Miracles for Maggie

It's been almost 2 months since I've written anything here but that's not to say big things haven't been happening.

Since our immigration approval, we received our LOA (letter of acceptance) from China. In previous adoptions, this step took 60-70 days. It was a surprise to hear of our LOA only 25 days in to our wait! Today, our 800 immigration application will be overnighted to USCIS. This is asking permission for our specific child to immigrate to the U.S. This step should take about 2 weeks. After that, there are several little steps (and lots of paperwork) that happen in order to complete the process. We are pretty confident that we will be traveling in March but hopeful it could actually be sooner. Travel time after LOA is generally about 10 weeks out. We'll be on our way to get Maggie before we know it!

In addition to a quick timeline, God has worked other miracles on our behalf. We shared on Facebook that we received a couple large donations recently, leaving about $4,000 left to raise! Talk about close to goal! Once we raise the total amount, our plan was to help our 5 kids fundraise for their travel expenses, which will total about $12,500 for all of them. That leaves us at about $16,500 needed in order to get Maggie home. We have a short time to make this happen and have been praying about how it will come to fruition before we are supposed to travel. We had no doubt God provides in all that He calls us to but we just couldn't see how He was going to fulfill this. Well, as of a couple days ago, a true miracle has transpired.

We received word from a precious family that they feel led to help us with the finances needed. Not only are they feeling led to donate but they want to bring this journey to completion! They have written us a check to bridge the gap for all adoption expenses plus every penny needed for the entire family to travel! Y'all. We are obviously overwhelmed and at a loss for words.

God has gifted this family with financial means and they have obediently said "Yes!" to Maggie, the same way we have by using our own unique gifts. Seamus recently shared with them, "We are eager to get Maggie home so we can introduce her to Jesus and let her feel His love forever." As authentic believers, they were moved by our desire for her life. Their response has left an imprint on our souls forever, "All done in Jesus' name for his glory. Go get baby Maggie and bring her home to know and love Jesus forever. We are all so blessed... Maggie is already bringing us closer to our Lord and Savior! All glory to God."

We send a special thank you to this family but truly, we have so many to thank. From the first $10 donation we received in August, to the larger gifts of over $1000, each one is making this happen. Every single gift, every fundraiser organized, every prayer lifted up on behalf of our family... and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. has made an impact for the Kingdom of Christ! There's a zero percent chance we'd ever be able to bring Maggie home, had it not been for each of you. We are giving God praise for his mighty work through you! Thank you for letting Him have his way with your gifts. We are eternally grateful.

We humbly ask for you to remain in prayer for our family. Let's get this angel home, safe and sound!

Immigration Approval

One of the most exciting parts of journeying through an adoption is being able to witness to God’s faithfulness. For those who have adopted, it’s clear that this life is a war zone, that the ministry of adoption is a raging battle between the unseen, spiritual forces among us. It’s real. I could literally tag a hundred people in this post who can witness firsthand to everything seemingly going wrong as they seek to bring a child home (can I get an amen?). When the evil one sees our good, good Father bringing precious children out of slavery and into a loving home, he rages. And God allows much of it, for now (Job is a great biblical example of this). He allows it because it reminds us that this is not our home and it magnifies His grace! His faithfulness is always bigger than the evil that the prince of this world would have us fall under.

Today, a little of this warfare reared itself. While I won’t share details, I can say that we were reminded of the people among us who don’t support what God is doing through our family. While they may never admit this, their lack of faith becomes undeniable and is revealed in disturbing ways. Our village is an incredible testimony to the love of Christ, but there are some who discourage. 

In the middle of this, where resentment could easily rise to the surface, we chose to worship instead. If I choose anything other than worship, I’m essentially admitting that the Lord is not faithful. We don’t rely on man for the completion of God’s good work. We trust Him! I prayed. I sang. I gave Him thanks for what I KNOW He will do in Maggie’s life. I was almost in tears over the goodness of God when this pretty picture popped up on my phone. Our Immigration approval letter finally arrived! In a moment of worship and repentance, Jesus spoke back and reminded us of His unfailing love.

We believe you, Lord. We trust you and know that nothing will separate Maggie from your love!

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Worthy to be Loved

I've been thinking about this post for some time. How do I passionately yet delicately express the burning in my heart on the topic of adopting a child with severe special needs? While it is my desire for grace to meet truth, most of you know that I am shamelessly authentic. That being said, I am unapologetic for the fervor you may encounter here (a-hem).

