We continue to pray for a miracle. We have social media fundraising bringing in zero so far this month. Trying to put together a dinner but struggling to find a public spot open to us at no cost.

We get multiple messages from the boys asking us when... when will we come? It's hard for us here, but I am seeing, as difficult as this is for us, is far more difficult for the boys. The tone of their messages has changed over this past month. I hear the concern from them as another birthday approaches for the older brother. I keep encouraging them to pray. To trust God as His timing and plan is perfect. That God's knowledge and understanding far exceeds our own.

But on our side... we are stuck. We cannot move forward with finances. We owe both our home study agency and the child placing agency. We recognize everyone's budget is tight. We also recognize that most, even those who have a heart for adoption, struggle with reconciling our need to adopt the boys who are teenagers. So many have stated to us, their questioning how long the boys will even require a family.

I have done my best to share my belief that family is forever. That even thought the boys are indeed teenagers, they are both delayed emotionally and academically. They really are not equipped or prepared, at this point, to live successful, independent lives. Also, it is my belief that families are a life long commitment, not there until we turn 18 and then then we leave, never to return. Families are where we all turn to share our joy, and our sorrow and burdens of this life. They are where we spend holidays and where we eat Sunday dinners after church., They are who we celebrate birthdays and graduation and accomplishments and religious holidays with. And for this family.... "family" is where we cheer on the Green Bay Packers, complete with team apparel, taco dip, and apple ale. When you wrap it all up together its what most of us call "home."  And HOME is exactly what we are trying very hard to give these boys.

Our financial need is $40K.  No donation is too small as we trust God will multiply what is given to meet our exact need. Every penny will go to bringing these 2 boys into our family. Funds that remain after the boys needs are met will be donated to another family in process of adoption.

Thank you.

 

 

 

Our family, and our boys who wait in Ukraine, are in desperate need of your help. Most of you have seen the news reports of the conflict currently happening in Ukraine. You see Putin's separatists moving further south and west each day. Each day they move closer to where our boys call home. If the separatists overtake the boys city before we get to them, they will be stuck. Unadoptable to us or any other family.   

 

I have run several fundraisers over the past few months with little fruit to come from them. We now put forth this attempt for those who are able to come along side us financially and help us bring our sons home. We know what we are walking into. Bob traveled to Lughansk during this conflict to bring our Ryan home just a year ago. He saw the separatists and snipers walking the street, well aware that if they knew he was American, he could be taken. But, also walking in the knowledge that he was doing Kingdom business, taking every step with the Most High God. In His faithfulness, God returned Bob safely home to us, and added Ryan to our family forever. For those of you who are not my facebook friends, here is a link to the video of their homecoming.  

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10202255563442853&l=2031006125097926575 

 

 

 

So, with tensions rising daily, we are begging for God's people to see our son's need. Please prayerfully consider joining us on this journey, and if the Spirit leads you to, donate to our adoption fund. Share our need on social media and with your church, friends and family.

 

We are walking... regardless of what it looks like in the natural. We will trust in God and live this life believing the resurrection really happened. 

 

 Donation can currently be made through Paypal at email savinglera@yahoo.com

Please choose the gift option to avoid fees being taken from your sacrificial gift.  If you prefer other options, we will have a donate button on this blog by weeks end. We also have an account set up through Wells Fargo. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo bank via "Higbie Family Adoption".

We will also have a tax deductible option set up, if you prefer. Please check back in a few days. In the interim, we ask you to please pray and share our need with all you encounter.

Thank you.

 

 





 

We cling to Jesus and believe His promise to us in Mark 11:23, Matt. 21:21, Matt 17:20 and Luke 17:6....

 

"For verily I say unto you. That whosoever shall say unto the mountain, Be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says will come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says".
To God be the Glory. Forever and Ever. Amen

Let the FUNdraising Begin!!

For those of you who would like to help us bring in the finances needed to accomplish the boys adoption, but prefer something tangible in return for your financial gift, we have designed a t-shirt. 

What does it all means... 

The heart symbolizes  the heart of God. We chose to make it blue and gold, the national colors of Ukraine. The triangle is the adoption triad, symbolizing the child, the birth family, and the adoptive family. We have placed a cross in the center to signify our personal belief that it can only come to fruition and prosper if Jesus Christ is at the center of it. Text around the left side of the heart reads ...For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future .Jeremiah 29:11... The same scripture verse skirts the right side of the heart, but in Russian, as our children all speak Russian as their first language.    

The kids all helped to develop this design. I knew we needed the adoption symbol and the cross at the center. The kids helped with the color choices. and Tanya ensured the Russian was exactly right. We contracted with a local organization that employs the developmentally disabled to do the final draft  design and screen printing of the shirts.  

Shirts are $15 each. All sizes available youth through plus size. If you are not local please add $5 to cover shipping cost. Please email me at savinglera@yahoo.com to order. remit payment at paypal.com  via gift option, using email savinglera@yahoo.com

On behalf of our waiting children, "thank you". May the Lord bless the work of our hands and your sacrificial giving to place the orphan into a family.  

