Adoption Support

Friends and Family :

As most of you may know, this spring finds us eagerly pursuring the first steps in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. We have submitted our application and contract to the agency we have chosen, Christian World Adoption. We have also submitted our application to an agency here in Colorado for our home study. The home study is a series of interviews and in-home visits by a social worker employed by the adoption agency. The purpose of these visits is to determine whether or not our family is suited for an international adoption and to assist us in gathering all the necessary documents. After this is completed, we are entered into a waiting list to be placed with a child. Once we are placed, we will begin the process of traveling to Ethiopia and bringing the child home with us. The whole process takes about 6 to 18 months from start to finish.

We would like to take a moment to describe how we arrived at the decision to pursue international adoption. We were both raised in families composed partly through adoption. I. has an older step sister that was adopted and J has an older brother and sister who were adopted. Because of this, both os uf thought it a possibility that we might build a family through adoption when the time came. Because of the influence this had on us in our own families, we had both been instilled with a heart for children in need of homes. Three years ago, during our senior year of college, J took a class surveying the history, culture and current state of the continent of Africa. Through the things that she learned in this class and the discussions we had concerning the state of this part of the world, God developed within us a deep compassion for those millions of orphans in Africa displaced due to AIDS, hunger, war, and corruption. We knew that we had to be involved in helping in some way. Adoption is our first step. Though we know we can never completely replace the loss that these children have experienced, we do hope to give at least one a brighter future. We hope this is the beginning of a deeper involvement ministering to the people of this part of the world.

As we feel led to pursue this course in our lives and with our family, we want to ask for your support. This process is costly, both financially and emotionally, yet we are confident that God has called us to this and we believe that He will provide both the funds and the strngth to complete it. We would like to ask you first for your prayers and encouragement as we move forward, as this journey is sure to be an uncertain one. We ask that you would not only support us through your own prayer, but ask others to pray for us as well. In addition, we are also asking for financial support as a way to build the funds we need to carry out this plan. If you choose to support us in this way, donations can be made by check directly to the adoption agency in our name. These donations are tax deductible. Please only give financially, or otherwise, as you feel led.

Thank you for your time. We hope to keep you updated with progress as it happens.

Financial gifts can be mailed directly to Christian World Adoption; Attn: Accounting Department; 777 South Allen Road; Flat Rock, NC 28731. Please include a note specifying our names and address as the recipients.