We also found out where V is in her country and a pretty good guess about which language she speaks (Ukrainian). It is kind of like when you are pregnant and you are so excited when the baby arrives to see what color of hair and if the baby looks like one side of the family or the other. The more details we get about V, the more excited we become.
Below is a copy of our support letter! Happy reading folks!
March 28, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
Josh and I would like to take a
moment to update our friends and family about how we have been ministering to orphans
in Ukraine. As I sat down to write this
letter, I was time warped to May of 2015, almost a year ago. We had just moved to a new house and were
presented with an opportunity that was entirely of God’s timing and leading for
our family. We began the process to host
an orphan from Ukraine through a Christian organization called New Horizons for
Children, which matches an Eastern European orphan with a host family for five
weeks during the summer (www.nhfc.org).
I remember thinking there was no way we would be able to raise the money
in 15 days, as we came into this at the end of the matching season. God is so awesome and He provided in ways we didn’t
expect. The funds to host Luda last
summer appeared in 15 days! We were humbled by His provision for our
family. I remember in the last days
before the funds were due money kept popping up here and there, even in the
smallest amounts of $1.10 from our previous internet provider from when we
moved. I pinned that check up on our
calendar board and we never cashed it.
This past year it has served as a reminder of God’s provision in all
ways in our lives.
Meeting and loving Luda was
challenging and heart wrenching and wonderful! We had an awesome summer with
her and it broke our hearts to send her back in August. We have maintained a relationship with her
and have continued to financially support her now that she has left the
orphanage due to her age. We just celebrated her 17th birthday via Facebook,
a phone call, and sending her some gifts through the wonders of online ordering
in Ukraine!
Back in late January, the New
Horizons for Children Interview teams returned from their trips and the hosting
window was opened in February. We knew
we couldn’t host Luda again because of her age/leaving the orphanage but we
were open to hosting another child. We
scoured the photo listing and read the short bios. After last year and our experience of seeing
Luda’s photo and immediately knowing she was the one, we were expecting the
same thing to happen, it didn’t. We felt
devastated and questioned if this was what God wanted our family to do. With more prayer and more time and faith in
God’s leading, it happened at the beginning of March. More photos were added daily of children
looking to find a host family for this summer.
We saw her sweet face and knew right away. She is 14 years old. She lives in an orphanage in Ukraine, west of
Kiev.
Through this experience, it has
reaffirmed our desire to foster and adopt children who have been abandoned and don’t
know the love of a family or the love of a Savior. To
read more about how God worked in our hearts, check out this link to our blog
that gives more detail and recorded last year’s journey. http://t-rexhugs.blogspot.com/2015/05/you-want-to-do-what.html
We are in need of about $1600 which pays for airfare, visa,
and transportation costs and food while traveling in country for the embassy
appointment and days of travel, child’s documentation/approval to leave the
country, medical insurance while here, passport and visa, home safety visit,
etc. We are asking that you prayerfully
consider donating to help bring our host daughter home to us. If you aren’t able to support us financially,
then please consider becoming a prayer warrior for our family. Below you will find some different options
for how to donate and a list of prayer requests and other needs.
God Bless, Josh,
Katie, Adria, Amelia, and Eliza
Ways to Donate: all donations are Tax
Deductible
VIA Check:
Please making checks payable to New Horizons for Children
and include a note/memo stating our child’s code E1107. Send to NHFC, Attn:
Accounting, 5330 Brookstone Drive, Suite 250 PO BOX 801395 Acworth, GA 30101
VIA PAYPAL:
Our PayPal donation page may be accessed via their website, www.nhfc.org.
Go to the families page and click on “Pay your hosting fees”. As with checks, donors MUST list our child’s
code E1107.
*NHFC will send a tax donation receipts to donors.
VIA our YouCaring page:
*After making a donation you will immediately receive a tax
donation statement.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
-All funds would be given by the deadline of May 15th
-Prepare our host daughter’s heart to the love of a family
and more important the love of God
-Our host daughter’s salvation
-Our family: our marriage, the girls as they adjust to
loving another sister
-pray for our hearts to not be guarded in loving this child
though we know first-hand now the grief that will be inevitable at the end of
the summer when we are physically separated as she returns to Ukraine
-pray if this child is meant to be ours permanently that the
doors to the adoption process would be smooth as we embark on that journey
-dental and vision providers would give visits without cost
-Ready our hearts for another summer of personal spiritual
growth and family growth
Other Physical
Needs:
-clothing/gift cards to purchase clothing for her, she will
come with maybe an outfit or two
-duffle bag (has exact measurements that are required by
NHFC, just ask if interested in donating this)
-Backpack
-Bible in her language (we believe it is Russian given the
area she lives in)
No comments:
Post a Comment