Agradecimiento...

Agradecimiento. 

Thankfulness.  I’d have to say that I am most thankful for the fact that God does not change.  He stays the same.  Everything is constantly changing around us.  Relationships.  People.  Places.  Plans.  Emotions.  We are constantly changing, and yet one thing remains the same: God.

Relaciones. 

It is all about relationships.  We were created to be in relationship with one another.  God has really been showing me more of Him through the people around me. 

Pety.

Pety, is a 14 year old girl that truly amazes me.  She is so full of joy; her smile is radiant.  But I can see that she is trying to cover something up.  Trying to hide.  Pretend everything is okay.  I think she reminds me of myself when I was younger: living under the pressure to pretend that you’ve got it all together. 

Over the past few months Pety and I have been developing a friendship “poco a poco” (little by little).  She loves painting nails and doing hair.  So I have become her ‘model’.  Everyday she paints my nails and gives me a new hairstyle as we talk about all sorts of things.  “Poco a poco” the relationship develops and she begins to open up a little more about herself.  Each day with a new hairstyle and freshly painted nails, she slowly starts to take off one of the many masks she wears as she opens her heart.

For those of you who know me well, I’m not the super girly girl who love doing nails, makeup, hair.  But I truly enjoy that time I have with Pety.  It gives us a chance to talk and build a relationship based on trust.  I don’t know how to explain it, but sometimes you meet a person who you know God is going to use greatly.  Pety is one of those people.

Pety has had a tough childhood.  Really tough.  At her age, she has experienced so many things that I cannot even begin to imagine or understand.  A couple of months ago she opened up with me and shared part of her story.  A story I pray would never happen to another child, and yet a story so common to the children I see every day. 

Our God is a redemptive God.  I feel like I am just sitting in the front row watching as He redeems these children’s lives. 

Pety is working through a lot of different things, however normally she is not very open to talking about God.  So “poco a poco” I’ve just been building trust with her.  Letting her paint my nails, do my hair, do homework, talk, sit, listen and essentially live life together.  

This past Friday afternoon she approached me and said she wanted to talk.  So we sat down on a bench and she started sharing about how the previous night the orphanage youth were invited to a big concert in Guadalajara.  She talked about how everybody was jumping up and down, singing, hands in the air, praising these singers instead of God.  And in that moment she realized that she was doing the same thing in her life.  She was doing all of the right things: going to church, reading the Bible, praying, getting good grades in school, doing her chores, etc., but she wasn’t doing it from the heart.  She was just doing it because it is what we are “supposed to do”.

She asked a lot of tough questions.  If God is truly a good, powerful and loving God, how could He have allowed ________ to happen?  We talked about how a lot of times it is hard for us to truly believe what the Bible says about God because of circumstances or things that have happened to us.  We read Psalm 121.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that God is our protector, especially when you have a story like Pety’s.  We focused on the first 2 verses. 

“I lift my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2

Our help comes from the Lord, the creator of heaven and earth.  We must lift our eyes to Him.  In looking to Him, walking with Him, spending time with Him, we come to truly believe the following verses (3-8) of Psalm 121 that God guards and protects us.

“The Lord is your keeper” Psalm 121: 5

It is absolutely amazing to see Pety’s humble heart in wanting to pursue God.  She has a lot of tough questions and does not understand everything, but she truly desires to seek God.  She has taught me a lot.  I admire her.  A 14-year-old girl is being transformed by the living God.  He has started a work in her and is in the process of healing her.  It is such a privilege and blessing to witness it.

I’m telling you, I have the best job in the world.  I get to watch as God transforms and redeems these kids’ lives.  For me, nothing is better.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support that permit me to join what God is doing here in Mexico.  There is no better investment than in the Kingdom of God.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

~Relationship building with Pety- We are starting a study/prayer time this week.

~Financial provision for the DTS (Discipleship Training School) at YWAM (starts Feb 28).

~Also that God would continue preparing and humbling my heart for what He wants to show me during the training.

YWAM King's Kids doing a drama at the orphanage!

They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow...

This month has been full of CHANGES.  

