Dear Family and Friends:
As many of you may already know, we are going to be adopting a child from Ethiopia. We are so excited about this next step in our journey together in growing our family. We have felt the calling to adopt for about 2 years now, but were waiting to hear God’s plan and timing. This past January, we discussed starting the process in 2011, then excitement pushed it to the end of this year. We attended a Discovering Adoption meeting in March, which only increased our excitement. In the beginning of May, we received an e-mail from Bethany Christian Services outlining an increase in intercountry adoption fees. We took it as a sign from God to have faith in his plans and started the process. At this point, we have requested a child under 2 years of age, with a preference of 0-12 months. We did not specify a gender, but in my heart it’s a girl. Until we receive a referral for a specific child, that’s all the detail we will have.
So, you may be wondering, why adoption? There are a few reasons we decided to adopt and also why we chose to adopt from another country. Our decision to adopt in general came as a result of a desire to help children in need. God calls us to: ‘Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.’ Psalms 82:3-4 We feel that we have personally received that call. We are passionate about the opportunity to provide a safe and loving home to a child without a family. We decided to adopt from another country because we are excited and intrigued about building a cross-cultural family, and also learning about and embracing a culture different from what we know. We have felt called to Ethiopia for these reasons and also because we will have such a tremendous support group through our family, friends, church, and our adoption agency.
As we already mentioned, we will be processing our adoption through Bethany Christian Services. They are the largest adoption agency in the United States, based out of Grand Rapids, MI. There are many steps in the process, but here’s a quick overview:
*Complete preliminary application
*Complete formal application
*Complete home study – this is where they learn all about our family
*Complete Dossier paperwork (this is translated into the native language and accompanied by the paper which describes us to the country so they may match us with a child)
*Complete immigration paperwork
*Receive a referral – this is when we know which child we will receive!!!
*Travel to Ethiopia to complete the court process to release the child
*Travel back to bring our baby home!!
Currently, we are in the home study process, which should take 6-8 weeks. From there it will take approximately 3 months to process the dossier and immigration paperwork. Our paperwork will be submitted and it will take 6-8 months to receive our referral. We will travel for the first time approximately 2 months after our referral for 2-5 days for the court process, and then a second time approximately 2 months later to bring our child home permanently. Therefore, we are looking at bringing home our child in the fall of 2011. A little longer than the typical gestation period, but well worth the wait!!
As you can imagine, we are extremely excited to share this process with you! We would love to have your support through prayers and encouragement throughout the process. We do plan to keep everyone updated as we move through the process through a blog that we have set up - http://longstreetadoption.blogspot.com. Also, here are some ways you can help:
Prayers:
*For our family and the child we will adopt
*For guidance from God in the process
*For God’s faithfulness in providing throughout and after the adoption
*For the workers in the orphanage
*For the government in Ethiopia to continue to allow intercountry adoptions
*For safe travel to and from Ethiopia
*For a “smooth” transition period for our child to the US. It will be quite a shock.
Words of Encouragement:
*During the process
*To help us through the waiting periods
*As we travel
*Once we are home with our child in the transition period
Below are some verses that we have come across and pray through:
‘And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 4:19
“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
We would like to thank each one of you for the support you have shown us already. Words cannot express how much it means to us. We are so excited to share this journey with you and are anxiously looking forward to the day we can bring our baby home to join the family!
With Love,
Kevin and Laura
