"O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more." - Psalm 10:17-18
For over five years now, God has been impressing upon our hearts a call that at first seemed terrifying and improbable - to bring an orphan child into our family and raise them as our own. Despite our own inclinations towards comfort and predictability, an ever deepening understanding of God's sacrificial love towards us has moved us to adopt two orphan siblings. This is the type of love with which God loves us - a type of love that cares for the orphan, the oppressed and the afflicted.
We are now beyond excited to show that type of love with two child who need a family. We were matched with a sibling group, a girl and a boy. We couldn't be more thrilled that this is what God has had planned all along. Zach and I got to go meet these two children in May of 2018. They are incredible and the experience was so surreal. It was heart-wrenching to see and experience what life is like for them right now, but holding them in our arms, playing with them, and talking with them about our family gave us such hope. God promises strength and grace for the moment, He was faithful to provide it during those two weeks, and we are confident that He will continue to provide what we need in the weeks, months, and years to follow.
When we started this adoption process back in January 2014, we looked at the piles of paperwork and the amount of money and could only step forward one step at a time. God, however, can see the entire plan and has provided abundantly more than we could have hoped for. Every tear is seen, every penny has been provided, and every prayer has been heard.
NOW, we need $15,000 to bring these children home. Many of the fees we have yet to pay are doubled because we are adopting two children instead of one. That is where this additional $15,000 comes from. We also can pray more specifically for our children as we wait. We can pray for their safety, for healing, for God to prepare them for our family, and that they would know and love Jesus.
So, we are waiting with an eager expectation to see how God will work. We want to bring our child home and provide them with a family that loves them and wants them to know what God has done for them in Jesus. We want to have a loving family that points the world to Jesus and glorifies God above all else. Would you please join us in praying and would you consider making a donation to our adoption fund?
Adoption Timeline
12/19/2013 - Completed the Preliminary Application
12/19/2013 - Preliminary Application accepted
1/04/2014 - Attended Informational Meeting, decided we were interested in international adoption
1/06/2014 - Met with the international adoption specialist
1/08/2014 - Decided to adopt internationally with Bethany
1/10/2014 - Spoke with international adoption intake coordinator, decided to adopt from Haiti
1/13/2014 - Completed the Formal Application & the Creche application for Haiti
1/14/2014 - Both Formal Application & Creche Application accepted
1/16/2014 - Signed Contracts and Paperwork for Bethany
1/22/2014 - Received Homestudy Packet
2/6/2014- Announced our decision adopt- Thank you to all of our friends and family for the overwhelming amount of encouragement and support!!!
2/7/2014- First Homestudy Visit: Everything went so great! We are very grateful for our case worker. This meeting was mainly for our case worker to get to know us as a couple, why we want to adopt, and to make sure our home is a safe place for a child.
2/17/2014- Second Homestudy Visit: This time it was individual meetings with our caseworker. We talked through our entire life history.
3/3/2014- Third and final Homestudy Visit!!! This visit is to talk with our caseworker about what kind of a child will be a good fit for our family.
3/24/2014- Our Homestudy is completed! We proof read it and our case worker sent it on to the branch director and Global to get it approved.
3/25/2014- We received our paperwork for applying to Immigration and were put in contact with the Haiti team at Bethany.
3/28/2014- Haiti is now HAGUE accredited. This means wonderful things for us as we move forward in the adoption journey. Right now, it means we have different Immigration paperwork to fill out.
4/3/2014- Immigration paperwork is completed and ready to be sent off. We are just waiting for the home study to be approved to mail everything.
4/23/2014- We received a finalized copy of our Homestudy yesterday and we submitted Immigration paperwork!
4/30/2014- Dossier phone call: the next step is to work on our dossier which is what we will send to Haiti. The dossier is very long and has multiple steps. We talked with a very helpful administrative assistant about the process and got started.
6/02/2014- 4Rivers Fundraiser! Thanks to everyone who came out to support us and a special thanks to 4Rivers for hosting. It was very encouraging.
