i sometimes tell my son, “It’s OK. It does not matter.”. Do you say that phrase “does not matter” very often? What are you referring to? Quite often, i’m referring to an incident or maybe some spilled water or some mark on his shirt.
Have you heard “does not matter” being used to refer to people? Or maybe not those exact words but you sensed in the attitude and behaviour of people that someone mattered less? That someone’s opinion or action was not given the attention it should have? Is that OK?
What if “does not matter” was used to refer to people not because of what they said or did but they were referred to as mattering less just because they are who they are? What if “does not matter” was a label given to children who were born less than perfect? Is that really OK to say to a child, “You do not matter because you have such and such a medical condition.”?
NO! It is NOT OK. Every person matters. Especially children, who need to know that there are people they can depend on to always be on their side, people who will love them simply because they are who they are, special needs or not.
Today you can help show 2 sweet children, who have been left in orphanages likely because of their special needs, that they do matter, the same as you and i matter.
This is Brody! Love those blue eyes.This is Auggie. Such a cutie.
They are brothers by birth but they now live in separate orphanages and do not see each other at all. They both have mental delays and Brody is said to exhibit signs of autism. Auggie has partial atrophy of eye nerves, cerebral palsy and episyndrome. BUT have you noticed something else? They have smiles which would turn winter into summer instantly. They seem to have responded to some therapy so there is much hope that they will be able to thrive in a loving family environment.
Are you that loving family? If you feel the call to make them part of your family, please do contact Reece’s Rainbow for more information.
Not everyone is called to adopt but you can still show that these boys matter. You can share their story with everyone you know so that their family can be found. It could be a matter of you tell someone who tells someone else who just might be their family.
You can pray for them; pray for their daily needs, pray for their forever family to step forward as soon as possible.
You can also contribute to their adoption grant so that their forever family might have an easier journey to bring them home. Click on their names or pictures to go to their profile page and donate.
Please show that these Brody and Auggie do indeed matter, just like you and i or your own children or family members matter.
Here’s the 4th post on families adopting from Asia. i’ve received encouraging news that these posts are indeed helping the families and helping people to pray for and support these families. Please continue to read, follow and help these families in whatever way you can. You may not be called to adopt but you can certainly do your small part to help give an orphan a loving home.
They have come HOME!
The Whicker Family – Home with Thalia! You can follow their home life here.
The Sharp Family – technically they are not yet home but they have Rowyn and Zekiel already and are doing final paperwork before they board a plane to come home in just a few days! You can continue to follow their journey here. HOME!
The Baird Family – they too are not yet technically home but they have Bobby and are also doing final paperwork before heading stateside. You can follow the rest of their journey here. HOME!
Current Needs of Families Adopting from Asia:
The Lanz Family – they are awaiting travel dates and have been told to expect to travel at the end of April! That’s in a few weeks time! They still have a large amount to raise (US$15,000) because they are going during trade-fair season, all their travel expenses have gone up significantly. You can help right now as they have a dollar for dollar matching grant from Hand-In-Hand Christian Adoption. Very IMPORTANT – please read specific instructions on how to double your contribution here, cheques need to be postmarked April 12th. After that you can help them with their travel funds by giving towards their adoption grant here. You can follow their journey here.
The Hemmes Family – 1st of all, they have moved their blog to here. And more importantly, they have LOA!! Which means they are now waiting for a travel date (TA) and then they will go bring John home! They are expecting to travel in about 8 weeks or less. Unfortunately, their amazing fundraiser with the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean had to be cancelled and they will be refunding the ticket costs to all who have purchased a ticket. This means a setback in fundraising. So they really need us to pull all the stops for them and help them get those funds to reach John. Please support their t-shirt sales here. You can contribute directly to their adoption grant here. Follow their journey here.
