An Exciting Announcement

I am constantly amazed at how God works in our lives, and He once again has not let me down. After preparing ourselves, Isabelle and Davie for what we thought would be a 1 year wait for a referral, we received a call 9 months early! I can hardly believe that it is true, but Baby E is out there, and let me tell you she is absolutely gorgeous. I am probably a little bias, but trust me so very cute.

Thursday evening we were about to head out of the house when I got a phone call, it was our case worker, Alicia. The first thing that she said was, "Happy Mother's Day Erica". It didn't dawn on me what she was getting at, so I told her Mother's Day was a few months ago, to which she replied, "not for you". I immediately left the room and called Dave into our bedroom because it occurred to me that she was calling about our baby-to-be. We eagerly listened to all of the details that Alicia had to offer, which wasn't much. She emailed us a few photos that she had of "E" as well as a tiny bit of medical information. Here is one of the photos we received, we have blocked out her face due to privacy reasons, we are not permitted to post her photo until she is officially a member of the Wink Family.

Our very first picture of our little girl

At this point the agency doesn't have enough information to send an official referral because they need to transfer the baby to the Thomas Center. The Thomas Center is our agencies transition home, and she needs to be seen my a doctor in Addis. Even though it is not an official referral she is definitely ours. Once CHI receives the medical information they will pass it along to us with the formal referral and we go from there. We hope to have this information by next week at the latest. According to Alicia it will take about 5 months before we can make our first of two trips to Ethiopia to finish the adoption process. I cannot begin to tell you how excited we all are, and how thankful that we are to have moved so quickly. We have met so many parents who have been on list for years and we are in awe of the fact that we only had to wait a few short months.

While we are so excited about getting to the top of the list sooner than we anticipated we are also face a big challenge, money! After accepting the referral our agency requires we pay our next fee to Ethiopia within two weeks, that fee is $11,000. We have been saving,  given the time frame was cut by 9 months we have not had enough time to save anywhere close to that amount. So that leaves us in a mad dash to start raising funds.

Many people have asked how they can help, and we can honestly use all of the help we can get. I want to assure you that Dave and I do not like asking for help, we don't like to burden people and we don't like to ask for money, however this is something we feel God is calling us to do. Here are a few ways that you can help:

1) Please pray for us, for all of the orphans in Ethiopia and all around the world. Please pray that Baby E's medical comes back and that everything is ok with our sweet girl.  Please pray that her  travels to the Thomas Center are safe and uneventful. We ask that you pray for God to prepare Isabelle and Davie for the upcoming changes in our family. Please pray for Baby E's birth parents, whatever their circumstances maybe. Lastly we ask that God will give us wisdom, discernment, and insight as we raise all of our children to know Jesus.

2) Will you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover the remaining adoption expenses  to bring our little girl home? We have currently paid over $10,000 in expenses, but the entire process will end up costing around $35,000 with travel expenses, adoption fees, etc. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation please send a check to Lifesong for Orphans at P.O. Box 40 Gridley, IL 61744. Please write "4579/Wink"in the memo line and this will ensure the funds go to the correct account. 100% of the donation will be sent to our adoption agency to go to our adoption fees. You can also donate on Paypal by visiting www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate , select "Give to an Adoptive Family".  Complete the online form with "4579" as the account number, the family name is "Wink". 


3) We are also starting an Adoption Auction Fundraiser on Facebook. We are asking for donations from friends, relatives and anyone else that feels called to donate to provide items to be placed on auction. A few example items are gift cards, products, crafts you have made or services. We will be accepting items through July 31st. Please email me if you have any questions, or to be added an item to our donation list at erica.wink@gmail.com. All items will be up for auction beginning Friday, August 1st at noon. When bidding on an item please put your bidding price in the comments below the item. The auction will close Sunday, August 3rd at 10:00pm, the highest bidder is the winner. I will contact all winners by Monday afternoon at the latest. For more information on the auction please visit: https://www.facebook.com/babyefundraiser

4) Lastly, one of the best things that you can do for us is share, share, share. The more people we reach the more help we can get, and every little bit counts.

We have created a puzzle (see post below) where we are writing all of the donors names on the back of a puzzle piece. As the donations come in we put the puzzle together, once the puzzle is complete we will hang it in Baby E's room and tell her all about people who helped bring her home to us, and show her how many people loved her before they ever knew her.

We are so excited to be on such an amazing journey, we are excited to bring new life into our family, excited to be doing God's work and so thankful for all of the support that we have already received. We truly have some amazing friends, family and supporters. Thank you for all you do. 

I am so excited, I just ordered our fundraising puzzle! For each person that donates towards our adoption we will put your name on the back of one of the puzzle pieces. As the pieces go together it will form the jigsaw puzzle (shown to the right) that we will hang in Baby E's room when she get's here. The puzzle represents all of the people that loved her before she was even here. A representation of all of those who helped bring our missing piece to our puzzle home.

As an added bonus, I ordered two of the puzzles... This mean we will use one of the pieces to put the puzzle together, and give you the same piece of the second puzzle with a magnet attached. You can hang the piece on your refrigerator as a constant reminder to keep us in your prayers along our journey, and as a thank you for all of your love and support. 

