New Commitments
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Because every family deserves the blessing of a child with Down Syndrome... |
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JACHIN for the Barrett family — FL
Michelle is a single mother to six children. Her 22 year old daughter and son-in-law have blessed her with an almost 3 year old granddaughter and a grandson due in early 2014. She has two college children, and 18 year old daughter working on her degree in Social Work and a 20 year old son working on his degree in the police academy. She has a son who is a junior at a private Christian school. She adopted a sibling pair in 2012. Her son is 6 years old and has prosthetics on both legs and Arthrogryposis. Her 5 year old daughter wears leg braces, has cancer in remission since she was 1 1/2 years year old, and limb differences due to the cancerous tumor.
Michelle’s parents were foster parents for over 18 years and she always knew that she would adopt. She is adopting a little two year old boy from China. She lives in a small town but so many have adopted and begun a support group that meet monthly.
7/24/14—LOA RECEIVED
A Family For Lettie
Once upon a time, there was this hilariously not-so-little family, who kept thinking they were missing somebody. The sisters in the family kept voting for a little girl, to help even out the numbers, and the boys thought a baby sister would be awesome. So the mommy and the daddy prayed, and talked, and waited for God’s direction. Then one day, it came! And WOW- it’s time to go! There’s a little girlie waiting, fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator, just waiting to be snuggled and kissed and loved to pieces by her well-prepared and experienced soon-to-be family.
They’re ready to travel soon, so if you have a few dimes or nickels or a random unused inheritance (haha!) that you’d like to toss in to help them get her home quickly, it would be greatly appreciated! While they’re keeping it all rather hush hush right now, you better believe that once that referral is accepted and they can share that she’s theirs, you’ll be bombarded with pictures!
Thank you all for your prayers, and support!!!!
7/24/14—DOSSIER SUBMITTED
SAMUEL for the May family — PA
Joe and Audra May knew that a seed had been planted in their hearts and that adoption was in their future when they left a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in February of 2002. Expecting their first of what was to be 3 biological daughters at that time, they didn’t know when that might be. However, they committed to praying and seeking the Lord. 10 years later their bio daughters now 9,6 and 3, God had indeed called them forward to adopt, as they had already started the process in July of 2011. They were seeking to adopt a special needs little girl through China’s waiting child program. At the end of February 2012, they had found their daughter, Emmalin. She was living at Maria’s Big House of Hope, the same home co-founded by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth Chapman in honor of their daughter Maria. God had brought the connection to Steven and the seed for adoption had blossomed in their hearts and came full circle.
After traveling to China and visiting not only the orphanage Emmalin spent time in but also Maria’s Big House of Hope, as well as experiencing the miracle of adoption, their hearts had been forever changed. Joe and Audra began to pray and seek the Lord’s plans for their lives and whether God was calling them to adopt again. They had also learned and were very heartbroken for the thousands of little boys, more than little girls waiting for their forever family in China. February 2014, Audra stumbled upon the picture of a little boy on a waiting child page and she was immediately smitten. She was also surprised to realize that he was the same age and had the same medical condition, a form of Spina Bifida, as their daughter Emmalin. After sharing the little boy’s picture with Joe, who wasn’t ready to leap yet, they committed to praying. After a few weeks of prayer God revealed to them that the little boy was indeed their son and they were blessed to be able to pursue adopting him. This adoption, as was Emmalin’s is a complete leap of faith. Having no adoption funds to begin, God continues to pour out his blessings and open the doors as they pursue Samuel. Joe and Audra know that God can easily call the able to adopt but he often calls the willing and that’s what they are, willing to do the Lord’s work and to go where he calls them.
The May family is very excited and eager to bring Samuel home. They are eager to have their first little boy in the family and their daughter Emmalin is especially excited. Joe and Audra have been very open with Emmalin concerning her adoption. Through many conversations she already understands and likes to share with others wherever they go, that Samuel is from China and will be adopted just like her!