The Gaines Family – their dossier is OOT (Out Of Translation) and now they are waiting for LOA (Letter of Approval). They have “officially” announced her name, Finnley Grace Gaines (her chinese name will be kept but that can not be revealed at the moment). They also have a NEW Fundraiser going on – a Puzzle Fundraiser, for a small gift of US$8 from you, you get your name written on the back of a puzzle piece which will be framed between 2 sheets of glass and Finnley will know you helped to bring her home. So go to their blog and hit the DONATE button! They still have some way to go to fully funded. You can also help by using the Amazon Link on their blog to shop. You can follow their journey here.
Jon & Angela – 1st of all, in case you missed the news – they are now bringing not one but TWO boys! They are bringing home Jack AND Jensen! Their paperwork is finally sorted out and on its way to the right people in the Department of State, then the consulate of the boys’ country and then it will be in country for final processing! So they are really close to travelling but still need a lot of funds. Please help them! You have only a couple more days to take part in Jack’s Birthday Bash and in their Spring Fundraiser. They are also a featured family in the Covenant Builders’ Mulligan Stew which has amazing giveaway items. Check it out here. Their Just For Coffee fundraiser is still running, click here to make a purchase. Masterpiece Quilts are still giving 20% of their sales to Jon&Angela when you purchase from them and state at check-out that it is for the Jon&Angela adopting Jack&Jensen. Please go here to see what wonderful quilts they make! You can also contribute directly to their adoption grant here. Follow their journey here. UPDATE: They have an Usborne Fundraiser!! i absolutely LOVE Usborne Books and was previously a European rep. They are so fabulous and are great for homeschooling or just getting kids into books. So don’t miss out… check it out here.
The Garrick Family – their paperwork is in country! So now they play the waiting game… they wait for translation to be done, and then for Travel Approval. They thank all their supports for the good amount of funds they have raised but because they are expecting to travel in summer, their travel expenses will go up! So do continue to help them. They have the following fundraiser still on: t-shirts sales and She Does Justice fundraiser, where they get a percentage of the sales. You can also contribute directly to their adoption grant here. You can follow their journey here.
The Evans Family – another wonderful announcement, in case you missed it, they are now bringing TWO precious girls, Molly (Hylah) and Eliana (Meilin) home! Which as you already know, means added expenses of at least US$10,000. So please do help them. Their homestudy is done and they are putting their dossier together. They are still making and selling beautiful Name Puzzles, see here for details. Their NEW fundraisers are: 1) The Apparent Project bracelets which families in Haiti make and the Evans will help sell them. Half the money goes back to these families who are supporting themselves through these sales and half goes to the Evans’ adoption funds. It is helps 2 wonderful causes and they are such lovely recycled material bracelets! 2) They have made very cute bottle-cup necklaces for sale too. See here for details for both fundraisers. You can also contribute directly to their adoption grant here. Follow their journey here.
The Fristoe Family – they have had a hard time with their daughters in hospital. i’m assuming they are ok now as i have not heard otherwise. They also have had a hard time with getting information from the home country of the girls they are adopting. They are bringing home Esther and Ruthie. Now they are in the process of finishing their homestudy and getting I800A approval. They need US$6000 to send the completed dossier to China. So please help them. You can contribute to their adoption grant here. You can follow their journey here.
The Murdoch Family – they are waiting for LOA. Do continue to pray for a quick process and for little Corina to have the emotional strength for this big change in her life. Do support them by giving towards their adoption grant here. You can follow their journey here.
The Pellegrino Family – they have a completed homestudy and I800A approval so now it’s a matter of collecting the paperwork, getting them signed and sent off. They are working so hard to fundraise and have a whole host of ways you can help them. Buy Olive Tree Promise products and they get 50%. Shop at Ordinary Hero and they get 40% when you click on Pellegrino, Kim as the affiliate. Purchase adoption tees from Adoption Bug and they get 25-40%. Get coffee from Just Love Coffee Roasters, they get a percentage. Buy gift cards, magazines & cookie dough from here and they get up to 40%. They are also affiliates of Amazon and CafePress so shop through their blog! They will also host a Golf Fundraiser in July! Sign up if you are local to them. They have also listed other ways you can help them on their blog. You can also contribute directly to their adoption grant here. Follow their journey here.
