Our Adoption Crisis

Well, it happened.  A major adoption crisis.  Every adoption story I've read has at least one major crisis.  And we've hit our first.  Our agency has closed the Ghana adoption program, due to ethical concerns.  We had become concerned with rumors of widespread unethical practices among Ghana adoptions, and decided that we would wait it out and trust our agency.  After just a few weeks of waiting, our agency decided to close the program.  We are so glad that we are working with an agency that has the integrity to stand up to these concerns.

So, what now??

We have decided to join a pilot program with our agency, Generations, in the country of Cameroon.  Cameroon is also in West Africa, and has just over 1 million orphans.  Generations is working with Shaping Destiny, and we have already started the process of changing things over to Cameroon.  This does set us back quite a bit in our timeline, however.  It's almost like starting over.  We must complete a home study update, and file a change with USCIS before our dossier will be ready to submit to Cameroon.  Hopefully, neither of these will take very long to complete.  Although the general process seems to go much more smoothly in Cameroon, it is still a pilot program...so there are always unknowns.  Our biggest wait will be for a referral, not because there is a long list, but because the attorney in Cameroon can only work with a certain number of cases at a time.  So now, it's back to paper-chasing for me, and more waiting.  We know that whatever happens, God is in control.  He knows where our daughter is, who she is, and when she will join our family.  Please keep praying for us!

A New Fundraiser...and a LOT of love!

My mom has made us some AMAZING quilts to help raise funds for our adoption! They are high quality fabric and batting. They are machine quilted...with lots of love for our new daughter. We're still deciding how we're going to proceed with them as far as fundraising is concerned (auction, outright sale, etc). Please, offer your advice, and your comments on the quilts. I'd love Mama to see what everyone has to say about them! Also, share them with your quilt loving friends...

More details to come...

 

Our Both Hands Video is Complete!

A Satisfying feeling

Today, I feel accomplished.  And it's still early!  We completed our Both Hands project on Saturday!  It was such a blessing to serve Ms. Wilma this week.  Please continue to pray for her as she continues to serve children in the Foster Care System.  So far, we have raised close to $2000 through our Both Hands project.  You can still donate here.  When our video is complete, I will definitely be uploading it and sending it out!  I can't wait to see it myself!  I have also completed all of our grant applications!  HUGE victory here!  There is so much paperwork involved in applying for grants, and I am so glad that I'm done with it, for now.  There are a few more grants that we can apply for after we receive our referral, if necessary.  So, right now, we are truly in the WORST phase of adoption, so far.  The waiting.  I'm pretty sure, my "worst adoption phase" will change, when we're waiting and we actually know who she is, but for now, we are just waiting to find out all about her.  Please pray for her with us, that she is being protected and cared for at this time.  All of our paperwork is complete for now, we have no other applications to work on, just fundraising, and waiting.  So, if you haven't checked out our fundraising merchandise, please check it out!  We've got tees, Just Love Coffee (and I have some at home, in stock!), Compelled Designs Jewelry, Merchandise from Uganda (paper bead necklaces, sling bags, wall art, beaded bracelets, nativity), and Apparent Project bracelets (paper bead bracelets from Haiti).  Check out the photos on our facebook page for details.  Also...COMING SOON...we will be hosting an online auction for a couple of quilts, made by my amazing mom, Nancy Swor!  We hope to do this in time for Christmas, so be on the lookout!  I know they will be amazing.  We will also add other items to the auction, so let us know if you'd like to donate something.  Thanks for supporting us and praying for us as we continue our journey!  Be sure to "like" our facebook page...and post and comment on it!  When other people see your comments (not just likes), it brings more and more people to our page, and more and more people will follow our journey, support us, and pray for us!

Getting Excited!

It has been whirlwind of a few months!  Besides life in general and the busyness of summer, we have been preparing for our Both Hands project.  We are so blessed to be able to participate in this project, and are excited to help Ms. Wilma out on August 24.  We had our Envelope Stuffing Party last night, and are getting all of our letters ready to send out.  The turnout was not what we had hoped, but we are praying, and have faith, that God is already working on the people who will receive our letters.  I have a fear that it will become a "One Hand" project...lots of people wanting to do the work on project day, but not willing to do the prep work that will benefit the orphan.  However, I'm reminded of our VBS verse from last week:

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.  2 Timothy 1:7

We have been blessed in the last few weeks with a one time grant of $1000.  Our adoption agency has already received this money, so it's sitting in our account, waiting until the next fee is due.  Praising God for that!  We're still waiting on another grant application (Show Hope)...we won't find out about that one until October.  

