In March of 2011, we were invited to a dinner by Keith's
cousin to hear about Rainbow of Hope's hosting program. At the time, we felt as if it would be an
interesting evening for our family to hear about what God was doing through
this program and in the lives of orphans.
The information we learned there was impressive but we left feeling
overwhelmed because we didn’t think we could meet all the expected requirements
involved in hosting an orphan in our home.
We initially thought we would offer our home as a “back-up”
opportunity in case one of the host families weren’t able to keep their child
for a day here and there. But after weeks
had gone by, we felt that God was really prompting us to consider this ministry
for our family.
Then one Sunday morning, we unexpectedly ran into some friends
at our church who had hosted an orphan the previous summer who we rarely saw
because the size of our church. It was
as if the Lord was saying “talk to them”!
The next night we received a phone call from these friends informing us
that they had designated the remaining funds from their hosting experience the
previous summer to our family! A few
days later a family member came forward to offer the balance of what we needed
to be part of the hosting program. So God
removed what we perceived as the major hurtle and we were amazed and believed
that being part of the hosting program was His will for our family.
Being a host family to Roman was another amazing
adventure. We had no idea what to expect. We had no idea that we would fall in love with
this little boy. We didn’t realize that
in the end, we were the ones who would be so deeply and forever blessed and
changed. In the four weeks he was in our
home he became part of us. We became a
family of five and life would never be the same.
After inquiring about the adoptability of Roman, we learned
he had a 17 year old brother, Igor. God
showed us that He wanted us to adopt them as a sibling group. Since then, we’ve had quite an education in
what’s involved in international adoption.
Forms to fill out, signatures in blue ink, phone calls, notary
signatures, adoption classes, medical, FBI & other clearances even for our
dogs, home studies, proving the size and adequacy of our home and finger
printing are just some of the steps we’ve been taking to bring our sons home.
God knows our hearts and what He has called us to do. It has been so exciting to watch as He’s
brought us through this journey so far. It’s been scary and challenging but God
continues to provide and bless. Thank you all for your interest and prayers.
The prayers and financial support of our family and friends
has been amazing and it’s been incredible to see how God has and continues to
provide. Here are a few prayer requests.
Please pray for Roman and Igor as they
wait, that God would prepare their hearts and would prepare our hearts as
well. Also, we believe we’ll be
traveling to Ukraine in June to process the paperwork. So pray that things
would go smoothly while we’re there and that Kevin and Hannah would have a good
time with their grandparents while we’re gone.
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