Seamus and I are currently in the process of adopting a little girl in China who has Down syndrome and a congenital heart defect. Entering this journey was not taken lightly. Adopting a child with DS has been on our hearts for years. Much discussion and prayer has centered around this matter. We finally came to a place of knowing that God wanted this for our lives. The struggle has been real, the one where our flesh recounts all the reasons it's not a good idea.

Do we know what we're getting in to? What will life be like with a "mentally disabled" child? Are we aware that she will likely live with us for the rest of our lives? How will this affect our current children, now and after we are gone? How can we afford the therapies and heart surgeries? How do we know that God is really "calling us" to this? Every day life will look so different. I'm not sure I have the patience or stamina to deal. You see, all the questions that are being asked of us now are questions we first asked of ourselves. The doubts were real, but God's revelation is always greater.

First and probably foremost, this child is WORTHY. She doesn't deserve to know love any less than another. She's as deserving as any of our 5 children at home. She happens to have been born in China, with a serious disease and an extra chromosome. The story of her abandonment is tragic and the world says she's not valuable. But I'm here to tell you... she was made in the image of her creator and He has chosen her as royalty. God-willing, she will come home soon to a family who adores her, and she will wear a beautiful crown, because in the eyes of God she is a flawless princess. She deserves a loving family, and she deserves to know the love of Christ, simply because He says so.

Second, my life is not mine at all. It was given to me by a gracious creator who commands that I lay it down while carrying a cross, and promises eternal joy in return. I ponder the sacrifice of Christ's own life for me and I am immediately overwhelmed with gratitude. There's nothing more joyful than being able to share that miracle with others. The most tangible way to live out this gratitude is to give my own life for another, only a miniscule example of God's true love for us. Will this new life be hard? Will I likely shed tears on a daily basis? Will I lose my dream of retirement and a chance to spend my last years alone with my husband? Undoubtedly. Will it be worth it? Sure as heaven. This life is only a vapor, gone too quickly to hold on to anything meaningless. Moths and rust will destroy everything this carnal life offers. But when we breath our last, a new life awaits. And what WILL come with us are souls. Souls are what matter here and now. So until the day I travel home for good, God, please give me the strength to surrender my life for the sake of others, gripping to the reality that we will soon be in glory where there are no tears, no pain, plenty of time for rest and comfort.

(By the way... While I believe my life is not my own and happily lay it down, I simultaneously happen to know that the choice we are making will actually result in a life more fulfilled, more full of joy than ever before. Harder than ever, but worth every moment. I can't wait to testify to that joy first-hand, once she's home.)

Third, my God is a promise-keeper. It really all boils down to one simple consideration. We either believe God or we don't. We can ask all the questions we want, but at the end of the day the only reason we are able to adopt this child is because we believe that God is who He says he is. "I am." The truest statement that ever was. The great "I am," the One who created this universe and knit Maggie's soul together promises never to leave or forsake us. He promises a life of hardship in this world but a world He has already overcome. He promises that His plans for us are good. He promises power to the weak and strength to the powerless. He promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He promises that we need not fear, for He goes before us. He promises eternal life as a free gift. He promises to be a Father to the fatherless. He promises that victory is ours!

He also promises that His word is true. Scripture is our test against whether or not we are doing what He wants. We know He has called us to this adoption because His word reveals it. Our default is to step forward in faith, through His command to care for the orphan and ask God to close the door if it's not His will for our life. If the Bible urges believers to mimic God's love for us, that's exactly what we are "called" to do. When we pray regarding this adoption or any ministry opportunity, we ask God to halt our progress if it's not His plan. He has done this many times in our lives. But as for Maggie, well, the Bible tells us to love her unabashedly. So we will, until the Lord tells us otherwise.

Our questions have proven shallow, while God has given us a more courageous vision than we had before. We are now able to step forward in faith, confident in truth, remembering that there is no fear in love. While it is unimportant (and frankly unbiblical) for me to defend our path, I do hope, through this post, that someone will realize God's unconditional love for us and believe it so bravely that His compassion would be materialized throughout this hurting world He so dearly cherishes.

Travel to China... Third Time's a Charm?

I wish this was the "TRAVEL APPROVAL" post but we are still many months away. We are currently (still) waiting for immigration approval (sigh). Our best guess is that travel will occur in March or April. That doesn't mean, however, that we haven't spent hours talking, contemplating, praying over the details that involve travel. Specifically, who will go this time, what is the best scenario for our family?

