Cusano Family Adoption
Donation protected
Summer of 2017 was life altering for the Cusano Family!! We were so privileged to have the opportunity to join hands with Force For Christ Orphan Outreach and invite a precious little girl who is a "true orphan", from Eastern Europe, into our home for six weeks. We invited this child to live like we live, to be one of us, to have what we have, to do what we do, to go where we go. She happily obliged. She fit in, like she had been born in, from the very first day she arrived! It was no question to us that God had divinely placed her into our family!
Those six weeks came and went in one of the most blessed whirlwinds that we have ever experienced. The fullness of our hearts was absolutely bursting, yet at the very same time, we were left with a gaping hole piercing deeply into each of our hearts and lives. What felt like a literal piece of us had been sent back to Eastern Europe, but only until God made clear, His perfect plan.
Piece by piece, God Himself so delicately revealed the plan He had written, from the very beginning of time, that this little girl should be a part our family, forever. If that wasn't the greatest blessing we could dream of, there was even more!!! God had another amazing blessing in store! Our sweet girl has an older sister who is also seeking the often presumed gift of a family of her very own! The Lord had not one, but TWO precious children, who need a home, who need parents, who will love them as their own, and four excited siblings who cannot wait to see this story come to be!
In James, chapter one, verse twenty seven, God says,
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world"
Caring for the orphans is not our idea, it is a commandment given by God almighty. He knew our world would come to have fault, after by one man sin entered into the world. He knew our world would have heartache. But He did not leave us without hope!
"I will not leave you comfortless [orphans]: I will come to you." John 14:18
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11
Patterned after God's promise to care for His children [that He adopted into His family through their acceptance of His invitation in salvation], we wish to invite these two precious girls into our family. Our greatest desire is that we might be the hands and feet of Jesus to these children who were created in the very image of the Creator of the Universe! He has ordained our hearts' desire to be providers for them, to foster a loving home and family atmosphere where they are able to grow, mature, and thrive!
The message that God has for each of us...
"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." Isaiah 43:1b
NO ONE should have to feel unwanted in this world!!
NO ONE should feel that they have never been chosen!!
As we prayerfully and willingly accept adoption as God's plan for our lives, we wish to pursue it diligently. When considering the broad picture of what this story looks like for our family, we cannot help but to feel a sense of intimidation. There are many, many facets still necessary to come together to bring this plan to fruition! There are many areas where we wish to ask our family and friends to consider coming alongside in this journey. We ask that you pray for us! We ask that you pray for wisdom and direction, in each and every step of the way. We ask for that you pray for our children, the ones we already have here with us, and the two we feel that God has placed in our hearts, though they are still residing on the other side of this world. We desire them to be here, safely with us, as soon as possible! They are coming from an active war area, so we ask for your prayers for their safety!!
Secondly, we acknowledge the hefty financial component of an international adoption process. We are fully prepared to do whatever needs to be done, but our desire is that we would not go into debt during this endeavor. We are asking that the Lord would guide each and every penny to where He sees fit for it to come. Though we acknowledge that this is not in our comfort zone of "affordability", we know that our Heavenly Father, who "owns the cattle on a thousand hills", is never hindered or intimidated by finances. We know that this is His will and that HE will provide.
Having said that, we were naive to the costs associated with internation adoption prior to the past couple of months. It is a very expensive endeavor and the estimated costs are as follows:
Adoption Placement Agency $3,500
Home Study $2,500
U.S. Documents and Fees $2,000
Dossier $3,000
Travel and Accommodations $7,000
Miscellaneous Medical $500
Fees in Eastern Europe $2,000
Foreign Adoption Facilitator $15,000
Post-Placement Fees in U.S. $4,000-$11,000
We have created this page to first of all, share our hearts with you. We love you, or you wouldn't have access to this story! Secondly, to allow the Lord to give others a chance to have a part in this journey. If God would bring us to mind, please pray for us, as we would so appreciate your prayers! We do not take this calling lightly! We are so humbled and so thankful!! If you feel the Lord has blessed you and that you'd like to give towards the expenses ahead of us, we would be just as grateful for this as well!!