Change in city.  
Change in plans.  
Change of heart.  

God is telling me to return to Him and dwell beneath His shadow. 

To pause and seek Him.


MOVE TO CHAPALA.

I have officially moved to Chapala.  For the past few months I’ve been delegating my responsibilities in Guadalajara and preparing to move to Chapala to serve at Love in Action Orphanage (LIA).  This past Monday I finally made the move!  These next few weeks I’m staying with a gracious family here in Chapala while I search for a house with 3 other girls who God has called to serve at LIA.  Chapala is absolutely gorgeous!  The other morning I went on a prayer walk and God definitely surprised me with how beautiful His creation is. 

My main role at LIA will be as the “director of family services”.  I believe God is leading me to start up an adoption/foster care/ family reintegration project (Journey Home Project).  Kids need a family.  This is a huge undertaking in launching this Journey Home Project and it is going to take a few years to fully structure and start: a lot of research, investigating and networking with the government and churches.  It has been such a blessing to see how God is bringing together a team; He has used my everyday relationships to network and call people to serve at LIA. 

SLOW DOWN.

These past few weeks God has told me to slow down.  I’m a huge planner.  I love to have a plan, everything in order, to-do lists, timelines, etc..  I’ll admit, I’m a little bit of a “control-freak”.   

God has told me to wait.  

Let go.  

Slow down. 

Sit down.  

Rest in Him. 

Let Him take the lead.  

He has really convicted me about trying to take control of this Journey Home Project.  It is not my project.  It is His.  He’s been showing me to truly seek Him and His will for this project.  To pause, and seek Him.  

These past couple of months I have been able to build a good relationship with the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base here in Chapala and with the directors/staff.  I have really felt God calling us at LIA to network with and work alongside YWAM.  A couple of weeks ago I had a meeting with the leadership team of YWAM to share my heart and what I believe God is calling me to do, and they were very excited about the opportunity to partner. 

After the meeting at YWAM I have really felt the Lord confirming to me to take a pause, seek Him and receive training before starting the Journey Home Project.  It has honestly been confirmation after confirmation.  In reading the Word, sermons at church, books, devotionals, friends sending me verses, etc., God has been reaffirming the same thing. 

Hosea 14           

1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. …
⁷ They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.

⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Deuteronomy 8:2-6  

² And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³ And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. ⁶ So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.

GOD IS TELLING ME TO STOP MY PLAN AND TO SEEK HIS.  

To turn away from my plans and to dwell beneath His shadow.   

To truly seek Him and from Him will come my fruit.  

I believe right now that He is leading me to do a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM here in Chapala.  DTS is a 5-month training school.  I know God is calling me to seek Him and His will.  Honestly I originally didn't want to do the DTS.  Like I’ve said before, I am a planner (aka control-freak), and doing this DTS would be a change in "my" plans, a short pause before fully starting the Journey Home Project.  However God has been convicting me about truly surrendering all of my plans to Him and being obedient to Him. 

Please join me in praying about the DTS.  The DTS is from Feb-June.  I look at is as a 5-month investment of my time, that the Lord wants to use to directly impact not only my life, but also the lives of many children in orphanages all over Mexico.

Also, please join me in praying for my Visa.  2 weeks ago I had another audience hearing at Immigration.  I was told that I needed 2 more letters from my Mexican church.  I was able to get those letters from my pastor and I submitted them 2 days later.  Still waiting for a response. 

MUCHAS GRACIAS.  Thank you for truly caring about me, supporting me, praying for me and taking the time to read what the Lord is doing in my life.  It is humbling to see how He has surrounded me with friends and supporters like you who are truly dedicated to what He is doing here in Mexico.

 

Betsy, Petty, Yadira and I @LIA

Goofing around with Miguelito

 

Saying "see you later" to the boys at Kids in Victory in Guadalajara

August/September Update

You know you've been living in Mexico a while when you and your whole team after an afternoon of serving in El Humedo are invited by an 8 year old girl and her 12 year old brother to eat popsicles made from tap water and you don't get sick! haha

Class in El Humedo with the little kids

You also know you've been living in Mexico a while when a supposed 1 week wait for a response on your visa turns into a much longer wait...

