Fundraiser

http://houghtonhands.olivetreepromise.com/families/profile.aspx/62/Houghtonhands/.


Go here and help us raise money to bring our angel home

Update

Homestudy is completed except him waiting for some paperwork. Agency contracts are signed and first set of fees are paid. Now working on raising money for the second set of fees. These fees are 4,000. As soon as we receive copies of the approved home study, we are applying for adoption grants. however we know that may not come in time for these fees so please pray for us as we put money back and do fundraising for the fees. We thank all of you who have helped in the fundraising process. It was enough to pay the home study and we some of the agency fees. We are trying to do this in a way not to go into debt but at the same time fast because the boy we are interested in is already 5 so not wanting to wait much longer to bring him home. Thank you for your prayers as we continue this wonderful and exciting journey.

Home study time

We will start our home study tomorrow and will finish it on Sunday. Pray we can pass everything and also for the finances of the agency fees we are needing to pay. Many have helped us get this far with prayer and financial help and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please don't stop praying for us during this as we bring our child home.

We got our contract for the adoption agency for Colombia. We will be having the home study in two weeks. Also we are having a garage sell in mesquite at crystals moms house next weekend. So you mesquiters please come buy and help support a good cause of bringing our baby home. All proceeds will go toward adoption expenses.

Final verdict on Peru

After waiting so long, our agency finally got a verdict with Peru. The answer was they will not renew the paperwork for them. Which brings us to the update. While waiting to hear about Peru our agency has been approved to adopt from the Latin American country of Colombia. We are proceeding with the agency and just switching countries to Colombia. Those who know about adoption know that normally there is a fee in this but for 2 reasons we are not being charged this fee. 1) is we had not signed a country contract yet 2) their Peru program has been closed. While we waited on a final verdict we have been looking into the Colombia program and see some benefits of going with Colombia and not Peru especially for the post placement paperwork. We also have been able to look at some files from Colombia of deaf children and are waiting on more, plus a more detailed file of one little boy. Now that we know the country and the contracts and all will be coming up soon we ask that you pray for us as we seek the Lord to provide the finances for the adoption and lead in the steps we need to follow in our adoption. Those of you in Dallas area, we will be having a garage sell in October. If you would like to donate, help, or come and buy it will be located at Crystals mom house near city lake park in old mesquite. All proceeds from the adoption will be used for the adoption contracts, and home study.

Homestudy and sale

Date is set for the homestudy. We will be doing that in about one month. We are still doing fund raisers to pay the agency for there fees. We have the bracelets, tshirts, coffee, one that is a mixture of things. We will be doing a garage sell in October in the Dallas area along with a car wash. We do have some friends who are thinking about doing a sell in there area for us to help raise money if you would be interested in donating items or hosting a sale please contact us. With friends all around the USA it will not be located in one area. Please continue to pray with and for us as we take each step slowly and following God

Pray

We are still waiting to hear about the Peruvian paperwork with the agency. We did talk to another agency and found out someone is starting the process of adopting the little girl we are interested in. We have agreed to look at Colombians waiting angels list that is being put together of deaf children. We were told we would be put on the fast list if we switched since we have been waiting so long. This means if we switch to colombia we would look at new files and would have to pay the fees ASAP. We could be able to have a child next year so we are praying about this and for the Lord to provide the money.

Update for prayers

Well let's tell you what we have found out the last few weeks. 1) Peru still hasn't given the agency a final verdict to renew their paperworks 2) if they don't hear anything or do not get renewal papers we either have to switch countries ie columbia or agencies 3)we know of a couple possible domestic adoption newborns that could be a possibility.
So that means we need you to pray with us as we seek God leading on this as we have possibilities and all that we need his leading on this......

We seek you.....

During this process we are seeing how God sought us while we are sinners. How He had to come to the earth and die for us. Think of it in a way of international adoption. Christ went to another place and paid the (adoption) price of dying on the cross. He did this so we can become the sons of God and spend eternity with him in heaven. Those who are and have gone through the adoption process spend time preparing the way ( ie paperwork) to go to a country to pay the adoption fees and go to court and legally say this child is mine and bring him into your family. What greater joy do we have than to be adopted into His family as a child of God.

Asking for prayer

We are asking you to pray. Prayer changes things and lives. Here is what we are asking prayer for
1) wisdom in proceeding with the adoption
2) that God would provide the finances needed to complete the adoption. Right now we need to pay home study off and some agency fees.
3) wisdom while looking at the files that we have been given and will be given as to the child or children God has for us.
4) for people to come around us in prayer and friends to help us walk through this with.
5) For God to have the glory and that maybe souls will be saved in the process.

Another file

Today we received another file of a 3 yr old little deaf boy. What a precious little boy. We are seeking Gods leading on these children. Pray for us as we proceed and get the homestudy done and the money to proceed with the adoption.