Please check back with us, as we share updates in our journey! We are so excited!! It has been six years since the Lord saw fit to grow our family and we truly thought we were complete. We are so humbled that the Lord would seek to use us in His ministry to these dear children who just desire the most basic need of a Mommy and a Daddy!!
Those six weeks came and went in one of the most blessed whirlwinds that we have ever experienced. The fullness of our hearts was absolutely bursting, yet at the very same time, we were left with a gaping hole piercing deeply into each of our hearts and lives. What felt like a literal piece of us had been sent back to Eastern Europe, but only until God made clear, His perfect plan.
Piece by piece, God Himself so delicately revealed the plan He had written, from the very beginning of time, that this little girl should be a part our family, forever. If that wasn't the greatest blessing we could dream of, there was even more!!! God had another amazing blessing in store! Our sweet girl has an older sister who is also seeking the often presumed gift of a family of her very own! The Lord had not one, but TWO precious children, who need a home, who need parents, who will love them as their own, and four excited siblings who cannot wait to see this story come to be!
In James, chapter one, verse twenty seven, God says,
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world"
Caring for the orphans is not our idea, it is a commandment given by God almighty. He knew our world would come to have fault, after by one man sin entered into the world. He knew our world would have heartache. But He did not leave us without hope!
"I will not leave you comfortless [orphans]: I will come to you." John 14:18
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11
Patterned after God's promise to care for His children [that He adopted into His family through their acceptance of His invitation in salvation], we wish to invite these two precious girls into our family. Our greatest desire is that we might be the hands and feet of Jesus to these children who were created in the very image of the Creator of the Universe! He has ordained our hearts' desire to be providers for them, to foster a loving home and family atmosphere where they are able to grow, mature, and thrive!
The message that God has for each of us...
"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." Isaiah 43:1b
NO ONE should have to feel unwanted in this world!!
NO ONE should feel that they have never been chosen!!
As we prayerfully and willingly accept adoption as God's plan for our lives, we wish to pursue it diligently. When considering the broad picture of what this story looks like for our family, we cannot help but to feel a sense of intimidation. There are many, many facets still necessary to come together to bring this plan to fruition! There are many areas where we wish to ask our family and friends to consider coming alongside in this journey. We ask that you pray for us! We ask that you pray for wisdom and direction, in each and every step of the way. We ask for that you pray for our children, the ones we already have here with us, and the two we feel that God has placed in our hearts, though they are still residing on the other side of this world. We desire them to be here, safely with us, as soon as possible! They are coming from an active war area, so we ask for your prayers for their safety!!
Secondly, we acknowledge the hefty financial component of an international adoption process. We are fully prepared to do whatever needs to be done, but our desire is that we would not go into debt during this endeavor. We are asking that the Lord would guide each and every penny to where He sees fit for it to come. Though we acknowledge that this is not in our comfort zone of "affordability", we know that our Heavenly Father, who "owns the cattle on a thousand hills", is never hindered or intimidated by finances. We know that this is His will and that HE will provide.
Having said that, we were naive to the costs associated with internation adoption prior to the past couple of months. It is a very expensive endeavor and the estimated costs are as follows:
Adoption Placement Agency $3,500
Home Study $2,500
U.S. Documents and Fees $2,000
Dossier $3,000
Travel and Accommodations $7,000
Miscellaneous Medical $500
Fees in Eastern Europe $2,000
Foreign Adoption Facilitator $15,000
Post-Placement Fees in U.S. $4,000-$11,000
We have created this page to first of all, share our hearts with you. We love you, or you wouldn't have access to this story! Secondly, to allow the Lord to give others a chance to have a part in this journey. If God would bring us to mind, please pray for us, as we would so appreciate your prayers! We do not take this calling lightly! We are so humbled and so thankful!! If you feel the Lord has blessed you and that you'd like to give towards the expenses ahead of us, we would be just as grateful for this as well!!
Please check back with us, as we share updates in our journey! We are so excited!! It has been six years since the Lord saw fit to grow our family and we truly thought we were complete. We are so humbled that the Lord would seek to use us in His ministry to these dear children who just desire the most basic need of a Mommy and a Daddy!!
Organizer
Jessica Cusano
Organizer
Galesburg, MI
