We still can't believe it, but we are actually leaving in just two days for Liberia, Africa to pick up our two daughters, Maria and Susannah, and bring them HOME!!! How Great is Our God!!!!!!! More good news--we received word Tuesday that A Child Waits awarded us a grant in the amount of $3,000!!! God is so faithful to provide; all of our adoption and travel expenses have now been taken care of!!!
Our plans are as follows:
Saturday, December 1----Depart Houston, Texas
Sunday, December 2-----Arrive Monrovia, Liberia
Monday, December 3----Pick up Maria and Susannah from orphanage!!!!!
Tuesday, December 4----File I-600 paperwork at US Embassy
Wednesday, Dec. 5-----Possibly meet girls' families/buy souvenirs, etc.
Thursday, Dec. 6-------Pick up Maria's and Susannah's Visas from
Embassy
Friday, Dec. 7--------Depart Liberia early evening
Saturday, Dec.8-------Arrive home with our daughters!!!!!!!
Please join us in prayer for the following:
1. Travel mercies: safety, protection of health, all logistics to work out smoothly and efficiently.
2. Pray that God will give us lots of open ears and hearts on our long trip to hear our great story and that He will receive ALL the glory.
3. Pray that our meeting and time with the girls will be blessed and that bonding will occur quickly and easily.
4. Pray that the filing of our I-600's and the obtaining of the girls' Visas will go smoothly and efficiently. Pray that there are NO delays or complications.
5. Pray for God's will in meeting any of the girls' families and that He will bless the meeting for all involved.
6. We have a 6-hour layover in Chicago on the way home. We have made arrangements to meet the family that adopted Susannah's 12-year old cousin, Linda. Pray that God will bless this time for all.
7. Pray that God will ease any and all fears that Maria and Susannah may have and that He will fill them with courage and hope in their new future. Pray that both girls will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior as they come to understand His love and mercy for them through their earthly and heavenly adoption stories.
8. Pray for Riley, Luke, Aubrey and the Robison family while we are gone. Pray for health protection, safety, endurance, peace, and joy for all.
9. Pray that God will continue to fill us with wisdom, discernment, patience, endurance, and grace during our trip and especially when we return home where our adoption journey will truly begin.
Thank you for all your prayers and for sharing this beautiful journey with us.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
We're Going to Liberia!!!!
We received a wonderful call from Judy at PLAN yesterday telling us that the interview with Susannah's birth mother went well so we can now go get the girls!!! We will be leaving Houston on Saturday, December 1 and returning on Saturday, December 8, with our daughters, Maria and Susannah!!!!
I will give you all more specific times, prayer requests, etc. next week. For now the prayer we need is for the grant that we applied for from A Child Waits to be approved. Judy has told us to purchase our tickets at the last moment possible, which is next Thursday, because they will not give us the grant once we have purchased the tickets. We will have to overnight our check to our travel agent in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Please pray we will hear good news about the grant early next week. Also, please pray that we will be able to get everything done that needs to be done in the short time we have and that there will be no major complications or delays.
We are awestruck, humbled, and moved to tears as we experience God moving in our family this way and watching Him grow our church spiritually AND physically!!! We are so thankful that we get to experience all this with each and everyone of you!!! This will be a Thanksgiving and Christmas to remember!!!
I will give you all more specific times, prayer requests, etc. next week. For now the prayer we need is for the grant that we applied for from A Child Waits to be approved. Judy has told us to purchase our tickets at the last moment possible, which is next Thursday, because they will not give us the grant once we have purchased the tickets. We will have to overnight our check to our travel agent in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Please pray we will hear good news about the grant early next week. Also, please pray that we will be able to get everything done that needs to be done in the short time we have and that there will be no major complications or delays.
We are awestruck, humbled, and moved to tears as we experience God moving in our family this way and watching Him grow our church spiritually AND physically!!! We are so thankful that we get to experience all this with each and everyone of you!!! This will be a Thanksgiving and Christmas to remember!!!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Adoption Update--Very Exciting!!!
It is with much excitement and great pleasure to bring you more good news on our adoption!!! It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Young home because we have been told that barring any tragedies we will have Maria and Susannah home with us for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! Following is an email we received yesterday afternoon:
Hi David and Suzanne, Just wanted to let you know that Maria’s birth mother went to the Embassy on Tuesday and was interviewed, and cleared. But the consular did not have time to interview the second birth mother. That will hopefully take place this coming Tuesday. Once it does, and if this one clears as well, these girls will be ready to go. As soon as I have word, then I will notify you to go ahead and plan travel. Please pray that we get good news. Take care, Judy
Early this evening Judy called us and told us to go ahead and apply for our Visas and to make tentative flight arrangements to arrive in Monrovia, Liberia on Sunday, December 2 returning the following Friday or Saturday!!!!!! Are you jumping up and down yet?!?! Aren't tears of joy the best?!?! Our song is on full volume now!!! Aubrey and I (Suzanne) don't know if we will be able to ever fall asleep!!!
Please pray that everything will go smoothly on Tuesday with Susannah's birth mother and that she will pass the interview, also. Pray that God will provide all the necessary funding to bring the girls home. We know this travel date is no surprise to Him and that He will provide!
We also want to take a moment and thank all of you that donated items to our garage sale and helped us with it. A huge and special thank you goes to Angela Frye, AKA Garage Sale Guru!!! We earned right over $1,000 that weekend!!! God is so good!!!!
We thank you once again for your prayers, support, and encouragement throughout this journey. We love you all!!!
Hi David and Suzanne, Just wanted to let you know that Maria’s birth mother went to the Embassy on Tuesday and was interviewed, and cleared. But the consular did not have time to interview the second birth mother. That will hopefully take place this coming Tuesday. Once it does, and if this one clears as well, these girls will be ready to go. As soon as I have word, then I will notify you to go ahead and plan travel. Please pray that we get good news. Take care, Judy
Early this evening Judy called us and told us to go ahead and apply for our Visas and to make tentative flight arrangements to arrive in Monrovia, Liberia on Sunday, December 2 returning the following Friday or Saturday!!!!!! Are you jumping up and down yet?!?! Aren't tears of joy the best?!?! Our song is on full volume now!!! Aubrey and I (Suzanne) don't know if we will be able to ever fall asleep!!!
Please pray that everything will go smoothly on Tuesday with Susannah's birth mother and that she will pass the interview, also. Pray that God will provide all the necessary funding to bring the girls home. We know this travel date is no surprise to Him and that He will provide!
We also want to take a moment and thank all of you that donated items to our garage sale and helped us with it. A huge and special thank you goes to Angela Frye, AKA Garage Sale Guru!!! We earned right over $1,000 that weekend!!! God is so good!!!!
We thank you once again for your prayers, support, and encouragement throughout this journey. We love you all!!!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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!
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.
Friday, October 5, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
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!
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!
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