We have kids!

Last Monday was an exciting time for Erika and me. We spent the day in Orlando looking at houses. That evening we were able to connect with our adoption agency. Sue, one of our caseworkers, showed us pictures of two children; Cristian and Claudia. We had known about Cristian for a few weeks but were waiting to hear back about some tests to see if he was “adoptable”. We found out that he is and we told her that we would “take him”.

He is three years old this August and is a little behind in speech,. This is because he has not had parents reading to him and talking with him. We figure that Rylee and Walker will get him up to speed on the important topics of candy, toys and cuddling. And Erika and I can read to them about Jesus. Please pray for him as he is with 450 other children in the orphanage in Guatemala City. Pray specifically that his papers would be processed quickly. We have been told that it could be as many as 12 months before we can bring him home.

Claudia is a different story. She was brought to our caseworker by her mom and grandfather. Her mom is dying of AIDS and her grandfather is incapable of caring for her. Our hearts were broken as we saw pictures of Claudia and her mom. Claudia is two and a half years old, severely mal-nourished, under height (maybe due to mal-nutrition) and very shy.

We can’t imagine what she must be going through. Erika and I are praying for her mom to come to Christ. Unlike Cristian, Claudia is a private adoption. This means it is more expensive but very quick…we could have her as soon as Christmas, which would be wonderful as her birthday is 12/26. Please pray for Claudia’s mom to come to Christ and for paperwork to go smoothly and quickly.

Hopefully Erika will be able to go to Guatemala in the next 6 weeks to connect with Claudia, Cristian and the orphanage. Thanks for your prayers, we will update you on our work in the next week.