Friends, this has been a long journey. We have been praying for over 2 years and have felt that God was leading us to adopt again and recently felt that should be from Malawi. Well, we won’t be leaving Malawi with a child at this point. Jackson’s extended family has decided not to consent to adoption, so he will continue to stay in the nursery.
We are seeking the Lord and what he has for us in the midst of calling us to follow him here. At this point we don’t know all the whys, but we do know that He is in control and we have been called to surrender to him and trust him. One thing I taught in Tanzania was Christ is King, not us. As I prepared, it was clear to me that Jesus is my King and he gets to set the direction and lead. I don’t get to set the path and plan. He does. So I am to surrender all to him, be his servant and follower. So we are trying to trust and surrender all to him. It is with heavy hearts and a sense of grief that we will return to the US Friday (9/4). Our tears have come easily but our trust in him has grown in the midst of it all.
We are still looking for the opportunity to adopt and our attorney will continue the process while we are in the back in the States. (I still would love to adopt Farook, the HIV positive child, and hope to follow up our options with him.) It now becomes even harder with us not being here.
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adoption. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The mountain hasn't moved
We are still facing the mountain. It seems like God might have other plans for us and for Jackson. Some of the family members met with the social welfare director for the area Saturday, but are hesitant to sign the adoption release. Adoption isn’t a common thing here, so they can’t understand how this could be a better option for him. So we continue to wait. Yet the possibilities have virtually run out with 3 weeks until we leave.
Our hearts are heavy as we think of what future Jackson has as it seems there is no one to care for him, yet the relatives won’t give up custody. We drove up to Mzuzu this week to meet him and talk with the social welfare department there. It was great to see him and hold him and Dudley was able to feed him. He is a beautiful little boy. Please pray for God to provide the best family situation possible for him.
It has been a time of soul searching for both Dudley and I. It has been interesting to see how we each grieve and struggle through these days. Our questions are different yet similar.
DUDLEY:
Though this whole process we have really felt this is what God had wanted us to do. Yet when things don’t look like they are going to work out I start to question if he really did call us to this. I was reading in a book that talked about faith and how Noah followed God in building the ark. He made sacrifices, was laughed at, with possibly no concept of rain, and he didn't see the reality of his faith for maybe 100 yrs. So I feel like we are also doing something crazy God has lead us to, we’ve made sacrifices, people have laughed at us, but I don't want to wait 100ys to know we are doing the right thing. But in this, I have come to trust God more not in that he will do what I want him to do, but in his loving character towards me, that he will do what is best for all of us.
But if he did really lead us here, and we do all we can, and we pray and lay it all in his hands, and he doesn't bring it about, what then? Somehow we need to pray for an insight into God’s eternal viewpoint. Maybe our summer here isn’t about adoption, but about helping us take a step into something bigger God has planned for us. It is just hard to wait for God to reveal is plan.
CHRIS:
My question has focused on making sense of God’s call for us this summer. It has been “If adoption is not the reason we were to come to Malawi this summer then what is this summer all about? Why did we feel so clearly God’s call to attempt this crazy thing?” The short answer is I am not sure yet. I have thought a lot about faith and what it is and isn’t. It has been an emotionally hard summer. I have prayed and cried more than I have in a couple of years combined. I have thought about these three kids and the pain that their lives will be filled with as they grow up without parents. I also have wept for the millions of kids in Africa that are struggling to survive as a result of the millions that have died from AIDS. It is a good lesson for me to learn that I can’t fix every problem even with God’s help for one little child. God is in control and I never will be. The world is unjust and systems are broken. Tears can be healing yet I still am not comfortable with them. What is God doing in me and us? We have to wait to find out. He is sovereign.
I have been praying and thinking a ton about James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
He will show us His plan in His time. Thank you for praying with us and for us. Please continue to pray. We need it and the children of Malawi need it too.