We received some hopeful news from our adoption agency last week about the climate of adoption in Ghana.  We're still in a wait and see mode, but we are the 6th family on the waiting list!  As soon as referrals are ready, it won't be long until we know who our precious princess is.  

In the meantime, we're working on fundraising, gathering supplies for project day, and praying for God's blessings.  If you'd like to contribute to our Both Hands fund, please use the link above.  Please pray with us!

We've added a facebook page, please like our page here!

Like us on Facebook

We've started a new facebook page, dedicated to our adoption.  Like our page to stay current on adoption news!

https://www.facebook.com/AlexandersAdopt

Lots of Adoption News...

There has been some action on the adoption front...besides just "paper-chasing"!  Here's what's been going on lately:

May 6: Received our finalized copies of the Home Study

May 7: Mailed i600A to USCIS (for US Immigration to approve us as an adoptive family and assign a biometrics appointment.)

May 8: Submitted application to Both Hands for a fundraising project

May 8: Submitted grant application to SBC Pastor's Adoption Fund (received approval on 5/20 for $500 grant upon child referral!)

May 9: USCIS receives our application

May 13: USCIS issues "Notice of Action"...they've received our application, and forwarded it for an appointment assignment

May 13: "Adoption Alert" issued: The government of Ghana has issued a temporary suspension on all international adoptions.

May 15: Submitted application to Show Hope for adoption grant.


May 23: Received biometrics appointment notification for June 12.  Sarah will be in Uganda, so we must reschedule...appointment planned for June 20 or 21.

May 24: Received photos of our Africa pottery necklaces, designed just for us by Compelled Designs!  We can't wait to get them in!  We'll be selling them for $24 each, plus $3 shipping, if necessary.

May 24: Received official approval as a Both Hands family!  We are so excited to be able to help a local widow, while raising funds for our adoption.  If you would like to be part of our work/planning team, let me know as soon as possible.  There is room for everyone, and we'll have a variety of projects that anyone can do!  Check out the following video, that shows the heart of Both Hands.

BOTH HANDS FOUNDATION from michael sydenstricker on Vimeo.


As far as the temporary suspension of adoptions from Ghana...We're in a wait and see pattern.  We were kind of caught in an in between stage, so we're just in a holding pattern to see what happens in Ghana over the next few weeks/months.  The United States is still processing things on this end, so we continue, pray, and will see what happens.

As always, we covet your prayers.  Please pray for the children of Ghana, that their best interest will be at the heart of any new legislation/rules.  We will soon begin the fundraising efforts through our Both Hands project, and we appreciate prayers that God would bless those efforts, as well as bring our team together for the project.  Please, let us know if you would like to be involved! 

I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you...

Our next adoption fundraiser is going on now!  We have our own adoption tees...they are available in chocolate or purple tees, both with silver ink.  They look really great!  Contact us here on our blog, or email sarahtalex@yahoo.com if you'd like to order.  We can ship, too! 

Crazy Weeks, but Oh, So Worth It!

It really has been a crazy few weeks, but we are definitely moving along in our adoption process!  We have completed all our meetings, education, and paperwork for our home study!  We received the rough draft of the home study report tonight, and will now wait for the final draft!  Hallelujah!  This is the first major hurdle in the adoption process.  Basically, we can't do anything else until the home study is completed.  So, now that it's done, we'll start on some other stuff.  The first major thing we'll do is to file our I600A.  This is for official approval for us to adopt from US Customs.  We submit this application, and then wait for them to assign us an appointment for fingerprinting.  Please pray that this appointment IS NOT assigned while I'm overseas on a mission trip!  Also, we can now begin applying for grants.  There are lots of grants and matching grants, so we've got to research and start applying!  We will also be applying to do a "Both Hands" project (also a fundraiser).  Here's some more good news: We had a garage sale fundraiser this weekend and raised $2180.65!

 We are blown away by God's goodness and His blessings! 

Crazy "Paper-Chasing" this week...

Please be praying for us this week.  It is going to be a week packed full of adoption prep!  On Tuesday, we have our first home visit (for the home study).  This appointment will last 2 hours.  At this appointment, we'll probably also receive a bunch of our "homework".  This will be training videos and website info for training and education.  We'll also be able to turn in everything we've gathered together so far. 

