Saved from the Web

Richard Stearns has traveled the world as the President of World Vision, and stared poverty in the face in over 40 countries. In Rich's book, "The Hole in our Gospel" (which I'm currently reading) he describes poverty as not just the absence of money, but as a web of factors that results in a lack of options, and, ultimately, a lack of hope.

He observes that a complex web of interwoven causes trap the poor while "marauding spiders of hunger, war, disease, ignorance, injustice, natural disasters, and exploitation prey upon them unrestrained."

Rich notes that an average of 26,500 children die every day of preventable diseases related to their poverty, and wonders why this is not as newsworthy as say, "the crash of a single plane" (see headlines today), which, while tragic, is well over 100 times less impactful in plain figures. Rich wonders "even though we have the awareness, access, and ability to stop the deaths from poverty, why have we chosen not to?" He offers an explanation: "Perhaps one reason is that these kids who are dying are not our kids; they're somebody else's."

He notes, "You see, our problem is that the plight of suffering children in a far-off land simply hasn't gotten personal for us. We may hear about them with sorrow, but we haven't really been able to look at them as if they were our own children."

That is no longer a problem for us. One of those children caught in the web is now our child. She has a name and we have pictures and hopefully she will be sleeping under our roof soon.

As you probably know, our baby girl in Ethiopia is in the hospital due to malnutrition and some other related issues, all of which are healed or improving with medicine, TLC, and food - two of these things her birth family, caught in the web themselves, could not provide. We were SO BLESSED to receive a note late last night from a family traveling with our agency who were able to visit her in the hospital. They also included a picture of our beautiful little girl... underweight, undersized and until recently someone else's dying child.

As we look at baby girl's picture, we are scared to think just how close the spiders were to claiming another victim... and we are humbled that God is using us as a set of His hands that are working to free her from the web of poverty that she was surely caught in. And because of the work of our adoption agency, the orphanage in Ethiopia, and others, not the least of which the courage of her own young birth mother... this one frail child is slowly emerging from the entanglement of the web... and will soon understand that she has options, has hope.

Update on baby girl.

This weekend we received some good news about baby girl's care. We learned that she will have a nanny from the orphanage with her at all times during her hospital stay. The nurse from the orphanage also checks on her almost daily. The are also using a UNICEF approved regimen to treat her malnutrition. From the information we've received, we believe that she is receiving very good care and are so thankful that this part of our prayers have been answered. We are continuing to pray for her ongoing health, specifically for her to gain weight. Please also pray for her nannies, nurses, and doctors - that the Lord would bless them and that they would be vessels of His love for our baby girl. We are still trying to get someone traveling to Ethiopia or already in country to check on her and take pictures for us. We have some good possibilities there but nothing certain yet.

It is a very difficult thing to not be able to be with your child while they are in the hospital, but we know the Lord is seeing to it that she receives good medical care and love. We are praising Him for his goodness toward her and us! Yesterday in church, we sang in "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord." We sang and believed with all our hearts that "You're the defender of the weak. You comfort those in need."

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with us. Our kids are so blessed to have so many people praying for them!

Update and request for prayer for our tiny baby girl

We found out this week that we will not get an Ethiopian court date - and therefore not be travelling - before the courts close during the rainy season. Our agency's Ethiopian do-everything man there has reported that the closure is expected to last from August 6th to September 28th. While enduring this additional 8-week wait apart from our children is definitely not our first choice, we are also encouraged to hear that the courts have a planned re-opening date and are giving court dates in October. We hope to get an appointment and travel in mid to late October.

We also got some not-so-good news about our little girl's health. When the doctor came by the orphanage to check on the kids, he was informed that she had been sent to the hospital due to malnutrition complicated by intestinal issues. While we are thankful that she is receiving medical care, it is very difficult to be away from her at this time (compounded by the court closure!). We ask for your prayers for her health, as she is very underweight and being treated for some other issues that we hope are minor. Please pray for the doctors and nurses caring for her, that she would grow and receive good care, and that she would sense His comfort through this rough time in her young life.

Please also continue to pray for little brother, as he is also pretty small for his age and is receiving a special protein and vitamin diet at his orphanage. We understand his health to be stable and trust that the orphanage workers' experience with others in his situation will help to get him on the right track soon.

This is going to be a difficult wait and we so appreciate your prayers. In everything, we know that the Lord is near to us and our children, and in these times we must trust His goodness.


I love the Lord because he heard my voice, he heard my cry for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. -- Psalm 116:1-2

Eyes, Feet, Hands

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.

- Saint Teresa of Avila
(quoted in The Hole in Our Gospel)

Still rejoicing and thinking of others on their paths…

Two/three days later and we’re still on our referral high! Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement and congratulations. Please continue to pray for our Ethiopian court dates. We may not get a response in 2 days like our last request for prayer, but getting a court date before the courts close for the rainy season would be amazing. The sooner we can get them here and start fattening them up and loving on them the better!

And as we are on our high, we cannot help but think of those of you who may have recently received a setback in your adoption process or remain waiting in one stage or another. We know that sometimes it may feel like 2 steps forward and 1 step back, but we have come to accept that every step in obedience to God’s call is really a step towards Him. Some steps in the adoption process (and in our Christian walks in general) may be more difficult than others, but that is where the real work of sanctification happens.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

We pray for your perseverance, and ours, through the rough patches as we continue on the adoption journey. And we hope you take comfort during the difficult times, as we do, in knowing that Jesus joyfully endured suffering to pay our ransom (Hebrews 12:2), and "in all things works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

WE GOT THE CALL !!!

This is a day of rejoicing in our house! Our prayers - and yours - have been answered! We are VERY excited to announce that earlier today we accepted referrals for a 3 year-old boy and a 5 month-old girl. They are beautiful! It is so awesome to finally see the faces of the children God placed on our hearts. We are so thankful to God for hearing and answering our prayers to move us a giant step closer to bringing our children home soon.

The next step is getting an appointment with the Ethiopian courts to have the kids officially declared our children. Our agency staff is working diligently to make this happen before the courts close there for the rainy season, which lasts around two months and usually starts sometimes in August. Hopefully we will be making our first trip for the court appearance at the beginning of August, then return 5-6 weeks later for our U.S. Embassy appointment and to bring our children home. Please pray that all the details work out so this is possible. Please also continue to pray for the health and care of the kids.

We cannot post pictures of the kids until we pass court, but if you see us we will be more than happy to show them to you. We will keep you updated as we get more information. Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers!

We're #2 !

We were officially "on the list" for a referral December 23, 2009. We started out at #17 and six months later we are now #2!

We are very excited and trying not to get anxious. Obviously, the more we pray for the children God is bringing into our family the more we feel connected to them and the more we want them here with us - NOW. And with the closing of the courts coming up - happens every year during the rainy season for about 2 months starting in August - an even longer wait looms. BUT we are continuing to trust in God's timing and God's plan to bring the children he desires into our family at just His right time. With these things in mind, please pray for our referral, that it may be soon, according to God's providence. Also please continue to pray for the health, care and the birth families of the children.

Thank you so much for your support. We look forward to sharing more good news soon!