Lifting a child up

We are home now and are trying to adjust to being away from our girl.  After our week with her we felt we grew a great bond with her and it made it very hard to leave and it is hard being back and going through the normal motions of life....she is on our minds always.

We had so many great moments with our girl and also with the other kids of the creche.  I had one particular moment that really touched me and I wanted to share this story...especially with my friends who I know sponsor children.

When I got back from my first trip to Haiti I was so impressed and moved by Chances for Children that we decided we wanted to further our support for them and sponsor another child.   Child sponsorship entails a monthly financial commitment to help pay for the needs of the children (food, school, etc.).   In addition to the sponsorship you get the opportunity to write letters back and forth with the child you selected.  I consider child sponsorship a huge part of our adoption story, as our daughter initially started out as our sponsored child. Anyways, when I returned to the USA I added a sweet older child name Bernadine to our sponsorship list.

I viewed the sponsorship as a way to support the overall creche and did not really think of the importance of the relationship with the child.   In my mind at the time it was just a way to do my part and help fund the creche.   My opinion has drastically changed as to how I view sponsorship based on my last visit. 

Last April I wrote Bernadine a short letter with a few encouraging words.   The correspondence I received back was in the form of pictures and drawings.  I haven't done much more in the way of correspondence since that first letter, again, my thinking was that really I am just providing funding.

Bernadine is a sweet girl, she is very shy.  If you don't seek her out you might not even notice her as she stays in the background pretty much.  Well, one day I was looking for our girl and went into Bernadine's room.  I started talking to her and very quickly she got a huge smile on her face.  The kids at the creche only have 1 drawer in a dresser to themselves and what they keep in their backpack, that is their only belongings.  So as I am talking to Bernadine she goes to her backpack, which I can see just a few loose papers in.   With the biggest smile on her face she pulls out the letter I wrote from April and showed it off to me like it was her most prized possession.  She then read it to me and also had me read it to her.  I could see how happy this one letter made her and how proud of the letter she was.   I was holding back the tears as I was realizing how she had held onto this letter for over 8 months and how happy this letter made her.

I later was talking to the director of the creche and she told me how much these kids value their sponsorship letters and how for some of them, it is all they have.   Wow! 

I now have a whole new viewpoint of child sponsorship.  It is first and primarily a way to speak words of encouragement into a child who very much needs someone to lift them up and make sure they know they are loved...and it is secondly a way to support the overall mission of the organization.   Needless to say, my sponsorship letter writing activities are going to greatly increase. 

If you aren't a sponsor and would like to be blessed by a relationship with a child you can go the Chances for Children website to sponsor a child.  There are also other reputable organizations like Compassion who also offer sponsorship opportunities.

http://www.chances4children.org/sponsorship/

http://www.compassion.com/

The kids getting together to sing for us

Redemption

From Ed:

As a Christian, when I think about the word redemption, I think primarily of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  I have been redeemed, from being an enemy of God to being adopted into His family.  That is the most important meaning of the word to me, but there are other examples of redemption that come to my mind as well.

I will never forget an experience we had when Tina and I first joined a community group at New Harvest Church.  I had not yet made a decision to follow Jesus and was still struggling with many questions.  One of the couples we had just met opened up to the group and graciously shared an incredibly painful chapter in their lives.  They told us how they lost their only son at a very young age after a long and difficult battle with cancer.  It was a heartbreaking story and when they were finished,  the eyes of all who heard their story were filled with tears.  As I looked at the couple sharing their story, I noticed something different.  Their faces were absolutely glowing as they continued to talk about their love for Jesus through it all.  It was clear that they remembered every detail, and they knew it had been a painful journey, but God had somehow redeemed their pain.  They had experienced healing and praised God for it.  They were not bitter, but thankful.  I found their faith inspiring and this experience helped point me towards Jesus in my own walk.  I took note that they believed in a God that suffered with them, and could redeem even the worst pain and ultimately turn it into a victory. 

Last week in Haiti, I saw God at work in the same way.  We heard many tragic stories of suffering, but also saw healing taking place.  Pain and suffering were in the process of being redeemed.  There are children the same age as Claire that remember being dropped off at an orphanage by their mothers one day, never to see them again.  Their emotional wounds are slowly healing.  We saw children who had come to the orphanage as infants severely malnourished and close to death, but were thriving now.  There was a story of a child being abandoned by his parents at a young age, having to fend not just for himself,  but also for his younger family members as well.  Now at the crèche, he was safe and in the process of being adopted.  This young man so impressed me with his leadership abilities, and the way he cared for the younger children.  His pain was being redeemed, and he is able to use what he learned during his trial to serve others.  We were so blessed to see two young boys go home with their new parents and we praised God for the new life they were now going to experience.  One of the older girls at the crèche showed Tina a sponsorship letter that she saved.  Tina had written this letter to her months ago and she wanted Tina to know how much she treasured it and kept it close to her.  We saw a new medical clinic almost ready to be opened to serve the children and their community.  We toured a new building for the younger children that is the next project on the list.  This new building will increase capacity and allow more children to have a safe place to live while they wait for their adoptions.  I saw the staff lovingly care for the children and met one of the most amazing and inspiring teachers that I have ever seen.  Everyone from the adoptive parents to every single employee at the crèche were showing the children with words and actions that they are loved and wanted.

