Regardless if you are among some of our close personal friends and family or those whom we've never met, the way you have faithfully followed our adoption journey has proven to be a huge encouragement to us. Not a single little thought or prayer you have offered on our behalf has been in vain. Knowing you stop long enough to care about the story God is writing in our lives completely humbles us and we will forever be grateful.
YOU ARE A TREASURED GIFT!!
When this whole adoption thing left us in tears you were there for us helping us fight. When we didn't deserve it, your heartfelt prayer carried us.
On days when it hurt too much to believe, there you were...believing for us. You stood in the gap when we were too weak to stand. We've been up and we've down. You celebrated when we celebrated and cried when our hearts were shattered.
Words would not give justice to the gratefulness overflowing in our hearts for each of you.
We are down to the final stretch now. Can you believe it?! The finish line is in sight. Strangely this finish line puts us right back in the starting blocks of a new faith race but nonetheless, for the race God has us running today, we can taste victory.
Please know that we could never have done this without you. You are our dear brothers and sisters in Christ and you have shown us what it means to be the church.
AND...
When we do cross that finish line, YOU will be right there with us!
Oh yeah...no doubt that day will be defined by JOY! It's going to be a tiny glimpse of God's kingdom on earth. Like a bunch of unashamed children of God, we are going to be bursting out with all sorts of praise and glory to our faithful Heavenly Daddy!
Many of you may already know our adoption journey is not the only avenue God has written in our lives for us to care for the orphans. The start of our adoption journey also birthed the beginning of a journey with our dear brothers and sisters living in the village where our twins were born.
Seriously. How many families get intimate inside details about the biological family of the children they adopt internationally? Not too many.
Our journey has been anything but typical. Clear evidence of God's hand touches every part of it. Not only have we known almost every detail about our twins since they were born, we have had the blessing of watching them grow from a distance since they were 20 days old. You might remember the pain of watching with us. Our babies were in and out of the Mirebalais hospital with things like malaria and pneumonia, but even though watching this left us feeling extremely helpless, somehow knowing was always better than not knowing. And in God's amazing grace, He even joined us together in the most beautiful relationship with the biological family of our twins. Over the last 6 trips I've made to Haiti, I've spent hours and hours with their biological father and 3 brothers. Only God can make miracles like this.
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| If you don't already know, this is Leon, our twins biological father and their 3 brothers, Lenel, Oldo, and Simeon. Behind us is the mud hut they call home. |
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| Leon and his 3 boys walking back to their home from Pastor Nahum's home/orphanage. |
I know that Wana favors Lenel and Raphaella favors Oldo in appearance. I've watched the father go from doubting I would ever return to Haiti after my first trip to asking me if I would come back after my second trip. Now a trust has been built and it's no longer a question of if I will be back but rather when I will be back.
I can't even can begin to fully imagine what God has in store but the beauty already expressed has been rooted in the love of Jesus and is totally redemptive.
This story goes beyond the family of our twins...it reaches their entire village including Pastor Nahum and all of his orphans.
WE LOVE THEM!!
I shared all of this to ask if you might find a place in your heart to love them with us. Will you lay your heart before our broken poverty stricken brothers and sisters in Haiti and carry their burdens with them? Raphaella and Wana will soon have a forever family but nothing about the completion of their adoption makes forgetting about the village of people where they came from right. There are orphans, children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents who don't have an option to escape the 3rd world of suffering they were born into.
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (1 John 3:16)
If you are not already following and you want to go even deeper still to a place where you will be positioned to invest in God's kingdom, I invite you to either click here or on the Back to Life link at the top of this blog. Go read some past stories about the village of people where our babies were born or just pick right up where we are today on this journey.
My heart has already been broken for them past the point of recovery...I'm loving them with all the Jesus love I have, but I'm facing a whole village of poverty and oppression and my heart is only one small piece of God's plan for them. They need more hearts in the church and that is why I'm asking you. Maybe God has chosen you for such a time as this...to write your life and your love straight into the lives of Pastor Nahum and his orphans. Will you take the time to read some of their stories and be willing to give them your heart?
Can you see it?
It's another finish line.
This time we are all crossing in victory hand and hand with a village of people who once suffered from severe poverty and oppression but who were redeemed by the love of Jesus YOU chose to pour out for them!
It can happen because that's what the power of the Gospel does!
We are not promised tomorrow. Let's LOVE today!!
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