We've Been Matched and Our Updated Total! | Criswell

Criswell Adoption - Home from Ghana!

Ghana

$3,877

Amount Raised

We've Been Matched and Our Updated Total! Posted about about 9 years ago

Last night was a VERY exciting night for us. Just as we were putting the kids to bed, we received the information we have been waiting and praying for months for....the little boy's paperwork was completed. He was deemed adoptable by the Ghana government, and we were asked, well is he the one? Do you want him? We said YES!! Meet our son-to-be...Prince!!

There was very little sleep at our house last night. Our hearts are already bursting with a love we didn't know we'd have. Jason has been talking about the love of a parent that would cross oceans and pay any cost in order to have his son safe and home, this is a love that we are experiencing in a very real, tangible way. The love of Our Heavenly Father for us, and for our newest baby boy!

So our little boy is 5 years old. He is currently in kindergarten. His father died, and his mother abandoned him. His village has been taking care of him. He is being moved to a foster care home when our official match happens. We've been told he loves picture books and soccer. You should have seen Kaelen's face today when we told him about his brother he's been daily asking about for a year now. He cannot wait to meet him!

So what arewe our next steps? Well even we don't know fully yet. But do know that we will finish the paperwork for our dossier, and that and our home study will be sent to the Ghana goverment. Over the next few weeks they will look at that, and then officially approve us. When that happens, and we are official, a court date will be set. We've been told to expect the court date within the next couple months. WOW! We will get to meet him before the court date. Two weeks after the court date, the attorney should receive the adoption paperwork. After that, the paperwork will be completed, and his Visa will be applied for and approved, along with the final portion of our paperwork from the US government. They said the timeline after the court date is 4-8 weeks. So what does this mean for us? Well we leave for Ghana already for our Togo medical missions trip in FIVE weeks! Ahh that's crazy in itself! So it's looking like we will get to meet him and have the court date for sure while we are there. IF we will be able to complete the adoption and bring him home with us when we fly home in the middle of June, who knows. That will all depend on the speediness of the Ghana and US governments. I'm not pinning any bets on that. BUT what we do know is that within a month or two of our return from Ghana, Jason will be headed back to bring our son home! And he should be home by the end of summer or beginning of fall at the latest!! And there ISa possibility he could come home with us in June. We are just blown away by this all!! By the fall, we will have another little one in our home!

Before we leave, I'd love to have his room ready just in case we bring him home...a bed, a dresser, and size 5/6 boys clothes PLUS a couple new toys/books just for him.

Finances: well we need to have about $16,000 by June. Chunks of that which will start to need going out over the next couple weeks. Haha! Like Jason said, that's like 16 cents to God right? PLEASE be praying for us as we walk out the rest of this journey of faith!!! I'm still applying for grants and hope to get a few more applied for before we leave. Pray for us as we finish up all of the things we need to finish before we leave in 5 weeks. We have a LOT going on with all of this, from adoption paperwork and appointments to vaccine and doctors appts to Visa stuff to the supplies we need for our missions trip....to well lots of stuff. Prayers for peace over our family, protection over our health as we prepare to travel, finances, and JOY! We love JOY! This has been the most amazing journey for Jason and I, and we are sooooo ecstatic over finally seeing pictures of our newest little boy!!! Joy, joy, JOY!

LOVE to you all!!! THANK you for being a part of our journey.

So what is our total left?

Application $500 - PAID
Orientation Fee $2,000 - PAID
Dossier Phase $5,000
Referral Phase $16,000

Total Program Fee $23,500 ($2500 paid).

US Based Fees $5000 - Completely PAID (Homestudy, US Governement fees, ie 601a, Post Adoption Reports, Document Fees, Education, Fingerprinting, Background Checks, etc).

In Country Fees $6000 (We are covering our airfare, and Passports are paid for. We're Saving money for Visas and in country transporation, food, and stay. Because we are going for a three month missions trip, we are saving up $5000 for that, and estimating about $1000 of our other adoption only in country expenses). So this $6000 is going to be covered by us.

Total of: $21000 LEFT for the Adoption

Grand Total of $21,000 left to raise!

We've also been told we will be given a scholarship from our agency, which should be around $5000. That will bring our total down to $16000 left. Like I said, we are now applying for adoption loans and scholarships. We are hoping that this will cover a large portion of the $16,000.

$16000 is NOTHING for God and His people! We are sooo excited! Again, we are so thankful for everyone who has donated and prayed for us! Please keep us in your prayers!