NEW – The Dismuke Family – my heart breaks to hear that this family has had an interrupted adoption due to some country’s silly political move. BUT they are still following God’s call and are still bringing home a little girl, Johanna, from a different country. So they have PA (Pre-approval) and will get their homestudy updated. They have a matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans for US$2500, which means they need to raise US$2500 on their own by April 18th. All donations for this matching has to be made through Lifesong – see here for details. They also have an auction going on now – check it out here. There are some lovely items. You can also contribute directly to their adoption grant here. You can follow their story here. UPDATE: 6th April: NEW Fundraiser… Tastefully Simple Fundraiser wonderful cooking products… see details here.
NEW – The Lewis Family – they have waited so very long to bring home an adopted child but have had a couple of long unsuccessful attempts. Still they hear God’s call and moved ahead and now they are bringing home a special little girl, Riya. She has micropthalmus and microcornea, which means that she was born with only one developed eye. And in order to fit a prosthesis for her blind eye, she would need surgery as soon as possible or her facial structure will form improperly around that void in her eye socket and make it harder to fit a prosthesis. They need to get her home as soon as possible. They have their homestudy done and are waiting on USCIS clearance. Do pray for a smooth process. They will host a paint class fundraiser on April 13th, comment on this post for details. They also have items for sale on this FB page. You will need to request to join the group to see the items. i believe some of the items are re-finished furniture which they have done up themselves. You can give directly to their adoption grant here. Follow their journey here.
NEW – The Gariepy Family – Andrea had had the privilege of following God’s leading and got to work with orphans first-hand, first in Uganda, then with special needs orphans in the Ukraine. God has led her step by wonderful step to adopt her very own son from Vietnam. Her dossier is currently on its way to Vietnam where it will be translated and submitted. Then it will be 8 to 10 weeks till travel date is received. So she does not have much time to raise the US$15,000 needed to complete the process and bring Samuel home. You can help by praying for a quick and smooth process. You can also contribute directly to their adoption grant here. You can follow their journey here.
There you have it – 11 12 wonderful families needing your help. Please help where you can, no contribution is too small and every prayer is greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for your kind attention, your efforts to help/pray/share and your generous contributions.
That is true, isn’t it? That’s how children learn… they watch mummy and daddy and they try to do the same… BUT… what if you had no mummy and no daddy to learn from? Then where or who do you learn from?
Emil longs for a loving family – are you that family?
Emil is one of those children without parents to teach him, yet in the harsh environment of institution living, somehow, he has learnt to be gentle, even when he has seen and known very little gentleness. Even though he is unable to speak, he shows his gentleness through his actions and he shows his desire for love and attention even more by hanging tightly onto a visitor’s finger.
It is his medical conditions which is the reason he is in an institution. He has Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome. Yet with a loving family, i know he will thrive and he will grow into a wonderful young man. He is already 13 years old. He has waited so very long to know love and the support of a caring family. Please help him so that he does not wait any longer, please help him so that he will know that he is valued and loved just for being himself.
Are you the family who could give Emil the opportunities he might otherwise never have? If yes, please be brave, step forward and find out more. Contact Reece’s Rainbow.
You can also help by sharing his story far and wide so that his forever family might find him.
Another way is to give towards his very small adoption grant so that his forever family does not waste time looking for funds but can go get him as soon as possible. Please click on his name or picture to get to his profile page to donate.
Praying for him is the other way you can help him. Please do pray that his daily needs are met and that his forever family finds him real soon, because he will age out in a little over 2 years’ time.
Thank you.
syc
PS: please go here and here to read more posts about Emil.
trippingdifferently 