Help Support Our Adoption...

Dear Family and Friends,   

                                                                           

Just as the God-Man put on flesh and walked among us to bring us into the family of God, so we are called to put feet to the Gospel to expand His mission.  Adoption is a beautiful symbol of the loving redemption provided to us by our Father.  We were not only outside of the family of God, but were indeed enemies to the King.  Nevertheless, God loved us and sacrificed to bring us into His family and to give us hope, joy, and peace.  He adopted us. 

Since we have been adopted by God, we also are called to love others and bring them into the family of God.  God tells us to pay special attention to loving the “least of these”.  James 1:27 tells us that before God, pure and undefiled religion involves caring for widows and orphans.  Adoption allows us to mirror the love of God in the world by taking in those who do not have families, who are poor and in need, and by offering them love, hope, and a future.

We have desired to adopt since before we were married.  During the time we both spent overseas, our hearts were impacted by the plight of orphans.  Now, just as God’s family is comprised of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, we want our home to represent both the love God has shown to us and the diversity of the Kingdom.  Because of this desire, a few months ago we began the adoption process through One World Adoption Services to adopt two children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  At this time we have completed all the necessary paperwork, and are waiting for referrals for our children.  We are excited as we await our referrals because shortly thereafter we will be given a court date, travel to meet our little ones, and bring them home to be Henrys.        

While we are so excited to share the blessings God has given us with our soon-to-be children, we truly believe that “It takes a village to adopt a child.”  Not only do we hope that in the months and years ahead each of you will be involved in expressing the grace and love of God to our children, we pray that you will consider starting now.  There are two ways we ask you to consider joining with us in this aspect of the mission of God. 

First, we ask you to pray.  Please pray for our little orphans.  They will need the grace and provision of God, especially in the time before we bring them home.  Also, pray that God will be preparing us to parent them well, and that our family and home will be a faithful testament to the Gospel.  Finally, pray for the remainder of the adoption process as there will be more waiting, the bureaucracy of a court date, and the difficulties of international travel with which to contend.  

Second, we ask you to consider supporting our adoption financially.  We believe God has led us to pursue adoption, and so we have moved forward in faith, trusting that He will use His people to help us accomplish this.  Thus far we have been able to contribute $8,500, and we have been chosen to receive a $7,000 grant from another organization.  We are so thankful for this provision; however, in order to bring our children home we need to raise an additional $13,000.  To help us meet this goal, Orphan Care Alliance and Lifesong for Orphans has graciously agreed to match funds we raise up to $2,500.  Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining amount to bring these little ones home?  If you would be willing to join with us in this work, you can send your gift to the address below.  Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on our children’s behalf, and will use 100% of the funds received to pay our adoption expenses. 

Please make checks payable to Lifesong, and include “preference Henry #2443 Adoption” in the memo section, then mail to:

Lifesong for Orphans

Attn: Henry #2443 Adoption

P.O. Box 40/ 202 N. Ford St.

Gridley, IL 61744 

We have added a Donate button to the blog as well.  That will route you to a Paypal donation page through which you can give to support our adoption, if you would prefer to give online. 

Thank you for investing in our adoption through prayer and financial support.  We are beyond excited to have little shoes to fill, and look forward to the day when we will have little feet to accompany them. 

Grace and Peace,

Chris and Sarah Michael

 *Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.

Transracial Adoption, the Gospel, and You

Transracial Adoption, the Gospel, and You

Here is a great blog from a professor at Southern Seminary about transracial adoption. So encouraging.
His book, Adopted for Life, is also very compelling and more than worth a read.

Adoption Timeline

May/June 2011- We began researching countries and agencies and decided on Democratic Republic of the Congo and One World Adoption Services.  We looked at a number of countries but in the end decided that although there is great need all across the world, the DRC was the best match for us. 

       

Late July 2011- We officially began the adoption process!  We applied to use One World as our adoption agency, and were accepted.  We began gathering documents for our home study such as our birth certificates and marriage license, letters of recommendation, letters from employers, tax returns, medical documentation, and the list goes on.  We had to complete a healthy stack of paperwork and get extensive background checks, which can be quite a task when you have lived as many places as we have in the last five years. :)   

August 2011- We finished gathering documents for our home study and scheduled our home study visits. 

September 2011- We had our home study visits with Rebecca, our home study specialist.  She was a huge blessing; an experience that can be extremely stressful for couples was simple for us because of her attitude and encouragement.  She asked a lot of questions about us and our families, and visited our home to make sure it was suitable for children.  She completed the writing of our official home study and a few days after our last meeting with her our home study was approved by Adoption Assistance, the local agency we used.

October 2011- We completed and mailed our dossier, which is another set of extensive paperwork that is compiled and sent to the DRC.  Thankfully a lot of our dossier paperwork for the DRC overlapped with documents we gathered for our home study.  Also, our dossier requirements seemed to be simpler and less demanding than those of some other countries, so for that we were grateful!  Additionally, we applied for and received our approval from US Immigration, granting that our two little adopted children will be given citizenship in the US.  In addition to our approval, we were given a fingerprint appointment date.  We also worked hard on connecting with organizations and filling out grant applications during this time.

November 2011- We were fingerprinted so that the FBI could perform background checks, and this completed the last step in the process until we receive referrals for our precious little ones. 

December 2011 and January 2012- We continue to wait on referrals, and wait to hear back about the grant applications we completed.  We have worked on fundraising ideas, created our blog, and are in the process of making t-shirts to sell for our adoption.  We will certainly update you all as we know more.  We wait with great anticipation for the day we have referrals, because upon receiving them we will be given a court date and will make arrangements to travel to the DRC to meet and bring home our little Henry’s!

Why Adopt?

Here's a re-post from a couple here in Louisville who has adopted two little ones from Ethiopia and is currently in the process of adopting two more from the Democratic Republic of Congo :) 

We are adopting...

Because God cares for orphans, and one of the ways in which He exercises this care is through His church.

Psalm 68:5 says that God is “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.” Christians, who are being transformed into the image of Christ live out His heart when they care for orphans. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). As God cares for the fatherless, so we as His children care for them too. Our concern for the orphans is a tangible manifestation of God’s love that has been poured out into our hearts.

Because we have been adopted by God.

Jesus left heaven, lived a very humiliating life, ultimately dying for sinners so He could bring people into the family of God and call them His children. Christians from every tribe, tongue and nation, have been pursued by God and adopted into His family. In the same way we want to pursue those from another nation, not our own, and bring them into our family. We desire our family to be a little picture of this great Gospel.

So that these children will have the opportunity to hear of Christ.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Believing in Christ is the only way to receive salvation, and how will these children hear of Christ unless someone preaches to them? We, put very simply, want to adopt children, so that we can tell to them about salvation in Christ.

 

Because we have been given so much.

We want to give because we have been given the wealth of America, loving Christian families and most importantly spiritual truth. It is only by grace that we were born into such material and spiritual wealth, and we want to extend that grace to children who were born into poverty and little if any access to the truths of Scripture. We recognize that we are no better than those (now our kids) who were left on the streets without anyone to care for them. We have been blessed to be a blessing.

We're Adopting!

As many of you know, we are in the process of adopting two children from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  We decided it was time to start a blog to give you the opportunity to follow along with us on this exciting journey.  We will be using this to update you on the process as well as share the way God is and has been shaping our thoughts and beliefs about adoption.  We look forward to the journey and hope you will be encouraged along the way!