Where?

I had said in my last post that I had something exciting to say about our ongoing adoption adventure..

and...

Our home study is at our agency here in alberta for editing! That means that it has to pass through final approval with them and our province and then our dossier can be sent to our intercountry agency to be sent overseas! It also means that our part - what we can actively do - is almost done! It so exciting - and slightly nervewracking to consider that this has happened all in the last 2 months! 

So because our homestudy is in the hands of our agency and we have received approval from our province to go ahead with this homestudy, I felt that now is the time I can share with you the country from which our children will be from.

ETHIOPIA!!!!

Ethiopia is a country that has been on our hearts for almost 15 years  (yes, when we were first married!). Maybe because it was a country in Africa that we had heard so much about in the early 90's with famine sweeping the land. Maybe because my husband in particular, has always had an interest in missions in this part of the world. But maybe - just maybe -God was beginning to form in us a call to Africa. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that this call would be in part to expand our family through adoption - not once but twice! And never did I think that I may need to get a vehicle larger than a minivan!! Ha! 

Our journey to South Africa 2 1/2 years ago unleashed passion for adoption that can only be described as a calling. God has blessed us with a great family and we feel that we have more room....room for a sibling group! We have been covering this in prayer as this is a huge step in expanding our family. There is the amount of children to consider, the trauma and grief that they have experienced thus far and how it has shaped and formed them, the financial commitment of the process and how adding additional children will impact our existing family. But we are praying not only for a smooth process and transition but for resources and support once they are home. We are praying for guidance, patience and grace for us. We are praying God's protection and provision on them even now. And we continue the adventure....

Blessings,

Candra

ps. For those of you who have followed our adoption process, our original dossier that was done through SK is still "active" although our new province will not update it until the country reopens. So God opened some other doors for us to continue....

Do for one...

"Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone." 

- Andy Stanley - 

This quote has been running around in my head for the last couple of days. I listed to a sermon by this pastor (who has fantastic ministry and insights in regards to leadership) on the way home from work and I was struck by its simplicity and also its  great impact that it could have. 

God is moving greatly in our new community with regards to orphan care. We were honoured to be able to speak at our new church last week about our story and about the broader picture of orphan care. So many stories after church about how adoption has impacted people's lives. Amazing.

And then we hosted a somewhat spur of the moment prayer night about orphan care and had over 15 adults there. And oh, were there hearts for orphan care. I got chills hearing their stores... 

 - a college student who feels called to foster care

- 2 families contemplating and (hopefully) moving towards adoption

- an RA who has a huge heart for the girls on her floor in university dorms

-another college student who is going on an overseas internship next year to work with children

-a young woman who is leading/discipling Gr. 9 girls in our community

- a lead pastor who prayed alongside us and is open to how the community of Christ should respond

- people praying alongside us for our adoption journey

It was awesome. And God was there.

And this week, for me personally God has been doing a great work in me. Turning my heart towards His people. In James 1:27 when it talks about taking care of the widow and the orphan - I got to see that this week. His great love for His people and how my willingness is all He needs.  A few stories from the week - 

At work, I am privileged to be able to serve those who access our Home Care services. I met with a gentleman who has just moved into one of the facilities. He is in his mid-nineties. He has lived a life full of many experiences. He lost his wife several years ago and as he was telling me this part tears filled his eyes. He said ''I sure do miss that wonderful woman. If I could tell these young couples anything it would be this - treasure your spouse." I just sat and listened. I tried to serve this man - a widower. And in turn, God gave me another glimpse of how much He cares for those who have lost and still grieve.

I get so excited when I get to hear about people considering adoption. In a matter of 12 hours, I touched base with 2 families. I got to chat with an amazing woman who feel the call to adopt. I was privileged to pray with her and have continued to pray for her and her husband as they wait on God...We then got an email, the next day, from another married couple who we count as dear friends (although we haven't seen them in a long time!) who feel that now is the time for adoption. Wow! We get to skype with them this week and hear their heart and my prayer is that we can encourage them in this journey and be of whatever help they need.

We have 3 sets of friends in SK (one is my sister and husband) who are waiting for their child through adoption. Next week, I get to present the cheques with money we raised for 2 of these families as a tangible - "We are behind you heart and soul". This was made possible through RUN 143 - a great organization raising money for orphan care - globally and locally.

So here is where the quote comes in. I can't save the world. I can't eradicate the orphan crisis in the world. I can't listen or be available to everyone  But I can do something for one. 

I can invest and engage and be present.

And pray that God would continue to guide my steps to do His work.

Blessings,

Candra

next post...update on our adoption. It is exciting!!!!

Adopting a child who is HIV+?

Hey everyone - it's Riley.

One of the situations that has changed for us over the previous year relates to our adoption plans in a way that we never shared publicly.  And we wanted to share it now in case it might be of some encouragement to someone out there. 

We had arranged our previous dossier to specifically adopt a child who is HIV positive.

There was a lot of research, connecting & learning that went into the preparation for this.  Now we are hoping that it will eventually be of some practical help or use in our lives.  Our new social worker was a bit shocked to find out about all of the preparation & reading that had been documented in our previous dossier - she had never seen anything like it.   The reasons we have gone a different direction have nothing to do with having a HIV+ child in our home, but have to do with a lot of external factors that we now need to consider (access to immediate specialists, dynamics of community/city, change in support systems, etc.).  And as stated before, we are now working with a different country where the children have different needs.

It’s ironic - I had some initial hesitation in beginning to consider pursing this and this past summer I found myself grieving the change.  I don’t think we realize just how heavily invested & attached we get to children we’ve never met during the waiting/praying/planning process.  For us, decisions in the moment & also future plans always take into consideration those children that are not in our family yet.  We had plans about how to talk to the child’s teachers, how to help our children cope with friendship difficulties arising from perceptions of this chronic illness, discussions with extended family about how to deal with our kids getting scrapes & cuts, etc.  It’s a bit stressful bringing up the topic to family & friends who may not be supportive of such a unique situation!  And now this preparation gets set aside...

There are a lot of great resources and information available if you are ever interested in learning more.  Tragically, most people’s understanding (& mine to begin with) was stuck in the 1980’s.  

So why share this detail now?  If we can be of any support or encouragement to those of you who are interested in caring for a child with HIV (via adoption or foster care), please let us know.  Or if you need someone praying for you, we would love to get behind you in any way we can!