China requires that we are there for about 2 weeks. There's no way around this and in some ways we are grateful. During our time there, we take every opportunity we can to immerse ourselves in the culture and retain as much as possible to share with our children later. The trip is not easy though. It's long and exhausting. The jet lag alone is enough to make a person sick for weeks. The emotional toll of meeting your child and dealing with her trauma is intense. The paperwork, site seeing, meetings with government officials, all while being clueless about what day it is and what time of the day it is... It's a lot. Then there's the cost of the trip in dollars. For each person traveling we must account for an additional, approximate amount of $2,500. As you can imagine, consideration of travel plans is not taken lightly.

When we adopted Emily in 2014, Seamus and I traveled, bringing our oldest son (who was 8 at the time) and leaving our two youngest kids behind with friends. The experience was amazing and I was thankful that Brady had that extra time to bond with his Mei Mei. Anna and Bryce were definitely in the best-case-scenario for staying home. They stayed with friends who are more like family and they took amazing care of them for us. When we returned, they were both excited to have us home but we noticed our four-year-old seemed very affected by our separation. He was sad and clingy, just not himself for quite a few weeks. While we explained what 2 weeks looked like and left them with a calendar, we believe he was probably too young to really comprehend what that looked like. It was extremely hard to watch and after that journey with him, we decided any future adoption travel would need to look different.

When we adopted Samuel in 2015, the decision was made that I would go alone or bring a friend. This way, Seamus could stay at home with the kids, maintaining their normal routine with daddy close by. We were so grateful to sweet Ms. Suzi who agreed to walk that long and arduous trip with me. The 4 kids did very well at home with Seamus. Our community of friends rallied around us (as usual), provided meals for them while I was gone, carpooled, babysat, and loved us well. I grieved, those many thousands of miles away. I missed Seamus and the kids so very much. I wanted Seamus to be loving on Samuel with me. I hated sharing "gotcha" through pictures and texts. It was hard on each of us for different reasons.

Third trip approaching... what to do? We've talked and prayed over several options.

We could bring the girls with us and leave the 3 boys with friends. The boys stick together naturally and we know our older boys would help care for our 3 year old son. But would we be repeating the separation anxiety with the youngest? He is still a tad vulnerable from his trauma as a baby and we can't be sure that he'll handle the separation well.

One of us could go (not ideal for reasons already mentioned). We ran through many scenarios.

What if we all went to China? SAY WHAT?! Yeah, that was my initial reaction too. We began adding up the financial expense, considering what the luggage and Customs check points would look like, imagining our baby and toddler screaming on a 15 hour flight, and knowing full well that with eight people, each immune system greatly compromised, SOMEONE will be sure to vomit at any given moment. What a fun prospect this is!

But we also saw a different side. God has always provided the finances when it's His will. No one would be separated. All of us could experience welcoming Maggie to her forever family. It would be hard but oh-so-rich. We spoke to many families who have traveled to China with 5 or more kids. Not one of them said they regret it, and each encouraged us in this possibility. More prayer, more discussion, and lots of revelation. We've decided the whole family should travel to get Maggie!

The kids are beyond excited and we can't imagine a more fruitful trip for each of them. We've always seen this trip as a mission opportunity in so many ways. For our kids to experience the richness of this multi-faceted trip... the prospect overwhelms me. Being there for Maggie, visiting an orphanage, loving on those babies, seeing Mom and Dad share the gospel with guides and others who may never hear it... we are so grateful that God would consider letting this happen for our children.

The older ones want to be involved in raising the funds needed for travel so we are brainstorming about that now. I believe we will continue fundraising for the adoption itself. Once we have raised the total needed (approximately $31,000), we will continue fundraising specifically for travel expenses. This way, your giving is not muddied. We will be very clear about what fundraisers will go towards travel. If you feel led to give one way or another, you will have that opportunity. I should reiterate here that every dollar currently being raised is being put aside for our adoption expenses. We will make it very clear when (God-willing) we've met this goal and will move on to fundraising for the kids' travel.

Maggie's, Seamus', and my travel are already factored in to the original amount needed for the adoption. After examining past travel and speaking with our travel agent and social worker, we have estimated the cost to be about $2,500 per additional person. That's an additional $12,500 needed in order for our entire family to go. While our immediate reaction to this amount was fear, we now feel settled knowing that this is what God wants for us. We have been encouraged by so many of you and are thankful for your support in this decision!

There is no perfect plan for this sort of journey. It's hard. It just is. No matter what. But we are super excited about being together as we embrace and bond with Maggie as a family!

Load up Lomans! We're going to China!

Handmade, with Love, for Maggie

It's incredible to ponder that our friends have raised $6,000 for our adoption so far. There's no way we could be where we are in the process without this help. There are few words to explain how grateful we feel. THANK YOU, precious friends!

