Please pray today! (Sunday)

Will you please pray tonight? As you know there have been some recent announcements regarding new delays in the Ethiopia adoption program. Well there is an event happening on Monday in Ethiopia (Sunday night in the US) that we are asking everyone to pray for - the US Embassy in Ethiopia has a meeting with MOWA (Ethiopian Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs). We're not sure the exact nature of the meeting but we are asking everyone to pray that the Holy Spirit is present in this meeting. Below are some prayer ideas from Tom Davis, the president of Children's Hopechest (a ministry we support). I've also listed he link to his post at the bottom of mine. Thank You SO MUCH!

1. For God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God is in control. For those of you who are facing being stuck, remember that God is in control.

2. For God to breakdown strongholds of the enemy.
Every child deserves the right to grow up in a health family, and adoptive families provide that for thousands of children each year. Pray that God would demolish the strongholds that are set up against adoption.

3. For God to fulfill His promises.
God defines Himself as the Father to the Fatherless. He declares He will set the lonely in families. He warns those who would interfere with His plan to bring justice and mercy that is due to them. Find the orphan scriptures, pray them to God, and ask Him to fulfill those promises to the children of Ethiopia now.

4. For the courts and judges and government officials making this decision.
Ask the Holy Spirit to permeate the courtroom and convict the hearts of the judges and other government officials. Bring the power of the Holy Spirit into these discussions and proceedings--not that we would get our way--but that God's perfect will would be fulfilled in these decisions.

5. For the children and families
That God would shorten their wait times. Fortunately, God is bigger than these obstacles. Pray that waiting children would receive comfort. And pray that waiting families would experience peace, grace, and love from those around them.

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/redletters/2011/03/ethiopias-plan-to-cut-adoptions-a-prayerful-response.html#ixzz1GREejV31

Prayer & Fasting Tomorrow (Friday) - Can You Join Us?

We just got word that there have been some changes that could significantly slow down the adoption process for some families. Please pray with us tomorrow (and fast with us too if the Lord leads) as we petition God to intervene in the hearts and minds involved so that Sara and I and so many others can bring home the children who are waiting for their forever families. Please post if you are praying! Thanks so much!

Snow and Gratitude!

     Well as the song says - "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" We actually had some snow flurries here in Georgia today. Pretty cool for us southerners. We are headed to both KY and OH for Christmas this year. We are excited to be able to see family!
     Thanks so much to those who have given so far towards our adoption! We have received 36% of the funds it will require to adopt our 2 new kids! You all have been so generous towards God's rescue plan. It has been especially neat to hear your letters about how God has prompted and prepared your hearts to give.
All our paperwork is in Ethiopia. Please continue to pray for us and especially our 2 waiting children.
      I can't let today pass without mentioning our excitement and congratulations to our friends Chris and Tanya on their recent adoption. They just returned from China on Friday night with Ian, their 5th child from China. You can read some remarkable stories from their trip at http://www.withsongsofjoy.blogspot.com/.

On the Wait List!

Finally! After months of waiting and paperwork we are finally officially on the wait list! That means that our giant stack of paperwork is now on Ethiopian soil and the Gladney staff in Ethiopia are working to match us with 2 beautiful Ethiopian children! We are so excited! We don't really know when we might be matched and get our "referral". It could be as early as January or as long as next Fall! Please pray for us as we wait and pray that God raises the funds needed for the remainder of our adoption. Thanks so much for your support!

The Latest News

Sorry it has been a while since we updated everyone! Sara has been working so hard for the last couple months bringing together all the paperwork necessary to send over to Ethiopia. Monday, August 2nd, we have our CIS fingerprint appointment in Atlanta. This is one of our last steps prior to sending over our "dossier". The dossier includes all our paperwork, home study, etc. Once the fingerprints are done we have to wait a few weeks for approval and then we can send everything over and our major paperwork phase is done. Then we will be on a waiting list for the Gladney workers in Ethiopia to match us with a child.

This is a picture of me and the kids at Queen of Sheba Ethiopian restaurant in Atlanta. The people there were so nice and the food was incredible. We visited there with our friends the Dales, who also adopting from Ethiopia!

In other news, we feel the Lord has confirmed in our hearts the fact that we are supposed to adopt 2 children! So that means Isaac will have a little brother or sister! Our kids are so excited and so are we!

