Adoption is:

 A RESCUE MISSION
I’ve been pondering this for awhile now.  Many have said to us “you have saved these girls.” That isn’t the way we look at it at all.
This whole adoption journey has “saved” us.

But really only Jesus can save.  And Amy over at One More Blessing put into words exactly what I’ve been thinking so instead of me writing the same thing here are my thoughts in her words:
“Adoption is a rescue mission, but not in the way you may think. God is rescuing MY heart in this process and drawing me closer to him. He shows us through an earthly adoption how wonderfully glorious our heavenly adoption is. He has redeemed ME. He has saved ME. He has grafted me into his heavenly family. God’s nature is so evident in adoption and he has brought my family on this journey to see more fully the depth of his love for us.

I believe God calls people to adoption to display a beautiful example of his redemption of us.
We can’t save Hannah (or Lena, Ava or Josie). It’s not our job to rescue her. That’s God’s job. We are simply obeying God by going to get her. In the process he is saving me a little more and rescuing me a little more from myself and the things of this world that just don’t matter.

I pray that one day Hannah will choose to accept God’s gift of salvation, and invite Jesus into her heart. That’s when the real rescuing happens! That’s the adoption that will really matter. The rejoicing on that day will remind me of how God used Hannah’s earthly adoption to help us see our adoption into God’s kingdom more clearly.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— Ephesians 1:4-5
visit Amy and “meet” Hannah at: http://onemoreblessing.blogspot.com/

So we aren’t called to “save” the orphan but are called to care for them!
It is right there in the Bible.  We can’t “pick and chose” what we would like to do from God’s word.  We just need to try and live according to His word day by day.  (and we have a long ways to go!)
Below are some kiddos who need some prayer but also forever families!!!! A lot of the kids paperwork should be ready soon….please continue to pray that it will get done in a timely manner.

But some of these kiddos will probably be called to their forever home in heaven before they will get a forever family here on earth. So very thankful for the loving home they are in and that they are getting cuddles while they are here on earth.

Please prayfully consider one of these children and if your heart is being called and pulled than start the process!  I promise it will change your life!
 
 If you need an agency recommendation I would tell you to contact Sara Lang at Madison Adoption Agency. sara.maa@comcast.net

Madison’s website is: http://www.madisonadoptionagency.org/

Drumroll please…..

Because of  your generous giving through buying t-shirts or just donating to River of Grace we have $1,542.00 in cash to take to our friends!!!  PRAISE GOD. 

We are very excited!  So many precious children will be helped becuz of you.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Here is an update from Jeff:

Thanks so much for your kind encouragements and gifts. We have received more than usual lately and are thinking about a vehicle purchase. The rushing over to the orphanage in GZ prov. and emergency runs to the hospital as well as times to just go to a park with a bunch of children may justify the purchase. It also looks like I may need to travel to other places where orphans or children with needs are being cared for or need care.  We are very thankful for this opportunity.

At the beginning of January little Malachi passed away. We had taken him to the children’s hospital. The leader of the heart specialists, Dr. W, has volunteered to help out when he can. He took us to get an ultrasound.

Malachi’s heart was very congenitally deformed with one value shut. The blood was going in the wrong directions. So the doctor said nothing could be done and Malachi would need to be loved till he passed away. We took it before God and asked for his hand to be on Malachi. We set up a side room with a soft chair, Malachi’s crib, oxygen and times of cuddling and songs.

As Malachi breathing became more labored I hopped in a taxi and took him to the ER. The nurses put us in a quiet room. Only one other baby was there, a newborn of a Miao couple from Kaili.

By God’s divine appointment I got to have a meaningful chat with this family. They got a copy of Father’s book.

And a bit later Malachi passed into Father’s arms.

We are learning a lot about God’s presence in our lives….especially in suffering. His grace is abundant!

Victorious because of Jesus great suffering for us.

In Him,

Jeff for all

Update on Malachi

 

Malachi died around 7.30 tonight (Jan. 2nd).... he had a rough day and was unable to eat much and hold his body temp, then his breathing was labored.....

He is now in the arms of Jesus and not suffering anymore.

Only God....

So in Dec. a special family decided to bless ROG with a $250.00 donation. You can read about it here:
http://afamilyofsix.blogspot.com/2010/12/sunday-snapshot-fifth-day-of-giving.html

And I sent them t-shirts as a thank you for their gift.

Well just this week they decided to say "yes" to a boy who will be aging out Feb. 9th.
And guess where he is from?!?!?!!?
The same prov. and city that our friends live in!!!  Talk about cool!
They will be there the same time we will be so we will meet them in China and hopefully get to introduce them to our friends!!!!

Read more about their journey and the cool things God is doing in their life here:
http://afamilyofsix.blogspot.com/2011/01/prayer-requests-and-more-red-threads.html

Update

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your prayers. We were able to pick up our new visas on the Wednesday the 22nd....That is four days after the old ones were due to expire. Jeff is now a student and our visa go to July 30 of 2011.