I've learned a lot living here in Mexico.  God has taught me a lot about letting go.  I'm not in control.  I cannot control what happens.  Yes, I ate a popsicle made with Mexican tap water, and I did not get sick.  And with the visa, well we still don't have a response.  I guess no response is better than a negative one.  However I know God has a purpose for this time, this time of waiting.  He's really humbled me and showed me that no matter what happens, His plan is what is best for me.

He's been showing me to fully find myself in Him and not in what I do.  My identity is not in that I serve in Mexico.  Nor that I am a director at an orphanage.  Nor is it found in the fruit I produce. (Hosea 14:8-9)  My identity is in who God is. 

I've had a lot of plans and dreams here in Mexico.  Dreams to start an orphanage.  Dreams to start an adoption/foster care program.  Dreams to do a million other things.  However none of that really matters.  Yes, they are great things.  But the most important thing is that I remain in Him.  This waiting process for my visa has been a refining process for me.  A time for God to confront me to really look at my heart.  And honestly it is not that pretty.  I'm just like the rest of you.  I'm not a great and amazing missionary.  I'm just a 25 year old girl trying to love and serve her Lord.

God has used a lot of my good friends here in the process.  I love that part of Mexican culture in that relationships are so so so important.  To be honest sometimes in these past 6 months I felt like I was almost 'wasting time' investing in these friendships and relationships.  I know that is a lie, but I honestly felt that way, because I wasn't doing "orphanage ministry".  However ministry is life, it is how you live your everyday life.  I praise God for the relationships He has blessed me with here in Mexico.  Without them I could not have gone through this process.  He knows what/who we need.  So comforting to know that we have a God that truly cares for us and comforts us.

Some of my best friends here who have loved me and challenged me greatly.

It has also been a blessing to see how through those relationships God is calling a few of my friends to the orphanage Love in Action (LIA) in Chapala to serve alongside with.  A couple of months ago a friend from church started serving at LIA as the full time psychologist.  Currently one of my good friends who just finished a DTS with YWAM is becoming involved in LIA with discipling the older teenage girls.  Another friend of mine is praying about leaving her job to serve at LIA as well.  God is bringing together a great team.  I never expected any of this.  I guess that is the beauty of how God works.  He acts, moves and does in ways that we don't expect nor understand.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Visa
-Communication with America World Adoptions- we are looking into starting a pilot international adoption program with them for international adoptions here in Mexico!  Pray for the process with the government on getting permission from DIF to do be an approved agency.
-My friendship with one the girls at LIA (Petty).  God is doing some awesome things in her life and it is a privilege to walk alongside her.
-That God would continue bringing together a team to serve at LIA.

ACTIVITIES THESE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS...

One of the famous radio stations here in Guadalajara invited LIA to plant trees at a local forest to give back to the community.  So we took some of the older girls to the forest to plant trees.  We had a blast!

Our group!

With two of the girls (Abby + Petty)

Ready to plant the trees!

Teamwork

Digging the holes for the trees

 

 

 

Visiting the Japanese Garden after planting trees!

Happy Birthday Miguel!

The cooks at La Casa del Waffle gave Miguel a tour!

Kids at LIA singing/dancing with a visiting church.

Brisa :)

The church that visited LIA.  We're excited for the upcoming partnership.

Celebrating Mexican Independence Day with friends @church!

Crazy ritual where they jump off a 20 meter pole and glide around in a circle.

with Coby :)

July Update

Missionary Jim Elliot once said,

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

I am so blessed.  Truly blessed.  On the outside and according to American culture standards, I don't have much.  I don't have a big nice house, all of the cool new gadgets, ipads, iphones, etc..  I don't have a stable paycheck.  Sometimes we don't have water, electricity, gas, internet, etc..  And yet I am so blessed.