Our hearts are heavy as we think of what future Jackson has as it seems there is no one to care for him, yet the relatives won’t give up custody. We drove up to Mzuzu this week to meet him and talk with the social welfare department there. It was great to see him and hold him and Dudley was able to feed him. He is a beautiful little boy. Please pray for God to provide the best family situation possible for him.
It has been a time of soul searching for both Dudley and I. It has been interesting to see how we each grieve and struggle through these days. Our questions are different yet similar.
DUDLEY:
Though this whole process we have really felt this is what God had wanted us to do. Yet when things don’t look like they are going to work out I start to question if he really did call us to this. I was reading in a book that talked about faith and how Noah followed God in building the ark. He made sacrifices, was laughed at, with possibly no concept of rain, and he didn't see the reality of his faith for maybe 100 yrs. So I feel like we are also doing something crazy God has lead us to, we’ve made sacrifices, people have laughed at us, but I don't want to wait 100ys to know we are doing the right thing. But in this, I have come to trust God more not in that he will do what I want him to do, but in his loving character towards me, that he will do what is best for all of us.
But if he did really lead us here, and we do all we can, and we pray and lay it all in his hands, and he doesn't bring it about, what then? Somehow we need to pray for an insight into God’s eternal viewpoint. Maybe our summer here isn’t about adoption, but about helping us take a step into something bigger God has planned for us. It is just hard to wait for God to reveal is plan.
CHRIS:
My question has focused on making sense of God’s call for us this summer. It has been “If adoption is not the reason we were to come to Malawi this summer then what is this summer all about? Why did we feel so clearly God’s call to attempt this crazy thing?” The short answer is I am not sure yet. I have thought a lot about faith and what it is and isn’t. It has been an emotionally hard summer. I have prayed and cried more than I have in a couple of years combined. I have thought about these three kids and the pain that their lives will be filled with as they grow up without parents. I also have wept for the millions of kids in Africa that are struggling to survive as a result of the millions that have died from AIDS. It is a good lesson for me to learn that I can’t fix every problem even with God’s help for one little child. God is in control and I never will be. The world is unjust and systems are broken. Tears can be healing yet I still am not comfortable with them. What is God doing in me and us? We have to wait to find out. He is sovereign.
I have been praying and thinking a ton about James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
He will show us His plan in His time. Thank you for praying with us and for us. Please continue to pray. We need it and the children of Malawi need it too.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Will God move the mountain?
Chris has returned safely from the mountains on his quest for Jackson’s family. It was an adventure. He drove for over 30 hours in 2 ½ days with much of that being in the mountains of Malawi on dirt roads with inclines of close to 75 degrees in some spots. He made it back safely. Praise God!
Our first miracle is that Chris was able to get the social welfare director for the area to actually go to the village!! Twice!! We haven’t been able to get social welfare to lift a pen for us the whole time we have been here. Sadly, they were unable to locate Jackson’s grandmother, who has the say in his future. But, through the village elders they set up a meeting with her and the social welfare person for Saturday. So we stand here before another set of mountains. The 70 plus year old grandmother will have to walk for several hours down and up the mountains to meet with the social worker. He will have to journey for over an hour and half on those mountain roads to meet her. Then they will have to discuss what is best for Jackson and come to a decision. We need this meeting to actually happen tomorrow for anything to move forward.
We are trying to trust God and yet we have experienced the broken systems here this summer and know there are many obstacles that could thwart our adoption dreams. Everything is now at critical stage. If this doesn’t happen we have very few options left.
So will you join us in praying that God will do what is best for Jackson and give us the insight to know what our response should be if the meeting doesn’t happen
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Prayer for this week
We are humbled and very grateful for the many people that have said they pray for us every day: Cayla, Bonnie, Jeremiah, Sharon, Sylvia, Lyn and many others. A special thank you to our small group that has been praying for our adoption desires for almost 3 years. Thank you so much for your prayers and support.
