our stories
If you ask Jasmin Mancer or Luke Harris about their adopted childhood, you can be sure it will stir a mix of emotions.
From dire to direction...
...from hopeless to giving back hope
I was adopted from Matahari Terbit in the 1970s. I have grown up with such gratitude, now it's time to give back.
ABOUT
Jasmin
I was adopted from Taiwan and it's been my dream to make a difference in the lives of other disadvantaged children from Hualien.
ABOUT
Luke
Luke Harris
Paying it forward with passion and gratitude
Adoption changed my life’s direction for good. As a seven-month-old too little to understand, my voyage from Taiwan to Australia turned an uncertain future into a blessing.
The contrasts of each country are obvious, further emphasising the incredible opportunities gifted to me thanks to my Australian adoptive parents, Kim and Rosie.
My childhood in Australia meant a loving home with four siblings. It meant attending a great school where friendships grew and followed me into adulthood. And it meant growing and gaining confidence, learning to lead and to be strong; the powerful upside to playing sport and contributing to teams off-field. Lessons that taught me anything is possible.
I am now in my late 30’s and married to Eve, a Taiwanese national, whom I met in Darwin and have been married to since 2013. We have two beautiful boys Maxwell and Leo. It was Eve that encouraged me to reconnect with my heritage and who helped to give birth to this Foundation.
Today, I use my strengths to create and work with not-for-profits such as Westminster Old Scholars and Banks Bulldogs Football Clubs, with a notable career highlight being the founding of the Northern Territory Insurance Industry Conference. Here, I volunteered my time to engage national and international speakers for the annual event now seven years in, formulated to improve local industry through education. Reaching out to sponsors, I succeeded in creating a fully funded event for delegates to attend free of charge.
You might say my sense of community and a commitment to learning comes naturally; however, I couldn’t have achieved any of this without my supportive network of family and friends and amazing opportunities, all only ever made possible through my adoption.
So, now, I'm channelling my gratitude with a clear action plan – paying it forward through the Foundation. Giving less fortunate children in my homeland a similar leg-up in life.
The boys of Hualien deserve a chance to better their circumstances.
As a Hualien boy from a lifetime ago, myself and Eve, along with the Foundation will help them do just that.
Jasmin Mancer (Harris)
A hope and a future
My adoption into a privileged world has seen me immersed in a lifestyle that couldn’t be more opposite to the one I was rescued from. To my adoptive parents and their obedience to the call of God, I will be eternally grateful. Thanks to them and their lifestyle which exemplified unconditional love, I have experienced an incredible life.
I was given a privileged education with endless opportunities in sport and dancing; travel; friendships; I attained university qualifications; and have always been surrounded by friends and family. My childhood memories are framed with happiness and security and life growing up for me, was underpinned by faith and family:
a legacy continues in my own home today.
I am now in my forties, married to Marcus and together, we have four beautiful children – three girls, Mali, Darcy and Evie, and son, Joseph. We live in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, where we own our own business and wholeheartedly serve in the dynamic local church community of C3 Global. I am passionate about building community, investing in people and raising a generation who respects the ways of the Ancient Path and who will strive to run with their opportunities further, deeper and wider than the generation before.
I am honoured to be a part of Harris Family Seeds of Hope and look forward to the exciting testimonies of transformed lives of the children from Matahari Terbit and Mustard Seed Youth Home who, like me,
are promised a hope and a future.