This past month I was able to travel to the US for a little bit and I was reminded of what life is like back in the States.  It is amazing how different life is just right across the border in Mexico.  It is always such a blessing to spend time with friends and family in the US and I fully enjoy the time I get to 'relax' and reflect on everything going on in Mexico.  However it is always so good to come back 'home' to Mexico.  It is a weird feeling to consider a different country as 'home', but that is honestly how I feel.  I think when God calls you to serve somewhere, He really gives you a deep love and passion for the country, culture and people. 

On my trip God orchestrated some awesome networking opportunities.  While on one of my flights I read a book called Orphanology which talks about orphan care and how the church is called to respond.  As I walked off the plane, a man approached me and mentioned that he saw me reading the book.  I told him that I really enjoyed it and that it really challenged me.  He then said,  "Good.  I'm actually the author and my intent was to challenge people to respond to God's call to care for the orphan."  We then had a short opportunity to talk about what God is doing here in the state of Jalisco in orphan care, adoption and foster care.  It was so encouraging to talk with him and be reminded of all that God is doing all over the world in orphan care. 

I was also able to spend a day in Tennessee with the staff and board of directors of Orphanos.  It was so great to meet them all in person and to share that time with them.  It is always so encouraging to see all that God is doing and how He brings us together as a family to serve Him and others.  They are truly a blessing to me in seeing how they are so focused and dedicated to serving us missionaries as we serve orphans around the world.

While in North Carolina visiting the Stewart family, one of my supporters, I was able to spend some time with the youth of their church, and they invited me to share at their youth group.  I shared with them my testimony, how God brought me to Mexico and all that He is doing here in the lives of these orphans.  I got to share about the heart of an orphan and how much they hunger and thirst for the love of God and how in reality we are the same.  We were once orphans, but now we have a loving Father who has chosen, redeemed, accepted and loved us.  It was really cool to see the youth reflect on that truth.

This upcoming month of August will be busy with a lot of important networking meetings.

• Meeting with the YWAM education coordinator and a few others to discuss how to start a school at the Love In Action orphanage in Chapala.

• Meeting with Julio, the director of Josiah and Bethany Orphanage, about how they are training families who want to foster care.

• Meeting with an adoption lawyer in Ocotlan to discuss the adoption process in Jalisco.

• Meeting with government child care services and orphanage leaders to discuss new regulations for orphanages in Jalisco.

Please join me in praying for...

• Possible trip to Costa Rica to train under "Casa Viva" ministry who is doing foster care, adoption and family reintegration.  

• I am currently in the process of renewing my visa.  It looks like I only need to renew it for 1 year and then I can apply for permanent residency.  Pray that God would provide the finances I need and that He would grant me favor in the whole process before the Mexican government.  The total cost is $403 USD for the renewal. 

• I am starting to look for housing in Chapala.  Pray that God would provide the perfect house within my budget so that it can be a blessing to others. 

• All of the upcoming meetings we have this month.

• Pray that God would be glorified.

Please take 4 minutes to watch this video on the heart of the orphan.

June Update

Church Involved at Orphanage Kids in Victory:
This past month has been full of some awesome opportunities to see my church family starting to get involved at the orphanage, Kids in Victory.  Two women from my church have started bible studies with two of the young girls at the orphanage; counseling and guiding them through their pregnancies.  A couple of weeks ago one of my friends, Susy, a hair stylist, cut the kid's hair.  The following week another friend went to cut and style the director's wife's hair; it was a great time for the director's wife to rest as she is constantly on the go.  My church's women's ministry is also putting together a project to start making lunch for the kids once a week to give the orphanage workers a chance to rest.  God is bringing together a team to help serve at Kids in Victory!

Susy cutting Chavita's hair

Brayan styling his hair after getting it cut

I am also serving in an orphanage in Chapala called Love In Action.  One of the girls at Love In Action has a brother at Kids in Victory.  It has been fun being a bridge between the two of them.  They send each other letters, drawings, photos and videos.  It is so encouraging to see the joy that they have in communicating with each other.

I think one of my biggest dreams is to get the church involved in orphan care.  Not just involved in orphanages, but rather in adoption and foster care.  Bringing brothers and sisters back together.  Putting them in families.  It is exciting to see that God has put this on others' hearts as well...