This week we are making our last ditch effort to get something moving on adoption. Chris has been fighting his natural inclination to make things happen, instead he is trying to trust God and wait. (Not easy for him.) This last week we have sensed freedom to try something. So he is driving 12 hours north to Chitepa in a very remote section of Malawi in an effort to encourage social welfare to find Jackson’s extended family to verify his orphan status. He will take them to lunch and then drive them to his village to try and locate the family. He has an appointment with them Tuesday. Patrick has lent him his pickup to navigate the dusty roads and Madaritzo is going with him, because he is from there, knows the area and speaks the languages.
There are so many areas here we need God to work. Many we don’t even know to ask you to pray for. But do pray that they would be able to find the family, and get the necessary paper work, that we could file papers soon to get a court date before we are due to leave. Also pray for safety on the roads. They will have to travel some at night and that can be dangerous.
On the quiz:
Everyone guessed well. It was my toilet at the Nsaru conference.
This week we are making our last ditch effort to get something moving on adoption. Chris has been fighting his natural inclination to make things happen, instead he is trying to trust God and wait. (Not easy for him.) This last week we have sensed freedom to try something. So he is driving 12 hours north to Chitepa in a very remote section of Malawi in an effort to encourage social welfare to find Jackson’s extended family to verify his orphan status. He will take them to lunch and then drive them to his village to try and locate the family. He has an appointment with them Tuesday. Patrick has lent him his pickup to navigate the dusty roads and Madaritzo is going with him, because he is from there, knows the area and speaks the languages.
There are so many areas here we need God to work. Many we don’t even know to ask you to pray for. But do pray that they would be able to find the family, and get the necessary paper work, that we could file papers soon to get a court date before we are due to leave. Also pray for safety on the roads. They will have to travel some at night and that can be dangerous.
On the quiz:
Everyone guessed well. It was my toilet at the Nsaru conference.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Quick sand
I am sorry for the delay in writing. It has been hard to want to write with the difficult news. So here goes! Thank you for your support and prayers. - Chris
We had a great weekend in Salima. Students were taught how to do manuscript study and God spoke to them from Abraham's life. God challenged me again to trust.
Let me tell you a story that illustrates our adoption process to this point.
Have you ever driven in soft sand with a full bus and van? I don't recommend it. Friday night on our way there we drove on a dirt road buy the lake. Well a Sand Dune had covered part of the road and our bus got stuck. we were able to push it out then I drove our little van quickly across the spot but not quick enough and it too got stuck. This time the van got really stuck. We all got around and pushed and it seemed the harder we worked the deeper it went. We were finally able to back it out and then I drove as fast as the van would go careening and narrowly missing a tree but we made it through.
Our adoption process:
While we were stuck in the sand, I got a phone call from the crisis nursery in Mzuzu. They informed me that they had found the mother of the little girl that had been abandoned and that she was arrested for attempted murder. This is a big problem because now we must wait for her to be legally separated from the little girl before our process can begin. We were also told that the little boy was still waiting for the social welfare department to finalize his status as a unattached orphan. So we are stuck in the sand and it seems to be getting deeper with no end in sight.
We hope for a miracle but we must wait and trust in God. Our hearts haven't lost hope but we are still downcast in the waiting process.
Join us to pray for a miracle.
In other news: I am preaching Saturday and Sunday at a student conference on the topic of How it makes a difference being a Christian? Pray for my clarity and for God to speak through me to the hearts of the students.
We had a great weekend in Salima. Students were taught how to do manuscript study and God spoke to them from Abraham's life. God challenged me again to trust.
Let me tell you a story that illustrates our adoption process to this point.
Have you ever driven in soft sand with a full bus and van? I don't recommend it. Friday night on our way there we drove on a dirt road buy the lake. Well a Sand Dune had covered part of the road and our bus got stuck. we were able to push it out then I drove our little van quickly across the spot but not quick enough and it too got stuck. This time the van got really stuck. We all got around and pushed and it seemed the harder we worked the deeper it went. We were finally able to back it out and then I drove as fast as the van would go careening and narrowly missing a tree but we made it through.
