Adoption #2 and a Fundraiser Announcement!
It’s been close to 2 years since we traveled home from India with Keerti and in the last 2 years the Lord has given us a desire to adopt once again! We are SO EXCITED to share that we are in the early stages of our second adoption process from INDIA with Lifeline Children’s Services! We have a long process ahead but we wanted to share so that our community of friends and family could be praying along with us. During Keerti’s adoption process we saw God’s faithfulness in so many tangible ways through the prayers of His people and we trust that we will see His faithfulness and provision once again during this process. We wanted to take a blog post to answer some questions we have already received as well as announce a fundraiser that we are launching to help us cover some of the upfront adoption fees before we can begin applying for grants!
1.
What led you to adopt again from India? Since
our dating years we knew we wanted to grow our family both biologically and
through adoption/foster care. We’ve been blessed to welcome 3 children
biologically, 2 children through foster care (for a brief time), and 1 child
through adoption into our family and we are excited and eager to adopt again!
Obviously, India has a special place in our hearts because it is Keerti’s birth
country, but even more than that, we have been made aware of the tremendous
physical and spiritual need in India. We feel that adoption is one way we can
share God’s love with the people of India, particularly the child who joins our
family someday. This is one way our family can be a part of God’s global
mission!
2.
Do you know the child you will be adopting? We will
not know the child we are adopting until we are in the matching phase of the
process. However, we do know that we need to be 25 years older than the child
according to India requirements (so a 5 year old child or younger), we are open to a
boy or a girl and the child will likely follow birth order and be younger than
Andrew when he/she arrives home. We also know that the child we adopt will have
special medical needs as India requires that international families adopt a
child with medical/special needs. Although we may not know our child yet, we
are trusting that God knows exactly the child He plans to be a part of our
family and we are excited to find that out!
3.
How long is the process? What are the steps of
the adoption process? We are told that the timeline for adoption from India
right now is 2-3 years but could be faster depending on how quickly each step
goes. With international adoption we’ve learned that it’s best to hold
timelines very loosely 😊. We’ve listed the general timeline of steps
below. We are in the middle of completing our home study right now and once
that is complete we will be waiting for CARINGS registration and approval and
I-800A approval simultaneously so that we can begin the wait to be matched with
our child!
a. Home
study (3-5 months to complete)
b. Immigration
I-800A Approval (12-14 weeks)
c. CARINGS
registration (7-12 months)
d. Matching
(6-12 months)
e. NOC
(timeline varies)
f.
Adoption Order (timeline varies)
g. Travel!
4.
How much does adoption cost? Adoption is
expensive and, to be honest, the cost can be a little bit intimidating. When we
began Keerti’s adoption we started with about $2,000 that we had saved up and we
trusted God to provide the rest. We were blown away with His provision through second
jobs, a larger than expected tax return, unexpected stimulus checks, grants and
scholarships and so many generous friends and family who gave to our
fundraisers! Once again, we are looking at around $40,000 of adoption costs
that we will need to fundraise or receive through grants. It sounds like a lot
right now, but we’ve watched God very tangibly provide each step of the process
for Keerti and we trust that He will faithfully do it again as we are obedient
to His leading! Which leads to this next announcement of our first fundraiser….
We are doing a PUZZLE FUNDRAISER to help us offset some of the initial costs of our home study and agency fees! This is a HUGE fundraiser as once we complete our home study we can begin to apply for grants and scholarships through adoption grant organizations. We have purchased a 1000 piece puzzle that displays the heart behind our desire to adopt with this verse:
Our heart and our desire is that God would be praised among the nations both in and through our adoption process!
So, for example, if you give $100 to our puzzle fundraiser, we will be able to add 10 more pieces to our puzzle with your name added to the back! We hope that by displaying this completed puzzle in our house it will be a reminder to us of the ways God has worked through this adoption and the mission He has given us as a family but also the community of friends and family who have supported and prayed for our child to come home!
If you would like to be a part of helping us complete this puzzle, please reach out to us! We are so excited to see this puzzle be completed with your help! The puzzle we have completed for Keerti’s adoption process hangs in the center of our living room and is a constant reminder of God’s faithful provision through our amazing community of friends and family!
More than anything, we would LOVE your prayers over this adoption process. Pray for smooth processing of paperwork, pray for financial provision, pray for the country of India and most of all pray for the sweet little one God is planning to bring into our family. Your prayers mean more than we could ever explain! Thank you so much for joining us in this journey! We can’t wait to keep you all updated as we continue this process!
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