INCREDIBLE!

I saw this video years ago and my sister just found it again.  You have to watch this...it's absolutely incredible...BE BLESSED and SHARE it with your non-believing friends!! (pause my site music)

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9C2E1MNU

CCAA Announcement

CCAA has just made an official announcement stating that single women CAN now adopt a child on the Special Focus Program!  This means more babes will have forever homes...this means more babes will know the love of a family!

Notice

March 11, 20ll

Government departments and adoption agencies in receiving countries, In order to promote special needs child adoption and guarantee the basic interests of the orphaned and disabled children, CCAA decides to accept the adoption applications from female single applicants to adopt according to the requirements listed in this notice, starting f rom March 15, 2011 

I. Female single applicants are allowed to adopt special focus children listed on the special Needs System of ccAA. One applicant can only adopt one special focus child at a time, with an interval of at least one year between two adoptions. n. The applicant shall have reached the age of 30 years and are under 50. For applicants over 50, the age difference between the child to be adopted and the applicant shall be no more than 45 years. III. The applicant shall provide her civil status certificate. Unmarried applicants shall provide certification for being single and non-homosexual; divorced applicants shall provide the divorce certificate of the last marriage; and widowed applicants shall provide the death certificate of their ex-spouse.

IV. Applicants shall be healthy both physically and mentally according to the requirements by CCAA for prospective adoptive couples. Applicants shall be law abiding with no criminal records, and have good moral quality and conduct.

V. The family annual income shall reach $10,000 per family member, including the prospective adoptee and the family net assets value should reach $100,000. The applicant shall have good medical insurance which can cover the medical expense of the adopted child.

VI. Applicants shall be experienced in child caring or be occupied in child-related fields, such as doctor, nurse, teacher, child psychological counselor, etc. It's best that the applicants have already had successful experience in caring for special needs children.

VII. The number of children in the applicant's family under the age of

18 years shall be no more than two, and the youngest one should have reached the age of 6 years old.

Vru. Applicants shall be fully prepared for adopting a special focus child. Social workers shall provide the following information fully and timely in the home study reports besides family visit interviews: 1. Adoption motive. The decision to adopt a special focus child shall be well-considered. Applicants shall be capable of caring for a special need child and be responsible for the well-being of the child.

2. The reason of being single and attitude towards marriage. Applicants shall have clear indication of willingness to appoint male figures as role models for the adopted child, and welcome male friends to join family gatherings. 3. Applicants shall have received inter-country adoption training and training specifically for special needs child adoption so as to understand fully the physical and psychological needs of special needs children.

4. Detailed nurturing and rehabilitation plan. Applicants shall be qualified personally and socially for caring special needs children and have wide social and family supporting network which can provide assistance any time. 5. other advantages for caring special needs children.

IX. Guardians appointed by the applicants shall provide written

Statement as consent to act as the guardian of the adopted child. X. If the applicant has a stable relationship and lives with a male partner, t he requirements of couple applicants shall be applied.

China Center of Adoption Affairs

Surgery FUNDED!!!!!!

Baby Heather's surgery is FUNDED!!!!!!!! 

We just reached the $2500 goal....a goal I was so nervous about reaching and once again our Lord has gently and oh-so-beautifully shown me how my faith still needs to grow.

You guys simply amaze me...thank you for answering the call to care for the fatherless. I am soooo blessed by you!!

Oh beautiful baby girl, you are sooooo LOVED by many...you will get your surgery...sooooo overwhelmed...I can't believe it!!! Thank you Jesus!!!

Since we are funded, it's time to announce the winner of the
Pure Religion Bag.....

The Winner is.....

JENNIFER STRANE

Congratulations...your bag will be in the mail shortly!! 

Thank you everyone for helping sweet Heather!

Reckless Faith

I've shared Beth with you all before here.  But she's has a new video...no words needed...just watch and be MOVED!!  How can I...how can YOU capture the heart of an orphan?  The bottom video is still by far my most favorite one of her....pause my site music and be blessed and empowered to change the world one orphan at a time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Use me Lord...please use me!