Our adoption process:
While we were stuck in the sand, I got a phone call from the crisis nursery in Mzuzu. They informed me that they had found the mother of the little girl that had been abandoned and that she was arrested for attempted murder. This is a big problem because now we must wait for her to be legally separated from the little girl before our process can begin. We were also told that the little boy was still waiting for the social welfare department to finalize his status as a unattached orphan. So we are stuck in the sand and it seems to be getting deeper with no end in sight.
We hope for a miracle but we must wait and trust in God. Our hearts haven't lost hope but we are still downcast in the waiting process.
Join us to pray for a miracle.
In other news: I am preaching Saturday and Sunday at a student conference on the topic of How it makes a difference being a Christian? Pray for my clarity and for God to speak through me to the hearts of the students.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
very busy week
Wow! It has been a full past week. We have been running to different things like student meetings, Teachers conference and doing logistical things here in Lilongwe.
One fun thing is that we played basketball yesterday. It was good to get some exercise but both Dudley and I are a bit sore. We aren't as young as we used to be.
A prayer note: one of the staff for the student team, Bonnie Ward, fell and hit her head and has a good sized not on her head. She isn't feeling great today so we are monitoring her and wondering if we need to take to the clinic to get checked out. We will see after lunch.
Next two weeks will be very full:
I am going to be the main speaker for conferences each weekend. I am almost finished on preparation for this weekend but I need to do a lot of work for next week.
We are heading to Mzuzu to check on a baby for adoption. She was dumped and has been in the hospital there and now is being transferred to the crisis nursery. So we will be there at least Tuesday and Wednesday. (We may come back with a under 3 month old on Wednesday. Very unlikely but possible.)
So please pray:
1. Bonnie to be fine and 100% well tomorrow.
2. My preparation to bring the word of God to them in power and love.
2. Social welfare in Mzuzu to work things out for us to start adoption process for this little girl.
One fun thing is that we played basketball yesterday. It was good to get some exercise but both Dudley and I are a bit sore. We aren't as young as we used to be.
A prayer note: one of the staff for the student team, Bonnie Ward, fell and hit her head and has a good sized not on her head. She isn't feeling great today so we are monitoring her and wondering if we need to take to the clinic to get checked out. We will see after lunch.
Next two weeks will be very full:
I am going to be the main speaker for conferences each weekend. I am almost finished on preparation for this weekend but I need to do a lot of work for next week.
We are heading to Mzuzu to check on a baby for adoption. She was dumped and has been in the hospital there and now is being transferred to the crisis nursery. So we will be there at least Tuesday and Wednesday. (We may come back with a under 3 month old on Wednesday. Very unlikely but possible.)
So please pray:
1. Bonnie to be fine and 100% well tomorrow.
2. My preparation to bring the word of God to them in power and love.
2. Social welfare in Mzuzu to work things out for us to start adoption process for this little girl.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Chutes and ladders
Have you ever played the game Chutes and Ladders? Our social worker in the US, emailed us recently and said that one her clients had used that game as an illustration for adoption. It is a good illustration.
Today was an emotional chute. We both just wanted to cry. First the embassy emailed explaining the process for adopting an HIV positive child here in Malawi. It could take 3 additional months and there is no guarantee that the waiver will be approved even if we are legal parents of a child. The second is that the social welfare department is not being helpful. We have gotten the run around again and again. I will go tomorrow to talk with them again.
Please pray for favor with the woman in charge of the office in Lilongwe. We plan to travel to Mzuzu on Tuesday July 22 to try to jump start the process with the social welfare department there.
Our attorney is also trying to get in touch with people higher up in the social welfare department to talk about the current options.
We need God to come through in a major way. Please pray. We are holding on to hope but it is hard.
