5 for Hope: Update #3 from AGCI

Friday, January 26, 2007

Update #3 from AGCI

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!
-Winston Churchill

Hold fast, help is on the way. Hold fast, he’s come to save the day. What I’ve learned in my life, the one thing greater than my strife is your grasp, hold fast.
-Mercy Me

Peace be still
-God

Once you choose hope, anything's possible.
~Christopher Reeve

Dear Families,

I hope the week finds you well. It’s been a busy week here at AGCI, both here in Portland and in Guatemala. This week, it’s all about quotes! Is there anyone that needs some encouragement? Well, here’s another interesting quote I heard once on the radio, and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s not so much about encouragement, as it is about reality. “There are two kinds of people in the world, those that are going through a trial, and those who are about to.” Well, no matter which side of things you fall on currently, I would say that this is fairly close to the truth! Make a way for yourself to be encouraged by someone or something. We were never meant to live our lives alone without needing others to help and guide us.

On another note, I got to speak with Ron Beazely today on the phone. He is one of the founders of All God’s Children International. Currently, he is in Guatemala with his daughter Heather Radu, helping with the mission of Hannah’s Hope. He calls weekly reminding me to tell families that they will be so pleased to see how wonderful our program in Guatemala is. If you’ve already seen it, you can rest assured that we are always trying to improve so we can better the care of the children we serve and better the experience of adoption for our families. Some of you have met Dr. Castro, and some of you have not, but Ron says that you all should know that the children at Hannah’s Hope are receiving some of the best care in the world. We are so, so thankful!

Ron also wanted me to share some needs with the families in the program. I have attached a list of medical needs that Dr. Castro put together, as well as an updated list of the needs for Hannah’s Hope and House of Hope/Promise of Life. He mentioned one of the biggest needs is formula and diapers!!! In ’06, we spent $4,000/month on formula and $2500/month on diapers. If you can meet the formula need, email me @ jsabo@allgodschildren.org so I can give you the correct brand. We were so fortunate to have recently received a large supply of children’s vitamins, so that is not a need currently. For those who would like to donate supplies or have friends who would like to do so, this is the most current list. Please keep in mind, it is extremely expensive to ship things to Guatemala so either take supplies with you when you travel, or if you would like to send something to Guatemala, we can try to put you in touch with a traveling family whom you could send a package to and ask for them to take it with them. Also, if there are large items, too large to travel with, you can make a financial donation to AGCI for the purpose of that item. Again, we ask that you give if you want to. There is no obligation.

Also, many families have been asking about Hague in regards to your adoption, or because you know others who would like to adopt from Guatemala.

Please use this website link as your guide to understanding Hague: http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/Prospective_Adoptive_Parents_Guide.pdf . We will have a Hague button on the homepage soon with this link

Now, for the update:

PLACEMENTS:

We are hoping to place more children in February. More and more women are coming to Promise of Life and House of Hope because they know that we can offer them great care and options for their pregnancy.

FIRST TRIP:

Two families traveled to meet their children for the first time this week.

FAMILY COURT:

We had one FC appointment this week.

We are preparing ten families for FC and DNA.

In the past two weeks, seven families have come out of FC.

DNA PROCESS:

We had one DNA appointment this week.

Two families received their pre-approvals this week from the USE!

The US Embassy continues to process the pre-approvals in approximately 30 days once the DNA lab results are received by the USE.

PGN:

Two families went into the PGN this week.

We had three families come out of the PGN this week!

And did you know that we have around 40 families total who are in this phase of their adoption? You are not alone.

CIVIL REGISTRY:

Four families are in CR and soon more will be!

IN TRANSLATION:

We have 2 cases currently in translation; once everything has been translated these cases will be submitted to the USE for their pink slips!

IN US EMBASSY:

We have submitted four families to the USE for their pink slips and are awaiting visa appointments.

PINK SLIP:

Five families have Visa appointments for next week!

