Trash for Cash - Venturing into Fundraising

From the moment when I first felt called to adopt, there has always been a peace that passes understanding regarding the financial aspect of it. As you all know, international adoption isn't cheap. In fact, it costs a LOT. A lot of money that we didn't, don't, wouldn't probably have. And yet, I have always known that if we were willing to heed His call, that He would provide for it. [Please know that this is NOT like me at all. I am a high anxiety, detailed,(neurotic) planner, and control-freak. Yet, I have known from day 1 that I didn't need to worry, and I haven't. Neither has Eric.

Thus far, God has provided. In amazing ways. First, when we started this adoption, we were thrilled to discover that Eric's employer, at the time, offered adoption benefits. $3K before the child came home, and an additional $3K afterwards. Second, the federal government made some changes to the Federal Adoption Tax Credit -- raising it to a little over $13K and making it such that they will actually pay you the reimbursement as a credit when you file your taxes at the end of the year. Then, when we were mid-process, Eric changed jobs somewhat unexpectedly, or at least not really planned too much in advance. We had felt blessed with the adoption benefits at his previous employer, so imagine how thrilled we were to learn that the new employer had benefits which were almost 3X the previous employers' benefits. Plus, his previous employer was generous enough to go ahead and allow us to submit the first half of his benefits there before he left.

These benefits are all fantastic, however, for the most part, they are all reimbursement-based such that we have to pay the costs up front, then get the money back once we have our new little one home. Because we were so blessed with the benefits we were receiving, we made a decision not to apply for any adoption grants because there are a lot of other families out there adopting who aren't fortunate enough to have employers with adoption benefits. We decided to take out a home equity loan for a short time to pay some of the costs up front, then use the reimbursements at the end of the year to pay off the loan. Meanwhile, we would save for our travel so we'd be ready to pay those costs when they occurred.

But, as many know, the world of adoption is a constantly changing place, and several things have happened since we started this process:

1) The Ethiopian government has changed it's requirements and now requires the adoptive parents to make 2 trips to Ethiopia.

2) With that change in requirements, a slow-down and bottle-neck has occurred within our agency with the submitting & processing of court dates as well as the time to travel to bring the children home.

So, while at one time, we were certain that we'd have our little one home before the end of the year, now we're not so sure. If we don't have him home by the end of the year, then we will have to wait on that tax credit for another year. Additionally, our travel expenses have now doubled with the additional trip. Families that are currently traveling are reporting airfares in the ranges of $1500 - $2500 a ticket. Additionally, Ethiopia has a cash-based economy so while we were in Ethiopia, everything must be paid in cash so there will be no credit card usage to help fund the travel.

Therefore, while we initially had hoped not to have to do any sort of fundraising for our adoption, we have now decided that it probably wouldn't hurt -- mostly just to help out with the travel expenses. We have read about a lot of different fundraisers that other families are doing -- community garage sales, awesome t-shirt sales, etc. -- but none felt right for us. We both hate to ask friends to buy anything or give us money. I don't know why (probably pride), but we just do. But then I was driving Daniel to Vacation Bible School 2 weeks ago and heard a story on K-Love about a couple who needed to raise money for their wedding so they decided to collect & recycle aluminum cans. Over a period of a few months, they raised a few thousand dollars.

Because Eric and I drink a lot of Diet Coke and therefore have a lot of recycling anyway, I thought - that sounds perfect for us! ;-) So, we talked about it and decided to go for it. We figured that we aren't asking people for their cash, we're asking for their trash! What could it hurt?! And so, we sent out emails and walked around the neighborhood passing out fliers and have begun collecting aluminum from our neighbors and friends. And, we're glad that we are. In one week, we collected an entire truck full of aluminum!




Some friends have gone out of their way to help out. When we returned from vacation (before we even officially started collecting), we found a garbage can marked "recycle" with a hole cut out of the top, completely filled with crushed cans in our driveway behind our house. A friend decided to help us get started. Some people have been really, truly thrilled to help - telling others about it and collecting from their families and friends. Others have told us about places where they thought we could collect & have spoken to managers at these locations requesting that they give their cans to us. One neighbor collected and delivered aluminum scrap (siding, gutters, etc) from her son who is a contractor. And, after sending out the email about the can collection fundraiser, other wonderful friends called and asked us to figure out a date when they could hold a "fundraiser picnic" for our adoption.