I’ve come to learn that while we can’t control what happens to us in life, we can control how we react.  The orphan children that I met have been dealt a very tough hand in life, yet I saw no bitterness or anger.  I saw kindness, compassion, and love instead.  I was asked to lead a discussion with some of the older children about how to succeed in school.  They started out with the expected answers like study hard, good attendance, etc.  I asked what they thought about avoiding conflicts and fighting?  They all got very serious and a young lady, about 13 years old, quickly spoke up and said “you must never fight with another person because they are your brother or your sister”.

I know that our child will likely have some deep emotional wounds that need to be healed.  I don’t expect that it will be an easy path, but I am committed to being a part of her healing process in my role as an adoptive parent.  I’m so happy to be her father.  There aren’t enough words to adequately describe the joy that I felt as I watched Tina read our new daughter a bedtime story and then tuck her in as we kissed her goodnight.  I felt guilt over how many times we’ve done this with Claire and just taken it for granted.  When you only have a week, every moment together is so precious.  We miss our little girl very much right now and pray that she will be home with us very soon.  I thank God for calling us to adoption, and feel very blessed to be part of her life now.    

       

I have come to have faith in a God that is able to heal and redeem.  The Bible is filled with examples of disadvantages transformed into advantages by God - Joseph, Naomi and Ruth, Job, and so many others.  I believe the pain and suffering that Jesus experienced on the cross was redeemed, transformed from a defeat into a victory that we all share as His followers.   

I thank you all so much for following us on this journey.  I am so very grateful for your prayers, support, and the many kind words we have received.  Please believe me that they are effective, and much appreciated.  May God richly bless each and every one of you.

“Learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the case of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” – Isaiah 1:17

Teacher LuLu always has this smile on his face!

Things are moving

So we got the official email this morning that our paperwork is in Haiti and is entering the first step of the process in the Haitian government....Praise Jesus!   In addition, sometime this week our sweet girl will be told that we are adopting her.  I am praying she receives this news happily and is excited.   I know we are.  Last week a group from our church visited and we sent with them a book of our family, which will be given to our girl when she is told the news....hopefully this will help her get to know a little bit more about us.

We will be leaving this Sunday to go to Haiti.  I think some people have been under the impression we will be bringing our girl home on this trip. Unfortunately that is not the case.  International adoption is a VERY long process and every country is different. So this trip is only for us to visit her and start forming a relationship with her.  Because we have missed out on 8 years of our sweet girls life, it is so important for us to connect with her as soon as possible, as well as do anything in our power to bring her home faster (although at this point, there really isn't anything else that we can do and everything is out of our hands).   We will have one more required trip, a two week trip, which we expect to have come in Spring or early Summer.  And then a few more months of waiting and then we should be able to finally bring her home.  

For our prayer warrior friends, we would love prayer in the following areas:

• Prayer for Claire, who will be staying home on this trip with Grandma and Grandpa.  This is the longest she has been away from us, and usually she starts getting really sad around day 3.  Please pray for her peace and for her to have fun while we are away.  We won't be able to talk to her very much on the phone either, so this might be hard.
• Prayer for connections to easily form between us and our adopted daughter.  That she would know in her heart that we are her parents and love her SO much!
• Prayer specifically on Friday, December 13th. This is the day we will be saying goodbye to our sweet girl until the next time we can visit her.  I know this is going to be hard on her and on us.  A few weeks ago a friend asked me how I was emotionally preparing myself for this and I didn't have an answer, I think it is because I don't really think you can emotionally prepare to leave your child behind.  So I am just trusting in Jesus to give all of us peace and help us rely on Him in the pain we may feel.
• Prayer for safe travel and against any attempts Satan may make against us.   I once was told that adoption is the ultimate act of love and is something Satan can't stand, therefore he tries to attack.  So please pray for our protection.  

Internet is iffy in Haiti. But we are going to try to post short daily post once we get there, so you can keep an eye on the blog for daily post starting on Sunday or Monday next week.

We are still working to cover the remaining cost of our adoption, if this is something you would like to help us in you can make a tax deductible donation through Lifesong for Orphans- everything is greatly appreciated.  Checks can be made payable to "Lifesong for Orphans".  In the memo, note "Family account #4035 and "Daniel Family" to assure it goes to the correct account or you can mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744. Another option is to give online.  Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate .  Select "Give to an adoptive family".  Complete the online form and fill in "#4035" in  Family Account Number field and "Daniel Family" in family name fields.

We are grateful for your prayers, support, and encouraging words.

This is a picture from my last trip to Haiti