               Yakira is with Father

Yesterday Yakira passed away suddenly. She was doing well but still suffered from intense cycles of distress in her body. It was a shock to us all, especially Hannah who had Yakira beside in the night. Hannah woke up to check on her but she was gone...taken by our Lord to Himself. We have had some comforts from Father about this but it is never easy to say goodbye to these little ones....The Lord gives and takes away. Blessed be His Name.

Malachi

We also have little Malachi, Jeff and a brother drove to GZ to pick him up on Christmas day. He seems to have severe heart problems. We have an oxygen tank here. Malachi is off to see a local heart surgeon this morning. The surgeon is now our friend and has volunteered to help us. Pray that Doctor Wu would know Him! He has been suffering from a sickness himself over the last year or two so that his heart seems to have softened.

Love,

Jeff and Lori and all of us here

Update and an opportunity to help an orphan in need

So we aren’t “technically” fundraising to bring an orphan home….but we ARE bringing another precious daughter home from China, hopefully in Jan/Feb. 2011 (YEAH!!)

God has TOTALLY taken care of our adoption expenses….it is an AWESOME God story (but that is a whole other post ;) So we aren’t in “need” of any funds for her adoption… (Our family blog link is on the left hand side if you want to see our newest treasure!)

BUT we are trying to raise some money to bless the orphans that our friends in China, Jeff and co.,  take care of.   We had some t-shirts made and our 14 year old son designed the sport bag logo.  ALL proceeds will be given to the River of Grace foster program to help pay for surgeries and therapies of these precious orphans.

Go to this link to see them and how to order:
http://simplylove127.blogspot.com/2010/09/t-shirts-are-here.html or check out the right side bar pictures.
We can’t wait to see how God will provide for them…
Thank you for making a difference in the life of a child! :)

And thanks Linny for organizing this fundraiser post!!!  Check out her blog at:
http://www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/ 
 
Now a word from Jeff about how Zephaniah's short life touched many…..
 

Zephaniah

9-20-2010  ~ 10-26-2010

 "treasured by God"

  God was gracious enough to share this little treasure with us.  We are very blessed. Zephaniah passed into Father's presence just after 11 pm on Wed.  Esther was with him.  Zephaniah was scheduled for another surgery in the morning.  Yes, we are all sorrowful and yet happy, if that makes sense.  Many tears..."Di Di" (Little Brother) as they called him was so loved by all the workers.

We are hopeful for several to know Him because of Zephaniah’s time in the hospital. Two families have the special book (Bible) and have been reading it.

Jeff went in to visit the hospital and tie things up there.  Many touched even to the point of tears… doctors, nurses, patients and family, cleaning ladies. May  Father have His way and purpose in each life.
The lady (not a believer yet) who had been reading her Bible in the bed next to Zeph called as soon as she found out.  She said to Jeff, "he is with the Lord now, right, we don't need to be sad...." It seems Zeph's assignment was largely for that family and yet his testimony touched many.

Jesus is Victor!!!  Thanks for praying!

Into the arms of our Savior

Baby Zephaniah went to be with his Heavenly Father around 11:00am today, 11:00pm China time.

Please lift up Jeff and co.  I know they are thankful for and leaning  on the hope we have in Him but at the same time it is a sad time.  They gave it their all and did all they could humanly possible for this little one. 

So very thankful that Zephaniah had a such a loving, caring family taking care of him during his time this side of heaven.

The lives this little one touched, in such a short time, is a wonderful testimony.  Zephaniah means treasured by God…indeed he was and is treasured.

This scripture was from my devotions today:

As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9

God Stories from China

Amazing things are happening at the River of Grace foster homes.  Even though it is a VERY stressful time, Jeff and co. are leaning on God for their strength and God is moving mightily.  Here are some stories of the neat “connections” they have had while the children were in the hospital.

“We have had three children in the hospital these days. Zephaniah and Yakira came to us with some serious medical issues. And Havilah just had her operation for cleft palate. All three children are in the same hospital. This has given us and our staff lots of chances to serve.”  (Yakira and Havilah are now home!)

“In Chinese hospitals you have to be with the child 24 hours a day caring for the children unless the child is in the NICU. Right now all three children have been with us in the wards. You can imagine the opportunities we have to share about our God!”

“Thanks for your continued intercession for Zephaniah. He continues to encounter many serious challenges. He has an infection in the lining of his stomach and has only for a brief time been able to pass things through his system.”

“Zephaniah’s tummy is big and things are not moving through so what next?!  The doctors don't seem to know.  So we are just trusting Father.  He has been in a month now.” 

Please pray that the doctor’s will have wisdom and compassion on how to best help Zephaniah.  As you can imagine, even though the hospital costs are alot cheaper than the US, it still adds up so they need to make some hard decisions soon I afraid.

Havilah is having a rough time of recovery, not wanting to eat, on top of a cold and diarrhea and vomiting.  She is so skinny but slept through the night last night so hoping the worst is over.  She got angry with Jeff for taking out her stitches.  He used to be her favorite so he is trying to win her back. 

