Updated: June 2008
We’ve been home with Hope from China for about a month now and realized I should update the fund raising pages of our blog…
In June of 2007, we started with $50 toward this adoption. From then until hours before we left for China the end of April 2008, our family raised about $26,000 through donations, collections, grants, garage sales, selling adoption bracelets, selling Hope Blankies, selling candy bars, selling donated items, selling coupon books, hosting World Changers Kids Camp at our house, and random checks in the mail! We just can’t thank you enough for your financial support, prayers and encouragement along the way!
Looking back, here are where some of the big chunks of funds came from:
Grants
$4,000 was granted by Shaohannah’s Hope, on October 28th, 2007 at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert (read about it here). These funds became available during our trip to China.
In November 2007, Lifesong for Orphans (formerly known as Life International) graciously offered us a Matching Grant opportunity. $3,000 was donated toward this grant and the whole amount was matched! $1,500 of that $3,000 that was matched came from the Sea of Faces Foundation! About $700 of the matching funds came in from our World Changers Kids Camps and through Hope Blankie sales. So this was another $6,000 of our total amount raised.
Friends
We had a number of close friends who donated $1,000. One family ended up altogether (see below) donating $5,000! Another friend donated $1,000 two separate times! Another friend took up a collection at a church college service and donated almost $1,000! Another family donated some expensive items that we sold and that brought in over $1,000! So altogether there was around $13,000 that came in through these amazingly friendly and large gifts!
God also used our friends in amazing ways to provide the money, right when we needed it most. We were scheduled to leave on April 30th for China and on the day of our departure we were still in need of $3,000. We were supposed to have $6,000 in cash to take to China, and the cash had to be in crisp $100 bills. The bills had to be new because China is super picky about the money they accept, and it has to be in flawless condition, and they don’t accept checks or credit cards. This cash was needed for the orphanage donation, legal fees, paperwork fees, and personal expenses like meals, diapers, gifts, etc. We were one hour away from leaving and there wasn’t anything we could do. We’ve heard so many stories of God coming through at the last minute for people going on missions trips, etc. so we knew He would do something, but the fear was starting to try and take root. We had already maxed out our remaining credit options to get $3,000 in the new $100 bills, but were still in need of $3,000 more. I was sitting with Abigail on our bed right before it was time to go, talking about how crazy it was that we still needed $3,000. We just looked at each other and I said, “Either God is real, or He’s not, and since He is, and He brought us this far, get ready to see a miracle!” And with that we left our house. Our friends who live near the airport were watching our dog for us while we were gone, and were also having a little going away party for us before our flight left, so we went to the party. Everyone gathered around us for prayer and asked if there was anything we needed. I said that I was getting panicked, because we had to go to China with $6,000 in cash, but we only had $3,000 so far, and we weren’t sure how to proceed because we didn’t want to be foolish, but also wanted to walk in faith. Moments later one of our friends walked up to us and handed us a big wad of cash! He then told us how a tenant who rents a property of his had stopped by earlier that day and paid him the monthly rent a week early, in cash! He was really tripping out because that normally didn’t happen. There before us was $4,000 in brand new $100 bills! It was such a beautiful moment, and I couldn’t stop crying. Every step of the way God had been making sure we had the money we needed, and here he was again, right on time! If our friend had written us a check at that point, that would have been great, but it wouldn’t have helped as much because it was already 8pm and all the banks were closed, and we needed the money in cash. I was also worried about our friend giving us so much money, but he kept insisting and then we agreed that it would be a loan. The neatest thing was that when we got back from China he told us that they ended up getting two random checks in the mail the very next day, and he was now giving us the money! Both checks were from work he had done a long time ago, and he hadn’t even been expecting them. One was for $3,200 and the other was for $800! We believe that God blessed him and returned the money that he gave to us, because he actually gave it in faith, knowing that he needed the money, but he was being led to give it to us! We believe that God waited until the very last minute so we would have the opportunity to trust Him in the face of the impossible. He also knew the desire deep inside my heart to see a miracle like this. Even though it was agonizing to get that close to the edge of the cliff, I’m so glad for the experience now because it really stretched our faith!
Pure and undefiled religion is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. ~James 1:27
Come to the fields laden with orphan’s souls,
The cry of a child who begs for hope and home.
In the fields of the fatherless, the laborers are few,
If you listen closely, He might be calling you…. ” ~Shawna Fox
