PASSPORTS!!!!!!!

WE JUST GOT WORD FROM DONNA THAT WE GOT
FATU & OSOBIES
PASSPORTS!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU LORD!!!
We are beyond ourselves!!!crying, dancing, singing!!!!thank you Jesus!! Now we pray for their pre-visa appointment and continue to pray that things move quickly so we can travel as soon as possible!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR PRAYING!!!
We are one more step closer to bringing our kids home!!

We also wanted to say a huge Thank you for continuing to support our One Dollar Fundraiser!!
We are at $5,578!! what a huge blessing as we are now getting close to traveling & will need to buy tickets
Here's the latest picture of our kids-
Now we're going to celebrate!!!!!

Could you say a BIG PRAYER!!

Praise Jesus for a couple passports today!! Not ours, but other families are rejoicing right now!!! Congratulations AOH families!!!! We hope this keeps up for all of us waiting. This news is exciting, and also nerve-wracking because we are anxiously waiting on Fatu and Sobie's passports.

COULD WE ASK YOU ALL TO PLEASE PRAY WITH US FOR THE RELEASE
OF SOBIE AND FATU'S PASSORT!!!!

We have a family situation we are in right now that I am unable to post about at the moment. We are in serious crunch-time as far as getting passports for our kids. We have a dilemma we are facing that will be extremely sad and difficult if we don't get passports soon!

I am crying out to the Lord for His favor and hand in all of this. I trust Him and I know He will be with us in it. I also know the power of prayer! I know GOD hears His kids! And I know that you all PRAY, so I thought I would ask for a little, NO a LOT of extra prayers for passports this week!!

Thanks DAN!

Our friend Dan went on a mission trip to Liberia and met our kids (Borcherts) & the Lorenzen kids!!!! In the picture is Osobie and Fatu and Laurie and Dono's kids Titus and Nyenna!!!
Oh, yeah can't wait until they are all home!! Dan so generously loved on them and the rest of the AOH kids!!

NO PASSPORTS

No passports this week either! Please be praying for passports! There are many families in the same boat as us, and so many kids that need to come home. We pray Lord that your favor would flow in and through the passport office and that many would be released!!

I will not write much because my heart is heavy and I can't seem to stop the river of tears. This last leg is by far the worst for me so far. We thought we would have our kids home by now, even though we know better. Then, the other night we went to see the Watoto African Childrens Choir, and I cried through the whole thing. Mainly because Jeff and I have been to Africa 3 times, and have been praying about moving our lives there since we've been married, 5 years. Hearing the children's Ugandan accents just brought me back to all the little faces we have seen, held and prayed for over the years. And now to top it off, we have 2 little faces of our own that we still do not have in our arms. It was a beautiful night, but a reminder of the deep love God has placed in us for our brothers and sisters in Africa, and a longing still unfilled.

So, I thought I would post a few of my favorite photos from our trips to East Africa.


Well, I thought I would do this but our internet connection basically sucks! (sorry for the strong language)... I'm just bummed because I LOVE photos. I'm a visual person. I'll continue to try to post some good pics anyway!! Okay... well, it's not working. Now for the first pic of our kids!!! I can't wait to hold them, hug them, hear their voices, kiss them and finally be a family!!!

Howdy!!
Boy, I'm not so good at updating our blog, which makes for quite a boring blog! Sorry to any of you that check this regularly and are disappointed by my lack of blogging!! I'm going to try to get rockin' on it more often. The problem is we have NO news on our kids other than NO PASSPORTS this week. This is becoming all to familiar and I'm starting to have flashbacks from our friends long...really long, wait for passports. We walked with the Lorenzen's through their process and it was tough just watching! Praying, crying, longing for something, anything, some news of your kids. Now we are in the exact same place. We have heard some fun tidbits about our kids through other families. Other children from AOH that have come home to thier families are talking about "Osobie and Fatu" I guess. We also got a update from another friend who just picked up her baby just 2 weeks ago. She wrote " Hi Katie - we saw your kids at the orphanage! Fatu stood up and did the ABC's for us and Osobee gave a bible verse. "
OH YEAH!!! I was just flipping out to think of our little girl saying her ABC's in her Liberian English, and Osobie reciting a bible verse! Wow!! We are so blessed! God has deposited such a deep love for them that is just beginning. We are soo ready and longing for them to be home!!

Oh, and now for an update on our One dollar adoption fundraiser (www.jeffandkatie.onedollaradoption.com) we are now at : $4,839!!!

Oh yeah!! It keeps coming and we are rejoicing over every dollar and thanking God for His provision. THANK YOU!! We are constantly blown away by the generosity and sacrifice of other families who have given to us while they themselves are in the midst of adoption!! Thank you!!
I know this African proverb gets used alot, but I still love it. It takes a village to raise a child!! It takes a village...you fill in the blank. We are called to do this, to be this, to be a body, to be a community, God's kids. This reminds me of a Liberian kids book I just bought off Amazon. It is called Head, Body, Legs -a story from Liberia by Won-Lyde Paye. It is from the Dan people, a tale told by mothers and grandmothers. It is about the importance of co-operation-each part of the body is necessary and helps the others, just as each person in a family or a community is necessary and helps others. The story begins with a head rolling around unable to do many things. The story ends with a full body-arms, legs and all, reaching up to pick a mango from the tree and enjoying it's sweetness. By being together, working together and risking together we get to partake of the sweetness of God's kingdom.
Hmm... sounds just like a verse in Romans.
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully"

and ....I Corinthians 12:12
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

I want to see God's purposes, plans, and kingdom come because we joined hands, hearts and minds.