Pressing On

(Picture of Elim Mission)

Many of you know our story of MATTHEW. For those of you who do not, the testimony will follow this update. 

Here is the update:

This summer brought many twist and turns in our life with surgeries, deaths & births in the family, not to mention Wes facing the medical board. So many things have been uncertain, but all the while we have been praying earnestly for our little Matthew. We have not stopped. Yet, we began to wonder exactly what our place in his life is really suppose to be. Are we to just keep him covered in prayer or is God really going to bring him into our home as our son. I even began to doubt my ability to be a "good enough" mom for him. I thought that if we had our home study not only would we not be approved to adopt, but that they would take the two babies we already have. BUT... The devil is a liar and I will no longer be moved by his lies. WE ARE PRESSING ON! On Thanksgiving we will travel to Poland to serve the people there and while we are there we will be able to spend some time with our Matthew. We are praying that the children's' home will release some of his information to us so that Wes and I can locate his biological parents and seek to adopt him. This adoption is unlike most, in that we are not going through an agency because Matthew is not in an orphanage.. he is in a children's home where the parents still maintain legal rights to him even though he is completely abandoned by them. 

Here are our prayer needs:

That God will direct our every step in this process

Travel expenses to and from Poland

Favor with the children's home

Finances to hire a private investigator to locate Matthew's parents 

We will keep you posted on the progress and hopefully we will be able to share his picture with you as soon as we return from our thanksgiving trip. 

Here is the original testimony of Matthew:

Now is the Time As you already know, few months ago we had the privilege of going to Poland to work in a mission. We went as a family and is was nothing short of amazing what God did in our lives there. To bring you up to speed, I'll have to give you some background information.. So bare with me. Last year when we were living in Fort Gordon, I was on my way to work one morning and I heard a radio cast about a little boy named Levi. He was a special needs child from China and because of the current laws there.. his parents chose to set him on fire to get rid of him so that they could try to have a "normal" child. Some missionaries found Levi laying in a field barely alive. They took him and God healed Levi and he is alive today. This couple started a foundation in Levi's name and was trying to bring awareness of this horrible tragedy that literally happens everyday throughout the Eastern world. Needless-to-say, my heart broke. I cried all that morning at work. That night my children & I began praying for these forgotten children in our world. We have been praying ever since that day and actually have said on many occasions that if God wanted to use us to take care one of these children that we would open the doors of our hearts and home. Off and on since that day, we have talked about adopting a special needs child and how if it were a boy or girl we would incorporate Levi into their name someway. So that is the background information.. Now let me share the current developments. While we were working in Poland we passed by a children's home that is about 200 yards from the mission. It is not an orphanage, however all the children there are orphaned because all the children there have various special needs. But most of them are not "adoptable" because the Polish government considers these kids disposable and though they are orphaned by their parents the parents still maintain "rights" to the child. Sadly, when these angels turn 18 they are sent to an asylum until they die. To add to the problem, two years ago the director of this home was a former communist and hated Americans. He would not allow them to come or donate anything to this children's home. He called these children the "garbage children" and could not understand why anyone would want to help these kids. The home was a very dark and cold place. Now however, that man is gone and the new director is open to the gospel and to Americans coming to help. When we saw this place and were told the story, we knew we had to meet these children. We didn't know if they would let us in, but we went anyway. When we got there the director was not there, but a worker let us in and said that she would show us around. The place has changed so much since the days of the former communists rule. It is now a very bright and clean place. The kids were actually watching Alvin & the Chipmunks in polish. Is was very funny. As we were about to leave, we walked by a single room and the door was half open. Wes asked what was in there and I could tell Wes was choked up and that God was speaking something to him. The lady told us that it was a child who had been sick with some sort of chest cold and that he couldn't join the other kids until he was well. Wes asked if we could go in and pray for him. The lady agreed. As soon as we walked in the door. Wes started crying and so did we. The little boy about 6 or 7 years old was sitting on his bed.. I can still see him. He was wearing a little white shirt and red tights (all boys in poland were tights??) He has blond hair and blue eyes. He also has down syndrome. We all laid hands on him and prayed for him. He just sat there and smiled. After we left the children's home, Wes & I took our kids back to the mission and went into the prayer room to pray. During that time.. God revealed to us that this boy is to be our son. We have made appointments with the Army Lawyers and have begun the process of adopting him. It is a very long process and most of all VERY expensive, but we have no doubt that God will provide all the favor and finances that we need to make this final. But we still needs your prayers for God to make this process clear to us. Now.. for the best part... All the kids in there have these crazy, I can't pronounce or spell names... EXCEPT for our son. His name is Matthew, which translated in Hebrew is Levi... meaning "Gift from God"..... I LOVE IT. It makes my heart leap!!! We have made arrangements with the mission to go back to Poland for during the Thanksgiving break. We will prepare and serve a hot meal at the mission, but more importantly we will get to visit with our son. I can't fully describe how my heart feels. Tears flow down my face even at the moment just thinking about him. My whole life has prepared me for this very moment. I don't begin to try to understand God's ways.. For HIS thoughts are higher than mine, but I do know this.. Through whatever circumstance Matthew entered this world... He was created to be my son. Please, please bath this in prayer. I love you and am so excited that God has released me to share this with you at this time.