The May family would covet your prayers for their family and Samuel as they journey to bring him home. They are also blessed and so very thankful for any financial blessing they receive, no amount is too small.
7/24/14—AWAITING USCIS APPROVAL
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at mayblessingsflow.com
FRANKIE for the Deerman family — AL
God has richly blessed our family. God allowed me the honor of marrying my “high school” sweet heart. He blessed us with two children who are an amazing gift to my wife and I. We are a close family who loves time together and are thrilled to be in the process of bringing home our son from China! We began our adoption journey with a beautiful little boy we met on Reece’s Rainbow by the name of “Ellison”. The door to adoption closed when the Russian adoption law changed. Like many families our hearts were broken and we grieved…but God in his wonderful timing led us to this precious little guy who we can not wait to bring home as part of our family. I am a pastor in Alabama and my wife is a social worker. We, along with our children, are grateful that God in His great mercy is allowing us the privileged of adopting Frankie. I can not wait for the day when we are able to bring Frankie home. We love him dearly and he already is being used by God to teach us more about God’s great love and mercy.
Please pray for us as we continue in the adoption process. Pray for “Ellison” and the other children of Russia that God would provide loving homes for each child. Pray for Frankie… God has wonderful plans for the wonderful little boy and I am honored to have a front row seat to watch His beautiful work unfold.
7/23/14—HOMESTUDY IN PROCESS
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at rickdeerman.wordpress.com
WESLEY for the Vinson family — TX
Tim and Jamie Vinson married in 2004, and adopted their first child in February 2011, a beautiful 2 year old with albinism. This lucky little boy was named Chanz. Three years later, after much therapy, rehab and love, Chanz was ready for a sibling! The Vinson’s expected to adopt a tiny girl, but God had other plans. As soon as Jamie saw Wesley’s story, she knew that boy belonged to them. Tim agreed immediately, and so the journey began!
7/21/2014—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog quietandconfident.blogspot.com
AMBER and PATRICK for the Marion family — WV
Dave and Lisa have been married for 20 years. They were blessed with 3 children through adoption – 2 domestic and 1 from China, and for several years their family felt complete. While remaining open to adoption, they focused more on encouraging other families, and helped their agency to open a branch in their own town. When asked to participate in a panel on International adoption, they eagerly agreed to share their experiences. The next day, Dave told Lisa, “I think we need to go back to China.” The kids were enthusiastic, preferring adoption to a trip to Disney World and a pet “hampster” and it was decided that a brother and sister would be just the right addition to the family. Because Dave and Lisa were open to adopting older children with minor special needs, they started watching their agency’s Waiting Child list. After much searching and prayer, they chose 10 year old Patrick and 6 year old Amber. The paperwork trail is complete, and they hope to travel in October to bring their children home!
7/20/2014—DOSSIER LOGGED IN
SHELBY for the Patrick family — NC
Hello meet Randy and Angela Dawn Patrick who have been married 18 years and have 6 children ranging from the age of 3-20.God has truly blessed them allowing them to care for these children.Adoption has always been a plan of theirs that is why they have 3 belly babies and 3 chosen from their heart and minds babies.All have been equal blessings and the occasional trials as well.They look forward to adopting from China and seeing how the journey unfolds.Please join them in prayer and support as they work hard towards bringing Sunshine to Shelby.
7/20/2014—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
SILVIE for the Schultz family — WI
Kelly and Bill met at a 4th of July celebration 3 years ago. Mutual friends decided to play matchmaker and succeeded! Bill asked Kelly out for coffee the next day and they spent the night talking about everything! The coffee shop closed and they moved on to McDonald’s to finish off the night and the “rest is history!” Kelly was quite the package deal bringing 7 children into the relationship; she knew Bill was “the one” when he jumped right in and became an instant part of the family! They were married on May 04, 2013 and moved into their new house in June. In July Kelly asked him if he was ready to start an adoption. He didn’t say no (Lol) so she called and set up a homestudy for the beginning of August. Rowen joined their family from Serbia on January 30, 2014! Rowen has that extra special 47th chromosome and everyone fell instantly in love with him so they quickly decided that Eight Was Not Enough and they are heading to China to bring home Silvie as soon as possible! Any help with fundraising is greatly appreciated since they so recently completed Rowen’s adoption.