Collaboration Meetings:

This past month we had a collaboration meeting with various orphanage directors, church pastors and members of DIF (Integral Family Development of Chapala- a division of government involved in orphanages).  The main focus was on how to start a foster care program to focus on placing children in families (through foster care or adoption if possible) rather than in institutions.

Collaboration Meeting

Our Team at the Meeting

Meetings with Consejo Estatal:

The government of Jalisco is also on the same page.  The Consejo Estatal de la Familia (State Family Council) has held 2 meetings this past month where we have discussed new regulations for orphanages and also how their new goal is to place children in families and not in institutions.

Meeting at Consejo Estatal

 In about 3 weeks we will have another meeting with all of the state's government agencies involved in orphanages and orphanage directors to discuss the new regulations.  Please continue praying for legal changes to facilitate foster care + adoptions.

Praise God for clarity. 
Last month I took a couple days off.  A family in Chapala invited me to spend time at their little cabin.  So I took advantage of the offer and spent those days resting and really seeking God as to where He wanted me.  I was torn between continuing to serve at Kids in Victory or moving to Chapala to work on a new foster care program.  I didn't want to leave the kids at Kids in Victory, because I have been with them for so long, however over these past 2 months I have seen God raising up a team of volunteers and people from my church who want to serve there.  And God has been opening the doors to work with the government to implement a foster care + adoption program in the orphanages of Jalisco.  I believe God is calling me to start a pilot program of foster care at the orphanage Love in Action in Chapala.  The directors are completely supportive and have been praying for such a program.  Praise God that He gave me a couple days to rest and that He is opening doors at Love in Action and within the government regulations in the state of Jalisco.  A couple of opportunities have opened up to train and learn from other organizations who have more experience in foster care/adoptions.  Continue praying for more learning opportunities and partnerships.

Nothing better than coffee and time in the Word.

Walking around the outskirts of Chapala

Lake Chapala is beautiful.

PICS FROM THIS MONTH...

Library time at Love in Action

Math Class at Kids in Victory

Coby learning his numbers

Classes in El Humedo with the little kids (1-6 yrs)

Thank you for your prayers.  We have seen God answer so many prayers over this past month.  Thank you for your faithful financial support and encouragement.  Bendiciones (Blessings).

A New Season

Oftentimes we want to understand it all and see all of the little details.  At least, that's the way I am.  I believe that over these past 2 months God has really been confirming and showing me what He has planned for me here in Mexico.  I feel like I can sort of see the big picture- working to unite orphanages and churches to put these kids in orphanages into families-whether it be through adoption or a permanent foster care.  God’s plan for these kids is not an orphanage.  The Bible talks about orphan care, but it never mentions orphanages.  It talks about families and the church taking in orphans into their homes.  God’s original plan for these children was for them to be in a family.  So why not go back to that original plan and put these kids in families.  Work with the legal system to make adoption and foster care more feasible.  Connect with the orphanage and train families within the church that desire to adopt.  Work with the orphanage to connect with government agencies to facilitate the legal process in adoption.  Legalize a system that resembles foster care to put kids in families that legally cannot be adopted. Yes, right now orphanages are necessary, but I know of so many families that want to adopt, but because of difficult laws, it is almost impossible.  So why not work with the legal system to empower these families to invite an orphan into their family.

These kids need a family.

This is what God has put on my heart.  And honestly it has been so encouraging to see that He has put the same desire on the hearts of those around me.  This past Friday an orphanage in Chapala held a conference for various pastors, church members and orphanage directors.  They invited me to share about what we feel God is leading us to do in orphan care and the importance of placing these kids in families.  I was prepared to share a few verses but while listening to another speaker, God brought to my mind the verse in Deuteronomy 7:6-8

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”   

Instead of going with my original plan, I decided to share this verse and how God has a plan for these orphans and He has chosen them as His treasured possession, not because they were the greatest people or the most important.  But He sets his love on them and chooses them.  He takes them into His family.  He rescues them and redeems them, because He loves them as His sons and daughters.  After speaking, an older woman approached me and shared her story about how she grew up as an orphan and how she is finally starting to understand how much God loves her and how she is part of the family of God.  She said God really spoke to her through those verses in Deuteronomy in how much He loves her.  It was so encouraging to see how all of us at the conference were in sync with the fact that Mexico doesn’t need more orphanages, but rather families in which to place these children. 

