Shouting From the Rooftop!!!

We are now officially shouting from our Champion Forest roof!!! PLAN called a few minutes ago and said the court documents came in! Maria Faith and Susannah Grace are now officially our little girls!!! ACFI is still waiting for the signed report from the Ministry of Health which should be completed by November 1. Once that is in, ACFI will deliver the report and the court documents to the American Consular for the pre-investigation in the Visa process. We were told this could take several weeks. Once that is done then we wait for an embassy appointment and we can make travel arrangements to go get our girls!!!

Please continue to pray for God to cause things to happen quickly and efficiently. Also, please pray that God will provide the money we will need for travel, which is very expensive.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support. Isn't it wonderful to finally hear some good news from the Youngs?!?! Can anyone hear our theme song, How Great is Our God, playing?!?!


P.S. I (Suzanne) really did get on the roof and shouted, but then I embarrassed the kids in front of their friends because I froze trying to get down. Not a pretty sight!

Spelling of Susannah's Name

We have been spelling Susannah's name the way Children Concerned was and it is different on their birth certificate. From this point forward you'll see her name spelled Susannah instead of Suzanna.

Adoption Update

We have good news and bad news to share with you today. The good news is that God answered our prayers and changed the hearts of PLAN and they have decided to continue to work with us in bringing home Maria and Suzanna.

The bad news is that when Judy Elkins was in Liberia she found out that nothing had been done with our case yet. We suspected this but are still extremely hurt. We explained to Riley, Luke, and Aubrey last night that even though we are very sad about this that we cannot look on this last year as wasted because God has been and is continuing to work out His perfect purpose and plan for our family, including Maria and Suzanna, and most important for His kingdom and glory.

Please continue to pray for God's protection of Maria and Suzanna as well as hope and patience for them as they wait to come home to us. Pray that God will cause all people to work together efficiently and quickly to bring the girls home as soon as possible! Pray that God will give us and Pastor Ted discernment and wisdom as we work with PLAN to bring the girls home.

We love you all and appreciate your prayers and support more than you will ever know.


Below is a picture of Maria and Suzanna that Judy sent from her trip to Liberia.

Prayer Needed for Adoption

As most of you know we wrote a letter to the President of Liberia in August. In that letter we outlined our adoption process, our troubles with ACFI, and our understanding of the deplorable conditions of the orphanage where Maria and Suzanna are.

Monday morning I (Suzanne) received a call from Judy Elkin's assistant, Susan, who told me that while Judy was in Liberia last week she found out that we wrote the letter and that the President sent her people to investigate ACFI. I was told that this caused great embarrassment to ACFI and that because it seemed we couldn't trust PLAN to do their job they were no longer willing to work with us. They told me that we would have to contact ACFI in Liberia directly and handle the adoption on our own if ACFI would agree to work with us.

After talking to the Executive Director of PLAN, a woman named Margaret, for nearly an hour I was able to get her to reconsider this decision until Judy returned from her vacation on October 1st and we all had a chance to talk things over. David will be taking this call and hopefully we will be able to have Pastor Ted on the phone, also.

Please pray over the next two weeks for God to soften the hearts of everyone involved to make the right decision based on what is best for Maria and Suzanna. Please pray for wisdom and grace for David and Pastor Ted as they speak with PLAN. Pray that God will continue to strengthen us in this battle and that He will receive ALL the glory. And, as always, please continue to pray for God's will in Maria's and Suzanna's lives and for their protection.

Thank you again and again for your prayers!

Update/Prayer Requests

We want to update you just a little and then let you know of several ways you can pray in the next few weeks.

As of our last update, we still have no answers to our questions about the lies and contradicting information we have received concerning our adoption of Maria and Suzanna. Judy Elkins, Director of International Adoptions at PLAN will be traveling to Liberia on September 11th. She has asked us not to send our contract and fees in until she returns from her trip and feels confident in our adoption.

Two weeks ago we received word from our adoption group moderator that the Ministry of Health in Liberia was in the process of shutting down the orphanage that the girls are living in. Judy Elkins confirmed this through a PLAN worker in Liberia. However, this week we received another email from PLAN stating that ACFI is reporting it as rumor. Due to the lies and deceptions from ACFI we are not believing it is a rumor. In addition, another family who is adopting from the same orphanage, is in contact with a pastor in Liberia who has been checking on the family's children the last several months. He is reporting that the conditions at the orphanage are going from bad to worse. He is doing what he can, but it is not enough.

We are also receiving reports that due to the deplorable conditions at the orphanage, the lack of food, and the closing of the orphanage that some of the families are coming and taking the children home. We have absolutely no idea if the girls are still there or how they are doing.

We have written and mailed a letter to the President of Liberia outlining the history of our adoption process, describing the present situation at the orphanage, and appealing to her authority as President as well as to her heart as a mother to help the children and to bring Maria and Suzanna home to us as soon as possible. We had to mail the letter to the Liberian Embassy in Washington DC because there is no postal service in Liberia.

We have also been busy completing two different adoption grant applications.

Here is how you can pray:

Continue to pray for Maria's and Suzanna's physical, emotional, and spiritual protection.