7/10/2014—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
OSCAR for the Stallmer family — NY
Jeff and Caroline Stallmer married in 2003, and have been blessed with 3 biological children Madeline 10, Thomas 8 and Oliver 2. Oliver was diagnosed with Down syndrome 10 days after his birth. It came as a complete surprise to the family. Not knowing anything about Down syndrome they were devastated. Thanks to modern technology they were able to sit by his little crib in the NICU and start researching. They came across countless inspirational videos of all the amazing things that children and adults with Down syndrome can do and how much love they give to their families and friends. Oliver has changed their lives completely. They are apart of a community of amazing people. Not long after they brought him home from the hospital they came across Reece’s Rainbow and knew that someday they would adopt a child with Down syndrome. Today is that day. W hen they saw the picture of Oscar they just knew it was meant to be. They have been praying everyday and receiving some almost unbelievable little signs from God daily that this is what they are supposed to do. Please help them adopt Oscar from China!
7/16/2014—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE
LEAH and ROXIE for the Foerch family — IA
Chad and Erin Foerch met at Cedarville University and became college sweethearts. They have been married 13 years and have four biological children: three boys ages 11, 6, 1, and 1 girl, age 8. Erin graduated with Elementary Education and planned to return to school for a degree in special education. She has always had a heart for kids with special needs. Erin currently home schools their children and plans to continue home schooling after the adoption. Chad and Erin planned to have another biological child, but God began stirring individually in both of their hearts towards adoption. They found their daughter on Reece’s Rainbow and fell in love with her through her pictures and her profile. She will fit in perfectly in their family dynamic. Their children are all very excited to bring their new sister home, especially her big sister, Eden. They are currently open to adopting two children and are praying that the LORD will make His will clear. They greatly appreciate the financial support along with the ministry of prayer and encouragement that comes from Reece’s Rainbow.
6/24/2014—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog www.excuseourmess.com
BECKHAM for the Groen family — SD
Chad and Kayla have been together for 10 years, and just celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary. Kayla has and in home daycare, and Chad works for a local coal mining company. They have been blessed with 4 beautiful children. Bella is 11, and Chad adopted her when they got married. Asher is 7, Cylus is 4, and Peerson is almost 2.
Chad and Kayla always knew that they would adopt. A friend was in the process of adopting and added them to a group on facebook that had profiles of waiting kids. 6 months later they saw a 3 year old boy named Beckham that was beautiful. They knew he would get a family quickly, but every time they would see his picture, they couldn’t help but think he could be their son. He had a family committed to him, but something happened and he was listed as available again. Chad and Kayla talked about whether now was the right time to adopt. Beckham has untreated hydrocephalus, agnesis of the corpus callosum, and a cyst on his 3rd ventricle, so they had to make sure the care he needed would be available in their area. They got the confirmation that every month a team from mayo would be 45 minutes away, and wanted to take Beckham as a patient. This was the time, this was their son! He would finally have his forever family, and they would have the final piece of their puzzle.
6/24/2014—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
ISABELLA for the Proctor family — UT
Travis and Angela have been married for 13 years. Angela had three children from her first marriage, a 20 year old daughter, a 19 year old son, and a 17 year old daughter. Travis and Angela have two little girls together. A 9 year old daughter with Down syndrome, a 7 year old little girl, and a 1 year old grandson. Travis and Angela are host home parents to a 19 year old boy with Down syndrome/Autism he has been with them for 8 years. They live in Utah where Travis is a 5th grade teacher and Angela works with children and adults with special needs and their families to make sure they get the support they need at home and in the community. Angela has wanted to adopt children with special needs since she was a little girl. When their daughter was born with Down syndrome, Angela found Reece’s Rainbow and her heart broke when she learned about all the children that spend their lives in orphanages because they have Down syndrome. Angela not only has a passion for adoption but for educating and equipping families in other countries with the skills and resources they need to keep their children home instead of placing them in an orphanage. And also, training orphanage staff how to better care for the children with special needs in their care. It has been a long journey but they never lost faith in God’s plan. Angela found Isabella on a China waiting child page and when she told Travis about her they both knew she was meant to be their daughter. The Proctors are excited and grateful that they will be traveling to bring Isabella ho me the end of July/first part of August.
