Not a lot has happened since our last post - so just checking in! June was a busy month. We had VBS and 2 weeks of children's camp. June 4 - our church partnered with Action Ministries to deliver lunches to the children in Butts County. Our church began serving these lunches (M-F) to approximately 37 children - and last week we added 30 more children. We have teams of people who come each day to prepare and deliver lunches to these children. While I thought delivering these lunches would be such a GREAT ministry to these families, as it turned out, it has been such a blessing to me - and I think for everyone who has taken part. We have become involved in the lives of these families who live in a 5 mile radius of our church. Most of whom do NOT attend church. We've celebrated birthdays! We've celebrated the birth of a baby! It has been awesome. Our church family has gone above and beyond to donate funds and food for this ministry. I can't wait to see what God will do through this simple act of kindness.
June 10th - our dear friends hosted a breakfast at our church prior to SS. Their goal was to raise $300 for us to help with our adoption. They raised almost $1800. WOW!! Our church folks are
A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!! We completed one interview for a grant through Katelyn's Fund. We are praying that we will hear good news from them in a couple of weeks. We have not heard anymore from the other 3 grants (one - a matching grant) we have applied for but are praying that we will hear within the next week. These grants - if approved - should give us enough $$ to send our paperwork to Latvia AND make our first trip. Please pray with us about this. As the days pass by, we get more anxious. We are 'farther removed' from V with each passing day, and even though we try to talk to her every few weeks, her English gets less and less. Today, as we talked to her, Daniel tried to explain to her that we were working very hard to try to come see her. He told her we were trying to get enough $$ and get our passports and such. She got real quiet - and then I heard her say, "HERE? To LATVIA?" He told her it would be a while - probably after she goes back to school - but that we hoped to see her soon. She said, "Here?" Then, she began speaking very excitedly and rapidly to her family in the background. Of course, my favorite parts of our call are when we get ready to get off the phone - I say, "I miss you!" She says, "ME, TOO!" and I say, "I love you!" - She says, "ME, TOO!" The excitement in her voice when she says those two words - though some may not think is much - is enough to keep us working toward our end goal - Bringing Her HOME!!! If you have not had the opportunity to give toward our goal, please visit our fundraising page and click the donate button. You can give through Paypal. You can also click the link to go to Village to Village International to make a tax deductible donation. To those of you who have already given - THANK YOU!! A MILLION TIMES THANK YOU!!! We will NEVER be able to repay you for the sacrifices you have made to help change the life of our 'special orphan'.
FYI - stay posted! We should have our t-shirts available for purchase soon ($15).
Prayer needs:
**Pray for the New Horizons families who are hosting nearly 200 orphans from Latvia and Ukraine RIGHT NOW!! Pray that they will be the light, and that these children will feel the love of Jesus while they are here. Also pray that these children will find their forever families. Visit newhorizonsforchildren.org for more information on how YOU can participate in this hosting program.
**Pray for V - that God will fill her with His love - and she'll feel the excitement that something better's coming!
**Pray for Show Hope and God's Grace and Katelyn's Fund and Hand to Hand as they review our grant requests. Pray that we will receive approval and funds in a timely manner.
**Pray for the last few documents we need for our dossier - one specifically from my Dr. I had to have them do it twice BEFORE I had it notarized ( I goofed!). Then, we messed it up when we had it notarized - so I'm having to get it done again! I've called and emailed! I did finally get an email from them but she basically said she didn't know when she could get it done. Just pray that she'll show me grace and get my papers signed and mailed to us. We really need to get our papers apostilled.
**Pray for my brother, Clark, and sister-in-law, Susan as they have begun the process of adopting a precious baby from China.
**Pray for Kati (Susan's sister) and Lew as they are patiently waiting to get the word to go to Congo to get their precious babies - Arthur & Gigi - who are just adorable!!
**Pray for our Orphan Awareness Silent Auction/Banquet we are in the process of planning - which will take place August 18th. Most importantly pray that we will be able to adequately make people aware of orphan needs and orphan ministry opportunities - domestic and international. Pray that we will have the attendance for which we are hoping. Pray that people will be generous with their donations (if you have anything you'd like to donate - message me!). Finally, pray that we will raise some much needed funds for our adoption.
