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.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
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
Monday, June 8, 2009
Our weekend
This weekend was full. I (Chris) went to a stakeholders meeting with key spiritual leaders in the country. The Student Christian Organization (SCOM) presented the issues facing teenagers in Malawi and the challenges to them performing well or even finishing high school.
Here are a couple of issues. Many students have to walk over an hour to school each day. That means they leave home very early and arrive at school tired. This doesn’t help them perform well at school. Another challenge is that in a study done of 4000 students in 2007 - 31% of students were orphaned and struggled to come up with school fees. Some girls are forced to sell their bodies to come up with their school fees.
One story from the conferences in May, a young girl said her “boyfriend” had helped her pay her school fees and now was pressuring her to have intercourse by threatening to beat her up unless she paid him back. A SCOM counselor asked her how much would it cost to pay him back what he had given so she could be free. She did some figuring and said 2850 kwatcha. (That is less than $20.) It was heart breaking to hear!!! This situation is one of thousand of similar situations.
Yet SCOM is in the middle of it trying to save these young women from difficult situation.
Family update:
Jake’s arm is getting better. He was using it to much while we traveled so it was quite swollen when we arrived. We have been keeping in his sling and his swelling has gone down significantly.
My face is still paralyzed on the right side. My speech is challenged so I have to make sure I speak clearly to be understood. I had the opportunity to share with the gathering Saturday and felt I was clear enough. I have been experiencing some pain in the area as it seems the nerves are regenerating. (I think that is what you call it.) Who knows but God. He is in control and we are trusting in Him. He can use us even in our weakness.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Here are a couple of issues. Many students have to walk over an hour to school each day. That means they leave home very early and arrive at school tired. This doesn’t help them perform well at school. Another challenge is that in a study done of 4000 students in 2007 - 31% of students were orphaned and struggled to come up with school fees. Some girls are forced to sell their bodies to come up with their school fees.
One story from the conferences in May, a young girl said her “boyfriend” had helped her pay her school fees and now was pressuring her to have intercourse by threatening to beat her up unless she paid him back. A SCOM counselor asked her how much would it cost to pay him back what he had given so she could be free. She did some figuring and said 2850 kwatcha. (That is less than $20.) It was heart breaking to hear!!! This situation is one of thousand of similar situations.
Yet SCOM is in the middle of it trying to save these young women from difficult situation.
Family update:
Jake’s arm is getting better. He was using it to much while we traveled so it was quite swollen when we arrived. We have been keeping in his sling and his swelling has gone down significantly.
My face is still paralyzed on the right side. My speech is challenged so I have to make sure I speak clearly to be understood. I had the opportunity to share with the gathering Saturday and felt I was clear enough. I have been experiencing some pain in the area as it seems the nerves are regenerating. (I think that is what you call it.) Who knows but God. He is in control and we are trusting in Him. He can use us even in our weakness.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Friday, June 5, 2009
We have arrived
Well it took us two days but we are here. We slept (all of us for 12 hours- Dudley corrected me - I slept for 12 hours and everyone else slept 14 - 16 hours) last night. We have secured housing and will be working to get everything together this weekend. (The house is large but quite dirty.)
I will fill in more in a couple of days.
Thank you for your prayers.
Chris
I will fill in more in a couple of days.
Thank you for your prayers.
Chris
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
off to the airport
Well we are finally in Chicago and on our way to the airport.
1 broken arm - check.
1 paralyzed side of face - check.
4 kids - check.
2 parents - check.
4 bags and 6 back packs - check.
6 passports - check.
Malawi here we come.
Thank you for praying
Chris
1 broken arm - check.
1 paralyzed side of face - check.
4 kids - check.
2 parents - check.
4 bags and 6 back packs - check.
6 passports - check.
Malawi here we come.
Thank you for praying
Chris
Monday, June 1, 2009
Prayer Request
It has been a good and rough few days. Jacob our #2 son broke his arm on Wednesday. He is in a cast and fine.
Friday at dinner I started having twitches on the right side of my face and by Saturday morning I lost movement on the right side of my face. Well the short of it is that I have come down with Bell's Palsy, a condition that causes the facial muscles to weaken or become paralyzed.
It hasn't helped my looks but little could :) Drinking is a bit of a challenge as well as keeping my eye moist (can't blink or close it completely.)
As you can imagine, it isn't the best timing as we leave tomorrow for Malawi. Saturday morning I was reading Phillipians chapter 3 & 4. 4:12 stood out to me.
4:12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
It seems this is a good opportunity to give God praise and learn about contentment. I do ask that you would pray for healing. My speech has been affected since half of my mouth doesn't work at this point. I would love to be able to speak clearly as I have opportunity to preach God's word in Malawi this summer. God knows what is best so would you seek His good and perfect will for us.
Our journey begins Tuesday June 2 at 12:30pm. Malawi here we come. Praise God!!!
Chris
Friday at dinner I started having twitches on the right side of my face and by Saturday morning I lost movement on the right side of my face. Well the short of it is that I have come down with Bell's Palsy, a condition that causes the facial muscles to weaken or become paralyzed.
It hasn't helped my looks but little could :) Drinking is a bit of a challenge as well as keeping my eye moist (can't blink or close it completely.)
As you can imagine, it isn't the best timing as we leave tomorrow for Malawi. Saturday morning I was reading Phillipians chapter 3 & 4. 4:12 stood out to me.
4:12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
It seems this is a good opportunity to give God praise and learn about contentment. I do ask that you would pray for healing. My speech has been affected since half of my mouth doesn't work at this point. I would love to be able to speak clearly as I have opportunity to preach God's word in Malawi this summer. God knows what is best so would you seek His good and perfect will for us.
Our journey begins Tuesday June 2 at 12:30pm. Malawi here we come. Praise God!!!
Chris
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Here we go
Hi everyone,
I can't believe it but we (Swiney Clan) leave in less than two weeks for Malawi.
We will be keeping up this blog again this year and would love your prayers.
So we leave June 2 and return September 4th. (yes that is over 3 months.)
What will we do? we will be partnering again this year with the Student Christian Organization of Malawi (SCOM) as well as looking to build some other partnerships with other organizations.
As we were there last year in the crisis nursery and realized the challenges those little ones would face our hearts broke for them. It is now estimated that there are over 2 million orphans in Malawi a country of 12 million people. So as we have prayed this year we have felt led to try a crazy impossible thing. We hope to adopt while we are there. God knows if it will happen. We feel led to try and let God take care of the impossible if that is His will.
The adventure has begun. Please join us for this journey and seek the Lord on our behalf.
God bless you
Chris Swiney
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