One More Powell

I recently preached a message about missions and the importance of the Great Commission as believers (here). We saw how God gave us a command to "be fruitful and multiply" over and over in His Word, and how Jesus told us the same thing. Afterwards, I began to think about the message I gave just a few weeks before on Orphan Sunday (here). It dawned on my that they go hand in hand. As we considered the instruction in the book of James to care for orphans and widows in their distress, as we tend to the least of those among us and the weakest of our society, we find the "religion that is pure before the Lord." A "religion" that involves going after the lost sheep, and bringing them back to the fold. I mentioned that apart from finding salvation in Christ Jesus, our principal purpose is to participate in the commission of Christ by proclaiming the gospel and discipling new believers. The other way we grow the faith family is by growing our family. Don't misunderstand. This is not a blog about how single people are sinning, etc. I don't think that. But, I do think we need to give time and consideration to our "family goals" and how we build our families. When I think about the great commission, I can't help but see our care for orphan's as part of that mandate. It is one of the best images of the gospel. Take that soul who was lost or abandoned or product of circumstance, and bring them into the family to be loved, cherished, and to give them new identity.

Some may think we are just obsessed with adoption. Maybe we are. I don't know. But I know that I am eternally grateful to the Lord for the beautiful children he blessed us with. I could talk for days about the miracle that each one of them is to me and to my wife. I love to think back on the stories of when Cruz came into our lives (here) and when we met our beautiful daughters (here). Feel free to go read those blogs too. God has given us a particular heart for children who need a family. I also feel he has given us a particular gifting to love and receive others into our family, in many ways. Most of you know about my son, Edson, who I raised in Bolivia and is studying medicine now. Most of you know about our foster children we've taken in and cared for at different times over the years. You've heard about Will and Sebastian and Miguel and Brandon. And if you are close enough, maybe you've already heard about D. 

After a good bit of prayer and a lot of research, we recently decided to look into international adoption. Long story short, we came across a program called P143 that finds host families to host orphans from Latvia, Ukraine, and Colombia. All the children who are hosted, are available for adoption. You pay the expenses to host the child and after the hosting period you can either be an advocate for the child to help find an adoptive family, or you can petition to adopt yourself. As we began speaking with the organization and looking at the photos, we fell in love with a boy in a life jacket talking about canoeing. 

At the time I'm writing this, D has been with us a whole week, and we are already smitten with this beautiful, affectionate, and kind little man. He deserves a family who will love him as deeply and as widely as possible to help heal the hurts in his bruised heart. From depression to self-harm, a younger disposition than his physical age, and an unfortunate taste for inappropriate music, D needs a consistent and stable family that can help him build confidence, learn to handle his big emotions, and where he can feel loved unconditionally.

We so want to be that family. But we need God to work it out. We can't officially petition for an adoption until after we have to say some hard good byes in just a few short weeks. If we are approved by the US and Colombian sides, we will have a roller coaster of deadlines, paperwork, and fees to surmount before we can bring him "home" for good. This said, please pray for us. Please, pray for D. And, if you want to help D get to a forever home faster, please help us find a way to fund the difficult steps along the way. 

Here are the estimated costs we will have to cover: 

1. Home Study, $2,500

2. US Processing Fee 1, $2,450 (after application approval)

3. US Processing Fee 2, $3,000 (after home study approval)

4. USCIS Application, $1,000

5. Colombia Program Fee, $13,700

6. Colombia Processing Fee, $4,897

7. Post Placement Report, $1,200

8. Additional Costs during process

     a. Psychological Evaluation, $1,000

     b. Dossier Service, $1,000

     c. Travel, $5,000

Total: $35,747

As you can see, it is a very expensive process. And the idea of trying to pay something like that is overwhelming. But the idea of D going without a family, or us going without him in our lives is a motivating force. We know that if God led us here, he'll lead us through. His provision is perfect. 

Thank you for reading, 

Seth

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