It is with great excitement that we kick off our next fundraiser to help bring home our baby girl! We want Maggie to have something personal and handmade when she comes home and we would love for you to be a part of it. Our idea is to have a quilt made in a very unique way, and a local friend has offered her quilting expertise as a gift!

Here's how it'll work. We have chosen material for the quilt, and squares have been cut. Our idea is to sell a square to anyone who would like to be a part of her homecoming quilt. Each square sells for $50. You will receive a permanent, black, fabric marker to write anything you want on your square. It can be a Bible verse, words of love and encouragement, anything to make that square personally yours and filled with love for our daughter. After you complete your square, you will return it to us and the squares will be sewn together to make a beautiful patchwork of love! If you are an out-of-towner, we will happily mail the square to you.

Our goal for this fundraiser, based on fees due over the coming weeks, is $4,000. We would love to hit this mark by selling 80 squares. Will you please help us do this? Beyond the fundraiser itself, it would be such a gift to have lots of love branded all over her quilt!

We are selling the squares now and will continue over the coming days. I'll let you know when we get close to our goal of 80 squares sold. Once this has happened, we will let our friend begin sewing the quilt together.

You can pay for a square through PayPal (please click "send money to family and friends" to avoid fees) to lauraloman@yahoo.com, or you can mail us a check (email me to request address), whichever is easiest. Please put a note on your payment that it is for a quilt square.

We think this quilt will be such a treasure for years to come. We look forward to reading her the names and notes of so many who helped bring her home. It will be a constant reminder of how cherished she is! Please, please purchase your square now. You'll be helping to bring Maggie home and it'll be a great way to show her she's loved!

We Haven't Forgotten

We were so blessed to attend our local "Run for One" event last night. Wonderful people came out to support Lifeline's ministry and specifically to rally for "Rafe," the little one we continue to advocate for. The Pounders family organized the entire thing and it was a huge success! You can read more about "Run for One" HERE. If you weren't able to join us last night but would still like to register, in order to support the work of Lifeline and receive a really cool t-shirt, you can click on "run where you are" and sign up.

As I mentioned, last night's run was in honor of Rafe. This is an opportunity for me to share, again, who this amazing child is.

Rafe is a little boy who lives in an orphanage in China. He has no one to call "Mama" or "Baba." He was born with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect, left abandoned, and remains in this circumstance with little hope. The Lord put his precious face in front of us last year and has called us to be his voice. We pray for him often. We beg for a family to step out in faith. Until a loving home is a reality for Rafe, we trust that his little life is in his maker's hands. Please read about him HERE and share with anyone who may consider praying for or adopting this child of God.

Because no family has chosen to pursue him, his file has returned to the shared list in China. There are many implications for this but notably that Lifeline no longer has his file and there is not a designated agency who can be a voice for him. We are, essentially, the only ones putting his face out there. His file sits with thousands of others, going unnoticed, the same way Fuyi's did. We can't stop posting about him. We can't stop praying for him. We can't stop telling the world that there's a dark truth about too many kids silently yelling for help. If you are interested in learning more about this child, please contact me. I have his medical file as well as some (adorable) recent videos of him.

We have been asked why we aren't adopting Rafe. Why have we chosen another child to adopt? Our answer is not simple but we want to try to give some clarity on our decision.

When Seamus and I knew we were being called to adopt again, we prayed many times over Rafe and the possibility of bringing him in to our fold. God made it very clear that His plan for Rafe was not one that included our home. It was the same message we received when hosting Fuyi. It was confusing because we adored her and truly fell in love with her. We knew she needed a family and we had one to offer, but we just knew Fuyi wasn't our daughter and that God had other plans for her. The same is true for Rafe. He needs a loving family. We have one. We are willing. But again, God is making it clear that He has other plans. We can't rely on God's plan being one to suit our desire... to find Rafe another family, the way He did for Fuyi. Nonetheless, we know God's plan is perfect, that His will is always better than ours and that His sovereignty over this child's life should never be doubted.

So, we move forward. We begin a new journey to bring home our own child, a different child with Down syndrome and a sick heart, one who was also going unnoticed. But we never forget Rafe and what God has called us to, on his behalf. We continue to pray. We continue to advocate. We ask you, once more, to please consider the joy that would come from embracing this child.

"I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." (John 14:18)

Where We are in Process

You may be wondering where we are in the process and when we expect to travel.

We are wrapping up our home study this week! The home study is always the longest part of the process but we have a rock star social worker and we are pretty familiar with all the paperwork and checklists. The past few weeks have looked a little like this...

