Prayer Requests

This prayer request page will be updated as we move through the process.  Check back often for updates!!

2/5/2018-
PRAISE- y'all we made it 6 months as a family of 4 :)  Thank you for ALL OFF YOUR prayer requests up to this point!!!
REQUEST- Follow Up medical appointments with the adoption clinic, ophthalmology, and ENT will all be happening in the next few months.  Her ABR procedure will be in April.  In March, she will be evaluated by the MCIU for educational services.

4/30/2017-
REQUEST- Pray that our remaining paperwork and travel arrangements go smoothly and without any hiccups.  This process involves a lot of back and forths and much of the paperwork is part of our final paperwork submission for China.  There are a lot of organizational details that can't be mixed up.  Sam's sister and brother in law will also be travelling with us.  Pray that the details regarding their trip are easily matched with ours. 
REQUEST- In the coming weeks, Jiao will be learning about who we are.  We've sent a care package to her that included pictures and information about us as well as gifts for her and those caring for her.  Pray that her heart is opened to accepting us as her family and that her worries are lessened over the transition.
REQUEST- Even though we're towards the end of completing the process, we've still got a long road ahead of us.  Once travel dates have been set, we'll be meeting with Dr. Hachen at CHOP (she's been with us since we first received Jiao's referral) to set up doctor appointments and specialist visits in order to evaluate Jiao's needs and a course of treatment for when we bring her home.  We will be working closely with the International Adoption Clinic at CHOP and other departments in order to provide some of the best care that Jiao will need.  There are still a lot of unknowns regarding her health.
REQUEST- The transition.  Who knows what the weeks and months following our return will bring.  Only God.  Please pray for our transition as we return from China and forge our way into being a family of 4.  We have no doubts that it will be rocky.
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2/20/2017-
PRAISE!!!!  We learned today that our dossier paperwork is IN CHINA and going through the registration and LOA process!!! 
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1/31/2017-
PRAISE!!! We've submitted our dossier paperwork and are waiting for a registration date from the CCCWA!
REQUEST- Pray that our paperwork is reviewed in a timely fashion and that our future timelines are shorter rather than longer.  Shortest estimated timeline until travel- July 2017; longest estimated timeline until travel- October 2017
REQUEST- We are waiting on another update on Jiao from the nannies at her orphanage.  We've asked for more developmental information based on her social needs, how she physically navigates different environments, and how she's communicating with peers and adults.  Pray that the information we get is both enlightening and encouraging so we can better predict how to meet her needs when we bring her home.
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9/18/2016-
PRAISE!!!!
We received a very encouraging update about our daughter.  We were asked to provide 10 questions to our agency who would then forward them to the orphanage where Jiao is living.  We heard back within days!!  We received information about her growth and development, social and emotional well-being, and a variety of pictures and video of her interacting with her nannies, peers, and toys.  From what we could gather, she is well loved, provided for, and is developing relationships with those around her.


Request- We have our 3 home study interviews scheduled.  They are on September 27th (Sam and Steph interviewed together), October 3rd (Sam and Steph interviewed separately), and October 11th (home safety visit with Wes present).  China requires 4 separate interviews as part of their adoption requirements.  Pray that these interviews and visits would go well--that our case manager will be able to gain insight into every aspect of our family and then be able to put it on paper.


Request-  Our timeline has been pushed back a little bit further than planned.  At this point, we think travel will happen sometime in the summer??????  One thing we've learned about adoption is that the process is different for everyone and everything will happen in time.  Patience, strength/endurance to push through with all of the paperwork and procedural "stuff".
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8/16/2016-
Request- Please continue to pray for our daughter, Jiao, and her caretakers.  Pray that her needs are met not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.  Pray that her caretakers have the energy, compassion, and love to care for not only her, but the other children that live in her orphanage. 


Request--  Our home study paperwork is still being reviewed and our interviews and home visit have yet to be scheduled.  We hit some snags with some of the paperwork and our agency has had some case workers leave the agency or transitioned to new positions.






3/28/2016-
PRAISE!!!!!  We FINALLY completed all of our training hours and submitted all of our home study paperwork!!  After a few months of feeling as if we were stuck in the mud, we've gotten our act together and have pushed forward!


Request- Our home study paperwork is currently being reviewed.  We will need to set up interviews and home visits to complete the home study portion of our adoption.


Request- In an orphanage in Inner Mongolia, China, there is a little girl named Jiao who is 20 months old.  Would you wrap her up in your prayers?  Lift her and her care takers up.  Pray that she would be provided for--physically, mentally, spiritually.  Pray that Jiao and her care takers would feel a sense of worth, of importance, of love, and of belonging.  Pray that any fears would be comforted, soothed, and replaced with His love.  We've submitted a Letter of Intent to make her a part of our family.  We are currently learning more about her health needs and consulting with doctors from CHOP regarding the level of medical support she will need.  Please keep us in your prayers as we learn more.
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9/23/2015-
Request- Please continue to keep the Kuhn Family in your prayers.  Sam and I lifted them up in prayer this past Sunday.  They are preparing to journey home from Ethiopia with their son, Malachi.  Here's a link to their blog.  http://kuhnadoption.com/
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Request- Please pray for our friends Virginia and Eric.  They are currently waiting to be matched with a birth family. 
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Request- Continue to keep Sam and I in your prayers as we gather our home study paperwork and begin our training.  We will be learning more about China and the international adoption process and homecoming as it is completely different than when we went through Wesley's adoption.
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8/4/2015-
PRAISE!!!  We've found a home with Living Hope Adoption Agency and have begun the paperwork part of the process for adopting internationally from China.
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PRAISE!!!  We continue to have a strong relationship with Wesley's birth family. We just had a visit with them last Sunday to celebrate his Birth Mom's birthday.  We went out to dinner and Wes and his siblings got a chance to play together.  Continue to pray for our relationship with them and for Wes' relationship with his siblings.
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Request- Pray for the children in orphanages in China (and around the world).  So many of them have unique health needs yet spend their youngest years in institutions. 
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Request- Pray for Sam and I as we begin to wade through this next phase of paperwork.
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Request- Pray for the many adoptive families that are waiting, waiting, waiting.  The paperwork phase can seem so daunting because it seems like it never ends.  However, the waiting part- the not knowing when, who, where, how, why- the part where we basically sit on our hands, can be the hardest.
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5/24/2015-
Sam and I have an information meeting with Bethany Christian Services on June 16th regarding international adoption.  Pray that our questions will be answered and our concerns abated.


Pray with us over the children that are being cared for at Maria's Big House of Hope and for all of the children that are waiting in orphanages around the world.