6/18/2014- Noonday Fundraiser! Thanks to everyone who purchased from Noonday. It’s an awesome organization that is making a difference all around the world.
8/18/2014- Minnesota Noonday Fundraiser! Thanks to sweet friends from back home that threw the Noonday party.
8/28/2014- We were finally ready to send our dossier to the translator and got it on it’s way.
9/23/2014- Thank you!!! We have reached our goal of raising $30,000 for our adoption! It is an indescribably blessing to have a community that loves and supports us, friends that encourages us to trust Jesus more, and so many who are praying for our child.
9/29/2014- Received translation papers back.
10/14/2014- We sent our dossier to Bethany Global in Michigan for final checks and preparations.
10/15/2014- Our dossier was sent to the Haitian Consulate for the last round of authentication.
10/21/2014- The dossier was sent to an orphanage in Haiti. The orphanage will pass it along to go through a final process of legalization.
11/28/2014- The wait time has officially begun! Our dossier was accepted by the Haitian government. We are waiting and praying for a match to happen soon, but the timeline is very uncertain. In the meantime, we earnestly pray for protection, healing, and salvation for our child/children.
4/6/2018- We received our official referral for a sibling group- a girl and a boy!!!!!
4/13/2018- Officially accepted the referral
5/4/2018- Submitted the I-800 approval paperwork for our children
5/7-21/2018- Travel to Haiti for Socialization Trip
5/8/2018- Met our children - INCREDIBLE
6/18/2018- Provisional approval for the I-800
6/27/2018- Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration
6/29/2018- VISA interview in country
6/29/2018- Received the Article 5
8/17/2018- Significant delays
8/27/2018- Authorization to Adopt completed by IBESR (but we wouldn’t know this until much later)
10/20/2018- Informed that the adoption was moving forward again
11/15/2018- Bethany staff picked up the Authorization to Adopt from IBESR. We officially exited IBESR!!
12/18/2018- Informed that the paperwork has been submitted to Parquet and that court proceedings would begin early January
1/23/2019 - Notified that we exited Parquet and the Courts
For over five years now, God has been impressing upon our hearts a call that at first seemed terrifying and improbable - to bring an orphan child into our family and raise them as our own. Despite our own inclinations towards comfort and predictability, an ever deepening understanding of God's sacrificial love towards us has moved us to adopt two orphan siblings. This is the type of love with which God loves us - a type of love that cares for the orphan, the oppressed and the afflicted.
We are now beyond excited to show that type of love with two child who need a family. We were matched with a sibling group, a girl and a boy. We couldn't be more thrilled that this is what God has had planned all along. Zach and I got to go meet these two children in May of 2018. They are incredible and the experience was so surreal. It was heart-wrenching to see and experience what life is like for them right now, but holding them in our arms, playing with them, and talking with them about our family gave us such hope. God promises strength and grace for the moment, He was faithful to provide it during those two weeks, and we are confident that He will continue to provide what we need in the weeks, months, and years to follow.
When we started this adoption process back in January 2014, we looked at the piles of paperwork and the amount of money and could only step forward one step at a time. God, however, can see the entire plan and has provided abundantly more than we could have hoped for. Every tear is seen, every penny has been provided, and every prayer has been heard.
NOW, we need $15,000 to bring these children home. Many of the fees we have yet to pay are doubled because we are adopting two children instead of one. That is where this additional $15,000 comes from. We also can pray more specifically for our children as we wait. We can pray for their safety, for healing, for God to prepare them for our family, and that they would know and love Jesus.
So, we are waiting with an eager expectation to see how God will work. We want to bring our child home and provide them with a family that loves them and wants them to know what God has done for them in Jesus. We want to have a loving family that points the world to Jesus and glorifies God above all else. Would you please join us in praying and would you consider making a donation to our adoption fund?