Really.

This week we will be submitting our Letter of Intent to China, asking for pre-approval to adopt this particular little girl. God-willing, they will respond in a couple weeks telling us we can proceed. It's at the point of receiving pre-approval that we will be able to share her picture!

While we are waiting for pre-approval, we will submit our I-800a application to Immigration. This is requesting permission to adopt an international child. The entire 800a approval takes about 2 months from the time of application.

A little side note on funding... When we receive pre-approval, we will have fees of $1,210 due. Part of this goes to the orphanage and the rest to another department in China for a liaison fee. We also have to submit $945 to USCIS (US Immigration Dept.) with our application this week. That's a total of $2,155 due over the next couple weeks.

Will y'all please help us reach this amount by purchasing raffle tickets HERE? We were so amazed yesterday when our friends called to say they had set up a fundraiser for us! The love we are feeling is incredible. And y'all. The raffle item. It's a Mom's fantasy... dinner cooked and delivered for your family for an entire week! AND! There isn't just one winner. There will be 5 winners picked on August 25th! So get your pony in the race and let's bring this baby girl home as quickly as we can! Y'all are the bestest.

If there aren't any major snags in the process, and we raise each fee in time for the due date, we could travel in early spring!

Prayer warriors, please pray for protection over our girl while she waits. Pray for her heart and for miraculous healing before she comes home. And if you would pray for our family, we'd appreciate that too. The process can be taxing and we truly need endurance, perseverance and patience only given by the grace of God.

More fun news... We'll be sharing her name soon! EEEEEK!

Fundraising Information

I'd like to make a few points about our fundraising goals, in order to be clear and transparent.

This adoption will cost approximately $35,000. This includes all agency fees, immigration, China fees, legal documents, required post-reports, and travel expenses for 2 people.

We had a balance from previous adoption efforts and were able to use it for our immediate fees due. We paid $1,200 for our home study update and $2,812.50 for our first agency fee. Praise God we had that left over and didn't have to wait to start the process! This leaves a balance needed of almost $31,000.

We have created a thermometer on this page so you can see our progress. We will update it often and will share on FB periodically. It shows the $31,000 still needed and any donations we've received.

If you feel led to give but would like to donate directly to our agency, on our behalf, you may do that. Unfortunately, the donation still is not tax-deductible but you may prefer to give through that route and we will still receive the benefit. If you choose to do so, our agency is Lifeline Children's Services. Please indicate "Seamus Loman family adoption" on payment (check memo, etc.).

Any funds that we are able to set aside and save will go toward our adoption expenses and these amounts will be reflected on the thermometer as "raised."

We will share soon about our first upcoming fundraiser, as soon as the details are ironed out! Thank you for taking the time to read this and for all the encouragement we've already received! Please let us know what questions you have along the way. We are so grateful for your willingness to help and we want to be completely honest and open about everything we do!

Yes.

I'm so eager to get my heart on paper, yet I fumble to find the right words. My only goal for this blog, beyond simply releasing my emotion through writing, is that God would receive glory and praise for His wondrous work. Our witness of His gracious saving of souls is never to be hidden. Lord, let these words never be my own, rather your Spirit testifying to the love you so freely offer to a hurting world. God continues to work so mightily through us and we never grow weary of giving thanks for such a humbling privilege. We are entering a new season of ministry, another call that is so clearly from the Lord. My hope is that through my writing, through your reading, only Jesus would be given all praise due.

Our hearts burn for the orphan and God has been so faithful in using us to be His hands and feet for these vulnerable souls. He has accomplished so much and continues to work in amazing ways. I can't wait to share some of the "smaller" things He's doing! But for now, we have some pretty big news to share. And while everything He calls us to is exciting (and sometimes overwhelming), this definitely tops it all. We are beyond excited, nervous, and completely relying on the grace of Jesus. He's calling us back, y'all. Back to China. Back to those precious faces that are forever imprinted on our minds and our hearts. We have begun the process to adopt another. There are too many waiting. There are just too many who don't know love. There's too much room in our home. There's too much joy in bringing the gospel to another nation. There are so many more who need to learn about our adoption in Christ. No, we can't change the world, but for the child who will soon enter our home, her world will change forever. God seeks one lost, while leaving 99 behind (Luke 15:4) and we are humbled to be His feet that go for that lost sheep. He has called us and we answer, "Yes."