We already have a couple of donations, I am so very thankful. Dave and I have been so nervous about asking for help, but I truly do feel the love and support from everyone that we talk to. We love all of our friends and family so very much, and we could not do this without you. I know that when God lead us to adopt that He would see us through all of the obstacles and so far that has been true. God is good all the time!

If you are interested in donating, here is the information for our Lifesong for Orphans account: 

Please make checks payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo, note “4579/Wink” to ensure funds go to the correct account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744. Lifesong has been blessed with a partner that underwrites all U.S. administrative and fund-raising costs . That means 100% of your donation will go directly to our adoption. 

Another option is to give online. Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate. Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.” Complete the online form and our account number is “4579” and the family name is “Wink”. Please note that PayPal will charge an administrative fee for credit card processing (2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction). Your donation will be decreased by the amount of this fee.

Individual donations of $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $250 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. 

Lifesong for Orphans Fundraiser

Dear Family and Friends,  

As you may already know Dave and I have felt the call to adopt a child into our family. The Holy Spirit has been working on our hearts for a few years now; finally in November 2013 we decided to answer the call and follow our hearts. We began the adoption process. We have an agency, we completed our home study, and now we are waiting to be matched with a specific child. Once we receive our referral, we will we travel to Ethiopia to meet our child and finalize the adoption. We will then come home and anxiously wait for all the paperwork to be completed in Ethiopia before we make the final trip to bring her home. Until then, we will continue to pray for the missing piece to our family. 

Why adopt? Our primary reason is that we feel so clearly directed by God and the Holy Spirit to adopt. We want to give a child a family that she probably wouldn’t otherwise have, and our family has so much love to offer. God desires for orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for, and adopted into Christian families. Mark 9:37 says, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

Why Ethiopia? There are an estimated 5 million orphans in Ethiopia, a country that is twice the size of Texas. 1 in 10 children die before their first birthday, half of the children in Ethiopia never attend school and 88% of children never attend secondary school. 60% of children are stunted because of malnutrition, and half of all of the child deaths are associated to malnutrition.  These are just a few of the reasons that we choose Ethiopia, but again the primary reason is that this is where we feel God is calling us to adopt, and He is an all-knowing, loving God. 

The biggest challenge is not opening our hearts and our home to another child, but it is finding the finances to make this happen. The estimated cost for the adoption is $35,000. That’s certainly money that we don’t have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him. From the very beginning we have had a strong belief that if God sees us to it, He will see us through it. Just imagine how many people would adopt if money was not an obstacle, we don’t want finances to be our only obstacle keeping us from saving a child and offering her a better life. By God’s grace we’ve been able to pay a little over $10,000 to get the process moving. 

Honestly it’s a little difficult (because of our pride) to make our needs known to the body of Christ but we realize we are biblically told to do so. We have applied through Lifesong for Orphans for a fundraising account, an organization that seeks to help orphans through adoption, and caring and fundraising to provide for them. Lifesong has setup an account for us, an account where are friends and family can donate toward our adoption and the donation is tax-deductible. Lifesong suggests that we send letter to our friends and family because many people want to help but don’t know how. We value your love and friendship, and we would like you to pray and consider helping us in one or two ways with our adoption. 

1. Please pray God would tenderly care for all of the orphans in Ethiopia and all around the world. Please pray that God chooses the perfect child for our family, and that he makes His choice clear to us; and that through prayers and guidance of the Holy Spirit we feel confident about our decision toward the child that is placed before us. We ask for your prayers that God would prepare Isabelle and Davie for the upcoming changes in our family. Please pray for our child’s birth parents and lastly, we ask for prayers that God will give us wisdom, discernment, and insight as we raise this child to know Jesus.
2. Will you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover the remaining $25,000 in adoption expenses to bring our little girl home? Our goal date is August 19th, 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 for Orphans”. In the memo, note “4579/Wink” to ensure funds go to the correct account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744. Lifesong has been blessed with a partner that underwrites all U.S. administrative and fund-raising costs . That means 100% of your donation will go directly to our adoption. 

Another option is to give online. Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate. Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.” Complete the online form and our account number is “4579” and the family name is “Wink”. Please note that PayPal will charge an administrative fee for credit card processing (2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction). Your donation will be decreased by the amount of this fee.

Individual donations of $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $250 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. 

Every person that donates to our adoption becomes a part of our story, a piece of our puzzle. To symbolize the support, we have a jigsaw puzzle that we will assemble during the process. Every piece of this puzzle will symbolize someone who is helping bring our little girl home. When a donation is made, the donors name will be written on the back of a piece of the puzzle. After the puzzle is completed, we will frame the puzzle and hang it in our child’s room. Each of you will be part of bringing home the missing piece to our puzzle! I can imagine telling her one day when we read off the names that, ”these people loved you before they ever knew you!” This will be a wonderful keepsake for her to have, where she can see all of the people who helped bring Baby E (that is what we call our baby-to-be, the “E” is for Ethiopia) home. 

Thank you for investing in our family and in God’s Kingdom through your prayers and finances- it will be an investment with an eternal return! We’ll give you updates with details and pictures as we receive them. We have also created a blog where you can follow our journey winksethiopianwish.blogspot.com . I do my best to keep it updated as much as possible. Please pray that through this entire process that we will glorify God and fulfill His purpose. 

Love, 

Dave, Erica, Isabelle and Davie