Hope's inheritance...Adoption Day

Today was "Adoption Day" for our precious daughter - Hope! 

The Champaign County Circuit Court in Champaign, IL issued a Judgement of Adoption today as a final step in the adoption process.

There was a portion of the cout hearing today that really moved me:

The said minor [Hope Tizita]...shall be duly and legally adopted child of the Petitionors [Andy and Jill Lehman] capable of inheriting their estate and shall be for all intents and purposes the child of the said Petitioners...

Hope is no longer an orphan.

Through adoption - Hope is permanently and legally...our daughter...a Lehman. She now officially has every legal right and privilege that our other 3 children have.

How is it that this little girl born in a thatched roof hut in the bush of Ethiopia - now has every legal right and privilege to receive a financial inheritance and legal right to our estate? 

How awesome is that!?!

My mind quickly returns to the little room in a small building in Ethiopia earlier this May where Jill and I made a commitment to Hope's biological father that we will share our faith in Jesus Christ with Hope and raise her to know our Lord.

This gift of salvation is the ultimate inheritance.

[read full story]

Andy

Prayer Vigil | Nov 21st @ 7pm

Kim Smith and the team at Open Arms ministry are holding a Prayer Vigil for Orphans, Adoption, and Foster Care on November 21st @ 7pm (CT) @ Calvary Church

Calvary Church

3998 Mid Rivers Mall Dr

St. Peters, MO  63376

If you aren't able to physically attend the event, will you attend 'virtually' and pray with us at this time?

the GRANDchildren of God

Roger and Beth are a retired couple near Orlando, FL who felt "there was something more we should be doing".  Over the last 2 years they have become Orphan Advocates for the orphaned and vulnerable children in Ukraine...whom they call the GRAND-children of God!  

They have traveled to Ukraine 4 times since May 2007 serving the children in Chernigov, Ukraine - having recently launched the Rogoziv Family Home and partnering with Lifesong for Orphans to create a Christian children's center. 

We call this project the room of "Hope and Trust" where this facility will be used for devotional time, worship, one-on-one counseling, educational activities, etc.

Isn't it awesome to see Roger and Beth use their time, talent, and treasure for an eternal purpose?!

Below is a window into their hearts, as they describe the Chernigov project they are leading on behalf of Lifesong... (full story)

Simply stated, our time, energies, finances and prayers devoted to Ukraine are for the purpose of seeing God's Kingdom grow there...in many cases our hearts were torn when we learned they have been deprived of basic humanitarian needs.

Lifesong for Orphans have clearly demonstrated a sustained program within an orphanage in conjunction with a local church can have a decided impacton helping orphans gain purpose and promise in their lives.

Lifesong has been able to mobilize concerned Ukrainian Christians who understand and have been trained to deal with underlying emotional and physiological issues...

 Watch Roger & Beth's story of how they got involved

Become an Orphan Advocate!

Now this is living out James 1:27

What a picture of God at work...and a godly man following His lead...

Lifesong India from Lifesong on Vimeo.

The founder of what is now Lifesong-India is a man by the name of Bob Stoll.  Bob is an American Christian whose wife died of cancer over 30 years ago.  God used this brokenness and time in his life to draw him to do mission work in India. On his first trip to India, Bob spent 3 months in India, living in thatched roof homes and used an ox cart as a bed....but ultimately for the purpose of rebuilding a church that had been burnt down.  

On this same trip, he met a widow woman, Siromani, who had just lost her husband to premature death as well.  Siromani was struggling to provide the food, clothing and shelter for her two small sons, Sam & Chitty.

Bob raised the funds and built a small children's home, where he provided basic needs for Sam & Chitty - shelter, food, clothing, and a semblance of a home.

On Bob's next trip to India a year later, Bob felt the direction of the Lord to marry Siromani, and he stepped out in faith to propose to her.  They soon married and the new family moved to the US. Sam has since become a medical doctor in West Virginia.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world ~~ James 1:27

Over the last 30 years since, Bob & Siromani have faithfully served over 2,000 orphaned and vulnerable children through 6 different children's homes. Bob has lived the James 1:27 scripture in more ways than most of us have, or ever will...

loving and adopting the fatherless...and caring for, embracing, and marrying a widow

(l-r: Siromani, Sam and Bob (visiting Lifesong offices in Gridley, IL)

Laura Bush's message about orphans

Check this out as part of the Cry of the Orphan Campaign that will occur November 17-21, 2008