Dear Friends and Family,
We have some exciting news to share with you: We are happy to announce that we are in the
process of adopting a child! We have
completed the initial paperwork and evaluation (our home study), and are now certified
for international adoption. After much
prayer and research we have applied to an orphanage in Jinja, Uganda. We are
hoping to adopt a child (or sibling group of two children) between the ages of
1-6 years old. This
may seem out of the blue for some of you, but it is actually something we
believe God has been calling us to do for a long time. Now we are stepping out in faith, confident
that God will enable, equip and provide for our present family and the child
God has waiting for us.
Similar to sending out
support letters for a short or long term mission, we are asking you for support
in the mission that we will be on for the rest of our lives.
First of all and most
importantly, we ask for prayer. As we have already experienced, the adoption road is an
unpredictable one. Please pray for us as we strive to bring our child home from
Uganda.
·
Pray that God will orchestrate each
step (we are at the mercy of a variety of governments, agencies and
organizations, etc) and help us maneuver through this maze in a way that is
honoring to Him.
·
Pray that God will change us as we
wait, remind us of His goodness and faithfulness, and increase our faith as we prepare
to bring our child home.
·
Pray that our child will be comforted
from the emotional strain that accompanies this process.
·
Pray also for the children already in our care - that
God will prepare each of their hearts to love and welcome another child into
our family.
·
Finally, pray for us as parents to have wisdom for
today and in the years ahead.
Secondly, we humbly ask
for your financial support. Adoption is
quite expensive and we are hoping to limit the amount of debt accrued as a
result of this process. The amount of
funds necessary to complete our adoption is $23,000. Prayerfully consider whether God would have
you support this mission. Throughout the Bible God tells us to look
after the fatherless and defend the cry of the orphan. James 1:27 says that true religion is caring
for widows and orphans in their distress.
This verse, and so many others like it, makes it clear that God cares
about orphans. Orphan care is a complex
and difficult issue – not all are called to adopt, but there are many other
ways to help, giving being one of many ways.
We are confident that God will provide, as he always does, for our journey.
Thank you so much for taking the time
to read our letter and for supporting our family as we bring the newest Wilson
home. We are ever thankful for the
encouragement we receive from family and friends, who have supported us in a
variety of ways over the years. We know that God already has
a child in mind for us and that they belong in our family. We are asking for your help to bring her (or
him) home.
Much love and gratitude,
Ben & Kristine Wilson
Frequently Asked Questions
Why adopt internationally? Aren’t there plenty of children
right here in the USA who need good homes?
This is a fair question. It is true
that there are many children in the United States who don’t have a family to
call their own. We hope and pray God will call more people to be involved in
orphan care through the foster and adoption system in our country. Some of our friends
at church have answered that call and are caring for a family of five children
they will soon adopt. We are so thankful for them and their involvement in
orphan care this way. As we considered our adoption and started researching, we
were struck by the staggering number of children overseas who live in
orphanages, with little to no access to basic things we take for granted in the
US, like medical care and education. The orphan living situation overseas is
often a much different environment than for children without families in United
States, who have the benefit of a (granted, imperfect) foster system,
state-subsidized health/dental/vision care, public education, etc. And so,
after researching and praying about it, we simply felt that for our adoption,
God was calling us to adopt from overseas.
Why does international adoption cost so much?
The cost varies from country to
country. The costs incurred range from
agency, government and lawyer fees to medical and travel fees – like passports
and visas - and more. For example, the
home study alone costs $3240. If you are interested in the breakdown, please
ask us. We would be happy to share that information with you.
How can we help?
YOU CAN PRAY.
We have already described how you can be in prayer for us and truly, prayer is
one of the sweetest gifts you can give us, asking God to help us and provide
all we need for this task.
YOU CAN GIVE. You can send general donations to our church who is partnering with us to ensure transparency and accountability in the fundraising process. Funds will
be managed by our leaders, Kevin VanBuskirk and Allen Whitesitt. Please make checks out to Church of Christ Fellowship and write
“Wilson Adoption” in the memo line, then mail to:
Church of Christ Fellowship
PO Box 3193
La Crosse, WI 54602
o
We will be having many fundraisers over
the next several months. We hope to have the first in July. Some friends of ours will be partnering with
us in an effort to “Care for Widows
& Orphans” by helping a local widow care for her home. Would you consider sponsoring us to spend a
day serving and providing labor for a widow in need? Please mail your donation to our church
address (listed above).
o
You can donate time, prizes or skills -
basically anything we can auction. We hope to hold a Silent Auction at the end of August or beginning of September and are
hoping to have a couple “big ticket” items donated that we can auction with several smaller prizes. Please let us know if you have ideas, items to
auction, or would like to help in any other way.
o
You can be a “Matching Donor.” We hope to do some fundraisers asking people to
“match” an amount that has been offered by a donor. (ie., “Help us raise $500
by August 1st and a donor will match every dollar raised.”)
YOU CAN SHARE OUR STORY (by phone, letter, email, Facebook, blog, etc…) so that others
can join us in this journey. Follow our
adventure and invite others to do so through our blog - http://thewilsonjournal12.blogspot.com/ We need
prayer most of all and are in need of God to show his faithfulness through
providing the necessary resources (monetary support). We know there are people out there who care
about orphans as we do, but have no idea how to help. Perhaps they know
adoption is not right for them or their families, but can’t think of any other
way to be involved. Praying, giving and spreading the word about our adoption
needs could be a first step toward orphan care.
We sincerely thank you for your
support. Anything you can give – prayer,
time, monetary gifts, encouragement – is greatly appreciated!
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