“A father to the fatherless....God places the lonely in families...” Psalms 68:5,6
To all of our friends and family,
As many of you know we are in the process of adopting from Uganda, Africa. Joe and I have
wanted to adopt since before we had children. Last may I went to Uganda on a mission trip to
Uganda with the River Church. The people of that country touched my heart and changed my
life. The decision to adopt from Africa did not com easily knowing that there would be those who
did not agree or support that decision.
We started our adoption journey in March of this year with our home study. We had decided that we were going to do an independent adoption, meaning that we would not have a placement agency just a lawyer in Uganda. We found out about a lawyer in Uganda and started the contact with them to get the process started. I had known about some of the orphanages from the trip in May and our lawyer also gave us a list of homes that we could contact about a referral of a child. We contacted several orphanages and waited for a response. While we waited we started turning in our paperwork to the lawyer and started to raise funds for the cost of the adoption.
In September we still had not heard from any of the orphanages and my mind was starting to wonder what was going on. A friend of mine emailed me from Uganda telling me about the orphanage that she was getting her daughter from. I contacted the director of the orphanage and waited for a response. We emailed back and forth telling her more about our family and what our hope was for a referral. On September 23 she emailed us and said that she wanted to talk to us about a referral. She said that she had twin girls in her orphanage and wanted to talk to us more about them. A couple of days later we called her at her house in Denver and talked about the girls and where they were in their journey. Joe and I took the next couple of days praying, reading our Bibles and praying some more, if these were the children that God would have for us.
The decision was made that we would pursue these two precious girls. Their names currently are Lori and Claudia and they are about 14 months old. We are not sure when we will be able to go and get our girls and will not have peace about them being able to come home until they are sleeping in their beds at home.
We have been able to do three garage sales and a car wash. We have also applied for three grants through our church and from two other independent agencies. We have been denied one and have not heard back on the other two.
This letter is to not only inform you of what is going on with our adoption but also to let you know that we are a long way from being able to go and get the girls with the current money that we have raised. For international adoptions the average cost for an adoption costs between $15,000 and $35,000. This adoption because we have not hired a placement agency is going to cost about $20,000, this is for both girls. We have said from the beginning that if God has placed it in our hearts to adopt then He will provide what is needed for these girls to become our daughters. We have to have faith and trust in Him that He will provide for us and for these girls. By God’s grace we have been able to raise about $4,000 so far.
There are different ways that you could help out with bringing these girls home.
Prayer- Please pray for the girls that they would stay healthy and safe until we are able to go and get them, that we would be able to raise the money that is needed to be able to bring our girls home, and that God would prepare the hearts of our Kaden and Anna for the upcoming changes in their lives.
Fundraisers- We are continuing to try and think of ways to raise money for the adoption. If you have any ideas we would welcome any ideas.
Financial Support – Will you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining $16,000 in adoption expenses, to bring our girls home?
Items needed for the girls - We will be in need of clothes and other items that we will be announcing on our blog once we have knowledge of them. (james127durango.blogspot.com)
We appreciate your friendship very much and would like you to pray and consider helping us in our adoption.
Lifesong (
www.lifesongfororphans.org) has graciously set up a fundraising account for us to raise funds to help pay the “ransom” to bring our girls home. If you would like to be a part of God bringing Lori and Claudua to Himself through our family, you can send your tax-deductible gift between now and December 26, 2011 to the address below. Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on Lori and Claudia’s behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.
Please make checks payable to: Lifesong for orphans. Reference: Padgett #2305 adoption.
(Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.)
Mail checks to:
Lifesong for Orphans
Att: Padgett #2305 adoption
PO Box 40/ 202 N Ford Street
Gridley, IL 61744
We will give you updates as we receive them on our blog: james127durango.blogspot.com
In Christ,
Joe, Sara, Kaden and Anna
P.S. I could not add pictures to this version because of being on the internet, if you would like to see pictures I will have to show you them personally.