 

This is our family... so far.

As I searched the web for definitions of adoption, and sought to bring a spotlight and clarity to what exactly God is calling our family to, I came across many opinions on the subject. We know adoption can be a loving alternative for parents who may, for various reasons, be unable to care for their own children. It can also be an answer to prayer for many couples who have not been able to have children of their own. Adoption is, for some, a calling to multiply their impact as parents by expanding their family with children who are not their own, biologically. Adoption is spoken of favorably throughout Scripture.

The book of Exodus tells the story of a Hebrew woman named Jochebed who bore a son during a time when Pharaoh had ordered all Hebrew male infants to be put to death (Exodus 1:15-22). Jochebed took a basket, waterproofed it, and sent the baby down the river in the basket. One of Pharaoh’s daughters spotted the basket and retrieved the child. She eventually adopted him into the royal family and gave him the name Moses. He went on to become a faithful and blessed servant of God (Exodus 2:1-10).

In the book of Esther, a beautiful girl named Esther, who was adopted by her cousin after her parents' death, became a queen, and God used her to bring deliverance to the Jewish people. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ was conceived through the Holy Spirit instead of through the seed of a man (Matthew 1:18). He was “adopted” and raised by His mother's husband, Joseph, who took Jesus as his own child.

Once we give our hearts to Christ, believing and trusting in Him alone for salvation, God says we become part of His family—not through the natural process of human conception, but through adoption. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship [adoption]. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15). Similarly, bringing a person into a family by means of adoption is done by choice and out of love. “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:5). As God adopts those who receive Christ as Savior into His spiritual family, so should we all prayerfully consider adopting children into our own physical families.

Clearly adoption—both in the physical sense and in the spiritual sense—is shown in a favorable light in Scripture. Both those who adopt and those who are adopted are receiving a tremendous blessing, a privilege exemplified by our adoption into God’s family.

Our family has walked in this blessing. Initially, through our  domestic adoption of our April in 2006....

 



....And most recently in adding three teenagers from Ukraine in 2013. The spiritual journey to them was grueling, but we now see it equipped us for what we would face once arriving home with our Hope. We needed the mountains we had encountered to challenge our perseverance muscle, to grow it stronger, and prepare us to walk through the hard stuff to arrive at a better place, and help her well on her way to becoming whole in Jesus.


This is our Hope before adoption. Before she knew who she is in Jesus. Before she understood the power in the name of Jesus to break every chain and set her free.



And this is her today... walking in freedom purchased for her by the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come... 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

 

 

Seeing the healing happen in our children is a tangible gift from The Father. It fills us with  assurance that Jesus is with us, and stands for us, regardless of what the facts tell us. It helps us keep walking when the days are difficult and it appears all progress or accomplishments are lost. It also fills us with  courage to step out and move when we hear Him call us to once again ... Go. 

 

 

  

Jesus replied, "All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.
Jesus also said, in John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commands.

This is all we need to know. As completely committed Jesus followers, we have no choice but one. When Jesus brings something to our attention, He is inviting us to be His ambassador and move. Being called to be His hands and feet means exactly that. If we are not moving... we are  missing out on the fullness of the intimacy with Jesus that only becomes available to us when we completely surrender every part of our lives, every part of our heart, to Him. He knows our desires. He knows are history. He knows our fears. He knows our failures.... and yet He pursues us, inviting us to become one with Him in sonship..in adoption. He chooses us long before we chose Him. He waits patiently for us to repent and invite Him in ... dumping all our baggage from life on Him. And He takes it, without judgment, without question, without the raised eye brow that many moms have perfected when looking at their children while "are you kidding me" runs through their head, when faced with yet another parenting issue.


In our desire to serve Jesus and walk in such intimacy with Him, Our "Yes" to His invitation was without hesitation. When He brought to us the revelation that the true fatherless do not desire second hand shoes or  shoe boxes filled with gifts, but a forever family, that was the game changer for us. It called us to walk where we were not comfortable, or without fear... but we never took a single step without Jesus walking with us. Nor did any issue arise that had not first come through His hand, for His purpose. It required us to trust Jesus as we never had before. And it was in the midst of surrender that Jesus shone bright in all His glory... and our faith was increased to become unshakeable.... preparing us to once again "Go". 

We have watched the online news sources closely as Putin tramples Ukraine. Our hearts break for the people of Ukraine, especially the orphan children. Such devastation of land and infrastructure and life. We have stayed in close contact with those we love who reside there. And we have spent hours on our knees, begging God to protect the people and fill them with what is required to persevere and rise up against such tyranny. And God has answered. He has brought to our knowledge 2 teenage boys who are now 16 and 17. These boys have been praying for a family. We have and I600a  that was filed with USCIS allowing us to petition to adopt them, even though they are both already past the legal age of adoptability. In the power of Christ Jesus we will walk this road once more. Allowing Him to chart our course and make a way. Confident in His ability, provision and protection, we step out. Our kids are ecstatic. Our parents are supportive. Our Jesus is leading the way and we know are brothers and sisters in Christ lift us in up in prayer and give sacrificially to make this happen.

