Hi!
We are thrilled to announce that we are in the process
of adopting a little boy from Uganda
This crazy journey started
a couple of years ago, when we began the adoption process here in the US Africa .
We were blessed with the opportunity to visit Uganda Uganda
After this door closed
we felt like we were a little lost as to what to do. We started praying
specifically for direction with our adoption but with no leads we prepared
ourselves that it could be months before we got word on which way to proceed. Then
after only about 2 weeks a door opened unexpectedly and here we are. From a dear
friend we learned of an adoption agency that was looking for a family for a
little boy who is living in an orphanage in Uganda Africa
we wanted to meet a need and provide a family for a child who would otherwise
not be adopted due to their special needs, health concerns, or age. A friend
encouraged us early on in this process to open our minds and hearts to the
possibility of adopting a child who was HIV+ and as we did research on what
this would look like for our family we quickly realized that our views of this
condition were very outdated and incorrect. In the day we live in a child with
HIV that has the opportunity to receive good medical care and a healthy diet
can be expected to live a long, healthy life and have every opportunity as
anyone else. We have included some information for you to read to find out more
for yourself and welcome ANY questions or concerns.
So what does this mean
exactly? Well, first we will be switching from an Independent Adoption to
working with an agency which increases our costs significantly. Because of his
health needs, things are moving far more quickly than we expected. Just a
month ago we thought it could be a few months before we knew the direction God
wanted us to go and now we we could be traveling in a couple months! (Praying for September)
First we want to let our friends and family know the amazing work God is doing
in our family and second we want to ask our friends and family, and even strangers with a heart for adoption to step out in
faith and walk this journey with us. We can’t do it alone and we aren’t meant to do it alone.
Here are some ways you can help;
* Pray- There are some big mountains God must bring us
over to bring our little boy home and we need all of your prayers (really!)
* Give items for our silent auction; A couple dear friends are helping us host this auction and we need prizes. Can you buy a gift card? Do you own a business? Have a craft
or trade? Be creative! Auction is here online and open August 8-11th.
*Buy your favorite items from our silent auction and share with your friends!- we can get a ton of donations but without people bidding on the items this wont work. So check it out and share with your friends!
* Give your
time; it
takes a lot of work to hold a car wash, garage sale, raffle and we can use your
help in so many ways! We will also both
be traveling away from the girls for 2 weeks and Christen will be in Uganda
*Give Sky-miles; if you are one of those
frequent travelers and would like to serve us in this way you can help by
transferring some of your miles in order to help us with our airfare (which is
large portion of our costs).
*Give
financially. International adoption is down right expensive
and costing approximately $20,000-$30,000 (depending on fluctuating travel and
misc. costs). This is something we can not cover on our own. We ask you to
prayerfully consider helping us in this way as we do everything we can to bring
our son home. Our projected costs are $28,500 and with all our donations,
selling necklaces, a huge garage sale, selling items on Craig’s List and a big car
wash we have already raised $19,000.00! Crazy! So now our goal is an estimated $9,500.
You can give via Pay Pal on our Family Blog
at www.lovewithrecklessabandonment.blogspot.com
For a tax deductible gift we have set up a fund
at www.projecthopeful.org (under waiting kids/matched families)
_________________________________________________________________
So many of you have already stepped up to help us
with our fundraisers, given your time and money, been praying and encouraging
us in very big and sacrificing ways and we are so very thankful. We are beyond
excited to be getting closer and closer to bringing our son home and giving a
family to a child who has never had one. We humbly ask you to pray and consider
how you may be blessed to take part of this amazing story.
With Love and Thanks,
The Fortner Family
{Josh, Christen, Evelyn, And Zoë}
www.lovewithrecklessabandonment.blogspot.com