On Thursday, we have our Orientation meeting with Generations Adoptions, our placing agency.  I'm sure we'll be inundated with information at this 2 hour Skype meeting!  It's so exciting to be officially on the move with everything, though.  And honestly, I'm such a nerd, that I enjoy gathering and filling out the paperwork, as menial a task as it sometimes can be.  Hopefully we'll get a better idea of our timeline at this meeting, and we'll definitely have a better idea of the entire process!  We understand that a lot of the timing is not up to us, and there are no guarantees.  When we're working with the government, and in this case, 2 governments, there will probably be some sort of hold up in the process!! 

Also, beginning on Thursday evening, we will have a booth at The Old TownSquare, a new store in downtown North Platte.  They are having their Grand Opening celebration this weekend, so we will be there with some fundraising products.  We'll have Compelled Designs jewelry, Apparent Project bracelets, and Just Love Coffee.  This fundraising event will be Thursday evening, Friday, and Saturday. 

 

Please pray for us as we have a busy week, and pray that our fundraising efforts will be successful! 

Home Study Work Is Well Underway...

This week has been full of home study prep!  I feel like we've made good progress so far!  Here's our current list of paperwork, and our progress:

Release forms (4 forms): done
Health forms: appt April 3 for Doc to fill these out
Criminal Background Checks: appt March 27 for fingerprinting and submission
Employer References: Sarah-emailed to main office this week
                                     Ryan-to be filled out Sunday
Personal References: emailed forms to them this week, they should all be turned in next week.
Financial Statement: done
Copy of Taxes: done
Self-study Questionnaire: working on it...
Marriage License: done
Birth Certificates: done

Whew!  All we've got to do is finish the self-study!  Everything else is done, or scheduled!  We haven't met with our home study agency, or our adoption agency yet.  Our adoption agency Ghana program coordinator is actually IN Ghana, and returning this week, so we'll meet with her soon.  Also, we'll meet with our home study coordinator soon too.  We will also have training/education to complete, and personal visits for the home study as well.  Praying we can get it all taken care of soon, so our home study will be complete in record time!  God is at work, for sure! 

Next comes our dossier (the packet of information that is sent to Ghana) preparation...I've looked at the list of required documents, and we're pretty much taking care of them with the home study.  We will have a couple of forms that we'll need to have notarized for the dossier, but that's easy, peasy!  Just gathering and signing! 

All in all, I'm pleased with how things have progressed this week.  I'm loving this journey, even though it's daunting and exhausting!  I've also been searching around online, and reading up about Ghana and some of the ministries that Generations is partnering with.  I'm so excited to see what God's  doing and be part of it!  Please, check out Feeding the Orphans!  It's really an amazing ministry! 

Please keep praying for us, for our daughter, and for those caring for her now.  Remember, you can still contribute to our adoption fund, through paypal (send a gift to sarahtalexATyahooDOTcom), through snail mail, Just Love Coffee, or the jewelry we're selling (see our facebook pages!). 

Also, share our blog with your friends!  We'd love to have people we don't even know praying for us! 

We are Official!

Today is a BIG day in our adoption process!  We decided to pursue Ghana as our country!  Why Ghana?  Here's a summary from Generations website:

The culture-rich West African country of Ghana has a population of 22 million. While English is the official language, Ghana is a very diverse country. It is comprised of various tribes from more than 100 ethnic groups each with its own languages, religions, and traditions. Ghana, formerly called the Gold Coast, was found to be rich in gold. Today, tourists visit historic sites including castles and forts that serve as reminders of the barbaric slave trade that took place years ago.

Ghana is a country of great wealth and great poverty. There are large, industrialized cities as well as remote villages with no access to electricity and clean water. Due to poverty, illness, and illiteracy, there are many orphans, abandoned children, and even young children being sold into forced child slavery who are exploited by the fishing community. Fishermen often resort to ‘buying’ children from disadvantaged single mothers to help them fish the lake. They use the children’s small fingers to untangle fishing nets caught in trees in the lake. Unfortunately, a mother in desperate circumstances, unable to feed her children, believes that the fisherman will feed her child and perhaps learn a skill that she cannot give them.

There are approximately 1 million orphans in Ghana.  1 million orphans in a country the size of the state of Oregon!  Our goal is to bring one of those orphans home, forever. 

With this decision finalized, we also submitted our home study application with Adoption Consultants, Inc., and our agency application with Generations Adoptions! 

We received the "official" acceptance from Generations later this afternoon, so we are offically in the Ghana program!  We will be meeting with our home study coordinator soon, and the paperwork begins! 

First Goal.....Check.

