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Please keep us in your prayers. Pray specifically for the adjustment period will go through when we bring our child/ren home. Imagine being taken from everything your know and are familiar with and then finding yourself in a foreign speaking country with people you don't know, food you've never eaten before, sounds, smells, sights you have never even dreamed of and you will a have a slight glimpse of what it will be like for this precious child/ren. Please pray for her/them.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Referral!
So much has been happening in our lives and I have so much to share. God is so good. Our Home Study is finally complete and has been sent to the Orphanage in Haiti for a referral!!! This is only one step in the paperwork stage. The home study is only a part of our "dossier", the dossier being all the paperwork. The home study is only the part completed by the social worker. We are almost completely done with our dossier, we are just waiting on the immigration side of things, which is estimated to take anywhere between six and twelve weeks to get a fingerprinting appointment. Most countries don't give referrals until the last minute and once you get it you go pick up your child. Haiti is unique in the fact that they give the referrals upon completion of the home study, you finish the paperwork send it off and then you do all the waiting while the Haitian government finalizes the dossier (aka paperwork). So we are anxiously awaiting our referral. I can't believe we are doing to meet our child/ren on paper and not be able to hold her/them........emotions will be plenty on that day!
The usual wait time once the dossier is submitted is anywhere from 18-24 months. Agonizing if you ask me, especially knowing who your child is and where they belong! We have now just been informed that Haiti is doing their best to make that wait time 12 months!!!!!! Yes that's right we may have our child/ren home here in Evansville, about this time next year, crazy I know, I can't really believe it yet, I still feel like I'm going through the motions. But I assure you God has been putting His stamp of approval on all the motions in ways that bring me to tears.
Let me share some of the amazing blessings with you.
As you know Haiti is going through the process to become Hague ratified (see older posts for info. on that). They had a cut off date for all those who were currently in the adoption process to be grandfathered in under the old procedures. It was September 15, we missed it, they have now extended that date to November 3, we may make that one! Our immigration paperwork is expected to take six to twelve weeks but we serve an amazing and sovereign God so I don't doubt that we may make that new deadline! That would be good news because we wouldn't then have all the extra steps to have to go through.
You may remember my post about the awesome psychological bill blessing. Well it wasn't quite over. We received the bill and it was only for $150. Joe called to make sure that was right and sure enough it was. So in case you missed it here are the numbers again:
First quote from Madison: $2,000
Second quote from same place: $1,200
Third quote from Janesville: $900
Fourth quote from Milwaukee, yes we shopped around! $500
Fifth quote from same place in Milwaukee: $300
Final bill from same place in Milwaukee: $150!!!!!
Yes God is good! His is most definitely funding this adoption and I feel so privileged to be a part of it.
We have an amazing church family most of whom are already a part of this journey with us, through prayer support and funding. I'll share a couple of really neat stories. We recently went to a birthday party where a donation was asked for in lieu of gifts. We weren't told what the outreach project was that they were asking donations for. I'm sure you can now guess but let me finish. The party was great, the kids had a blast and we were told at the end that the outreach project was us! We were presented the money the next day by the children whose birthday it was. The parents had given the children a bunch of outreach ideas and they chose the Koper's adoption. It was so precious.
There is another family in our church that is helping us with the costs. The Mummy has been finding trash (treasure) on the side of the road and then selling it. All proceeds are then been donated to the Koper's adoption fund! What a wonderful way to turn trash into treasure and what a perfect example of the excess we live amongst, that someone would put something perfectly useable out to curb for rubbish removal.
I also have a friend who God saw fit to use me to disciple. I have already been blessed by our Bible study time together and I am amazed at the passion and fire she has to learn, grow, and draw closer to God. I feel privileged to be a part of her journey and have her as a part of mine. We have gotten together on a couple of different occasions to make jewelery (she has an impressive bead collection) which she has then donated to our adoption funding. Be sure to look out for your opportunity to purchase one of these bracelets or necklaces and in doing so help out with our adoption costs.
Something else for you to look out for is an opportunity to come to a photography workshop. I will post more details soon.