I believe that we are ALL called by God to care for the orphan and the widow and the poor. I do not, however, believe that all are called to adopt themselves, so maybe we're giving people a chance to help in a way that works for them. Around here, we're fond of the phrase, "you can't out-give God". It's true. If you give, you will be blessed. If you're called to adopt, adopt. If you're called to support someone else who is adopting, then do that. Sponsor a child through Compassion or World Vision. Give to some other organization that cares for "the least of these". But do it. YOU will be blessed. And in the process, you will be blessing others as well. We are blessed to call many of you friends! Thank you for supporting us!









Your trash for Week 1 = $76.06 towards bringing our sweet boy home

Every Child Deserves a Home

Bad news in the midst of a GREAT vacation!

As many of you know, we just returned from vacation. Each year, Eric, the kids & I drive to VA, stay in a hotel on Thursday night, visit King's Dominion amusement park on Friday, stay in the hotel for another night, and then get up early & head to Sandbridge Beach (just south of VA beach)to meet up with my parents and my sister and her family for a week at the beach.

At the amusement park, it was sunny & in the 80's, but breezy so it wasn't too hot. We aren't sure why - although we're guessing it was a combination of luck and the holiday weekend - but the amusement park was at about 25% it's normal crowd so we practically walked onto every ride that we wanted to ride. The kids even rode a few rides several times (like, uh, 4 or 5 times!). It was the best time we have ever had at Kings Dominion, or any amusement park for that matter!

The beach was equally awesome. Truly, I don't think it would have been possible for us to have had better weather. It was warm, sunny & beautiful...EVERY DAY!! Not a single rain drop fell the entire time we were there. There were no bugs on the beach, no jelly fish problems, the water was fairly warm, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky most days. The kids are all at wonderful ages where a) they all got along really well; b) they're pretty self-sufficient most of the time; and c) we don't have to watch them like hawks the entire time we're on the beach for fear of them drowning. This made for a really relaxing week for us parents (and grandparents!).

Over the years, we seem to plan fewer activities and go out less while we're there. And, I have to say, I like it! Although I showered everyday (I know - you're happy to hear it!), I only styled my hair & put on make-up once the entire week - the night that we do the family pictures and go out to dinner. Because we had nothing planned and were never rushed or in a hurry, we could stay at the beach as long as we wanted, putz around and take as long as we wanted to finally get showered after the beach, etc. Ahhhhh, rest and relaxation...... that's the life!

[I will post a few pictures once I have a moment to get them all off my camera and onto the computer.]

Now, the bad news. During the week, a few things happened that are not great news for our adoption process. First, the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia up and cut all agencies' embassy appointments in half -- pretty much effective immediately. There was apparently a lot of mis-communication between the embassy and the agencies. It was awful for a lot of families that already had their travel booked and were planning to leave to go pick up their little ones (who are already LEGALLY their children!!) the NEXT DAY, when they were told to cancel their flights, that their appointments had been canceled. Can you imagine?! Some families already had in-laws on flights headed to their homes to watch their other children while they were in Ethiopia. Almost all families had to pay extremely expensive change fees to change their flights (which already cost between $1500 - $2500 for each parent plus the return ticket for the child(ren)). Obviously, disturbing, awful news for these families.

How this affects us (and the entire Ethiopia program) is -- each child adopted from Ethiopia must have an interview appointment at the U.S. Embassy in order to get their U.S. Passports and U.S. Visa documents issued before they can enter the United States. Prior to this cut in appointments, the U.S. Embassy granted our adoption agency 10 appointment slots every other Tuesday. There is one slot per child, so families that are adopting sibling groups take up more than one slot. Currently, there are over 30 families waiting to travel for Embassy appts from our agency. These are families who have already been to court & passed and are now legally the parents of these children; however, the children must stay in the orphanage until the parents can get this embassy appointment. Because the embassy has gone from 20 slots a month down to 10 slots a month, the time between passing court and getting to travel to bring the children home will go up considerably due to the back log of families waiting to travel.

This cut is due to a staffing shortage in Ethiopia at the U.S. Embassy. The Embassy has indicated that they anticipate the cut in appointments to only last "through the summer", but they have not yet given the agencies a set date as to when they will return to the normal schedule. Please pray that it is sooner as opposed to later so these children can get home with their new forever families as soon as possible!

You may be thinking, well, that's not so bad for you since you haven't even passed court yet. However, the second thing that occurred while we were on vacation is that the "rainy season court closure" dates were announced. Each year, the Ethiopian High Courts close for a period of approximately 2 to 6 weeks during the rainy season. This closure generally occurs late Aug - mid Sept at some point. However, this year, the courts will be closing from Aug. 6 through Sept. 27. As of Thursday, the Holt staff in Oregon had not yet heard from the staff in Ethiopia that our case had been submitted to court for a court date. This means that it is highly unlikely that we will receive a court date prior to the closures. Which means that we most likely won't get to go to court until sometime in October.

