Sobering

I was surfing the internet tonight and I stumbled across an interesting project called the "Mocha Club". They are working to support Africans with HIV/AIDS by way of nourishing food, education, medical care and most importantly, sharing the love of Jesus Christ. I didn't spend enough time navigating their site to say whether or not I would endorse it- that would take more time than I have tonight. But there was a video on the site that moved me and shook me... there was a 14 year old woman with her baby who showed up to receive medical care for her baby, who was covered in sores from head to toe. When the representative asked her what the baby's name was, she told her. I don't remember the name, but I will remember the meaning for the rest of my life... the baby's name meant "NO HOPE". The woman asked the young mother why she gave her that name. The young mother responded, "I watched my mother die of AIDS. I will die of AIDS. She has no hope". Wow. Through subsequent visits to the clinic, the young mother was introduced to and accepted the truth of Jesus Christ. She renamed her baby Lelethu, which means "Jesus is our hope". I can't stop crying. According to this website, $7 can give 9 orphans 3 meals in one day, pay for 21 orphans housing for 1 day or gibe 7 Africans clean water for a year. I shudder to think I spent $6 today on lunch and a snack for Markus and I today while we were out running errands. I can't help but wonder if our baby is out there already, with a mother who is heartbroken thinking there is no hope for her baby. I can't help but wonder if our baby is hungry right now. Or in pain. Or cold. Or lonely. And I can't help but think that although I know we can transform and give the life giving hope of Jesus Christ to the baby that God has for us, there will be millions that will be left behind. And the enemy whispers in my ear that we can't make a difference, that our one baby out of the millions left behind isn't enough... and yet I know. I know that God is bigger than all these statistics. I know that God loves these babies. And I trust that He has a plan. But I still cry.

Saturday, July 19

Received a check for $300 in the mail today to "use as needed". We are 2/3 of the way to the $1500 we need ASAP. Awesome.

Thursday, July 17

I am sharing with another individual today about the amazing $500 gift we received and what a blessing it is as we have to come up with the $1500 ASAP. This person takes out their wallet and hands me $200 "for our new baby". GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, July 16

After a great day with the kiddos at the Judy's, I return home to a note taped to our door. Someone who has asked to remain anonymous has written, saying that their hearts were tugged when the Chapmans' daughter was killed, and they have been praying that God would use the tragedy for good. They were led to contribute toward our adoption... $500. I am in tears with God's goodness and faithfulness.

Thursday, July 10

I communicate with our rep with CHI- we are good to go! We have begun. He tells me he will pass our information on to our social worker in Tacoma to begin the home study process. He anticipates we will hear from her in a week or so. Two hours later, my phone rings and it is our social worker! She promises to email me all the paperwork we need to complete/compile. When I check my email that night, it is there. It's a daunting list of things to do, but so exciting! No we just need to come up with $1500 to move on to the next step. We continue to pray.

Monday, July 7

We receive a receipt via email from CHI for our check. We are assuming this means we have officially begun with CHI.

Wednesday, July 2

The paperwork is complete and mailed to CHI along with our first check. We pray and wait.

More confirmation

God continues to confirm in our hearts that He has a child for us in Ethiopia. We met recently with the Penners (dear friends from Lynden) who tell us that there are two families from our previous church adopting from Ethiopia right now. I share with my hairdresser that we are considering adoption (I didn't even tell her the country at first). She says that the night before she was with a friend who was going to be taking some YL kids that were adopted from Ethiopia to Malibu this summer. We go to a blog operated by a gentleman that Mark heard speak at his recent conference (oddly enough, there was a lot of conversation at this arts conference about the church as a whole being more involved in social justice worldwide. Coincidence? We know better.). On his blog there is a recent video of him in an orphanage in Africa. The children are BEAUTIFUL. Our hearts are so full.

The story continues...

*** Thursday, May 30 I speak with Mike from Childrens' House International. He doesn't seem to think there will be any problem with us beginning the Ethiopia program through their agency. He emails me the beginning paperwork. I wait to hear from YFC.
*** June 8 We decide to tell all of Mark' family at diner tonight our decision to adopt from Ethiopia. Linda is in tears by the time we are finished telling our story. She been praying for almost a year for how they can be involved financially in the plight of the orphan in ETHIOPIA. Isn't that unreal? God is SO GOOD.
***June 9 I receive a phone call from YFC. They are most concerned with the placement of children ages 2-9. Because our focus is on adopting a child younger than the age of two, we decide the YFC program is not an option for us. We are reassured about CHI as the YFC program director speaks very highly of the CHI program. She even tells me that the director of the CHI orphanage in Ethiopia is a believer and only employs believers to work in the orphanage. Praise God! We are on vacation, so we table working on the first stage paperwork until we get home.