We made it!!  We have officially reached our first fundraising goal.  When we first started the adoption process, our goal was to have $5000 raised by June.  With the $5K, we can pay for our application fees, home study, and the first installment to the adoption agency.  Well, as you can see, God blew "our" plans out.of.the.water.  Just this morning in my Bible study, I was praying that God would simply work however HE wanted to...I wasn't praying for him to supply the remaining funds in any particular way, but just for Him to work in whatever way that would bring Him the most glory.  Well, He decided to work through someone that we don't even know!  I'm so amazed by the way His plans are fulfilled.  We were given a check that covered the remaining balance, plus some!
Check out the fundraising page for the updated totals.

Our ultimate goal is at least $30,000, so we've still got quite a ways to go until we've got our adoption funded!! 

So, what's next? 

Now, it's time to submit our agency application and home study application!  Of course, we have to actually be sure on the country we're adopting from before we do that....so here's the question:

 

What country do you think we'll choose?

I'm curious to see and hear your thoughts!  I have the applications pretty much completed, so it won't be long, and we'll be on our way!  Leave a comment, and let us know your ideas!!

We're Almost There!

What a couple of weeks it has been!  We had an article in the newspaper, and then the TV station did an interview!  I was so nervous....and for those that knew Daddy, after I've watched the video a few times, I realized I had Daddy's "bird-face" during the entire thing!  HAHAHAHA!!  You can check out the KNOP news story here.

We are ALMOST to our first goal!!  We had originally planned to reach this goal by June 2013, however, our GOD, who wants to do even more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), continues to amaze us.  When we have $5000, we will begin our applications and our home study.  I've already been preparing these, so hopefully, we'll be able to submit them as soon as we reach the goal.  Guys, we are SO CLOSE!  Like, $432.50 CLOSE!  Our new plan (since God blew the first one out of the water!) is to reach our goal and submit our applications by March 15.  If we get that done, MAYBE, just MAYBE, we'll even have our home study completed by June!  Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support.  We can't do this without you. 

Be sure to check out our facebook pages for photos of the jewelry we have available, or head on over to Just Love Coffee to purchase some great coffee.  If you're not on facebook, shoot me an email at sarahtalex(at)yahoo(dot)com and I can get photos of the jewelry to you.  Thanks!

Out of our Comfort Zone...

I think my friend Harmony said it well in her blog.  I'm totally uncomfortable with the article in the Telegraph, but God doesn't call us to a life of comfort.  God doesn't call us to a life of smooth sailing.  He works the most in our lives when we are totally out of our comfort zone (something that's been drilled into me since I was a teenager, right, Eric?).  Fundraising is not a fun process, but it's necessary to bring our daughter home to her family.  It's necessary to meet the obligations required to be able to adopt.  So, like Harmony, we trudge on, knowing what Isaiah 55:8-9 says is true:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

 

Thank you for your continued prayer and support.  No matter how uncomfortable I am with the idea of fundraising, and asking people for help in our adoption, I am grateful.  I am grateful for the journey that we're on, and I'm grateful that God is allowing so many people to be involved in our life story. 

So Blessed!

We are so blessed by God!  We have only been fundraising for 1 1/2 months, and we only have $1300 $930 left to reach our first goal!  I cannot believe how God has blessed our efforts.  It's such a reminder and an assurance that this is God's plan for us, not just our idea.  Thank you so much for your support, and especially, your prayers.  You can give through our Avon fundraiser, our Just Love Coffee fundraiser, or you can donate through Paypal.  Just send a "gift" to our email:
sarahtalex(at)yahoo(dot)com 



Thank you again....every little bit counts, and it's adding up quickly!

God's definitely got BIG plans for our family...

If we were unsure of God's leading our family toward adoption before now (which we were NOT), we definitely would be sure now.  Wow!  There is no way that I thought I'd be saying we are at 67% of our $5000 goal just one month into our fundraising!  We are sitting at almost $3400 today.  When we get to $5000, we will apply with the agency, and start the home study process, which will take anywhere from 2-4 months to complete. 

Our Tupperware fundraiser is closing in just a few days.  If you would still like to order, you can do that here.  Also, our Just Love Coffee fundraiser is ongoing.  You can access that here.  We are so pleased to be working with a company such as Just Love Coffee Roasters.  Not only can you support our adoption, but you can also support a FAIR TRADE Certified product.  Win-win.  Also if you have a business, or a church, we can work with you to provide the coffee at a wholesale price as well.  Wouldn't it be great to serve coffee that you can be sure does NOT support slave labor?!?  We are also working with Rebekah Blocher Designs Jewelry.  Our first set of fundraising jewelry SOLD OUT in 3 days!  I'm so excited to be getting this great product.  We have 2 more orders on the way to us.  I hope we sell them just as fast!  You can also simply send us a "gift" through Paypal.  Just send money as a "gift" to sarahtalex(at)yahoo(dot)com.  Sending as a gift avoids paypal fees for both parties. 