These are just a few of the many ways God is blessing us as we fully surrender to His calling on our lives.
As a side note Joe's mission trip to Guatemala was wonderful on so many levels, another way God has blessed our family. And the funding of a second well is almost complete. To find out more about living water wells go to 414aguaviva.blogspot.com
I am constantly reminded that all this is for God's glory. It is not about our family, not even about a child/ren waiting to be united with her/their family, it is so much more than that and I praise God often for the privilege of being used by Him. I thank Him for allowing me to be a part of His plan. I am so inadequate for the task, a broken vessel but willing and desiring to please my God. May you be blessed as you continue in this journey with us.
The usual wait time once the dossier is submitted is anywhere from 18-24 months. Agonizing if you ask me, especially knowing who your child is and where they belong! We have now just been informed that Haiti is doing their best to make that wait time 12 months!!!!!! Yes that's right we may have our child/ren home here in Evansville, about this time next year, crazy I know, I can't really believe it yet, I still feel like I'm going through the motions. But I assure you God has been putting His stamp of approval on all the motions in ways that bring me to tears.
Let me share some of the amazing blessings with you.
As you know Haiti is going through the process to become Hague ratified (see older posts for info. on that). They had a cut off date for all those who were currently in the adoption process to be grandfathered in under the old procedures. It was September 15, we missed it, they have now extended that date to November 3, we may make that one! Our immigration paperwork is expected to take six to twelve weeks but we serve an amazing and sovereign God so I don't doubt that we may make that new deadline! That would be good news because we wouldn't then have all the extra steps to have to go through.
You may remember my post about the awesome psychological bill blessing. Well it wasn't quite over. We received the bill and it was only for $150. Joe called to make sure that was right and sure enough it was. So in case you missed it here are the numbers again:
First quote from Madison: $2,000
Second quote from same place: $1,200
Third quote from Janesville: $900
Fourth quote from Milwaukee, yes we shopped around! $500
Fifth quote from same place in Milwaukee: $300
Final bill from same place in Milwaukee: $150!!!!!
Yes God is good! His is most definitely funding this adoption and I feel so privileged to be a part of it.
We have an amazing church family most of whom are already a part of this journey with us, through prayer support and funding. I'll share a couple of really neat stories. We recently went to a birthday party where a donation was asked for in lieu of gifts. We weren't told what the outreach project was that they were asking donations for. I'm sure you can now guess but let me finish. The party was great, the kids had a blast and we were told at the end that the outreach project was us! We were presented the money the next day by the children whose birthday it was. The parents had given the children a bunch of outreach ideas and they chose the Koper's adoption. It was so precious.
There is another family in our church that is helping us with the costs. The Mummy has been finding trash (treasure) on the side of the road and then selling it. All proceeds are then been donated to the Koper's adoption fund! What a wonderful way to turn trash into treasure and what a perfect example of the excess we live amongst, that someone would put something perfectly useable out to curb for rubbish removal.
I also have a friend who God saw fit to use me to disciple. I have already been blessed by our Bible study time together and I am amazed at the passion and fire she has to learn, grow, and draw closer to God. I feel privileged to be a part of her journey and have her as a part of mine. We have gotten together on a couple of different occasions to make jewelery (she has an impressive bead collection) which she has then donated to our adoption funding. Be sure to look out for your opportunity to purchase one of these bracelets or necklaces and in doing so help out with our adoption costs.
Something else for you to look out for is an opportunity to come to a photography workshop. I will post more details soon.
These are just a few of the many ways God is blessing us as we fully surrender to His calling on our lives.
As a side note Joe's mission trip to Guatemala was wonderful on so many levels, another way God has blessed our family. And the funding of a second well is almost complete. To find out more about living water wells go to 414aguaviva.blogspot.com
I am constantly reminded that all this is for God's glory. It is not about our family, not even about a child/ren waiting to be united with her/their family, it is so much more than that and I praise God often for the privilege of being used by Him. I thank Him for allowing me to be a part of His plan. I am so inadequate for the task, a broken vessel but willing and desiring to please my God. May you be blessed as you continue in this journey with us.
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