Then, depending on how backed up travel dates are with the Embassy staffing issues, we could end up not being able to have our little one home with us before Christmas.

We are trying to remind ourselves that God is in control and He is good ALL THE TIME, but it's hard - especially when it means that your child-to-be will have to stay in an orphanage for an additional 3 - 4 months, maybe more. Anyway, please pray that God's will be done, that M. continues to gain weight & stay healthy while he's in ET, and that we will have peace and patience as we wait on His timing.

Longing to be changed by what I see in Ethiopia

It's amazing the joy, the love, the heart-break, and the longing that we've already experienced vicariously hearing others' stories, seeing their videos and their pictures, reading our own son-to-be's medical records and social reports, and seeing his sweet face. The changes that have already occurred in our hearts and minds are amazing. I can't even imagine how I will forever be changed after we have the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia, but oh how I long for the day!

About Ethiopia

Ethiopia is:

• a land-locked country in the Horn of Africa
• roughly twice the size of the state of Texas
• the second-most populous nation in Africa with over 79.2 million people
• bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, and Kenya to the south
• one of the oldest countries in the world, having been an independent nation since ancient times (except a brief period of Italian occupation)
• one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today, having yielded some of humanity's oldest traces, such as “Lucy” - the oldest known hominid
• one of a few African countries to have its own alphabet (called Ge'ez or Ethiopic), and it's own time system and unique calendar, which is seven to eight years behind the Gregorian Calendar (hence the translation problems with pinpointing exact birth dates of the children for referrals!)
  
• a land of natural contrasts, with spectacular waterfalls and volcanic hot springs, some of Africa's highest mountains as well as some of the world's lowest points below sea level
• home to the largest cave in Africa at Sof Omar as well as one of the hottest places year-round anywhere on Earth in the country's northern-most area at Dallol
• the source of over 85% of the total Nile water flow
• divided into nine ethnically based administrative countries and subdivided into sixty-eight zones and two chartered cities: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. It is further subdivided into 550 woredas and several special woredas
• mentioned in the Bible numerous times. After Egypt, it is the second most frequently mentioned country in both the Old and the New Testaments with approx. 41 Biblical references to Ethiopia (Hebrew - Kush)
• the most mountainous corner of Africa with almost 80 percent of Africa’s land above 9800 feet despite the fact that the country comprises barely 4 percent of the continent’s total land surface
• known for it's production of coffee beans, as well as the grain, Teff. Even today, Ethiopia is the top coffee and honey-producing country in Africa, and teff is sown on more land than any other crop in ET. Injera is one of the staples of the ET diet. It is made from Teff. Teff contains more essential minerals than other grains.
• a deeply spiritual country, and the oldest continuous seat of Christianity after the Egyptian church. The authority of the church is widely respected by the country’s 24 million Orthodox Christians. Ethiopia embraced Christianity less than 400 yrs after the birth of Christ - while Europe was still in the Dark Ages.
• believed to have connection with biblical events dating back to the ninth century BC when the Queen of Sheba is said to have traveled from her ET palace to meet King Solomon in Jerusalem (their meeting is described in the tenth chapter of the Book of I Kings). ET tradition interprets the scripture to mean that Solomon spent the night with the queen, and that she gave birth to Solomon’s son upon her return to ET. The child was named David, and in due course he ascended to the throne as Menelik I, founder of the Solomonic dynasty. In later times, the link between ET and Christian religion was strengthened by a legend telling that, while still a young man, Menelik brought the fabled Ark of the Covenant to Aksum (where it is believed to still remain). A replica of the ark is enshrined in each of ET’s more than 20,000 Christian churches. Known as Tabots, these replicas play a central role in major religious events.
• home to nearly 6 million orphans. More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS

Ethiopia has:

• one of the most powerful militaries in Africa
• around 80 different ethnic groups, with the largest 2 being Oromo and Amhara
• a tiered government system consisting of a federal government overseeing ethnically based regional countries, zones, districts (woredas), and neighborhoods (kebele)
• 23,812 kilometers of all-weather roads but only15% are asphalt. Mountainous terrain and the lack of good roads and sufficient vehicles make land transportation difficult and expensive
• eighty-four indigenous languages. English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya

In Ethiopia:

• less than one quarter of the population is literate
• less than 40% of people receive a sustainable income
• only 42% of the population is using improved drinking water sources
• only 11% of the population is using improved sanitation facilities
• Approximately 1.5 million people are living with HIV, some 120,000 of them children
• 51% of children under the age of 5 are suffering from moderate to severe stunting due to lack of nutrition
• 16% of the population in Ethiopia are living on less than 1 dollar per day
• Only 65% of rural households in Ethiopia consume the World Health Organization's minimum standard of food per day (2,200 kilocalories)
• Most poor families (75%) share their sleeping quarters with livestock
• 40% of children sleep on the floor, where nighttime temperatures average 5 degrees Celsius in the cold season
• The average family size is six or seven, living in a 30-square-meter mud and thatch huts, with less than two hectares of land to cultivate.
• The average life expectancy is 48 years old.
• The median age of the population is 16 years old, meaning that 50% of the population is less than 16 years old.
• There is 1 medical doctor per 100,000 people.
• over 8% of infants die during or shortly after childbirth
• 1 out of every 10 children die before their 5th birthday

Learn to do right!
Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:17

Orphan Stats

I've been reading a lot of books and articles about Ethiopia, and also about orphans around the world the past few weeks. There is much that I didn't (and much that I still don't) know about the country, the culture, the politics. The list goes on and on. I've never been much of a history buff, so a lot of the information that I read doesn't stick around in my brain for long. But sadly, some of it seems to burn it's way into my brain, leaving small hurts & possibly permanent scars.

It's easy to want to hide your head in the sand and just NOT know what is going on around the world. I'm frequently guilty of refusing to watch the news for a number of reasons, the least of which is not the fact that a lot of it is heart-breaking and I just don't want to know. However, if we don't know, then we don't act, and if we don't act, then things don't change.

So, in an effort to spread some information & force others to get their heads out of the sand, I thought I'd share some facts that I've come across the past few weeks.

• Over 140 million orphans and waiting children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents.
• Sub-Saharan Africa, with 48.3 million orphans, has the highest proportion of children who are orphans at 12%
• Orphaned children are much more likely than non-orphans to be working in commercial agriculture, as street vendors, in domestic service and in the sex trade
• Orphans are more vulnerable and at risk of becoming victims of violence, exploitation, trafficking, discrimination, or other abuses
• More than 500,000 children are in United States foster care
• Only around 50,000 children, or 18% of those waiting in foster care, are adopted every year
• On average, children in foster care wait over 2 years to be adopted
• Every 14 seconds a child loses a parent due to AIDS
• By 2010, the number of children orphaned by AIDS globally is expected to exceed 25 million
• More than 14 million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, the vast majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa
• In sub-Saharan Africa, one in six households with children is caring for at least one orphan. Yet this still leaves millions of children who are left in the care of strangers — or with no one
• In countries increasingly ravaged by AIDS, orphaned children not only lose their parents but also teachers, health workers and civil servants who die of the disease
• Ethiopia is only twice the size of Texas, but it is home to nearly 6 million orphans. More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS
• Over one-third of Americans have ever considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent of Americans have actually adopted

REFERRAL!!!

We're still a little in shock, but we received that wonderful, exciting, much anticipated call today. A referral of a 3.5 year old little boy. He is precious and healthy and an answer to prayer! From the moment this whole crazy ride began, we have tried hard to trust that God was in control.

He proved Himself faithful time and time again. Changing Eric's heart from 5 years ago when I first felt the call to adopt. Preparing us in many ways during the 5 years of heart-softening when we didn't even know this would ever actually happen. Smoothing the way once we began the process. Providing every cent that the adoption would cost in completely unexpected ways -- job changes and adoption benefits and federal tax credits. And so, despite the fact that this sweet one is a little older than our requested age range, again we trust that God is in control. That He has prepared us for this child and that He has chosen this child for us.

We will send the medical records to the International Adoption specialist early next week, but we can't imagine that there is anything that would change our hearts about officially accepting the referral.

We are so thrilled...and terrified...and excited...but also heart-broken over his losses and his selfless families' losses.

Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray:

• for his birth father & his siblings
• for our new son, that he will be loved & cared for in the care center until we can bring him home
• for the remainder of our process -- the final paperwork arriving from USCIS, the update that we now need to do to our home study & USCIS forms for the age change, and the official acceptance
• that our court date would be scheduled quickly once the paperwork is complete
• that God would continue to prepare our hearts, our minds, our kids, and our entire family while we wait.

BTW -- the Ethiopian government prohibits the public posting of the children's pictures or names prior to us legally adopting them & bringing them home. So, unfortunately, you will all have to wait to see his beautiful face and big brown eyes or hear his wonderful Ethiopian name that we are keeping, because I can't post them. Sorry.