I've visited with a new store here in North Platte, and they are considering allowing us to sell some of our fundraising products as a special event in the store.  We pray that if this happens, it will be an amazing event with lots of adoption sales! 

We also received our "prayer cards" today.  I'm so excited to pass these out...so that people will be reminded to pray for our family and follow our journey as we travel through the adoption process. 

Here's my BHAG

(Big Hairy Audacious Goal), as my friend (and boss!) Eric Ramsey would say.  Since our fundraising kicked off so amazingly, I'm altering our original goal.  Our first plan was to reach our $5000 goal by summer, so we could start our home study.  Now, I'd like to reach our $5000 goal by March 15.  If we do this, perhaps we can have our home study ALMOST complete by summer.  This will greatly reduce our wait time until our daughter is home!  We've got some ideas and projects that we'd like to participate in, but some of these require us to have our home study completed....so let's get on it! 

Thanks so much for your encouragement, support, and prayers.  We know that God has some amazing plans for one little African girl, and some even more amazing blessings for us, her family, through this process. 

If you're not "following" our blog, please do so, or leave us a comment.  We would love to know who's following our journey, and praying for us!

Amazed at God's provision today...

What an awesome God we serve!  We always talk about God providing, and knowing that He's in control, but actually being smack dab in the middle of it is amazing.  Today, we received work that we were awarded a grant for $2500!  Grants being awarded pre-home study is almost unheard of...we are so blessed!  I've said from the beginning that MY plan is to have the $5K ready to go by summer...with a doubt in the back of my head as to whether it would actually would happen.  Well, I have no doubt whatsoever now!  I really do have complete faith that God will continue to provide, that he will bless our fundraising efforts, and that we will be that much closer to bringing our daughter home!  Thank you, Father, for reminding me, once again, that you are the ultimate provider, and that provide for our every need.  I'm so humbled by you today.

The Jewelry is In!

EDITED JANUARY 29: We have sold out of the jewelry!  Praise God for his provision.  Be watching for our next shipment.

I received my shipment from Rebekah Blocher Designs today! I'm so excited...this jewelry is so cute. Just in time for Valentine's Day! Each piece is $24. Please add $3 if you are not local, and I need to ship to you. I only have one of each piece, so let me know exactly which one you want. First come, first served!

 

Tupperware Fundraiser

Our Tupperware fundraiser is going on now!  Online ordering is now available.  Follow this link to order online.  Thanks for supporting our adoption!

I like adoption.

Another great adoption clip!

 

...Depraved

Eric Ludy: Depraved Indifference.....wow.  This pretty much sums up God's calling on our life for adoption.  He chose US to help one of His children.  What a privilege, what an honor, what an amazing God we serve.  And,  yes, how scary!  It's not always (or EVER!) easy to follow God when we don't know the full plan, but how can we say "no", or even say "not yet", to our GOD?  I've come to learn that adoption not just about a child, or about parents.  Adoption is about God, his heart for the fatherless.  It's about God's redemption of each one of us, through the perfect sacrifice of His son.  Adoption is also not FOR children, or FOR parents.  Adoption is FOR EVERYONE!  God calls each one of us to "take up the cause of the fatherless" (Isaiah 1:17).  God may not be asking you to adopt, or be a foster parent, but he may be asking you to help someone else overcome the immence obstacles of adoption.  At the very least, He is asking you to pray.  Pray for the fatherless.  Pray for adoptive families.  Pray that He will show you exactly how you are to be involved in the "cause of the fatherless". 

 

As I'm celebrating my birthday today, I'm listening to the kids play outside (and argue, and whine...who are we kidding?!?).  I'm wondering how many more birthdays I'll celebrate with my family of 6.  I'm so anxious to get the ball rolling, and get everything in process, so that we'll be a family of 7.  Yet I know that God's timing is perfect.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us "For I know the plans I have for you...".  I know that everything is in His perfect timing, according to His perfect will, but it doesn't make the waiting any easier!  Today, the only gift I ask for is your prayers.  Prayers for us, as we save, fundraise, and prepare for the adoption.  And most especially, prayers for our daughter...that she will be protected, loved, and cared for today, and everyday.  Pray that she will be provided for, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Pray that whoever is caring for her today will teach her about the love of Jesus.  Thank you for your prayers, especially, and for your love for our family!