6/23/2014—TRAVELING JULY 23
DELLA for the Isom family — ND
After a wild roller coaster adoption ride that ended in heartache, the Isom family is back and ready to go full force in their new adoption process. Through a selfless and heartfelt act by another RR family … the Isoms are beyond grateful and overjoyed to have the honor of one day calling this sweet little girl their Daughter.
John and Jenny met in high school and became instant friends. After high school John served a full time mission for their church. When he returned 2 years later the two ran into each other and the rest is history. Ten years later htey have two awesome little boys. Linkon is 5 years old and Hank is 2 years old … both wild energetic funny little boys. Their family also consists of a little dog named George, one rabbit named Rosie, a bird named Pecky and a bearded dragon named Turbo.
They are all excited to share this amazing journey with you and appreciate your love and support.
Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. – C.S. Lewis
6/21/2014—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
FULLY FUNDED!!!
JACKSON for the Bouchard family — MO
Rick and Chante were married in 1999, and have been blessed with three biological children, Triston, Hadassah, and Kyron. The Bouchard’s live on a farm, and love anything they can do together as a family.
Adoption was something that God had laied on their heart even before they were married, and in 2001, when they heard about the children on Haiti, God led them to adopt their son, Ben. Four years later, they adopted Nesanet from Ethiopia, and thought their family was complete. After meeting some children with Down syndrome, they began feeling led to adopt a child with DS. When they saw little YiXi’s picture, they were in love! Six months after they welcomed YiXi home from China, some friends told them about a little girl they met in China, who also had DS. While the Bouchards were in China, picking up Amy, they met an amazing seven-year-old boy with CP. He stole their hearts, with his smile and loving personality, and they realized that even though they thought their family was complete, God had other plans. They have realized that God’s plans are so much more incredible than any plans they can make for their own future, and they are so thankful for the amazing kids He has brought into their lives. Their kids all have a heart from adoption and an incredible love for each other.
6/20/2014—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at www.changetheworld147.blogspot.com
ALDA for the Bowling family — NM
Richard and Lisa have been married for 26 years and have 11 children. Their twin boys, Jacob and Josiah, now reside in Heaven. They have had the awesome privilege of raising 3 girls and 6 boys. Lisa is a stay at home mom and home schools the youngest 6, who still live at home. About 22 years ago, Richard took a mission trip to Eastern Europe and fell in love with the children of that area. Since then they have always had the desire to adopt and give a child in need a home to call their own. Upon learning about the orphan crisis in Eastern Europe, Richard and Lisa felt there was no better time than the present to move forward. It was time to step out in faith and trust God’s leading to start the process in bringing home a new daughter from Eastern Europe. Her siblings are excited for a new addition to the family, and they cannot wait to welcome her into their home and hearts. They invite you to join them in this exciting adventure, whether by prayer, encouragement, or contributions as their journey begins. They thank you in advance for all your support!!!
7/11/2014—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog thebowlingfamilyadopts.blogspot.com
QUINNLEE for the Hurst family — MI
Quinnlee has had a hold on so many hearts. So many people loved her and prayed for a family to come forward for her. She finally has a family that is moving forward to adopt her!
The Hurst family is so excited to announce that she is their daughter. Their oldest daughter, Faith, prayed for a little sister fervently for so long and her three brothers are just excited that they still outnumber the girls! Katie and Craig have prayed for Quinnlee for two years and finally realized that God was calling them to her. They have loved her for so long that the whole process seems surreal to them.