There is an image-bearing, child of God who lives in an orphanage in Jiangsu Province, China (the same province our Samuel is from!). She is only 1 year old and to no fault of her own, was born in to circumstances that would change the course of her life forever. She was born with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect. The story of her abandonment is tragic. It has wrecked us and drawn us to love her all the more. God can and will use her story and that extra chromosome of hers to shed light on His overwhelming love for us (Romans 8:28). We will be her voice. We will go for her. We will adopt her. God-willing.

We don't know how any of it is going to happen but we know a great and powerful God who says that all things are possible in Him. We think about our current life circumstances... our 5 children, keeping a home, schooling our children, our careers outside of the home, our lack of time to adequately care for a child with special needs, our depleted savings account, and Jesus faithfully reminds us that this journey is all His. We have a hundred reasons why this doesn't make sense. But God. There's nothing more important than living out His word through a life that reflects His love for us. We may not have the future figured out (or even today, really) but we know God is faithful and always provides through His will. I never, in a million years, thought I'd hope for a child with a sick heart or Down Syndrome. And now I find myself wanting more and more to see through the same lens God sees through. I find myself praising God for the many ways I know He'll bless us through it.

That being said, we need our village. More than ever. We have learned over the years to ditch our pride and let people help. We have learned that this ministry of orphan care is OURS, meaning yours and mine. God has given us all different gifts to live out His command to care for the orphan. We are so thankful for our gift to GO, to open our home, and share life-saving, Gospel truth to the weakest on earth. By design, God hasn't given us every gift, and what a beautiful design that is! We rely on the rest of the body to see this through. Without our community, she will never come home. We are taking one more step forward, remembering all the support we had through and after previous adoptions. The meals, babysitting, prayer, financial gifts and encouragement... these make it possible for us to go again. Your gift and your role in this adoption is not less important than ours.

If you would begin to partner with us by praying for our family, we'd be grateful. Please share our story. Please share our need to raise approximately $35,000. Everyone can be a part of bringing her home! We will be aggressively fundraising over the coming months and taking one step through the process at a time, as we raise funds for that particular step. Fortunately, we did have a small balance from our previous adoption efforts so we have been able to pay for our home study and first agency fee. We are planning our first fundraiser now and hope to announce it soon so we can make our second agency payment and send fees due for immigration approval. For now, if you feel led to contribute, please do that through the "donate" button on the right side of this blog (if you are on your phone or tablet, you must click on "view web version" at bottom of page to see the link). We could potentially travel to get her in 6-9 months but it will depend on how quickly we are able to move to the next step.

Thank you for your prayers and for considering a donation towards bringing this baby girl home! We are forever blessed by this community and know that together with God's provision, we can do this. We look forward to sharing more soon!

A Partnership with Eternal Consequence

In February, Seamus and I had the privilege of spending a weekend with the leadership and "family" of Lifeline Children's Services. We were invited to President's Weekend in Pointe Clear, Alabama and humbly accepted, wondering why us and how God would further His kingdom through our weekend.

It was a weekend like no other. This is true for many reasons. We were blessed to be able to leave our 5 children with family and have an entire weekend of worship, rest, and encouragement. When we arrived, our hearts leapt for joy. We knew we were with family, fellow believers, like-minded brothers seeking hope for the orphan and the expansion of Christ's name. There is an unspoken closeness between brothers in Christ and this weekend was an amazing testimony to this. We worshipped together. We laughed together. We prayed over each other. We mourned upon departure. It was a small glimpse of heaven, this beautiful bond we experienced and still share. Our weekend was restful, joyful, and edifying. But it was even more than that.

During the weekend, we were led in to the heart of Lifeline's ministries. We've loved Lifeline for years, since friends introduced us to their agency for our first international adoption. But this weekend enabled us to really see Lifeline in a new light, to dive deep into its mission and methodology. They are sooooooooo much more than a terrific adoption agency. We learned so much about who they are and what they do. After praying about how God may use this, I am overjoyed to share, here, their purpose and some of the many ways they fulfill it. I'm also excited to share how you can be a part of their vision in bringing the Gospel to the corners of the earth. I pray this post is exhilarating and inspiring, and that by hearing what Lifeline does, you would be driven to be a part of their story, motivated by the love so generously poured out on us. We also want to share some exciting news that has transpired since our time spent with Lifeline... keep reading!

"Lifeline's mission is to equip the body of Christ to manifest the gospel to vulnerable children." While this mission is always at the core, the ways this mission is fulfilled is multi-faceted.