Today was an emotional chute. We both just wanted to cry. First the embassy emailed explaining the process for adopting an HIV positive child here in Malawi. It could take 3 additional months and there is no guarantee that the waiver will be approved even if we are legal parents of a child. The second is that the social welfare department is not being helpful. We have gotten the run around again and again. I will go tomorrow to talk with them again.
Please pray for favor with the woman in charge of the office in Lilongwe. We plan to travel to Mzuzu on Tuesday July 22 to try to jump start the process with the social welfare department there.
Our attorney is also trying to get in touch with people higher up in the social welfare department to talk about the current options.
We need God to come through in a major way. Please pray. We are holding on to hope but it is hard.
Friday, July 3, 2009
This week
It has been a good week. The team had a good day and a half rest and then has been going this week. They went to a fellowship meeting on Tuesday night, Bible study on Wednesday, Feeding program with Children of the Nations on Thursday and a Bible study at a secondary school today. We will have a barbeque Sunday with some students coming over to our house.
Our hearts rejoice with being able to serve in so many different contexts. Our family has been to a secondary school in the rural area where we will go later this month as the conference speaker. We were able to go to the crisis nursery this week several times and got to help entertain and care for the babies. It was sad though as one of the children died last week. These babies come to the nursery in really rough condition. Many are sick and severely malnourished.
Please pray for my preparation. I will be teaching at conferences two weeks in a row. I long for God’s word to come alive and speak to the students hearts calling them to a deeper sense of his love and call for their lives. I long to see these young men and women become change agents in the church and community God has them in.
Adoption update: Things move slowly here. As I have mentioned before Fuluke (actually spelled Farook I think)is HIV positive. He has been tested and is positive but they do a second test in a month to be sure. His mom died of complications from AIDS. We have learned that the US is allowing adoptions of HIV positive children now but it is unclear if they will from Malawi. We are trying to find that out and are still in process with Farook seeking the Lord’s guidance. We are also looking into another boy, Jackson, who is in the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery. He is 4 months old. We will know more as the social welfare department contacts relatives to see if he is “unattached.”
Please pray for us to clearly hear God’s voice as we continue to follow his leadership. Adopting a boy with HIV will be even more life changing for our whole family, we don’t walk in blinded but also know that without medication Farook will not likely live past the age of two but with medication he can live a healthy life. So we pray and seek the Lord which child He has for us. Please join us.
Thank you for your emails and comments. Please keep them coming. We are encouraged by our friends and family love and support as we try to walk by faith.
Our hearts rejoice with being able to serve in so many different contexts. Our family has been to a secondary school in the rural area where we will go later this month as the conference speaker. We were able to go to the crisis nursery this week several times and got to help entertain and care for the babies. It was sad though as one of the children died last week. These babies come to the nursery in really rough condition. Many are sick and severely malnourished.
Please pray for my preparation. I will be teaching at conferences two weeks in a row. I long for God’s word to come alive and speak to the students hearts calling them to a deeper sense of his love and call for their lives. I long to see these young men and women become change agents in the church and community God has them in.
Adoption update: Things move slowly here. As I have mentioned before Fuluke (actually spelled Farook I think)is HIV positive. He has been tested and is positive but they do a second test in a month to be sure. His mom died of complications from AIDS. We have learned that the US is allowing adoptions of HIV positive children now but it is unclear if they will from Malawi. We are trying to find that out and are still in process with Farook seeking the Lord’s guidance. We are also looking into another boy, Jackson, who is in the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery. He is 4 months old. We will know more as the social welfare department contacts relatives to see if he is “unattached.”
Please pray for us to clearly hear God’s voice as we continue to follow his leadership. Adopting a boy with HIV will be even more life changing for our whole family, we don’t walk in blinded but also know that without medication Farook will not likely live past the age of two but with medication he can live a healthy life. So we pray and seek the Lord which child He has for us. Please join us.
