As I shared previously, we are the grateful recipients of a grant through Lifesong for Orphans. Actually, they are hosting the grant for the James Fund, so our grant is actually through Family Christian Stores.
We are so incredibly grateful for their willingness to help support us in our adoption process. They will match any funds we raise, up to $3000, before April 11, 2012.
Part of the stipulations of the grant was that we send out a support letter to Family and Friends. That is such a humble letter to write! Why is it that our pride so often stops us from asking for help? yet, we know that God asks us to be a part of the body of Christ and to share needs and burdens, so with that in mind, we composed a letter to send out asking for Prayers and *gulp* financial support.
This adoption cost around $25,000. *gulp* That is certainly money we do not have. But we are trusting that the Lord has lead us down this path, and we are trusting that He will provide the means.
So.....
____________________________________________________________________
Dear
Family and Friends,
“Father to the
fatherless, … this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
God places the lonely
in families…” Psalms 68:5,6
As some of you know, we have felt called and directed by God
to adopt a “fatherless” child into our family. We are currently in the process
of adopting a child from Thailand. We are expecting to be matched in March of
2013 and then travel to Thailand in the fall of that year to bring our child
home. As a family, we have been praying specifically for the little boy or girl
God has for us and are very excited to welcome another child into our family!
Did you know it is estimated less than 10% of all orphaned
children are adopted into evangelical Christian families? According to current
estimates, if only 10% more Christians in America would adopt, it would be
equivalent to providing homes for all the orphans in Eastern Europe (1.5
million), Latin America (400,000) and the US foster care system (150,000).
Some of you are probably wondering what has prompted us to
adopt. A primary reason is that we have felt so directed by God to adopt that
we cannot respond with anything less than obedience to His calling. We also
have a great desire to be a family to a child who is “fatherless”. God desires
for orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for and adopted into families –
ultimately so they can be adopted into His eternal family through Jesus Christ.
We believe that adoption is at the very heart of the Gospel, as we ourselves
are adopted into God’s family through our faith in Jesus Christ. It is our
absolute greatest joy to be a part of the family of God! Here are just a few
things that God has used to move our hearts towards adoption:
"Learn to do good; seek
justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's
cause." Isaiah
1:17
In love he predestined us for
adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise
of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved" Ephesians:1-6
Even our children
are excited to have a new brother or sister! They pray for them daily. Ben is
specifically praying for a brother so he can share all of his cool toys and
have bunk beds! They both have sensitive hearts and are saddened by the thought
of a child not having a mommy and daddy. In fact, Nick and I were able to go on
a mission trip recently and both children were sad when they realized we did
not bring home their sibling! They were under the impression we were going to
Thailand to bring home our child!
The biggest
challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to another child, but it is
in finding the finances to make this happen. We estimate our total cost for
adoption fees, document preparation, home study, airfare, travel, attorney
fees, etc to be $25,000 - that is certainly money we do not have, but we know
God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him. By God's grace we have been
able to pay the first $6,700 through donations, a rummage sale fundraiser and
personal funds.
Honestly, because
of our pride, it's a little difficult to make our needs known to the Body of
Christ around us, but we also know it is very Biblical to do so. We appreciate your
friendship very much and would like to ask for your prayers and for you to
consider helping us in our adoption. There are two ways you can help:
1. Prayer - Please pray that God will care
for our child in Thailand until we are able to bring him home, that God will
prepare Ben and Hannah, as well as ourselves, for the upcoming changes to our
family and that God will give us wisdom, discernment and insight as we raise
our children to know Jesus Christ.
2. Financial Support - Will you please
consider making a tax-deductable donation to help us pay the remaining $18,300 in
adoption expenses to bring our child home?
Family Christian Stores and The James Fund have partnered with Lifesong and have
graciously given us a matching grant of $3,000 to help pay the
"ransom" to bring our child home. The only ‘catch’ is that we must
raise our matching funds by April 11,
2012.
If you would like to be a financial part of God bringing our
child to join our forever family, you can send your tax-deductible gift between
now and April 11, 2012 to the address
below. (The fund will be open until we bring our child home, but we have till
April 11 to raise the $3,000 needed for the matching grant to be awarded). Lifesong is a trusted organization
administering the funds on our family's behalf, and will pay adoption expenses
out of funds received.
1. Please make checks payable to: Lifesong. You may
preference how the donation might be used by writing "preference Jackson #2546
adoption" in the memo
section of your check.
(*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is
to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion
over its use, but intends to honor the donor's suggested use)
2. Mail checks to:
Lifesong for Orphans
Attn: Jackson #2546 Adoption
PO Box 40/202 N Ford Street
Gridley, IL 61744
- OR –
You can donate online via Paypal at:
www.greatestjoyadoption.com
(Please note that Paypal
does charge a 1.9-2.9% service fee and the actual amount received will be
decreased by that much.)
Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and
finances - It will be an investment with an eternal return! (Matt. 6:20) We
will give you an update with pictures and details as we get them. You are
welcome to follow along on our journey via our adoption blog at: www.greatestjoyadoption.com. Please pray
this entire process will glorify God and fulfill His purposes!
In Christ,
Nick, Stephanie, Ben and Hannah