LIFELINE BELIEVES IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF BIRTH FAMILIES. This means loving the vulnerable child but also the biological parents who carry and birth them. This organization is not simply pro-birth, rather pro-LIFE, in the sense that they are loving every member of the family in need. Ministry doesn't halt once the birth child's basic needs are met. Birth mothers often come from very broken places, with little hope. Furthermore, the #1 reason women in the U.S. choose abortion is that they are not prepared for parenthood. Lifeline offers amazing support for these parents in crisis. One way they do this is through a maternity home in Alabama called Lifeline Village, where birth mothers receive services including medical care, mentoring, job-coaching, and Christian counseling.

In addition to Lifeline Village, Families Count is a program designed to promote family restoration and preservation. It targets parents who are at risk for having their children removed from their homes and placed into foster care, and parents who have lost custody of their children and are working toward reunification. Lifeline equips local churches to see families through the program. They refer birth mothers to partner churches, who are trained in the program, and it is the church who uses the program to minister directly to the families in need. Families Count is a 6-week program that offers Biblical parenting education and hand-in-hand mentoring. Churches often provide meals and transportation through the program. In addition to experiencing the program itself, the families have now formed a relationship with a local church family! If this is something you think your church may be interested in, the program can be offered in any part of the country, with no expense for the training.

LIFELINE BELIEVES IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF CHILDREN. In addition to adoption, Lifeline serves orphaned and vulnerable children locally through fostering and globally through (un)adopted. The gospel can transform a child when that child realizes their value and realizes they are loved by a heavenly Father. This happens when a child in a foster home is loved as if they are a member of the family, providing calm and comfort to a traumatic life. It happens when a teenager who will soon age out of his orphanage is able to attend a life skills camp in Monrovia, Liberia, where he learns how to farm and begins to believe he has potential. (Un)adopted provides LSET (Life Skill Education Training) in 8 countries. They use a structured 21-day program for aging out kids, where they receive training plus discipleship. We also learned about a school opened for deaf children in Uganda. Since the success here, a local church has helped open a school for the blind!

LIFELINE BELIEVES IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE COVENANT FAMILY. We attest, firsthand, to the loving commitment of Lifeline, to adoptive families. Through both of our adoption processes, social workers carefully walked us through paperwork, prayed with us, cried with us, and answered the many hard questions we had along the way. Lifeline realizes the difficulties of adoption and foster care and equips families, with compassion and expertise. Lifeline is there before, during, and after a child comes home and joins a family forever.

One of the tangible ways Lifeline supports adoptive families is through a training program called Crossings. This is an extensive curriculum that helps to prepare adoptive families for parenting children from hard places. It is thorough and effective. Lifeline parents are well-prepared for many possible scenarios upon arriving home with a new child. We have personally used much of the knowledge and tools from Crossings, with our own adopted children who come with a background of trauma.

Equipped to Love is a resource to help family and friends support the adoptive and foster families in their church. Because God’s people have stepped out in obedience we have many children in our churches who come from foster care and adoption. Often, children who have experienced neglect, abuse, and trauma have challenges and differences that can cause them to not fit well in many of our traditional church programs and settings. The Equipped to Love training curriculum is designed to help individuals learn how to understand the needs of these families and provide them with practical support. Topics in this training include: caring for families, interacting appropriately with children with compromised beginnings of life, demonstrating sensitivity for adoptive and foster parents, understanding the unique needs of children from hard places, exhibiting language sensitivity, and managing challenging behavior. This is another free resource that is readily available for any interested church family!

I've shared with you only a glimpse of the beauty and love Lifeline exudes locally and globally. We have prayed about how God might want us to further partner with such a gospel-centered ministry. Upon praying, we were invited to dinner with the executives, simply because they were in our neck of the woods. Then God led us to President's Weekend in February and our love for their work only grew. Most recently, we've been asked to be on Lifeline's Alumni Council. We are humbled and over the moon excited about this opportunity to be ambassadors for Lifeline and Christ's work through them. It is a privilege and an honor to be asked and we can't wait to see how the Lord works through this for the benefit of vulnerable children and families.

God is so gracious in gently and patiently moving us through his scheduled timeline of events. We have been on the front lines of what burdens His heart. He showed us the need and command to care for orphans. Then he meticulously revealed to us each ministry opportunity He had planned for us. Adoptions, hosting, advocating, ministering to families and churches, it's all from Him. Now He faithfully brings us to this new chapter with Lifeline Children's Services. It is a gift to be a voice for such a worthy organization. Over the coming months and years, we will share more about Lifeline and the gospel work they pour themselves into. Raising awareness and ministering to families are two of the many responsibilities we've accepted as Alumni Council members. We humbly ask for your help in this new endeavor.