File received

There is a list of waiting angels for each country. We mentioned before we asked for a file. Guess what we finally received the file. She is a cute little almost 6 yr old girl from peru. She is deaf and has a couple medical things that are controlled by medication and pt. We are still waiting to see if our agency can renew their certification to adopt from Peru. Pray for us as we pray if this is the one God is leading into our lives to become our child. We have also word of an other opportunity that we are praying about and seeking his will. If you haven't looked at our fundraisers please do so specially adoption bug and olive tree promise. Links are posted in previous post and a widget is on he side for adoption bug.

Agency update on Peru and homestudy..

Got an email today from the agency. They haven't heard anything about their renewal to adopt from Peru. They have now appealed up the chain of command. This can take 1 month and if still nothing then they make a formal complaint and that will take a while. The us embassy in Peru is trying to help them. We found out today we need to go to the states to finish up part of the homestudy (FBI fingerprints and background checks). Pray for us as this was not expected and not sure when we plan on doing it, since we will be traveling to Tampico a lot this summer. Pray for wisdom in this. Please don't for get about the fundraisers. Every dollar help us bring home our angel. Right now we need 2,000 plus airfare for the homestudy 200 for FBI fingerprinting and 4,000 agency fees. These are due and we can't proceed until these are paid. Pray for God to provide and check the fundraiser there are a lot of things to choose from.

Prayer...

If you read a couple post ago about waiting, this will be exciting. While we are waiting God is moving. This is a two fold thing. He maybe moving in a way we never expected and also he is still moving in the international adoption. Pray for us as God is moving that he will move quickly and that all will be said and done to his honor and glory.. Keep praying...

T shirts for our angel

These are pictures of the shirts we have picked as our fundraising shirts. Adoption bug will give a percentage of each shirt sold to our adoption agency to help us bring home our angel. These are sold at adoptionbug.

Waiting

Waiting for the agency to hear back from Peru. Waiting for a referral file to look at. Waiting to see what other paper work we need for the homestudy that we can get done. Waiting to see how the fundraisers will start.( link to our pages are in post below). Waiting waiting waiting.... If they get the approval from Peru and we feel the lord leading in the ths referral. We will step up our process to move it along so we can bring our angel home. We need your prayers as we wait and seek his child for us. We need some prayer partner is this process. Who is willing to join us. We are asking you to remember us in your prayers daily. Prayers for the renewal papers for the agency, money to adopt, that the fundraiser joining on now and that will go on will be successful, for the referral for wisdom from God on if it is His will. These are things that can be prayed about while we are waiting.

Coffee??? or maybe T shirts???? Items for you house?? Jewelry???

Quick funrasing update. We have 4 going so check them out. 1)We have a fundraising on coffee. If you would like coffee or other coffee items please look at our fundraiser. Just a love for coffee 2) We also have T-shirts for sell. These are wonderful shirts that show your love for family and adopting Adoption Bug 3) We still are doing bracelets to help raise money. Although shipping may take a few with us being in Mexico but will get them to you. Everyone who has ordered them say they love them. 4). We also have been approved to raise money from olive tree promise. They have many different wonderful items. Olive Tree Promise These will help us bring our angel home. We will be posting more fundraisers soon.

Hi a real quick update. We still have bracelets ($5 and 10), necklaces($15), and earring($5) that I am making as a fundraiser to adopt. If interested please email me, comment below, or Facebook me. We will be starting 2 new fundraisers in the next few weeks. To give you a heads up, one will be tshirts children and adults size and the other one has clothing, jewelry, home decor, and misc. The last two are through agencies that will give a portion of the proceeds to our adoption, and the bracelets I make all proceeds go directly to our adoption account. We are planning to apply for grants after the homestudy is finished but we need to raise money to help finish the homestudy, and the contracts with the agency. These fees right now are around 7,000. As we bring our angel home, We ask that you pray for us to raise this money and those who have bought from us thank you so much.

Thank you all for reading our blog.... A few updates. We should know more about Peru by the end of the month. We have almost finished getting all the homestudy papers together. Lord willing we should have them done by the end of week or first part of next week. Then we can work on our classes we have to take while we get the money to finish paying him off so he can come and do the home visits. We have probably until end of July to pay the first adoption contract which is 4,000. So pray we can raise the money for these. We got word that we have been accepted for a new fundraiser, which is exciting. Please keep posted to see what's happening on our journey. Some of you may still want a bracelet let me know and I will get them to you. Also if you want to donate money for our adoption there is a PayPal link on our blog here that will link you up to our account.

