Prayer & Praise

We are currently in a state of PRAISE & urgent PRAYER!

We've been REJOICING and PRAISING the Lord for providing enough donations so that ALL $5,000 of our matching grant will be MATCHED dollar for dollar! (Making it just over $10,000!!) We have been SO encouraged and humbled by the generous giving of believers to help us bring 2 children into our family through adoption!! We are SO THANKFUL for each and every one of you who gave as you were able to our matching grant!!!!
**On a related side-note, if you are still planning on giving to our matching grant make sure you have it postmarked by June 30th!! That means you only have 3 days left to give to our Hand in Hand grant! Any donations over the $5,000 will still go toward our adoption costs as long as they are given BY June 30th. Anything sent in after that will NOT go into our adoption account, it will go to the general fund for Hand in Hand to assist other families in adopting.

So here is our urgent prayer request. We found out last night during a chat with our director that we could potentially LOSE our referral for our little boy THIS WEEK if our Attorney finds any living family members. We thought the Attorney had already completed this part of his investigation, but we heard last night that our Attorney believes the little guy may have living relatives. And if so, he may not want to move forward with trying to help him get adopted, even if he is a legitimate orphan.

Here's why: {Brace yourself, this is heartbreaking}
 The attorney knows of one situation where an adoptive family was walking down the street in the DRC and an extended family member of the child they were adopting saw them & ran after them. They went to the courts & protested the adoption & the adoptive family went home without the child. The extended family did not want to help raise or care for the orphan, they were simply jealous that the child was going to be taken to America. So the child, who was a legitimate orphan, with no mother or father to care for them, was left stuck in the orphanage without a family FOREVER.
 This seems to me to be man's sinful, selfish, coveting at its WORST. I cannot believe that ANYONE, much less a FAMILY MEMBER would prevent ANY CHILD from having a loving family that will provide for them. But this is the fallen world we live in. We're all born with a nature bent on sin. Sin abounds.

So in light of this, PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING for the little boy whose picture we have been staring at and praying over for nearly a month now. Please join us in pleading with the Lord on behalf of this Orphan and all orphans in the DRC and the world!! PRAY that nothing would prevent him from being adopted. We've been told that he is a legitimate orphan with no mother or father. PRAY that the Lord would graft him into our family forever and that we would be able to rescue him from a lifetime in an orphanage with no family. PRAY that we would receive good news this week from our Attorney! PRAY that we will receive the little girl's medical soon, even this week, & her official referral!

We know that our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who created the universe is SOVEREIGN and GOOD. We believe that His word is true. So we trust that He will "work all things together for good for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Please join us in praying through Psalm 146 on behalf of all orphans and all who are oppressed.

"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,... who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin." Psalm 146: 5a,7-9

The Lord has seen fit to answer the first time I prayed for this child. He has given him to us once, we will PRAY without ceasing once again that He would let us adopt this child!

God leading us to our little guy

So about a month ago Jon & I had the opportunity to meet our director in person while she was in town for the Orphan Summit. During our meeting with her she showed us pictures from her trip to Congo, including the hotels to stay at, "Mama's Esther's" orphanage where our kiddos will be transitioned to, the local chimpanzee orphanage, and other pictures around Kinshasa. Then she showed us pictures of 3 children who were though to be around 6 months old. None of them had passed a medical exam yet, so they could not officially be referred to a family, but there they were.... we saw their precious faces. 2 of the pictures were marked with an "m" for male or "f" for female, but the third had a 5 letter word that started with f- so our director told us she wasn't sure if it was a male or female. She thought probably female because it started with F, and thought the rest might be a typo.

Can't show off his adorable face yet because he's not offically adopted yet.

 Well I looked at this picture over & over for the next week (she let us upload her pics onto a flash drive to take home). Every time I stared at the precious face of this child I just knew it had to be a boy. So one night about 2 weeks ago I prayed. I prayed that this child was in fact a boy and I asked the Lord that he would be our son.
  "Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." -John 16:24
Our God hears the prayers of His people! The very next day we got an email from our director explaining that the child in that picture was a BOY and that the five letter word that began with F was his name! I remember Thanking & PRAISING the Lord all day! He heard me. God is amazing, not only has be bought me with the blood of His Son, sought after me when I was running in rebellion away from Him, and brought me to new life as a new creation in Christ... I mean all of that is mercy & grace beyond anything that I (or any sinner) deserve!! But He doesn't stop there:
"The LORD is far from the wicked,  but he hears the prayer of the righteous." Proverbs 15:29

How amazing is He? Ever since that day 2 weeks ago we have been praying for that little boy and the little girl to pass their medicals. And the Lord has been faithful to hear again!! All this answered prayer is fueling me to pray more for our children and the rest of our adoption process & fundraising, etc!!

{Just to clarify- I have NO righteousness of my own. I, like all humans ever born, am a sinner. If I was not a believer in Jesus alone for my salvation I know that my sin would hide God's face from me so that He wouldn't hear me. "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). My righteousness before the Lord is based on CHRIST ALONE. I gave my life to Christ. He is my Savior & the Lord of my life, so know I have imputed righteousness from him. This is why we covet the prayers of BELIEVERS. We know that God hears the prayers of the righteous! And we also know that some people who say that they are "praying for us" have not given their lives to Christ & therefore God does not hear them.}

Praising the Lord for our referral of this adorable little boy that I just knew had to be a boy and that I asked God to place in our family! Now we are busy praying for a beautiful little girl who is also around 6 months old to pass her medical so she officially be waiting to become a part of our family too!!!

Jonah would like to announce...

that he is going to be a BIG BROTHER

To one very adorable 6 month old(ish) little boy who currently lives in an orphanage in the Congo!!

I have lots of cute pics from our vacation to Hilton Head to post, but this is obviously WAY more exciting so those pics can wait!! We're not allowed to post his picture on the internet yet, but if you see me around you can ask to see his picture! {I will proudly be carrying one around with me until we bring him home!!}

And you can join us in PRAYING that the little girl who is also around 6 months old would pass her medical, so she can officially be our "referral"! Once we have her referral, they said we should expect to bring them home in 4-6 months!!!!!

“Father of the fatherless and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation.



God settles the solitary in a home...” Psalm 68:5-6

Hand in Hand Giving Update

We just wanted to let everyone know that we got our weekly update from Hand in Hand last Friday. As of Friday we had $200 donated!!

We are praying that the Lord would provide all $5,000 that Hand in Hand has agreed to match dollar-for-dollar!

If you would like to give, or are planning on giving, just remember your donation must be postmarked by June 30th!!

Here's how to give to our matching grant:
If you would like to contribute to our dollar for dollar Matching Grant, you can mail your check made payable to "Hand in Hand Christian Adoption" to:
Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
Jonathan & Bethany Meacham
18524 Juniper Street
Gardner, KS 66030-9147
**For tax purposes please include our name on the OUTSIDE of the ENVELOPE ONLY. Do NOT put our name on the check itself!
** Make sure it is postmarked by June 30, 2011

Thanks to everyone for praying for the Lord's provision for our adoption!! It is so humbling and exciting to see Him providing for us!!!