Adoption Crisis in Ethiopia

I am asking and pleading that you lift the international adoption program in Ethiopia up to our Lord.

Last week the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s, Children's, and Youth Affairs announced their intention to reduce intercountry adoptions by 90% beginning March 10, 2011.

The Ministry’s plan for a dramatic reduction is apparently based on two primary issues;

 1) the assumption that corruption in intercountry adoption is systemic and rampant and;
 2) the Ministry’s resources should be focused on the children for whom intercountry adoption is not an option.

This new ruling will greatly impact families that are already matched with children but it will also be a devastating impact for ALL orphaned children in ET. Please pray for the Lord's perfect will to prevail...pray for wisdom for the Ethiopian law makers...pray for the babes who's lives will literally be changed forever by this new ruling....pray for any corruption with Ethiopian adoptions to subside so more children can be protected!

The Joint Counsel for Emergency Campaign for Ethiopia Children has created a petition...please read it and SIGN THE PETITION HERE!

One more UPDATE before...

3/11 UPDATE: We are ONLY $85 AWAY!!!!!!!!

I hit the ground racing for baby Heather!  I AM ONLY $365 away from reaching my goal for her surgery!!!!

4 months ago, I began training for a full marathon...26.2 (and DON'T forget the .2 either!!)  Many people asked me why in the world would I want to do something like that...wwweeelllll....it's all for HER........

Ohhhh, just look at her beautiful smile! Sweet baby Heather needs to have surgery for her cleft lip and palate. Because she also has Hep B, special care needs to be taken when & where she can have her surgery which is why I am raising funds for her.  Babies that are cleft affected often have a hard time receiving proper nutrition because they can't drink from a normal bottle. Because of this, the nannies have to spoon feed them their formula and it's very time consuming!

Sooo, to help raise the remaining funds, I am doing a Love Offering Raffle!!! For every $5 donated, you have a chance to win one of our

NEW PURE RELIGION Bags

...they are sooooo cooool :)
Don't forget ALL donations are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!

Click here to donate and I'll enter you in the drawing to win one of these...

Hurry on over and love on this sweet baby girl who's basic need is something we would never deny our own child. We are talking Pure Religion folks...caring for the fatherless...James 1:27

Love you guys!

Side note: It has been brought to my attention that when a sponsor receives a thank you note, it states that their donation went into the general account. This is for tax purposes only. Please rest assured that your donations are going to directly Baby Heather's surgery.

2 weeks away...

WOW...I can't believe it....I am only 2 weeks away from my running my first marathon! What a crazy feeling...I'm excited, nervous, ready, doubting, sad, super crazy excited, in disbelief...hehehehe...what a ride!

But you know what's been soooo awesome??? All of you!!!! All of your prayers...all of your financial support...it's blessed me so much! Honestly, it's what has kept me going through this intense training! I am sooo close to my financial goal which means sweet baby Heather is close to being funded for her surgery!! Thank you my amazing, loving friends!

I am doing all of this for this beautiful treasure...this sweet one who needs surgery and Love Without Boundaries has blessed me with the honor of running for her and raising funds for her medical care...what a gift!

So precious baby Heather...I'm running my heart out for you & when I get tired & feel I can't press on, I WILL because you are LOVED & you are a beautiful gift...God's perfect treasure!

For any last minute sponsorships for this wonderful treasure, click HERE.

So overwhelmed...

As I look at my sidebar and gaze at the faces of my beautiful babes, I am overwhelmed with the amazing, miraculous treasure that each of them are. Each of their stories are extraordinary and I have a hard time accepting the beautiful gifts that the Lord has given me.

What have I done to deserve this love?

Just look at all those little one's piled up...I could have never dreamed this big!!  They make me laugh, they make me cry...they fill me with indescribable joy, they make me want to pull my hair out...they make me feel young and old at the same time...they are my everything!! To think that I could have missed all of this takes my breath away...Thank you Lord for being so clear...Thank you for petitioning our hearts until we obeyed and heard You!  Thank you for filling my cup to overflowing...an overflowing that I didn't even know was possible.