They have kept a verse hidden in their hearts for her as they prayed.
John 1:5 “And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” They are confident that while Quinnlee may never see light that she will be the brightest part of their lives.
6/17/2014—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog www.webearthelight.com
DAMARIS for the Enberg family — MN
Eric and Tam have adopted previously and were not looking for another adoption situation. They were busy raising their ten kids. Then a little girl caught their eyes and they couldn’t forget her.
6/11/2014—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE
CONNER for the VanAuken family — NY
Paul and Kim have been married for 18 years in August and tried getting pregnant right away. Paul had two children from a previous marriage so they decided to have only one child. They tried for two years to get pregnant, had 3 miscarriages but finally had Laura in October of 1998. Their family was perfect. They had 2 girls and a boy, they had custody of Paul’s 2 children. Life was filled with college for Aaron, dance classes, softball, church youth groups, jr high school, preschool and birthday parties. Then our world fell apart, in October of 2002. Aaron was killed in a car accident. The next three and a half years were like a bad dream that they couldn’t wake up from. They were all living in the same house but their family was broken. They went through life day to day hour to hour. Kim tried to keep normalcy for Caprice and Laura. They continued with the sports, dance, youth group, and school activities. Paul barely existed. He went to work, was put on anti-depressant medication and when the medication didn’t work he turned to alcohol to numb the pain. Caprice decided to go live with her mom which made the hole in our hearts even worse. Nothing seemed to be bringing their family back together at this point not even counseling.
Until the night Paul was driving and wrapped his car around a tree he had been drinking it was the anniversary of Aarons death. The police officer that had arrived on the scene first at our son’s accident arrived first at Paul’s. He said his biggest fear arriving on the scene with Paul hanging out the window was that he would again have to come to our house and tell us of the death of yet another member of our family. This was Paul’s turning point. Paul survived the accident with only bumps and bruises. Their lives changed after that night. They started going to a Christian counselor, their friends invited us to go to Cross Creek church and they started going and even started volunteering there. Life slowly got back to the “new normal”.
Friends from their new church were foster parents so they decided to honor Aaron’s life by helping other children. They started taking foster care classes and became foster parents. They have helped 9 children over the last 6 years ages 2 months to 15 years old. They have watched them come into their home scared and broken and leave happy, secure, healthy and most of them with Jesus in their heart. They see the children and keep in touch through visits, calls and cards and are so happy that they were able to help them along the way. This is one of the reasons that they would like to adopt because they would like to help a child permanently.
Another reason is, their families have adopted. Kim’s dad and mom adopted 3 children from Korea, her brother adopted a boy from Russia and her sister a boy from New Jersey. Paul’s sister adopted 2 children from Korea also. Their families and the love they have for these children have been a tremendous inspiration.
Finally one of our biggest inspirations besides their son are a couple in our church who adopted a little girl with down syndrome last year. We never thought about adopting a “special needs” child until they introduced us to a picture of “Conner” on Reeces Rainbow. We fell in love at first site. “Conner” has Hodgkin’s disease and went through 6 rounds of chemotherapy and is now in remission, he is also close to aging out. We are his last hope.
So although they were not expecting especially financially to adopt from Eastern Europe God has led them to “Conner” and they can’t wait to give him a forever home that he deserves. They also cannot wait to show Conner the unconditional love of Jesus Christ as they have shown all the children who have come into their lives. They have been shown that his is the GREATEST LOVE of ALL!!!
6/11/2014—HOMESTUDY COMPLETE
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog vanaukenfamilyadoption.blogspot.com
VALENZ’S Family
There is a woman who is working very hard to become “Valenz” Mom. She cannot wait until he comes home! He will be surrounded by uncles who share his extra chromosome and an extended family who can’t wait to meet him.
Thank you for your prayers!
6/28/2014—TRAVELING SOON