Change of blog name

Well our dear Followers just a quick update. We changed the location of our blog for a couple reasons. Our agency is struggling to renew their Peruvian permits to adopt. That leaves us in a hard place as there are a couple kids in Peru at efata that their pictures have touched our hearts so. Our agency has just got their permits to adopt from Columbia, and they gave us that option. Our agency is still trying to renew their Peruvian permits. So right now the country is highly being prayed about. While we are praying we are continuing our paperwork for the homestudy and doing the classes we need. We are also trying to raise money for the adoption. So far we have paid half of the home study and also the adoption agency application fee. We still have half the homestudy fees to pay and also the agency's 2 contracts, and FBI fingerprinting due before we can proceed to the next stage. We want to personally thank those who have bought bracelets and we still have more to sell. We are also looking into more fundraisers. We know God will provide for us step by step as we walk ( even though we would love to run) through this wonderful and amazing process. We have some wonderful people who have donated this process and we thank you for caring about us enough to walk with us through this process.

We are asking for prayer as things have come to our attention this last week and we are seeking the lords leadership in our adoption during each step. The agency and a friend has brought something's to us this last week and we need the Lord to show us His leading in this. We are continuing the adoption process but the country and timing may change. We will update you more as we pray and get more information.thanks for your prayers and love. We are still selling bracelets and as soon as we get the homestudy done we will be adding new fundraisers. Please leave a comment to let us answer your questions and to let you know how things are going if you're interested. The lord gave us this verse the other week and would like you imput on it please. Psalms 113:9

We are selling these bracelets for $10 (bottom picture) and $5(top picture) plus s&h. These are being made and sold to raise money for our contracts with the adoption agency. We are also thinking about doing earings and necklace to match these bracelets. If you are interested any any of these please contact us via email, leave a comment here or on facebook. If you would like to donate to our adoption we do have a paypal link here or you can send to the agency in our name. However most of all we covert your prayers as we get these steps done to bring our angel home.

We have been doing alot of paperwork for the homestudy and the agency. We are needing to pay for the first contracr next month. We have begun a few fund raisers. Please pray for us as we raise the money for our little angel. We are excited, scarred, and many differnt emotions as we go on this journey. We are trying to do this with out us going into debt. We have started fund raising to help with the 2 contracts, homestudies, and paperwork we need to get done until we can get grants. We ask for your prayers as we know that God will provide this for us.

Got a lot of paperwork from the agency today. We should be getting our first contract via email in the next day or so. We just found out that we have 90 days to pay the first contract payment or case can go inactive. Please pray for us and with us that God will provide this money to us for the first contract. We are very thankful to some who have offered to help do fundraisers with and for us. If you want to help us in anyway or know more about the adoption or fund raising efforts please email us. We have been told of some very sad situations of some angels in Peru. The stories break our hearts. There are a few we have been told about and are praying for them. We know they can not all be ours but we can pray for God to provide them with the right home. We ask you to pray for them too as we know God loves these children and would not turn them away. I keep thinking about Matthew 19: 13- 14. If Jesus would not turn these children away it should be our joy to at least pray for the orphans james1: 27.

So excited!!!! We just got confirmation of agency acceptance.

Paid part of our home study cost today. We still have agency contracts and etc. Please pray for God to provide the money for the adoption as that is what will slow us down the most. We also did our first adoption education class today. Very interesting on multicultural families. It got us thinking about how as missionaries living in a foreign country you are multicultural to varying degrees. We have done a lot of paperwork for the homestudy. Prayiing hard for the ability to do this in a timely manner. Thanks for your prayers.

Well today we got a call from the adoption agency saying they have received our application and our application payment. Also that we should be receiving a call from them in couple weeks talking to us more about the adoption process and their Peru adoption program. Our next steps is the home study process which we will have a man come here and do the home study a long process and much paper work. Also the contracts for the agency is in our next step in our adoption process. We are excited about this process and looking forward as we take each step of the adoption process.

Our story

After years of being married and unable to have a child, we discovered that crystal has a genetically disorder and that we would not be able to have a child of our own. Through much prayer and tears, we felt the Lord telling us to be still and he wanted us to adopt. We have proceeded to that end and have also continued to follow His call in the ministry to the deaf of Mexico. Seeing that we live in Mexico it would be the most logical place for us to adopt from here, however Mexico has closed their international adoptions until a central system can be organized (years). We did not give up but looked for another country. At first we thought Haiti and was leaning that way until we had to change agencies. The new agency not only did Haiti but many other countries and we started asking questions. After said and done we are back at stage one and adopting from Peru. One of the reason we switch countries is that we feel the Lord leading us to adopt a deaf child. After talking to the people of Carolina adoptions we discovered with Haiti a deaf child would not be an option while with Peru it was an option we had. After much prayer we are proceeding with the adoption. We will update as time goes and things proceed. We are needing 11000 for the first stage of adoption plus a lot of work. Please pray for this money to come in and if you feel the Lord leading to pray for us or ask any question or help in any way please email us.