Family Friday: Bruce & Karen

Bruce and Karen have a story of patience, faithfulness and perseverance. Through pregnancy difficulties and adoption hurdles and heartbreak, God had slowly been preparing their heart and home for what He had planned for them. 

Through the hard times, Bruce and Karen thought maybe God didn't want them to have children of their own.  But things changed on Mother's Day 2011.  A friend from their church told them of a little boy who was deaf in Hungary who needed a forever family. AMAZINGLY, Bruce and Karen had both been learning sign language because they believed God was calling them to start a deaf ministry at their church!  After much praying, fasting and wisdom-seeking, they believed God was opening this door for them.  Even though it was scary to think of the challenges ahead, they chose to walk through it!

Through a matching grant from the James Fund (Partnered with Lifesong for Orphans), Bruce & Karen were able to raise the funds they needed to complete their adoption.

First meeting with their new son, Marcell.

First official family picture!

We were blessed to find Lifesong and to be accepted for a matching grant.  Our friends and family donated over $3,000 and James Fund/Lifesong matched every penny of it!  Receiving the checks from Lifesong was an added encouragement to us as we continued on our adoption journey. The costs of adopting internationally are so large that at times we felt overwhelmed. But knowing Lifesong was behind us, and people there were praying for us, helped us continue on our journey.

-Bruce & Karen

Bringing Churches Around Adoptive Families

"The blessings go way beyond any financial support because the family is just knowing that the church cares."

--

Dave Blaske, His Kids-Our Homes Adoption Fund Director

 

Listen in as His Kids-Our Homes Adoption Fund share about their partnership with Lifesong for Orphans...

 

 

It has been exciting for us as a ministry to have a front-row view in what God is doing through our 210 active and intentional Church Fund Partners.  In the past six months alone, we have seen the generosity of these churches provide over $627,650 to 193 adoptive families in the form of grants and loans.

 

The refreshing joy of serving families, blessing orphans, and ultimately glorifying God is at the core of each church fund that we partner with.  We celebrate the work that God is doing through each of them as He places the lonely into families (Psalm 68:6). 

For more stories about how a church fund can bless adoptive families, we invite you to watch the Quine &Stewart family adoption videos.

 

To learn more about Lifesong Church Funds, please visit our website or contact Rich Metcalfe (309.747.4528, rich@lifesongfororphans.org)

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works." Hebrews 10:24  

Family Friday: Justin & Bonnie

 I'm excited to introduce to you Justin, Bonnie, Asher and Hosanna, a family we were so blessed to partner with in their 2 year adoption process from Ethiopia.  Lifesong for Orphans along with Immanuel Baptist Church partnered with this family to help bridge the financial barrier of adoption through grants and fundraising support! I invite you to listen in as they share their journey to their two little 'treasures'.

We started our Ethiopian adoptions in April of 2010. We knew the Lord was calling us to adopt, but we honestly did not have the financial means to do so.  We received both a direct grant (through our church) and a matching grant from Lifesong during the Fall of 2010.  These monies came at the exact time that we needed in order to pay for our referral fees. 

God provided manna in the desert for the children of Israel one day at a time, and He likewise provided for our daily adoption needs through Lifesong.  It seemed that whenever a bill was due, we would receive a notification from Lifesong telling us that someone had donated towards our matching grant or our account fund.  These notifications continued throughout the duration of our adoption process! We praise God for Lifesong and do not know how we would have funded our adoption without their assistance.

We learned two amazing lessons throughout our adoption process.  Firstly, our Lord is a God who grants justice to the fatherless.  Secondly, He richly supplies all that we need when we chase after the things His heart breaks for.  After years of prayer and tears we saw Him grant justice to our children in miraculous ways; and through Lifesong He provided abundantly for all of our financial needs.

--Justin & Bonnie

A Time to Praise! Over 200 Church Funds!

Guess what? Last week we celebrated our 203rd Church Fund Partner!

We invite you to check out what God is doing through active and intentional churches who desire to defend the fatherless not only in word, but in ACTION...

Churches like Grace Hands of Hope in Indianapolis, IN who has partnered with Lifesong to establish a Church Fund. Their fund financially assists families who are bringing orphans into forever families and also are active in Lifesong's work in Honduras. They are planning their second trip to Honduras this fall and are eagerly raising funds for computers and Rosetta Stone software. 

 

They encourage other churches to, "Take a step – most of the time not fully seeing the next step, pray, watch God work, be blessed! That’s the cycle of getting involved in orphan care and it truly does give joy and purpose to life that is hard to describe."

 

First Baptist McKinney in McKinney, TX is another fund we are blessed to serve.  Like Hands of Hope, they have an active role in funding adoptions in their local church through providing grants and loans.  Along with their local service, they are also globally minded with a heart for Lifesong Zambia as they support missionaries Shane and Mitzi McBride. 

They share, "To step foot on the campus of Lifesong in Zambia is confirmation that God is at work there. The staff is amazing. The kids are beautiful and smart and James 1:27 is tangible at Lifesong School for Orphans in Zambia! It is our privilege to be able to partner with Lifesong and join God in the work He is doing."

We praise God for the faithful churches we are blessed to partner with and invite you and your church to join the movement of active and intentional movement for the fatherless.

To learn more about Lifesong Church Funds, please visit our website or contact Rich Metcalfe at rich@lifesongfororphans.org

Outside the Walls Network

We invite you to listen in as Christ Fellowship's Mark Thomas shares the joys of working Outside the Walls...

A few years ago, Christ Fellowship wanted to provide a viable mechanism to effectively assist members of our body who believed God had called them to change their family through adoption.  The "viable mechanism" we found to assist our church in adoption was Lifesong for Orphans.  

After seeing some of our own members successfully walk through the adoption process, Lifesong approached Christ Fellowship to see if we would consider offering financial support for other followers of Christ outside of our church body who were pursuing adoption.  Realizing that Lifesong, the adopting family and Christ Fellowship all shared the same goal of impacting others for Christ, we agreed to join the Outside the Walls Network. 

Doing so has been an incredibly rewarding experience for all parties involved.  First, it has enabled families to fulfill their pursuit of adoption.  Second, it has afforded Lifesong with the ability to experience the joy of seeing other believers serve a family in need.  Third, it has blessed Christ Fellowship as we strive to be obedient to God's call.  Finally, and most importantly, I am convinced that God is glorified as his people work to support one another for his cause. 

Because of the significant impact a church body can have in an event such as adoption, we would ask others to consider partnering with Lifesong for Orphans to financially support families outside of your church who are walking through this experience.  If you prayerfully consider offering support to those believers outside of your immediate church body, I am confident that families will be blessed, lives will be changed and, above all, God will be glorified.

--Mark Thomas, Christ Fellowship  

Because of this mindset, 21 Church Adoption Funds within this network have together made 91 commitments totaling over $310,000 in adoption funding to assist families "outside of their walls".

Would you be willing to join the Network and reach more children together, than you could alone? 

We invite you to learn more about Outside the Walls Network to see if this is a possible fit for your church community.