We have sent our dossier over to Latvia with another adopting family. It should be delivered to the attorney on Tuesday the 7th. The paperwork will then need to be translated and presented to the courts. We will then be given a date to appear in court, and we will have to plan our first trip around that date.
Looking at average time-lines, we will probably be traveling in October or November. That means cold and probably snow!! Should be beautiful!
Please pray that the dossier goes through the system smoothly. Pray for V. as a social worker meets with her to let her know about the adoption plans. Pray that the money for the first trip will be available when and where it is needed. Pray for us as we prepare for and then take our first trip to bring our daughter home!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
More $$
We just received notice that we were approved for a matching grant through Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. They will match up to $5,000 that is donated toward our adoption.
If you are interested in helping us reach this goal of $10,000 ($5K donated + $5K matched), please send your tax deductible donations to:
Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
DeJong Family
18318 Mimosa Court
Gardner, KS 66030
For tax purposes, please address the envelope as written above. DO NOT put our name on your check.
Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support!!!
If you are interested in helping us reach this goal of $10,000 ($5K donated + $5K matched), please send your tax deductible donations to:
Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
DeJong Family
18318 Mimosa Court
Gardner, KS 66030
For tax purposes, please address the envelope as written above. DO NOT put our name on your check.
Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support!!!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Good news
Well, the week of the 4th brought good news for us!! We got notifications that we had been awarded $10,000 in grant money. Yipee!!!! Praise the Lord!! So, now we are praying for the remainder of our $$ - approximately $7,000. We have a couple of other grants we are waiting to hear from! Thankful for every cent!!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Waiting and Wanting
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.
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.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Plane Tickets
We will need three round trip tickets for our first trip to Latvia (Daniel, Heather, and Vita). We will then need 2 round trip tickets for our second trip (Daniel and Vita) and 2 for our third and final trip (Daniel and Vita). If anyone has Delta sky miles and would like to use them to purchase a ticket, the tickets are selling for 75,000 sky miles each right now. Please let us know if you have enough miles and would be willing to donate them to bringing V home!!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Village to Village
We are now being hosted through Village to Village International Ministries. We need approximately $6,000 in order to send our paperwork to Latvia. If you could spare any 'change' each week, please go over to Village to Village and make your tax deductible donation to help us bring Vita home. Giving up a soda or coffee every day would equal about $7-$10. Every little bit helps. Thank you SO VERY MUCH!!!
We also have puzzle pieces left if you'd like to purchase one for $10.
Village to Village International - DeJong Family
We also have puzzle pieces left if you'd like to purchase one for $10.
Village to Village International - DeJong Family
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day
Today I feel so blessed!! So thankful for my 4 angels who made me a mommy!! Thankful for angel #5 -14 years old - who will make me a mommy again - hopefully soon! We have been gone the last few days - visiting with family! So happy to see my brother, Richie and his family. They are relocating to NC from MI - and we are so thankful! As a result of this move, I got to kiss on and love on my new nephew, Drake, who is such an angel as is his big sister, Madelyn. So, after not getting the mail the last few days, I checked it today when we got home after church. The best Mothers Day 'card' EVER was in the mail - our immigration approval!! HALLELUJAH! Thank you Jesus!! Now, to move forward - - maybe a few fundraisers, hopefully some grant approvals, and maybe a few donations. We are so anxious to get this paperwork sent off. One special girl is waiting on us, and we don't want to miss anymore time loving on her than we have to! So pray with us that God will provide! Thanks for your support and prayers through this process.
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