Thank you for your emails and comments. Please keep them coming. We are encouraged by our friends and family love and support as we try to walk by faith.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Heart breaking
You can hear about many things and intellectually understand them but do they really sink in? When you are thick headed like me (Chris) the answer is no.
Wednesday I spent the morning at the SCOM office leading a Bible Study and then traveling to campuses around Lilongwe to set up our trip. I then returned home in the early afternoon to help clean other areas of the house that we haven’t got to yet as the team arrives Friday.
Then we went to the crisis nursery to help with the children and see Fuluke. We have been trying to get information on his uncle so we can contact him about getting approval and release for the adoption, but the uncle didn’t really leave any contact information. The other disheartening news was that we have discovered that Fuluke has been tested for HIV and is thought to be positive. Regardless of adoption, the brokenness of our world that a 10 month old carries a virus that will kill him in the next few years is just awful. It looks like his mom died from AIDS and passed the virus to her son.
We knew with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that children with HIV would be a reality but when seeing these beautiful children it is hard to believe. There are over 1 million people that are HIV positive here in Malawi and over 2 million children orphaned. Fuluke is just one of them. Our hearts are heavy as we see the results of the fall and sin. God help us.
Even with heavy hearts, we cling to hope. God has us here to be a source of love, encouragement and grace. We pray that we may be a blessing to our friends here. We continue to persevere and will still seek for the child we think God has for us. Where do we go from here? We will keep praying, looking, serving and waiting. Please continue to join us in prayer.
Wednesday I spent the morning at the SCOM office leading a Bible Study and then traveling to campuses around Lilongwe to set up our trip. I then returned home in the early afternoon to help clean other areas of the house that we haven’t got to yet as the team arrives Friday.
Then we went to the crisis nursery to help with the children and see Fuluke. We have been trying to get information on his uncle so we can contact him about getting approval and release for the adoption, but the uncle didn’t really leave any contact information. The other disheartening news was that we have discovered that Fuluke has been tested for HIV and is thought to be positive. Regardless of adoption, the brokenness of our world that a 10 month old carries a virus that will kill him in the next few years is just awful. It looks like his mom died from AIDS and passed the virus to her son.
We knew with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that children with HIV would be a reality but when seeing these beautiful children it is hard to believe. There are over 1 million people that are HIV positive here in Malawi and over 2 million children orphaned. Fuluke is just one of them. Our hearts are heavy as we see the results of the fall and sin. God help us.
Even with heavy hearts, we cling to hope. God has us here to be a source of love, encouragement and grace. We pray that we may be a blessing to our friends here. We continue to persevere and will still seek for the child we think God has for us. Where do we go from here? We will keep praying, looking, serving and waiting. Please continue to join us in prayer.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Supreme Court Ruling
This weekend the Supreme Court ruled that they would allow Madonna's adoption to go through. The ruling says that each adoption should be looked at individually, as to what is in the best interest of the child. They said that the 18 mo. residency issue is not a requirement, more of a suggestion. This is exciting news for us though we don't fully know what it means for us yet. But it shows that they are more open to international adoptions. I didn't think I would be praising God for Madonna yet I am.
We celebrated Joseph's 8th birthday with a few pastries this morning and soda for dinner. We are splurging :O we spent some time at the crisis nursery today as that was Joe's request. He is getting really attached to Fuluke as we all are. It is hard not to. He is a sweet little guy. We have had a great time helping at the crisis nursery. The kids recognise us now. Those that are mobile will come right up to us. They love the attention. We are choosing not to post a picture of Fuluke because we have heard of others getting in trouble (not allowed to adopt from other countries) for doing so. Trust me, he is cute and very small for a 10 month old.
Please pray for:
our hearts not to be broken in this process.
wisdom to know how much to keep doing and when to wait and see.
the process to move quickly for our adoption.
Jacob’s arm and my face to heal.
wisdom to know where to spend our time as the options grow to serve.
