to stay.
According to the Browns, back in 2015, Joey’s parents had asked the family if they would consider adopting their son, as the culture in his home country made it difficult for someone like Joey.
“The disfigurement from his burns caused people to think his family was ‘unlucky’ and would make it difficult, if not impossible, for him to excel in school and society,” Brown said.
Despite initially declining, the Brown family reconsidered in 2022, this time agreeing to pursue the adoption.
“We had to wrestle with whether it was really in the best interest for him to have permanent separation from his family,” said Brown. “It could be simple to say that he could have a better life here, but that would just be from the perspective that we have more opportunities here. Most people wouldn’t agree to be adopted out from their families just to have different or better opportunities.”
The family was able to finalize the adoption process this year with the help of Dr. Chao Liu, an assistant professor of psychology at Cedarville, who is also from China and served as a mediator between the Browns and Joey’s parents.
According to the university, Joey has adjusted well to life in America and is making many friends.
“He is doing well in school and is hopeful about the future,” the release states. “Joey maintains contact with his family, talking with them every month. He keeps them updated on what he is doing and what he is learning.”
When Joey initially came to the States, the Browns wanted him to have a name that was easy for his peers to pronounce, so they chose the name “Joey.” He decided at the time of his adoption that he’d like his legal name to be Joseph, retaining “Joey” as a nickname.
Brown compared Joey’s life to that of Joseph in the Bible.
“When we chose the name Joey, the parallels between Joey’s life and the life of Joseph in the Bible were never on our radar,” Brown said. “In the Bible, Joseph was removed from his family, but he was able to bless them years later. And just like Joseph, Joey will be fully immersed in a different culture. But in his heart, he will always be Chinese. He will always be Zexi Xu, his parents’ son. And our prayer is that he will be a blessing to his birth family in China.”
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