Praise God! He is Mighty!

"Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together." Psalm 49:1

"Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul." Psalm 67:16

"Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men." Psalm 67:5

"All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom." Psalm 145:10-12

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:3-4

I am writing this post to thank God and to praise Him for everything He has done through this adoption and to share with everyone what He is doing in our lives. He told us, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece." Luke 9:3 We have fully rested on the Lord to provide for our journey and He has been faithful to us in this promise. We have received large donations and widow's mites and we are grateful to God for both. "Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received ...the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." Phillipians 4:17-20 There have been many thanksgivings to God because of your ministry to us. "Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding in many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:10-15

The Lord has helped in so many ways! Back in August we had our house appraised and our realtor brought his wife, who happened to be a mortgage officer at our bank. Our realtor remembered what interest we closed at and his wife said she could do a streamline loan to lower our interest by 1 1/2%! Not only are we able to put aside more money for the adoption because our house payment is lower but we were able to skip an entire house payment to go towards the adoption. We also happened to find that in one of our accounts we had significantly more money than we thought we had. It has been an amazing journey in faith.

God has especially been moving through the story of Jason Herring. If you don't know the story yet you can read about it here on our blog. This year Jason and his family has decided to do the first annual Josiah Lee Memorial Offering in memory of his son and they are donated the funds to us in order to help bring our Josiah home. Below is an article he wrote based on the memorial service held at Jason Herring's church:

Josiah Lee Memorial Offering

Josiah Lee Herring made an impact on every person he came in contact with. The blonde haired, blue-eyed boy charmed everyone with his unique accent and vivid imagination. When he went home to be with his Best Friend on May 20, 2009, he left a huge hole in our lives that can never be filled. But even though nothing in this world can ever replace the remarkable Josiah Lee, we will never stop thinking of ways to honor his memory. For over a year I have been impressed to take up an annual Christmas offering in honor of Josiah. This last October while visiting a small orphanage located in a small town in China, I met my reason for giving.

Yang Henghai was born without the use of his arms and was born with two club feet. In spite of his limitations, he is able to do amazing things, and his happy upbeat personality makes him an instant favorite among visitors that come to the Harmony House Orphanage. Yang Henghai's given English name is Josiah. And like Josiah Lee, he lights up the room and brings a smile to those he comes in contact with. Josiah means, "Yaweh supports him," and although crippled in body, Josiah is supported by Jesus who has a very special plan for his life.

When I came home from China in October, I wrote an article describing my encounter with Josiah entitled, "Confirmation in an Unlikely Place." Chalk it up to conicidence or the alignment of the stars I knew that it was an act of divine Providence that I would meet a four-year-old boy named Josiah on the other side of the world. My article was passed around to friends of friends of friends and this led to yet another chance encounter. I received an email from the parents who were in the process of adopting Josiah.

Brian and Rachel Beauchamp are a christian couple in Iowa with two girls Paige (10) and Paris (8). Early in 2010, God began moving in their hearts to adopt a special needs child from China. Their testimony of how God led them to Josiah is truly amazing. You can read all about this wonderful family and their adoption journey at josiahsnewhome.blogspot.com.

It all fit so perfectly together. Besides the obvious connection points, this was at the very heart of the Christmas story. Why did God send His Son to earth 2000 years ago? "When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son...that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5). Could there be a better cause for a Christmas offering or a better way to honor the memory of my son?

You can help make it possible that Josiah will spend Christmas next year at home in Iowa with his forever family. When David was established on the throne of Israel he asked, "Is there anyone that I may show the kindness of God unto?" His quest led him to a crippled boy named Mephibosheth. Have we ever asked that question? Where would it lead us if we did? This "tiny Tim" can one day walk and run with corrective orthopedic surgery. We have the opportunity to show the kindness of God to a young boy on the other side of the world. This is what it means to "do justice." This is the definition of pure religion that is undefiled before the Father. Merry Christmas to all and God bless us everyone.

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. (Psalm 82:3)

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction... (James 1:27)

USCIS Package Received

We sent off our I800-A and USCIS received it yesterday. We should be hearing about our fingerprinting appointment with them in a few weeks.

Homestudy Approved!!!

We just received notification that our homestudy has been approved! We are now just awaiting our notarized hard copies so we can apply for our I-797 through the USCIS. The I-800a application is already filled out and in an envelope waiting to be sent off when we receive the homestudy. Then we will be notified by the USCIS of when and where we have to get our fingerprints taken so we might get our I-797 approval. We are counting down each step in this process until we can bring Josiah home!!

Confirmation in an Unlikely Place

I have been wanting to post this article to our blog for several weeks now and I just haven't had the time to do it. This article was written by Jason Herring. He had a son named Josiah who passed away just before turning five in May 2009. He recently got back from a trip to China and having visited Harmony House, where our little Josiah resides, he wrote this article about his visit. If you would like to know more about the story of his own son, Josiah, please click here.





Confirmation in an Unlikely Place

by Jason Herring


Have you ever stepped out in faith and then wondered if you were in God's will? I know that I have. When I was presented with the opportunity to go to China last Decemeber it seemed like a great idea, but as the departure date got closer, I began to wonder if this was really the right thing to do. There were issues int he church, and people were acting immature. How could I go to the other side of the world when there were fires burning on the home front? Apparently, the Chief Pastor of the church was on vacation and needed me to cover for Him. Or at least that's how I misread the memo.


