In October 2008 someone gave us a financial gift to begin our adoption journey. Alex had been feeling prompted that it was time to look into adoption prior to that but had been reluctant. The gift confirmed and put him over the edge that it was time to do more than talk about adopting. At this same time we were invited to go on Good Morning Nebraska to promote adoption month. The only requirement was to have an adoption benefit fund set up. Because of going onto the TV show we felt like we should have something to share about our adoption and we hadn't started our home-study and we didn't know where we would adopt from.
I had traveled with friends who had been to China. I had heard the plight of the little girls of China and since 1996. In my heart I really wanted to adopt a little girl from Asia but when it was time to start looking at the places we could adopt from we were limited. We didn't make enough money or own our own home so China, Khazakhstan, and Kyrgzstan were out. We had too many children to adopt from Thailand, India, or Bhutan. And, for some reason I didn't want to adopt from Korea. I cannot explain that and no offense to Koreans or those who have adopted Koreans but I just felt like it wasn't Korea.
One night I sat at the computer with tears running down my face. I said, "Lord, I thought that you wanted us to adopt a little girl in Asia but looking at these country requirements I don't see where we fit. If you want us to adopt we are willing but you are going to have to show us where our baby is." The night before I said this prayer I had sent an email to a friend who adopted a little girl from China, Janet Bailey. I told her I was growing discouraged in looking at country qualifications. We wanted to adopt but were having trouble finding where we fit. No joke, about the time I said this prayer a little number 1 lit up in my facebook inbox. Janet Bailey had replied. She said, "What about Taiwan? Have you ever thought about adopting from there? I just met a pastor's family just like you who just adopted their 5th baby from Taiwan. "
I mentioned Taiwan to Alex and he sat upright on the couch and said, "Taiwan, yeah I like Taiwan." I called my mom because I was so excited that we might be discovering where God was leading and she too chimed in with eagerness for Taiwan.
The next day Janet emailed the contact information for Andrea Tweeten. I was so antsy to call Andrea. I waited until late morning because I didn't want to call too early in the day. We had a great talk. She offered to contact Holly and Trena for us and see if they would consider helping us. They agreed and sent us an application.
We were focusing on paying off all of our debts at that time so we didn't send in our application right away because we wanted to be able to apply with no debts. On Janury 3 we were able to apply with His Hands Taiwan and Adoption Consultants, Inc. to begin our home-study! The financial gift we were given was the perfect amount. We had enough for our home-study and a little more left over.
Most adoptions from Asia cost between $20,000-$30,000 for everything start to finish. This figure was daunting as we headed into adoption. We knew we had room in our family for one more but we didn't wish to put ourselves into financial jeopardy after working so hard to become debt free. For this reason we prayed and considered and felt we should fundraise for our adoption. We have felt called to adopt and we believed that there were people who were not called to adopt but would support others who felt called. We had a wonderful dinner and invited a few hundred people from central Nebraska. With around 70 or 80 in attendance the Lord provided a little over $4,000 that night.
So far in our adoption we have spent around $8,000 total. We have had more than we have needed for the adoption up until this point. At every turn the money has been there. It still is. We praise God that He led us to His Hands Taiwan. It is amazing!
We are now scraping the bottom of our adoption fund. We believe our travel date is just around the corner. It will cost around $4,500 for the trip to Taiwan. We believe that God is big and able to provide what we need. We are battling anxiety with His word and with the details of our story so far. God's leading and provision has been miraculous! Would you please pray with us about the Lord's provision for our trip to Taiwan? We're not sure how it is all going to come together but we believe that it will. And, we have had more than we needed every step of the way.
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