Conference

At the conference an orphanage director (from Orphanage Josiah & Bethany) shared about what this orphanage has been doing.  I actually met him 3 years ago, but they have changed their orphanage model drastically over these 3 years.  They currently have various little houses on the orphanage campus and in each house a husband and wife with 1 child (or 2-3 if they are biological siblings).  They have had this ‘foster-care’ setting for the past 2 years in which the child is in an actual family and they have seen dramatic changes and transformations in the children.  Kids who have wet the bed for 10 years, no longer wet the bed.  Kids who were failing in school, succeeding.  Kids who were full of anger and rage, for the first time feel loved, chosen and accepted. 

This is essentially the model we would like to see expanded to other orphanages.  They are currently in the process of passing a law to enable foster care where these families living on campus could live in their actual homes with their  'adopted’ child.  It was such a blessing to be able to talk with this director to hear of his experiences and how God has been giving him the ability to work with the government to facilitate adoptions and foster care. 

In 2 weeks we are having a meeting with various orphanage directors who are interested in this model to dialogue about how to implement it legally and how to transition into this model.  Please pray for this upcoming meeting.

God seems to be putting all of the key people together to make this happen here in Guadalajara.  I am working with an orphanage in Chapala that wants to base their orphanage off of this model (Josiah & Bethany).  The director from Josiah & Bethany is completely open and willing to guide, teach, equip and work together with us.  The team I am working with at Kids in Victory is completely supportive and excited about this opportunity to work towards putting these kids in families.  My church and other churches at the meeting in Chapala want to get involved.  We have invitations from an organization (back2back) to train with them and learn from them on how to better serve orphanages.  God is putting it all together.  I’m not sure what it is all going to look like.  I don’t have all of the little details, but I am convinced that God is at work.  My plan has always been to open an orphanage.  But I truly believe God’s plan for these kids is not another orphanage, but a family.  A real family.

Volunteers at the orphanage in Chapala where I am serving.

Birthday Pizza with Brayan and Rodrigo (Rodrigo took the picture, as you can see it is upside down)

I’m trusting God’s word.  “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8

Rain season has started here in Guadalajara.  Something new.  God is starting something new in orphan care here in Mexico.  

I am waiting.  Waiting on God.  I pray that this song would reflect my attitude everyday. 

Lord, today You know what I need to do,
but You can do more in my waiting,
than in my doing I can do.
I won't run anymore, I'm waiting on You.

Edgar helping Coby with his flash-cards

Jorge with a classmate dancing at a school event

We were able to get 4 new kids enrolled in school without birth certificates, report cards, etc.  Praise God!

On the way to get their shots...

Driving the kids to get their immunization shots

Chavita, 12 years old, was scared out of his mind to get his shots.  He screamed, cried and hit and kicked the nurses while they and one of the older boys tried to hold him down.  When the nurses gave up, I went over to talk to him.  I asked him if he knew why he had to get a shot.  He didn't know why.  So I explained to him that the shot was to protect him from getting sick in the future.  Yes the shot was going to hurt a little bit, but it was better than getting really sick for 1 week in the future.  We prayed a few minutes that God would give him peace and strength to have the shot.  Then we went back into the room and he grabbed my hand as I hugged him and the nurses were able to give him his 2 shots.  Sometimes we just need somebody to explain things to us, pray for us and hold our hand.  Good thing we have God to do just that.

Hanging around waiting to get their shots...

Thank you for your prayers, support, love and encouragement.  I could not be here without you!

Join me in praying for...

-This upcoming meeting with orphanage directors. (June 12th)

-Changes in the law to facilitate adoptions and foster care.

-Families within the churches that want to adopt.

-That God would give me direction as to what He wants my role to be in this adoption/foster care project.

-For the kids and that they would not lose hope.  That they would believe Deuteronomy 7:6-8