With apprehension I left for China not having any idea what to expect. During the first six days of Hong Kong ministy, I met a wonderful couple from Ireland, Richard and Cherith. We were riding down an escalator in a shopping mall when Cherith asked me, "Do you have any children?"
"Yes, A son," I replied.
"How old is he?"
"Eight years old," I answered.
"What's his name?"
"Jason. He's a junior."
"Oh, that's funny," Cherith said smiling, "I would have thought that his name would be Josiah."
I stopped, and then with a laugh said, "Well, that is very interesting."


I shared Josiah's testimony with Cherith and Richard, and later with others in our team of volunteers. How could she have known that I had a son named Josiah? Of all the names to hear spoken in an Irish accent in the middle of Hong Kong, Josiah's name was uttered when I least expected.


After our intense labor in Hong Kong was finished, we went to Beijing for a few days of sightseeing. On Sunday afternoon we went to visit the Harmony House orphanage located 45 minutes south of the capital city where Steven Curtis Chapman had adopted Maria. When we arrived, I was unprepared for what I saw. There were dozens of orphans from toddler to three years old who loved to pose for the camera. All of the kids had a special need of some kind. One kid in particular caught my eye right away. He was very interested in me, and stuck his tongue out every time I took his picture. When all of the kids left the dining room and went into the living room to play with the rest of the team, I remained in the dining room conversing with this little guy who didn't understand anything but a smile. Then he pointed at my camera. I noticed that he pointed with his deformed feet as though they were his hands. He kept his hands hidden in the sleeves of his sweater. He liked my camera, and loved it when I would show him his picture after each snapshot. When a worker helped him to the floor and he began to hop across the floor like a baby seal, I could no longer contain myself. I made a beeline for the restroom, closed the door, and cried where no one could see me.


Regaining my composure I went into the living room to see some of the other precious children. I wasn't there but a few minutes when I heard someone say, "Josiah." And then I heard it again.


"Excuse me. Did I hear Josiah? Is there a child here named Josiah?" I asked the director of the orphanage.
"Yes, there is," she replied.
"Which child is he?" I asked.
"He's going up the stairs," she said, gesturing to the stairwell.


Before I looked I already knew who it was. There was my little photogenic buddy heading up the stairs, one step at a time. When I walked up stairs there were a dozen more kids playing with their toys. It didn't take long to observe the pecking order. Josiah was the kingpin of the toy room. He held a monopoly on a box of animal shaped blocks. A lady from our group asked him, "Are you Josiah?" Josiah looked up at her with sparkling eyes and said, "Josiah!" Hearing that name from the lips of a four-year-old little boy was almost too much. Stink! I'm going to lose it again. Not in front of the kids. Fight to keep it in. There, got it under control.


I spent the rest of our time at Harmony House watching and interacting with my newfound little buddy. Once he tired of controlling the block market, he turned his attention to coloring with his toes on construction paper. I spelled his name for him, and he scribbled something. And that's pretty much how it went. I wrote or drew something and Josiah scribbled. And the only thing we mutually understood was a smile and 'Josiah.'


What are the odds of meeting a four-year-old boy named Josiah on the other side of the world? I wanted so desperately to hold my Josiah again. And yet someone had thrown their Josiah away because of a deformity. This Josiah was sharp and very intelligent. He was crippled in body but not in mind. And like my little Josiah, he had spunk.


When we left the orphanage, I sat in the back of the bus in silence for most of the ride back to Beijing. There was so much to process. Later one of my teammates, Todd - a dear friend from Idaho - commented that this was like divine confirmation that I was supposed to be on this trip. And there it was. It was like God was saying, "Here's your sign." A conversation on an escalator with a girl from Ireland and a chance encounter with a Chinese orphan had provided all the proof that I needed to know that I was in the will of God.


Confirmation always comes to those who are walking by faith. I've never embarked on a venture of faith that God did not eventually confirm my heading. But confirmation does not come to those who are walking by sight. We can be in the epicenter of God's will for our life and never know it if we're not walking by faith. Other times in my life I have floundered like a ship with no sail, wondering if I was really where I was supposed to be. To this day, I can look back on certain moments in my life and still wonder if I was in God's will. I missed the signs because I wasn't walking in faith. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. But when we walk in faith our lives are pleasing to God, and our chance encounters and coincidental circumstances become confirmations of divine direction.

Innovative, creative, clever, sweet...that's Josiah.

Here are some pictures of Josiah that we feel portray some of his personality and determination to overcome any obstacle.

Feeding himself

Turning pages in a book

Drawing on a Magnadoodle (making a goofy face)

Rocking Bella Trinity

Feeding himself a bottle

Hugging a teddy bear

Determined to go down the stairs by himself thus the bruise on his forehead

Yes, we love Josiah very much and we can't wait to bring him home.

Homestudy Update

Just wanted to post another update, we will be starting our homestudy next week, Monday and Thursday, with the final vist on Tuesday 11/23/10. After we have an approved homestudy we will be sending off our I-800 which is our immigration paperwork for Josiah. We need the completed homestudy and our I-797 in order to complete our dossier paperwork. Please pray that the Lord helps this process to go smoothly, it is our hope that we will be sending off our dossier sometime shortly after the beginning of the year, but I am trusthing in God's perfect timing and if it is earlier or later, that is fine by me :)

In His service,

Brian

Jehovah Jireh!

Praise God! The Lord has provided and we are moving ahead in this adoption. We are finally about to begin the home study. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. I'm sorry we haven't had more time to update our blog but I hope to have much more to share very soon.

Rachel