The first and best news is that .... we just got back from Poland yesterday. We were able to visit the kids to celebrate Christmas!!!! We are so grateful to the orphanage director for allowing the visit and for Adoption Airfare for providing us with humanitarian airfare to make it all possible! The kids were able to stay with us in an apartment for four nights :).
Other than being very sick the entire trip, we had a wonderful time!
The girls were finally qualified for international adoption right before Christmas! We are currently waiting for all of their official documents from the adoption center so that we can have them translated and then send them to USCIS (US immigration). This will begin the process for their visas and citizenship. Once this step is complete, we will only be waiting for the Ministry (government) in Poland to approve our documents and then for the judge to set our bonding period and court date. It sounds simple BUT it's probably going to take about six more months :(. Although we are praying for quicker!!
Our next BIG news is that we received two BIG donations while we were gone and only have $3,698 left to raise!!!!!! That is out of a total of $39,814 estimated by our agency for the adoption process/fees. AMAZING! Friends, we have paid ourselves and/or raised a total of over $36,000 in the last six months!!!!!! God is SO good! I have an interview tomorrow morning to hopefully bring in some additional income as well. Next up, we have to start preparing for the 5ish weeks that Justin will have to take off of work for our travel to Poland as well as the possibility that the judge could require the entire family to travel (this would add about $6500 in additional expenses that we haven't planned for because we would need to purchase additional airfare, a larger apartment, extra taxis / public transportation fares, etc.). We don't *think* that this will happen because all of the kids have already bonded well and they are old enough to share that experience with the judge BUT it is part of their law and they could require it. We won't know until the very last moment when we receive our approval to travel so we need to be prepared.
Some things you can pray for:
-That our kids would know, without a doubt, that they are loved. That they will be well-cared for, happy, and healthy. That they will begin to develop a deeper trust in the Lord and that they will feel His strength and provision as they wait.
-That the orphanage director will allow the children to use their tablets (we brought them Kindles) to learn English and to communicate with us, we are still waiting to find out
-That we would receive the kids' documents quickly from the adoption center in Poland so that we can move on to the next step
-That the remaining steps in the process go as quickly as possible
-That the Ministry will approve an expedite to hopefully make our case go a little faster
-That the judge will look favorably on all of the bonding that we've done with the kids and make our time / process in Poland as easy / simple / quick as possible
-The the judge will not require Anna, Levi, Amelia, and Claire to travel .... many of you probably remember how hard all of the public transportation was on Claire / Amelia's immune systems, they were each hospitalized for a week last year in Poland
-That we would be able to find someone to stay with Anna, Levi, Amelia, and Claire while we travel (about 2 weeks) until one of us can return
-The remainder of our funding
-Financial provision for Justin's time off of work and favor at his job so that he can return without any issues or demotions after our travel
Donation options / explanations:
http://reecesrainbow.org/114328/sponsorhowell-4 -- Completely tax-deductible in any amount (!!), we can use this money once we have approval to travel and they pay our adoption fees directly (3% PayPal fee taken out of donations, can mail a check so that there's no fee)
https://www.youcaring.com/the-howell-family-615422 -- Not tax deductible, we can access this money at any time for current adoption expenses (3% PayPal fee taken out of donations)
OR you can mail a check directly to our adoption agency (An Open Door Adoption Agency), donations over $250 are tax-deductible (no fee).
I have two fundraisers planned for January and will be announcing them soon!!!!
Whew! What a Mighty God we serve!!!! 2017 is going to be quite a year for our family. Thank you for cheering us on and for keeping us in your prayers <3!
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