Adoption Timeline
12/19/2013 - Completed the Preliminary Application
12/19/2013 - Preliminary Application accepted
1/04/2014 - Attended Informational Meeting, decided we were interested in international adoption
1/06/2014 - Met with the international adoption specialist
1/08/2014 - Decided to adopt internationally with Bethany
1/10/2014 - Spoke with international adoption intake coordinator, decided to adopt from Haiti
1/13/2014 - Completed the Formal Application & the Creche application for Haiti
1/14/2014 - Both Formal Application & Creche Application accepted
1/16/2014 - Signed Contracts and Paperwork for Bethany
1/22/2014 - Received Homestudy Packet
2/6/2014- Announced our decision adopt- Thank you to all of our friends and family for the overwhelming amount of encouragement and support!!!
2/7/2014- First Homestudy Visit: Everything went so great! We are very grateful for our case worker. This meeting was mainly for our case worker to get to know us as a couple, why we want to adopt, and to make sure our home is a safe place for a child.
2/17/2014- Second Homestudy Visit: This time it was individual meetings with our caseworker. We talked through our entire life history.
3/3/2014- Third and final Homestudy Visit!!! This visit is to talk with our caseworker about what kind of a child will be a good fit for our family.
3/24/2014- Our Homestudy is completed! We proof read it and our case worker sent it on to the branch director and Global to get it approved.
3/25/2014- We received our paperwork for applying to Immigration and were put in contact with the Haiti team at Bethany.
3/28/2014- Haiti is now HAGUE accredited. This means wonderful things for us as we move forward in the adoption journey. Right now, it means we have different Immigration paperwork to fill out.
4/3/2014- Immigration paperwork is completed and ready to be sent off. We are just waiting for the home study to be approved to mail everything.
4/23/2014- We received a finalized copy of our Homestudy yesterday and we submitted Immigration paperwork!
4/30/2014- Dossier phone call: the next step is to work on our dossier which is what we will send to Haiti. The dossier is very long and has multiple steps. We talked with a very helpful administrative assistant about the process and got started.
6/02/2014- 4Rivers Fundraiser! Thanks to everyone who came out to support us and a special thanks to 4Rivers for hosting. It was very encouraging.
6/18/2014- Noonday Fundraiser! Thanks to everyone who purchased from Noonday. It’s an awesome organization that is making a difference all around the world.
8/18/2014- Minnesota Noonday Fundraiser! Thanks to sweet friends from back home that threw the Noonday party.
8/28/2014- We were finally ready to send our dossier to the translator and got it on it’s way.
9/23/2014- Thank you!!! We have reached our goal of raising $30,000 for our adoption! It is an indescribably blessing to have a community that loves and supports us, friends that encourages us to trust Jesus more, and so many who are praying for our child.
9/29/2014- Received translation papers back.
10/14/2014- We sent our dossier to Bethany Global in Michigan for final checks and preparations.
10/15/2014- Our dossier was sent to the Haitian Consulate for the last round of authentication.
10/21/2014- The dossier was sent to an orphanage in Haiti. The orphanage will pass it along to go through a final process of legalization.
11/28/2014- The wait time has officially begun! Our dossier was accepted by the Haitian government. We are waiting and praying for a match to happen soon, but the timeline is very uncertain. In the meantime, we earnestly pray for protection, healing, and salvation for our child/children.
4/6/2018- We received our official referral for a sibling group- a girl and a boy!!!!!
4/13/2018- Officially accepted the referral
5/4/2018- Submitted the I-800 approval paperwork for our children
5/7-21/2018- Travel to Haiti for Socialization Trip
5/8/2018- Met our children - INCREDIBLE
6/18/2018- Provisional approval for the I-800
6/27/2018- Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration
6/29/2018- VISA interview in country
6/29/2018- Received the Article 5
8/17/2018- Significant delays
8/27/2018- Authorization to Adopt completed by IBESR (but we wouldn’t know this until much later)
10/20/2018- Informed that the adoption was moving forward again
11/15/2018- Bethany staff picked up the Authorization to Adopt from IBESR. We officially exited IBESR!!
12/18/2018- Informed that the paperwork has been submitted to Parquet and that court proceedings would begin early January
1/23/2019 - Notified that we exited Parquet and the Courts