From Lori:
“I keep thinking I better write you some God stories before I forget.  Havilah’s TOTAL hospital bill was waived!! PRAISE GOD!  What I forgot to tell you is the head of hospital dept. got her husband to drive Hannah and Havilah straight to our doorstep.  They gave us a whole chicken and a bunch of other nice things and the next day they picked Hannah, Havilah and Samuel up at our gate to take them back to the hospital for a post- op visit.”

Some other neat ways God has touched people by all of these hospital stays:
1. “Jeff ran into a Dr. near the beginning with Zephaniah whose mom was a Christian.  So he understood why we were doing what we were doing.  Likely his mom is praying for him to have more input.”

2. “Some ladies in the hall one time stopped Jeff and Zephaniah and chatted and asked if he was a Christian because only Christian’s would do such a thing.  They were Christian’s from a different province.”

3. “The lady in the bed next to us has certainly seen and heard a lot.  She started out opposed but is now reading the word.  She also helps keep a vigilant eye on Zephaniah, if he seems in trauma she will call a doctor for us.

Every day these precious children are like a megaphone.  Father is very good and we get so blessed in the meantime. 

     The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.    And those who know our name put their trust in you,  for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.... he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

                                                            (Psalm 9:9,10,12b)
So thanks for continuing to pray for the River of Grace foster program and may God be glorified!!!

From Jeff's heart to yours....

ZEPHANIAH

I’m writing this letter while watching over little Zephaniah lying in an incubator beside my bed here in the hospital. Zephaniah is about 17 days old today and he has been through what most of us my never experience in a lifetime. Zephaniah was born at least two month early with some physical complications and weighing only 1.8 kg. As a result of his problems, his birth parent abandoned him. He was discovered and taken to the local orphanage. He was very sick, his stomach was bloated and he was left to face all this alone. At this point we were notified that a newborn boy was in the orphanage in distress. Our daughter and another sister rushed over to rescue him and another newly abandoned little two-month-old girl we named Katriel. Upon seeing Zephaniah, they thought that he didn’t have long to live, so they took him to the local hospital. At the hospital, the doctors said that they couldn’t help Zephaniah. Little Zephaniah’s body temperature was dropping. It seemed too late to help him. But on the way to the hotel room the girls prayed for him and in the hotel his little body started to get warm again.

The next morning they got on a train with Zephaniah and the little girl Katriel. When they arrived at the door of our big family, we and our staff warmly welcomed them blessing both children in the name of our mighty Lord and Savior Jesus. We took Zephaniah to the provincial children’s hospital and found that he had a blocked intestine. Only six days after his birth, Zephaniah received his first operation. One of the doctors present during the surgery said that he thought Zephaniah wouldn’t make it through the operation. When Zephaniah came out of surgery he looked so much better than when he had gone in! It was revealed during the operation that he has a long undeveloped section of intestine common with premature babies. The blockage was removed. He’s yet to recover fully and he may have some disabilities later, but for now he is gaining weight. In a matter of days he put on one kilogram. Many nurses, staff and patients have been touched by his little life.

Our prayer is that Zephaniah and others like him would someday find themselves adopted for life into a warm, loving Christian families where they might hear about the Savior’s love for fallen sinners. Then he would understand the source of redeeming love...how far God goes in rescuing all of us from sin and death.

IN CHRIST

In reality, I was an orphan too....not in the way you might think. Not abandoned just like Zephaniah. But I was in a very awful situation: I was enslaved to sin, without God in the world, hopeless and under God’s deserved wrath. I was fearfully looking at spending an eternity of punishment for my sins. At that point, God came and opened my heart to the Good News and I understood Jesus sacrificial death was for my sins. God’s Holy Spirit led me in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ. 

It was then that I was adopted into God’s family. God became my father! If you are truly a Christian, then you’ve been adopted too. In Galatians 4:4-7 we read, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

God didn’t just forgive our sins and release us like freed convicts. He brought us in to His family to be His children! He loves us! He has made us His own! This is truly amazing!

I’m not writing this letter asking for funds, help here or even more prayer support. I’m asking you to consider something much more costly. Something very, very much like our Father in Heaven. We are exhorted to be imitators of God...to be like our Daddy in Heaven. As imitators of God, one of the greatest visible expressions of the gospel is for us to adopt needy children—to bring them into our families and love them as our very own.

My appeal is that you would prayerfully consider adopting one of these children. Ps 68:5-6 says that God is the “Father of the fatherless” in heaven and that he places the lonely in families. We often pray that His kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth as well as in heaven. Maybe your home is a safe, loving place for one of these precious children.

If you are interested, please let us know. We’ll be happy to send you a book for free concerning God’s heart for adoption.

Amazing T-shirt story!

It you want to read about how a River of Grace t-shirt spoke to a doctor and how God touched his heart and the doctor in turn blessed a teenager this week click here:
http://hamelothjourney.blogspot.com/2010/09/amazing-t-shirt-story.html