We celebrated Joseph's 8th birthday with a few pastries this morning and soda for dinner. We are splurging :O we spent some time at the crisis nursery today as that was Joe's request. He is getting really attached to Fuluke as we all are. It is hard not to. He is a sweet little guy. We have had a great time helping at the crisis nursery. The kids recognise us now. Those that are mobile will come right up to us. They love the attention. We are choosing not to post a picture of Fuluke because we have heard of others getting in trouble (not allowed to adopt from other countries) for doing so. Trust me, he is cute and very small for a 10 month old.
Please pray for:
our hearts not to be broken in this process.
wisdom to know how much to keep doing and when to wait and see.
the process to move quickly for our adoption.
Jacob’s arm and my face to heal.
wisdom to know where to spend our time as the options grow to serve.
Crisis Nursery & Orphanages
This week we spent moving into our new house and getting things started on our adoption. Our house is beautiful and very large. It has been neglected for sometime so has required a lot of time this week in cleaning and debugging. The previous inhabitants cooked with a lot of grease, so I spent a day scraping grease off the counters and walls. But it is plenty big enough for the team to join us in a week.
Last Friday we put our application in with Social Welfare requesting an adoption. They have very limited resources which makes them a little difficult to work with. In our perspective they move very slowly. And by Wednesday they couldn't find our application. Every trip to that office is very discouraging.
After the first meeting at Social Welfare we thought it best if we didn't leave the part of locating a child entirely up to them. Chris made a trip to the crisis nursery and an orphanage this week with little progress. On Monday all the infants at the crisis nursery were "attached" to some family member. When he went in on Tuesday there was a young man in their relinquishing his rights to his 10 month old nephew, Fuluke. You could tell that he loved him very much but since the boy's mother died on Saturday, he is not able to care for him. He is an adorable little boy and would be very pleased to accept a miracle from God if Social Welfare would match us with him.
We spent some time this week volunteering at the Crisis Nursery, feeding and playing with the babies. The whole family enjoyed it, even Isaac said he enjoyed it more than he wanted too. He feed 2 boys their bottles and read them some books. Grace really enjoyed playing with Fuluke and he smiled and laughed a lot for her. She is ready to be a big sister. The caregivers kept bringing more and more babies out for us to play with till there was 10 or 11. Grace said we needed more adults as we would hand babies off to our kids to pick up the fussy one.
Please pray:
- that we would not become discouraged when facing roadblocks in the adoption
- for Fuluke to find a good home (with us :) or somewhere else)
- safe trip for the team as they travel this week
Last Friday we put our application in with Social Welfare requesting an adoption. They have very limited resources which makes them a little difficult to work with. In our perspective they move very slowly. And by Wednesday they couldn't find our application. Every trip to that office is very discouraging.
After the first meeting at Social Welfare we thought it best if we didn't leave the part of locating a child entirely up to them. Chris made a trip to the crisis nursery and an orphanage this week with little progress. On Monday all the infants at the crisis nursery were "attached" to some family member. When he went in on Tuesday there was a young man in their relinquishing his rights to his 10 month old nephew, Fuluke. You could tell that he loved him very much but since the boy's mother died on Saturday, he is not able to care for him. He is an adorable little boy and would be very pleased to accept a miracle from God if Social Welfare would match us with him.
We spent some time this week volunteering at the Crisis Nursery, feeding and playing with the babies. The whole family enjoyed it, even Isaac said he enjoyed it more than he wanted too. He feed 2 boys their bottles and read them some books. Grace really enjoyed playing with Fuluke and he smiled and laughed a lot for her. She is ready to be a big sister. The caregivers kept bringing more and more babies out for us to play with till there was 10 or 11. Grace said we needed more adults as we would hand babies off to our kids to pick up the fussy one.
Please pray:
- that we would not become discouraged when facing roadblocks in the adoption
- for Fuluke to find a good home (with us :) or somewhere else)
- safe trip for the team as they travel this week
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