Helping families

There are two families that are especially heavy on my heart, one family is desperately trying to meet their daughter, the other family will be going in less than a month to meet their son.


The Fristoe family is adopting 4 year old Clare, born in China and abandoned shortly after birth in the streets. The fact this child is alive is a testimony to God's provisions for his children. She was born with Down syndrome, heart defects, cleft lip/palate, and, of course, female. Being born female in China is daunting enough, to be born with Down syndrome definitely stacked the cards against this sweet child. Add cleft palate and heart defects to the list of issue Clare would deal with in her life and, well, truthfully, it appears the woman who birthed her felt she was worth little more than trash. She was left in the streets like litter, unwanted. Or, maybe, her birth mother did want her---but her only choice to "provide" for her was to leave her abandoned where she would be found in the streets. Maybe, just maybe, her birth mother prayed that someone would find her and care for her because she simply could not.

I don't know the case, the truth, and it is not for me to know or understand. What I DO KNOW is this, Clare has a family. Her mommy is Suzanne Fristoe, she has a daddy, and siblings waiting for Clare to come home. FOREVER. Never to be abandoned, always to be loved, cared for and protected. Friends, this family needs our help. They need funding to bring Clare home. They have held bake sales, garage sales, giveaways, carwashes (I believe, forgive me, my mind fails me now). They have sought grants with little luck. Their fund is still short. Very, very short and they still need about $17,000 to bring Clare home. Please click on this picture of Clare and see the Fristoe's blog---Suzanne has some great gifts to giveaway.

Ransoming a child should NEVER be this hard. We've seen the power of people coming together to raise $24K in ONE DAY....Lord willing, His will be done, we can raise this $17,000 for the Fristoe's too. Will it be in one day? Lord, that would be wonderful. I don't know how long it will take but I WANT to see GOD MOVE! Pray for this family if you cannot donate and, please, please share their story.


Now for the Burlingham family. This family's dossier will be submitted this THURSDAY, Sept. 21st, they will likely travel by the end of October to bring home Andriy. He is a gorgeous little boy and he will be 5 in November. He was born blind and tossed aside into an orphanage since birth. Amanda's own father is blind and that is what lead her family to Andriy. Amanda too has been working so hard to raise money to bring Andriy home to their family. I've written about Amanda on my personal blog, I've had the privilege of speaking with Amanda. She truly is the sweetest soul. She has a sweet, southern drawl that just makes you want to sit on a porch swing with her in the summer and drink sweet tea while watching Andriy play in the yard.

Amanda has been blessed with videos of Andriy taken by missionaries who have visited his orphanage. I know just how precious having a video of your child who is waiting for you. I too once had videos of the child we were originally committed to for our own family adoption. I want to share just one of the videos of Andriy with you now. Be prepared, this is just about the sweetest thing ever.

Now, this family is going to be traveling soon, sooner than we probably realize actually. They are about $11,000 short still. This may seem unattainable to some of you. I say, nothing is impossible for (and with) my God. He blessed us with $12,000 in a month and half and then filled our fund nearly full in just over a month of additional fundraising. IT IS POSSIBLE.

I ask you the same here, pray for the Burlingham family and share their story. You can find their blog by clicking on this picture of Andriy and you can see the gifts Amanda is giving away too.

Isaiah 1:17 (NIV) "learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."

James 1:27 (NIV) "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."