New Week, New Family-The Frys

Hey y'all
I have a super great family to introduce you to today, meet The Frys!

They are in the process of bringing home TWO sweet little ones from the DRC, one little 7 year old girl and a sweet 5 year old boy.  They're hoping to bring these little sweets home this fall.  You all can spare a buck or two for this sweet family, right?! I love their video, um mom and dad met at a Harley Davidson photo shoot?! So cool!

The Pillow Project

If you haven't heard of the LoveMore Foundation, I really encourage you to go and check them out! The were "birthed out of a passion for impoverished children" That's just right up our alley right? Basically they traveled over to the DRC, saw the immense need there and decided to do something about it.  There mission is to "serve  the women and children of impoverished nations with basic needs, education and sustainability. (focusing on the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond)."

They have an awesome project happening right now called The Pillow Project.  I've been hearing about it here and there, and decided to go and check it out.  Here's what their website says about it:

"Tucked away in the Democratic Republic of Congo is Kimbondo Orphanage and Hospital. We’ve asked Kimbondo’s 500 children what they wish for and they’ve requested pillows. Africa Adoption Services is partnering with the Love More Foundation to grant their request! If you would like to be a part of this mission you can donate below through PayPal with a note including “pillow project.” Checks can be made payable to Love More Foundation, PO Box 235, Westfield, IN 46074. Each pillow and case will be $7.00 USD, any donation is accepted!"

Pillows...the kids want pillows! Did you ever ask for a pillow as a kid? Probably not because you had them right? I have to say growing up I always wanted feather pillows and would ask for those because my grandma had them and I thought that they would make me feel dainty (don't judge haha) anyway I grew up and bought my own feather pillows. 

Rabbit trail..

$7.00 for a pillow and case, totally doable! So if you feel led please go check them out! They also are working on education sponsorship, so we'll have to keep up with them to know when that starts too! 

New Week - The Owen Family

Oh, wow, guys. The bravery of this weeks' family takes my breath away. Say hey to the Owen family. We've got a military family, Dad is currently deployed. Mom's about to travel to bring home two little girls who have recently had surgeries and illnesses. And all of that is in addition to carrying for their 3 boys at home. They need $4,000 to travel and I want to give this Mama a break. I know we can do this! We all know what stress feels like, and financial stress at that. Let's see if we can just nix that particular burden for this family so they can focus on their family right now. Let's do it, y'all!!!

We are adopting Ava and Zoey in response to God's call to take care of the orphans and widows.  The Lord has worked on our hearts for several years.  One major hangup for our family in taking this step of obedience was that Ryan is in the military, and has been deployed several times.  He has missed so much of our boys lives, to include the birth of Riley (they met when Riley was 5 months old.)  But God's call was unavoidable!  We started our journey and have fallen in love with these two precious little girls.  We were told that the process would take 12-18 months.  We were excited that this timing would work perfectly... we would have enough time to get through the home study and majority of paperwork, and then do much of the waiting while Ryan was deployed.  As it turns out, our fear is being realized.  On September 1st, Ryan will deploy to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.  He will be deployed until June 1st, 2013.  He will not be able to come home, and he will meet the girls about 5 months after they have come home.  

We were asked if we wanted to delay the process, but when we received Ava and Zoey's medical reports, we found out that Ava has malaria and a very large hernia.  We realized that God's timing is perfect... though not perfectly the way we would have planned... we know that His ways are higher than our own.  We have been overwhelmed by how he has provided, how all of the details have come together and how He works His will to place the lonely in families.  We don't expect this journey to be easy, on the contrary, we expect it to be extremely difficult, but we trust His Word.  We know that His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and as long as we are leaning on Him our paths will be made straight.  

We feel honored that God has seen us fit to be Ava and Zoey's parents.  

***So far you guys have given the Owen family $1,927!!!***

Congolese Adoption Details

Beth recently wrote a great post on the steps that occur in an Ethiopian adoption and today I wanted to let you know the steps for a Congolese adoption.

The first thing to note is that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a few requirements of people adopting through their country.

1. Married couples and singles must be over 25 years old.
2. Singles can adopt children of the same gender.
3. Couples should be married at least 5 years.
4. Couples should have no more than 2 children at home already.* 

* although some exceptions have been known to be made for this rule.

If you meet the requirements set out by the DRC and decide to adopt from there your steps would include:

1. Finding and applying with an agency that preforms Congolese adoptions.
2. Fill out all the paperwork that will make up your dossier, including your homestudy. This usually takes a few months to complete.
3. Get on the waitlist for your referral. Depending on the age and gender you are asking for this usually takes a few months, exact wait times vary from agency to agency. (I should also mention that some agencies that work with the DRC have a list of waiting children to select from so you can pretty much skip this step.)
4. Get your referral. Such a big day! This is the day they send you photos and medical info on your little one and you can decide to accept the referral or wait for a different one.
5. Then a bunch of legal stuff happens, which takes a few months. A court date will take place in the DRC (which we do not have to be present for).
6. Travel! Once all the legal paperwork has been completed then you get to travel to pick up your little one(s)!

If you are familiar with Ethiopian adoptions, or if you read Beth's previous post, you will notice that there isn't a whole lot of difference between the two programs. I am not sure of all the requirements for Ethiopia but I believe the DRC is a little more strict when it comes to the people they allow to adopt in the country. The major difference is the fact that there are two travel dates with Ethiopian adoptions and only one for Congolese.

If you have any questions regarding Congolese adoptions I would love to try to help answer them!