Will you pray for us? Our first council meeting is in May and we are asking God to use our council of 10 families to bring glory to Jesus' name. The council members are from all walks of life, who care for vulnerable children in different ways and from different parts of the world. Please pray for Seamus and I but also for the work of the entire council. Please pray for Lifeline and the work they do for Christ's kingdom. Pray that funds would be no issue, that their ministry would continue to expand and grow, that more and more children and families will hear and believe the gospel, through Lifeline's tireless commitment.

Will you pray about the possibility of joining us in our plight for the orphan? This could mean a financial gift. It could mean helping to organize an event or simply collecting items for an auction. It could mean mentoring a birth mother. It could mean committing to pray daily for a specific child or circumstance. It could mean adopting or fostering. It could mean sharing information about Lifeline's ministries and needs with others. Whatever God has gifted you with... will you please pray about using this gift for something He may have in store through Lifeline? Pray about partnering with us, with Lifeline, in whatever God reveals? We would be incredibly grateful for your commitment to this first step of praying.

Once again, we stand humbled and grateful that God would choose to use us for His glory. We are excited to see how He continues to work through Lifeline and we are excited to be a more intricate part of this amazing ministry! Please stay posted for ways to rally around us in our mission for Lifeline and ultimately for Christ's Kingdom around the globe. Blessings to you, friends!

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:19)

A Voice for Rafe

It's been 5 months since Fu Yi left us to return to her orphanage in China. In case you weren't following, Fu Yi is a beautiful 6-year-old little girl who was abandoned at the beginning of her life. We had the privilege of welcoming her into our country, into our home, for one month. We weren't okay with the oppression taking place in her life. This precious soul, who was born with Down Syndrome, would be left to figure life out on her own. She was "file ready," waiting for a family for too many years. Her chance at adoption was slim but God had miraculous plans for her. While she was virtually forgotten by the world, God hadn't forgotten.

We prayed, worked, and fought to find her a family. The Lord was faithful and provided just that! We are forever grateful that He used us to shed light on her worth. An amazing family in Maryland has assumed the fight on her behalf and currently pushes through the process to get her home.

We fell in love with Fu Yi. You fell in love with Fu Yi. She captured hearts and woke so many up to the reality of the injustice happening to vulnerable children all over the world. Fu Yi represents so many orphans in China and across the globe. While hers is a story of glorious redemption, too many others wait to be loved. Who will answer them? Who will answer God's call to love 'the least of these'? We give thanks for Fu Yi's story. Simultaneously, we ache all the more for so many others. Our participation in God's plight for the orphan continues. We want to shed light on other vulnerable children who wait to know love. We'd love to introduce you to one of these amazing kids now.

Meet Rafe! This little angel stole my heart the moment I saw his picture. I pray his adoptive Mama and Baba are out there and that they quickly recognize him as their son. Rafe is 3 years old and has been waiting too long for a family. Like Fu Yi, this precious child was born with Down Syndrome. He also has a congenital heart defect, which often accompanies DS. Here is the description of Rafe given by his orphanage caretakers when he was younger. “Rafe is a smiley boy! He is described as talkative and likes to babble. Rafe enjoys sitting up, playing with colorful toys, and looking at himself in the mirror. Rafe can follow a noise and looks when his name is called. He giggles when he is kissed!”

 

The family who adopts him will go through Lifeline, the same agency we used for our adoptions. I can promise you’ll be in phenomenal hands! Also great to know is that Rafe has a $1,500 grant available for the adopting family! We also have some video of Rafe for interested families! Please let us know if we can answer questions about Rafe, Lifeline, or the adoption process in general. We want this child to be adopted into a loving family, God-willing. We are happy to help make this happen in any way we can.

 

Our family has partnered with Lifeline Children’s Services, as we advocate for Rafe. We are committed to pray for him and will work hard to find his family. Will you join us in prayer for this worthy soul? Will you share this post on your FB page? Will you share his picture and story with your church? Will you then pray that Rafe's family will step forward with hearts wide open? Let's get this boy home!

 

I am so thankful we have the opportunity to introduce him today. He is not forgotten. He is loved by us and I know he’ll be loved by so many of you. Most importantly, Jesus loves you, Rafe. He is your hope today and forever. I pray you will know that reality one day soon.

Please follow Rafe's progress on our FB page at www.facebook.com/lomanadoption


Please keep in mind that several families may be reviewing this child's file at one time. At any given time, this child's file can go on hold or be taken back to the Shared List by the CCCWA. Please contact your Lifeline social worker or Lisa Kelly at lisa.kelly@lifelinechild.org for more information.