One final note - God has been so faithful to provide financially so far, but we are almost out of funds. When our referral comes (that's when we get the picture of the children we have been matched with) we will need several thousand dollars at once. Also since the second child increases the cost (additional airfare, additional agency fees, etc...) we are asking for financial assistance with Isaac's little sister. The approximate cost to add a sibling to the adoption process is just $3500. Would any of you be willing to cover the cost of  adopting her? Ask the Lord and if you think He wants you to help -  you can send a check to us at our home or just click the map above to give online. Thank you SO MUCH for your willingness to be a part of God's rescue plan for these 2 children!
-Daniel

Prophecy and the Pizza Man!

OK this is one you're not gonna believe but it's true! Sadie had some friends over for her 8th birthday Friday night and we ordered pizza from Papa Johns. I was out by the pool watching the kids and noticed Sara talking (or listening) to the pizza guy for an unusual amount of time. I didn't think much of it at the time - I just figured she knew him from somewhere. Later that night after most of the guest had left we were sitting around the table with some friends and she proceeds to tell me that the pizza delivery man had given her a word from the Lord! Seriously!

She had recognized him from a local restaurant where he used to work and they had a bit of small talk. Then he reluctantly told her he had a vision from God on his way to our house that he felt like he was supposed to share. He said he saw a fish in a fish bowl and that God was telling the fish that He wanted him to get out of his comfort zone. WOW! He started to walk away and Sara actually asked him to come back and repeat it just to make sure :) We've not had too many experiences like that in our lives where we had a word given to us from God like that. Obviously we are the fish but what is the area where God wants to stretch us? We have a pretty good idea but we're not 100% sure. We feel like God may be challenging us to adopt not 1 but 2 children from Ethiopia. I told Sara we should just keep ordering pizza from Papa Johns until He tells us for sure :) Anyway - keep us in your prayers!

Paperwork and Progressive Revelation

Well we are now knee-deep in adoption paperwork! Who knew there was so many forms to fill out? (Oh, I guess we did!) It always amazes me to see the staggering amount of red tape it requires to adopt when you don't require any to create a bio kid! Anyway, we have chosen, by faith, to push forward as far as we can with the funds God has provided to this point. We are not sure exactly when or how God will provide next, but we know He will! In a way, it's very exciting. In a way, it's how we should be living every day. I read a great article today from our friend John Bently over at Harmony Outreach (www.HarmonyOutreach.org). Harmony has traditionally done ministry to orphans and needy families in China but God has recently been calling them to Ethiopia as well. Here's an excerpt from the front page article (written by John) from their April 2010 newsletter:

Why am I going [to Ethiopia]? Because I feel "compelled" to go. What will happen when we get there? I don't know. I call this progressive revelation - meaning that often God does not give the whole plan, just the next step. Nine years ago when God called me to China, most of the counsel I received at that time was negative- I should not go, I was being irresponsible, it would all end in disaster. After all, I didn't speak the language, had never been to Bible school, had no background in Chinese, and had no support in place whatsoever. Yet when I went to the Lord in my quiet time, this is what I heard: "If any man would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (Matt. 16:24-25) In the nine years since, as best we can tell, nearly 1000 lives have been rescued, most of them vulnerable children. Once again I seem to be at a crossroads where a lot of the counsel I am receiving would tell me to wait - that Harmony lacks the resources to start a new work in another country. But I can't help but remember how I had only $5,000 when God called me to start Harmony House. It should have been wholly inadequate, but in just a few years our orphans have been adopted by families all over the world. The truth is that I have never had the resources to do anything God has called to me to do. Following God by faith has always required that I step into the desert trusting that He will supply manna from heaven to meet our needs as we go. I don't want to wait any longer. If we rescued 1000 children in nine years in China, what will happen in Ethiopia?"

What a great statement about walking in faith! Sara and I find ourselves in similar circumstances. We are stepping out in faith and letting God provide! Our hearts are being pulled so strongly that we have to choice but to move forward. Please join us in praying for our son Isaac and for Harmony Outreach. And if you feel "compelled" as Paul did to help with our journey please click on the map above or email us to find out how you can give. Thanks and may God receive the glory!