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