Help us be a family again!

In late March of this year, by the grace of God I took my first overseas trip to fly to Abuja, Nigeria, to meet Edith Okpuwhara. She and I had been talking online for almost two years – not dating but vetting each other for marriage. She and I fit as if made for each other (compatible faith, beliefs, values, and goals), but we wanted to see if the same was true face to face. It was. On April 1st, we were married.

I am the only one of my immediate family who never had any kids. That is no longer true; now I have two wonderful sons, Chaninomi, 13, and Tseyi, 10. They have wanted a true Dad for a very long time. God is good! Our goal is to start a small farm and raise chickens and goats and eventually operate a Nigerian food truck in the Fort Wayne area.

I have been apart from my wife and my two new boys for seven months as I have been working on their immigration. It is a difficult process, and totally outside my wheelhouse, but I have had to face the mountain of red tape and dozens of hoops to jump through to complete the Immigration form. As I printed it out, I discovered that there were costs hidden in the fine print; I needed about $1000 over what I had prepared for.

I had thought that the new job with the pay raise would be easy to cover it, but with school supplies for the boys, automotive costs, and a $500 medical bill, I have struggled to get ahead financially. I know that if Edith and the boys were here with me, we would be in a better position to face the ups and downs of this crazy economy and tumultuous times if we only had to worry about one house and one set of bills.

Would you help us? We are trying to raise $1000 for the $1600 we need to be able to submit the immigration application. In this season of giving, I know that a lot of you are looking for avenues to bless people, and we ask that you consider helping us to be a family living under one roof so that we can grow our church and our family! With many hands doing what little they can in these times, this mountain can be moved!

God bless you in this season, and I thank you for your consideration.