March 22, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
Some
of you may know we have felt called and directed by God to adopt a “fatherless”
child into our family. We are adopting a
little boy from China China
Did
you know it is estimated less than 10% of all orphan children are adopted into
evangelical Christian families?
According to current estimates, if only 10% of the Christians in America would adopt, it would be equivalent to
providing homes for all the orphans in Eastern Europe (1.5 million), Latin
America (400,000), and the US
You
may be wondering what has prompted us to adopt.
Well, primarily, we felt so clearly directed by God to adopt that we
wanted to obey Him, and we also desire to give and orphan child a family the he
wouldn’t otherwise have. God desires for
orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for and adopted into Christian
families; ultimately so they can be saved, and be adopted into His eternal
family through Jesus Christ! There are
so many things God has used to prick our hearts and move us to adopt, here are
a few:
Pure
and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to care for orphans
and widows in their distress. -James 1:27
Having
predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will. -Ephesians 1:5
God
has given us a great love for His children of all ages. We enjoy loving and caring for the children
in our community and our church; our door is always open for a friend in
need. Many times, we wanted to do more
and asked God for an opportunity to serve Him through the love and desires He
placed in us. Adoption was that
opportunity.
Having
been reluctant to make the leap toward adoption due to being intimidated by the
cost, John was studying for a Sunday school lesson that he was teaching when he
came across James 1:27. God showed him
in no uncertain terms that he was called to adopt. When John surrendered to the call to adopt,
God affirmed it by opening doors that John thought were impossible to open.
At
the age of thirty-eight, Kim had a strong desire to have more children of her
own. Due to health reasons, she could
not. However, that same year, Paul was
born and abandoned outside a public bathroom in Xinzhou City America
The
biggest challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to another child,
but it is finding the finances to make this happen. We estimate our total adoption cost to be
roughly $35,000. God has been gracious
and has provided for us along the way for our home study, document processing
and agency fees. It is with faith in
Him, that we make our needs known to the Body of Christ. We set our pride aside and rest in the
knowledge that it is Biblical for us to ask for your help. You can assist us in two ways:
- Prayer-Please pray
that God will tenderly care for Paul in
- Financial Support-
Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us cover
the remaining $15,000 in adoption expenses to bring Paul home
If
you would like to be a part of God bringing Paul to Himself through our family,
you can send your tax-deductible gift to the address below. Lifesong is a trusted organization
administering the funds on Paul’s behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of
funds received. Our goal date is June 1st,
but funds will be accepted towards our adoption until the child is in our home
and/or our adoption is complete.
- Please make checks
payable to: Lifesong. You may
preference how the donation might be used by writing “Dobbs/3409 adoption”
in the memo section of your check.
(*Note: in following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong
which retains full discretion and control over its use).
- Mail checks to :
Lifesong for Orphans
ATT: Dobbs/3409
Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer
and finances. But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do
not break in and steal ~ Matthew 6:20. Be on the alert for updates and pictures of
Paul soon!
May the Grace of the Lord be with you,
John, Kim and Bryan
