Acres of Hope: The Miraculous Story of One Family's Gift of Love to Children Without Hope [Hardcover]

Patty Anglin (Author), Joe Musser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Over the past several years, Patty and Harold Anglin have adopted eight children with special needs, adding to their already large family of seven biological children. Their adopted children range in age from six months to fifteen years. They come from all over the world, from as far away as Nigeria and India. They are children who would have had no hope in this world if Patty and Harold had not opened their hearts and given them a home bursting with love and acceptance. Many people have asked Patty and Harold why they have adopted so many children with special needs. Their answer is simple, "There is a need!" Years ago, God gave them the verse, "And whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me" (Matthew 18:5). God has brought each miracle child into the Anglin home in a special way. They simply responded to the call. Patty says, "Our wish is that every innocent child will come to know and feel the love and security of a family. We believe if you are faithful and obedientservants of God, He will supply all your needs. We know this to be true; He has never let us down!"

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This inspiring memoir by a mother who has adopted eight special-needs children calls readers to regard every child as precious in God's sight. Anglin and her husband, Harold, made a commitment, while fostering 50-odd children through the years, to adopt "the ones no one else wanted." These include two crack-addicted babies born to a 13-year-old prostitute; a son with severe emotional problems whose birth parents had tortured him with cigarettes and hung him upside down for punishment; a Nigerian boy born without lower arms and legs; and a five-year-old quadriplegic from India who weighed only 16 pounds at adoption. Anglin emerges not as a self-righteous attention-seeker but a woman of deep faith firmly committed to the individual nurturance of children. She tries hard not to judge the children's biological parents for their various faults, though her fierce mama bear instincts show clearly in harsh words for the social care system. In particular, she criticizes the growing practice of barring cross-racial adoption as a "a subtle form of racism," describing her tooth-and-nail custody fight against an insensitive case worker who, she says, almost sacrificed a child's life for an ideological principle. Today, the Anglins live and home-school their large family, which includes seven biological children, on a 200-acre Wisconsin farm called "Acres of Hope." Both full-time caregivers, they were able to purchase the $62,500 tract because a local bank president financed the entire amount, saying the community needed more people like them. That's an understatement. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description

Over the past several years, Patty and Harold Anglin have adopted eight children with special needs, adding to their already large family of seven biological children. Their adopted children range in age from six months to fifteen years. They come from all over the world, from as far away as Nigeria and India. They are children who would have had no hope in this world if Patty and Harold had not opened their hearts and given them a home bursting with love and acceptance. Many people have asked Patty and Harold why they have adopted so many children with special needs. Their answer is simple, "There is a need!" Years ago, God gave them the verse, "And whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me" (Matthew 18:5). God has brought each miracle child into the Anglin home in a special way. They simply responded to the call. Patty says, "Our wish is that every innocent child will come to know and feel the love and security of a family. We believe if you are faithful and obedientservants of God, He will supply all your needs. We know this to be true; He has never let us down!"

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577486250
• ISBN-13: 978-1577486251
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,431,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Acres of Hope for transracial and special needs adoption, January 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Acres of Hope: The Miraculous Story of One Family's Gift of Love to Children Without Hope (Hardcover)

This book was a fabulous resource for information concerning transracial adoption and the need for both placement for minority and special-needs children. I was inspired by the Anglins' overwhelming compassion and care for so many challenging children, despite there lack of substantial financial income. The idea of adopting/fostering such children became much more of a reality for me after reading this book. Despite obstacles placed before them by certain biased social workers and historical mores, they were able to realize there dream of helping children whom no one else wanted and, in the process, pioneered new techniques for assisting their unprecedented physical, social and emotional development, something most of us can only hope to do one day.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Acres and acres of love - abounding!, June 15, 2000

By 

Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in Hawaii, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Acres of Hope: The Miraculous Story of One Family's Gift of Love to Children Without Hope (Hardcover)

What an incredibly inspiring book! This is an EXCELLENT book and God Bless the entire Anglin family. I loved reading about each of their 8 adopted special needs children and the love that was poured forth which has made a HUGE difference in each and everyone of these children's lives. I have to ask myself what would have become of these precious children if it were not for the Anglin's? This book PROVES that love conquers all and that love is indeed the answer.

This book is especially poignant to me in that, in my own personal upheavls and challenges, Patty has taught me about having faith and trust in God. Since God is in charge and knows the outcome, one just has to have faith. I think that this book "fell" into my hands for a reason in that it has provided me the answers on how to cope with my personal challenges - it has given me hope.

I am inspired by the challenges that the Anglin's faced at various times in their lives, yet they perservered, they never gave up hope and the love that they all shared TOGETHER pulled them through. I laughed, I cheered and I cried and I could not put this book down. This couple, this family is love in action - pure and simple.

This is a book of fortitude and love and hope. This book will touch your heart in many ways. Again I say, God Bless.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such an inspiration!, January 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Acres of Hope: The Miraculous Story of One Family's Gift of Love to Children Without Hope (Hardcover)

Excellent book! I couldn't put it down - very easy reading. Every chapter is the story of one of Patty's miracle children. Each story was truly captivating and heart-warming. Patty's life seems to be a collection of small miracles, and I think it's extraordinary what her and her family have faced and the obstacles her children have miraculously overcome! This book was truly inspirational - I HIGHLY RECCOMEND IT TO EVERYONE!