Yes there is a financial need to bring Joey home

You guys know I hate to talk money.  I really do.  I hate to talk about it, I hate to spend it, I hate to worry about it, and I hate to ask for it.


Here is the thing, when we started thinking about adopting a second child on this trip we had to think seriously about how to pay for it.  We have already seen that the original estimated $24k to adopt Valentin was a low estimate but we have been able to cover the difference.  We felt we could not possibly ask people for more money, we had already received SO much.  But, a sweet friend gently reminded me that my pride and desire to control might be getting in the way (again) and that the money is not for us, it is for Valentin and Joey and we should not take away from people the joy and the opportunity to help rescue yet another orphan.  Ouch, she had a point.


As you know we are trusting God with this entire thing, our kids at home, the health of my family members, the long stay for me, the many trips back and forth for hubby, being able to 'handle' the boys, bonding with them, the WHOLE thing.  And that includes the money.  The money will come from somewhere, when we received absolute assurance from God to adopt Joey we knew He will provide.  How, I don't know yet.  I don't know that I would even be writing this if quite a few of you had not written me asking if we needed help.  You all really amaze me!


So I am just putting it out there that yes there is a BIG financial need, we are pinching every single penny and exploring every single option to borrow money but if any of you would like to help I hope you know how grateful we would be.  As my sweet friend reminded me, this is money for Joey's ransom, it's his ticket out of the orphanage.


We estimate we will need about $9,400 extra (and that is if airline ticket costs don't go up any by the time we leave).  Here is a breakdown of the cost of adding Joey:


$4,000 in extra facilitator fees.
$140 for 2 train rides because we had to go back for a second appointment in the capitol.
$1,080 because the second appointment put us up against a national holiday adding an extra 9 days to our stay.  We pay about $120 a day to stay here ($60 for apartment, $50 for driver, and an average $10 for food)
$600-$1,000 Passport fee
$340 U.S. Embassy medical and visa
$670 USCIS Immigration Fee
$700 His flight HOME!
$1,470 for extra flights and train ride for Tyler - originally we had planned for me to bring Valentin home by myself but now with 2 coming home Tyler is coming back to help me travel home with them.




If you would like to help bring Joey home, our account with Reece's Rainbow linked at the top right will stay open until we arrive home.




My mom sent me this devotional and it speaks so strongly to me about doing God's work and trusting Him for the provision.  This is what we are clinging to and trusting.


“If God so clothes the grass of the field...,will He not much more clothe you...?” Matthew 6:30.


A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him?  By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple.  Jesus asks us to consider that “if God so clothes the grass of the field...” how “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him?  Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ.  We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22), while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly Father.


“Look at the birds of the air...” (6:26). Their function is to obey the instincts God placed within them, and God watches over them.  Jesus said that if you have the right relationship with Him and will obey His Spirit within you, then God will care for your “feathers” too.


“Consider the lilies of the field...” (6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us.  Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere.  Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things.  Did Jesus Christ lie to us?


Are we experiencing the “much more” He promised?  If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries.  How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him?  Consecration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do.  It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process.  Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?

Chambers, Oswald (2010-10-22).  My Utmost for His Highest, Updated Edition.  Discovery House Publishers.