Have a great weekend,

Jill, Kim and SooJin

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Favorite Family Verses

The grace of God will not take you where the will of God can not sustain you.

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul..."
~Psalm 131: 1-2~

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
~ Phillippians 4:13 ~
(Brian chose this verse to be engraved in Jen's wedding ring.)

"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us."
~ 1 John 4:12 ~
(Jen chose this verse to be engraved in Brian's wedding ring.)

Our Thanks to You...

For those of you who have gone through the adoption process, you understand what a blessing it is to have a "cloud of witnesses" that surround you, uphold you in prayer, and agree to give up their time to assist in the incredible amount of paperwork that accompanies this decision. We have been incredibly blessed by the love shown to us by our friends. Many of you have spent hours filling out letters of recommedation, have made countless trips to the bank to have documents notarized only to find out that they need to be renotarized (and renotarized, and renotarized). Many of you have prayed for us, not only over the past few months, but the past few years, as well. Words can not adequately express our gratitude to you for the wonderful gift of your friendship. Thank you, from our entire family, for helping us to bring Ana Hope home to our family. And now that we venture forward, as a family of five, we continue to be blessed by your friendship, your prayers, and your constant support in caring for our family.

About All God's Children International

The following is "Heather's Story" as described in her mother's book The Strength of Mercy" (Jan Beazely). "Many years ago, when I was just eighteen, God called me to walk into the fields of the fatherless in Romania. There I was honored to find my sister Hannah. I had no way of knowing that Hannah’s adoption was just the beginning of what God had planned for my life. My call became my family’s mission as well. We were probably very much like your family, very ordinary, and one day God just asked us to answer His extraordinary call. Many people have asked me, “How did All God's Children International begin?” My answer is simply this... The first time I walked into a Romanian orphanage in 1990, I was overwhelmed by what I saw and I wanted to do something. Hopeless little orphan faces stared up at me and hardly responded when I reached out to touch them. I remember praying with tears running down my face, “Lord, there are so many…and their needs are so great… How can I even begin to help them all? God spoke back to me clearly. “Heather, you see the multitudes, but I know each one by name, all I’m asking you to do is to try, just help them one at a time.” So that is what I did. A month after completing Hannah’s adoption for my parents, AGCI officially became a Christian adoption and relief agency. I returned to Romania to help give the children I left behind the second chance they deserved. One child became two. Two turned into three and now over the last 16 years we have been privileged to give thousands of second chances to orphaned children not just in Romania, but Bulgaria, Russia, Guatemala, Nepal, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Macedonia, India, China and now Ethiopia. Through our foreign adoption services, our orphan relief and child sponsorship programs, as well as our Hannah’s Hope children’s homes, AGCI continues to make a difference in little lives. We have indeed grown over the years, but my passion to rescue and care for children has never changed. I continue to help them one at a time. I understand now that the compassion I felt was there for a reason. God’s voice is never silent concerning the orphan. If you listen you can hear Him whispering in the darkness at night. He continues to shout from the rooftops at daybreak. He fervently lays before the world His concern for the orphan. So never overlook small beginnings, never dismiss the vision God plants in your heart concerning a needy child. I believe that you are not reading my words by accident, but rather by divine appointment. Thank you so much for listening to my heart. I am praying that I have encouraged you to ask, “What can I do?” For somewhere in the world today an orphan needs your help… they wait in the fields of the fatherless hoping for a second chance. There is nothing in life more overwhelming then to walk through orphanage doors around the world and hear the heartbreaking echo of the orphan's cry. Nothing more unforgettable than to watch countless children run toward outstretched arms longing for just one embrace. Nothing more painful then to gaze into silent orphan eyes pleading for someone to come and care. And there is nothing more humbling than to witness such desperate need and then not be able to give every orphan child the second chance they deserve. Together we can soothe their cries, provide the embrace they long for, and send someone to care."