Introducing Josiah Basten

It is with great joy that we annouce we have accepted the referral of Boimah Mambu - 2yrs 9mos. We have chosen the name Josiah which means "Yahweh supports" - and we are going to need all His support and more as we try to raise him to Love and Serve Our Lord. Kim and I are very excited! We liken it to going to the hospital for that first ultrasound, when you count 10 fingers and 10 toes. There is some relief in knowing, but now the real difficult waiting begins. So each time we eat or lay down our head, we will wonder about Josiah, and if his basic needs are being met and if he's doing OK. We have great confidence in our God's provision for Josiah, and are very thankful for AoH and the wonderful care they provide. So thanks for checking and we'll keep you posted as we know more.

Check out our other post from yesterday for more info.

A New Phase of the Journey

We received an updated list of available children yesterday, and though there was no "perfect" sibling group that fit the criteria that we feel is a best fit for our family, we did feel led to inquire on one little boy, and have started the ball rolling to make him our son. There is no official word yet, so I ask for your prayers, but if all goes well, he will be the first half of the puzzle to round out the Liberian part of our family. His name is Boimah Mambu and was born August 7, 2004 (2 yrs 9 months). It looks like he has tears in his eyes in this picture, and breaks my heart to think of what he has and is going through. All we do know is that his father abandoned him and his mother before birth. And though she tried, she was unable to provide for him and felt the orphanage was her best hope for him. That also breaks my heart. Other information we have is that he is healthy (no known health issues) and he weighs 23lbs is 32in tall. So I guess we covet your prayers for him, us, his mother, the orphanage, Acres of Hope, the adoption process to go smoothly, and anything else you feel led. Lastly we'd ask for your prayers for our daughter Olivia and wisdom for us to love and correct her. Her strong-willedness has been shining the last couple weeks, and we love her immensely, but she is testing our patience and authority as often as possible. We pray that we would figure that out before we interject two more children in the mix. As always, we do so very much appreciate that you care and are sharing in our joy through this whole process. It really does mean a lot to us! Thanks again.

Quick Update for Those Still Checking

We still do not have a referral, and are really in the dark as to when we might receive one. But currently there are no children at the AoH Orphanage that meet our criteria (siblings under the age of 4, preferrably a 3 yr old boy and a 1 yr old girl). There are at least 12 children whose adoption is final and have received passports, whose families will be picking them up at the end of May. The orphanage always has more qualified children "in waiting" to be admitted to the orphanage to take their place. Most likely in that group are our children. AoH is doing case work on these children to verify family situations (or the lack thereof). So as soon as we have word, we will be sure to pass it on. We have received some encouraging news, in that Passports used to take 2-6months to receive once the child was legally adopted in Liberia. It is now taking only 1 month. That is encouraging since the referral seems to be taking longer than what we had hoped. But as another adoptive family put it - this is "Liberian Passports 8.0" - meaning the process and time has changed 8 times during their adoptive process. So although it is encouraging now, all that could change by the time we actually need ours. As always, thanks again for your support.

P.S. Check out some of the new links we've added