Continue to pray that God will give us wisdom and direction.

Pray for God's will in the lives of Maria and Suzanna.

Pray that the letters we are sending with Judy to our girls filled with scripture will bring them hope and comfort.

Pray that the letter to the President of Liberia will be delivered to the right hands and will cause a swift and positive action on the behalf of the children in the orphanage including our girls.

Pray that our grant applications will be looked upon favorably and that we will receive much needed funds to complete this adoption.

Pray for Judy Elkin's Liberian trip in the following ways:

Protection for Judy as she travels and while in Liberia.

Judy will find Maria and Suzanna safe and well.

God will reveal all lies, deceptions, etc. to Judy.

God will provide Judy with the courage and boldness needed to obtain all required information.

Thank you as always for your continued prayers and encouragement. We will never be able to express our gratitude for all you have done for us throughout this journey.

Adoption/Prayer Update

As most of you know in mid-April we were given two pieces of bad news concerning our adoption of Maria and Suzanna. First we were told that all the information on both girls was found to be wrong and ACFI was bringing in Suzanna's father from Sinow, Africa (a 3 day trip) to give consent for the adoption. Second, we were told that ACFI in the states would no longer be able to process our adoption and we were given to an agency in Oregon called PLAN Loving Adoptions Now. If we want to bring Maria and Suzanna home we have no choice but to go through this agency.

After two months of constant calling and emailing we finally found out that Suzanna's father had come in and given his consent to the adoption. During these months we were told various pieces of news concerning the progress of the adoption, most of which were conflicting and/or suspicious. While bringing these facts to PLAN's attention (first part of July) we were told that Suzanna's mother had come in to give consent and while she was there she told ACFI that Suzanna's father had abandoned her while she was pregnant and she had no idea where the father was!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that right! Of course we immediately asked who the man was that came in to give consent for Suzanna's adoption!

We have since then requested answers for several questions before we feel comfortable proceeding. The two main questions that must be answered are about Suzanna's father and why our case has been in Africa for over 10 months now and they are just getting consents when this is the first step in the adoption process. In the last few days in speaking with PLAN we are being told we may not get these answers.

We have definitely been deceived by ACFI and others right from the beginning of this adoption process. PLAN has said they don't like the word "deceived" but blame it on culture. We have a difficult time accepting this. We have our family to protect--including Maria and Suzanna.

Just when you think things couldn't possibly get worse they do! A new Consular for the American Embassy in Liberia took over in July. She has made it very clear that her mission is to SLOW down adoptions from Liberia. She is allowing VISA's to be granted only one day a week with extreme rules attached that are making things very difficult and slow--her mission.

We are now hearing from two families that have just recently returned from Liberia that ACFI is monitoring all letters coming from the children and are not allowing the older children to write for the younger ones. We have heard nothing from our girls since February. We have also been told by these families that the children are not getting enough to eat and are getting much thinner.

Dear family, we desperately need your prayers. Please pray for God's wisdom and discernment. Pray that His light will show us the truth in this terrible darkness. Pray for His continued protection of us and Maria and Suzanna. We are working with a corrupt organization (ACFI) and are not sure how much we can trust PLAN. We do know we can trust God and His sovereignty; He is in control! Pray that God will soften the American Consular's heart towards adoption. We are heartbroken, weary, and discouraged. Please pray James 1: 2-4 and 1 Peter 5: 10-11 for our family.

Thank you again for your continued love and prayers. We love you!

Letters for Liberian Orphans

We announced this at church yesterday but a lot of you were out so I thought I'd email the announcement as well.

Over the past couple of months we have learned a great deal about life in the orphanage in Liberia. As you would expect most of it is very sad. One of the things we found out is that when the children who are being adopted receive letters, pictures, gifts, etc. from their adoptive families most of it is given away to the children who are not being adopted yet. These children have such giving and sharing hearts they give and share everything!

I was talking to Chelsea Zackey of Children Concerned last week about this and found out that her mother, a brother, and sister are going to Liberia after the first of the year. They have room to take one 81/2" X 11" envelope with them. What we would love for all the children of Grace (adults, too if you want) to do is to draw pictures and/or write short simple letters to the children living in the orphanage. This way every single child whether they are being adopted now or not will receive a little something of their very own. The pictures and letters can have your favorite scriptures and just a note saying you are praying for God to bring them a family.

It would also be great if we could send some chewing gum (flat and thin kind only) along with small sheets of stickers. The children love them and they would fit in the envelope with the pictures and letters. Stacy Audirsch had a great idea about sending cute band-aids, too! If your children love to draw like Aubrey does have them draw more than one picture! I do not currently have a list of the children's names so if you want to write a letter just leave it blank after the "Dear" and we will put names on everything as soon as we get a list of names. Please do not fold pictures or letters!

We need your drawings, letters, stickers, gum, and bandaids by this Sunday, Christmas Eve. If you cannot be there on Sunday and would still like to send a letter just email us with your letters and we will print them and send them.

Thank you so much for doing this for these precious children. I know without a doubt they will be so blessed and each of you will too! We love you all!