2 more babes...

added to our advocacy blog and 2 babes who's forever families have found them...YAY GOD!!!!

Spread the news about these precious waiting treasures!

www.lovingthefatherless.blogspot.com

A plea for help!

Our very precious friends are adopting the sweetest little guy from a country I can't mention ;) This sweet family has had their share devastation, hope, & joy on this journey. When they committed to adopt sweet Zion, they also committed to adopting his baby brother. Tragically the baby died a few months ago...they have grieved their sweet baby and press on to get their other son, Zion, HOME.

Mama Kim just returned home from the un-named country and sweet Zion is VERY ill and needs to get home immediately. Would you please pray for protection over Zion, a speedy approval, the remaining urgent financial needs....See her email below:

Hi Friends,

We want to thank all of you who have encouraged us, supported us, and prayed for us with our current adoption of Zion from xxxx. I just returned last week from xxxx, and was able to meet Zion for the first time and spend three days with him. It was love at first site. This little boy is nothing short of amazing. He has such a sweet, sweet spirit, and a kind and tender heart. My friend Erin traveled with me, and she is in the process of adopting Zion’s sister Freedom and his brother Ezekiel. We had a great time with them, and it was soooo hard to leave!

When I was in xxxx, I had the feeling that something was not right with Zion’s health. He has come from a remote village that is extremely poor, and before he came to the orphanage 3 months ago, he didn’t have access to much food at all and his water supply was cloudy and dirty. He was taken in to the orphanage along with his brother and sister, and they have been able to eat much more regularly. His stomach is still very distended and hard, and he gets fatigued pretty easily. Also, his right leg and right arm are much longer than the left, and he walks with a painful limp. I couldn’t shake that there might be something going on with his health more than just malnutrition. I took some pictures of him without clothes, hoping to show them to the international adoption doctor here when I got home. On the plane ride home, we spent some time talking to a missionary doctor, who looked at Zion’s picture and felt that there was some sort of nuero-muscular disorder going on, and felt too that it was more than just malnutrition.

When I got home, I consulted with xxxx, a respected doctor in xxxx who deals with international adoption medical issues. He feels that Zion definitely has a condition called Hemihypertrophy, which is a condition where one side of the body grows at a much more rapid pace than the other side. He said that the problem that can occur with this condition, besides being uncomfortable to walk, etc. is that the internal organs on the right side of the body can grow at an unnatural rate, and become enlarged, and with this condition comes a higher risk for childhood cancer. Ideally, children with this condition should be screened for cancer every 3 months from the time they are infants until they are 7 years old. Zion is almost 6 years old, and obviously, has never been screened. In addition, his medical check up in xxxx noted that his spleen is enlarged and palpable, and this is of concern to the doctor here. xxxx is making an appeal to the US Visa office, to get Zion home immediately, in order to get the medical attention he needs.

Right now we are in the process of getting Zion an expedited passport, and making appeals to the Visa office to get him home on a medical visa. Time is of the essence, to get him the treatment he very much needs. In a normal scenario, the adoption would be completed sometime in April or May, but we are hoping to be able to get him home in March, due to his medical needs.

In order to bring him home, we need to raise an additional $3,000 by March. The needs are $404 for a visa, $300 for court decree in xxxx, $870 for the UCSIS process, and $1500 for travel to get him. We have been doing fundraisers like crazy, and doing everything we can to bring this little guy home. If you are interested in helping us reach our goal, please visit our website www.bridgetozion.com and you can donate via the chip in button on the site. If you are in need of a tax deduction, you can make out your check to Project Global Hope, and mail it to us at 15710 Streamview Court, Riverside, CA 92504 and we will forward your check to them. If you know anyone who might be interested in giving, please feel free to forward this email to them.

Please know that we covet your prayers, and are so thankful for your love and support!

Sincerely,

The Phillips Family

www.bridgetozion.com