I know there are many reading who are overwhelmed with joy for us, and filled with curiosity about our future sons. We understand, and we thank you for your love and  support. I will not be sharing many details of this adoption journey until we have approved referrals and the boys "YES" on file at the ministry in Kiev. BUT,  know that we do ask you to please consider joining us on this journey by adding our family, especially the boys who wait, to your prayer list. If God leads you to help us financially to accomplish this adoption, you can do so via paypal.com by sending a gift to savinglera@yahoo.com. If you are uncomfortable with online donation, you have the option of walking into any Wells Fargo in the country and making a donation there into an account set up for the "Higbie Family Adoption". Please know that we will do our very best to be excellent stewards of the financial resources provided to make this adoption a reality and bring the boys home.

 

 

Here ... to family.

 

 

Thank you.

 

 

To God be the Glory!

 

 

 

 

Ukraine's lost children

Bob and I sitting together watching the video I have posted below. The reality that orphan children face in Odessa, Ukraine everyday. This is the place we will adopt from next. God is calling us here...to teenage boys who are praying for a family. A prayer I am sure they can not fathom will be answered.

As we listened to the the last 90 seconds of this video, to the heartfelt words spoke by an orphaned boy now living on the street, well actually, under the street. We were both broken once more for the fatherless of our world. His words pierced our hearts like a dagger.

He starts with "When I was 3 months old my mother abandon me in the maternity clinic. I don't really want to talk about it." He goes on to say that strangers named him, not his parents. "His life was going from orphanage to orphanage to orphanage. That's my life so far. Orphanage. Street. Orphanage. Soon my youth will be over." "I don't know. Every night at the orphanage from the first to the ninth grade, I would cry at night into the pillow. It was so painful. I saw how some children had parents who came to see them. How they were happy.I couldn't imagine such a life for myself. When I did imagine, I cried to myself under the pillow. Honestly, it's so painful without parents.I wouldn't want to wish anyone to live without parents.I'm only thankful to my mum that she gave birth to me. That she didn't abort me..... what else can I say about my life?"

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  James 1:27

We hear you Jesus. We hear you.

91 Days in Ukraine

 

 We believe choosing to follow Christ is more than a weekend visit to our church or a percentage of our income placed in an offering basket. We believe that our daily life is to be a reflection of our choice. We believe our actions are  to bear witness to our choice. We believe there is only One True King, and His name is Jesus Christ.

It is this belief that moved us to travel to Ukraine and bring 3 teenagers into our family. Teenagers who had little hope of a future in their homeland. Teenagers who had been given no life skills and had no existing support system to speak of. Teenagers who needed a family.

 

 

We ARE a family.

 

 

 

 

We believe that all scripture is God breathed...

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

 

 

 

 

 

2-е Тимофею 3:16-17

¹⁶ Каждый отрывок Писания, так как оно вдохновлено Богом, полезен при наставлении истины и убеждении грешников, а также для того, чтобы помочь людям стать на путь истинный и исправиться. ¹⁷ Благодаря Писанию человек Божий будет готов ко всему и сможет исполнять всё, что от него требуется для совершения добрых дел.

We believe that when God, through the Holy Spirit,  brings us to an awareness, we have a responsibility to act, to do, to step out of our comfort zone and become closer to who He created us to be by meeting a needs of others.

 

We believe that God prepares and equips each of us for a calling. We believe our calling is parenting the fatherless.

This picture is our entire family, including 2 children who remain in Ukraine by choice. We are currently parenting them from afar by ensuring all their needs are met, remaining available to them for guidance, and praying for them daily.

 

 

James 1:27

 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking out this calling we have added three children from Ukraine to our family through adoption in 2013.

 

Иакова 1:27       

 Истинное же благочестие, угодное Богу, ничем не запятнанное и чистое перед Богом и Отцом, выражается в заботе о сиротах и вдовах, нуждающихся в помощи, и в сохранении себя неосквернённым от мира.

 

 

 

 

This blog entry contains pictures from that journey. The amazing beauty of the country, and the

heartbreaking things we experienced as we walked among the beautiful people of Ukraine. Those

sights, sounds and smells have changed us. They have given us a love for the Ukrainian people. They have broken our hearts even greater for the orphan. They have left us in awe of our  Great  and Mighty  Heavenly Father.

 

 

 

 

 

This.

This is what we saw, day in and day out as we visited orphanages with our missionary friends. Children desperate to be seen. Children desperate to be heard. Children desperate to be loved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So many times, the children would walk with us to the bus and cling to us with an embraced that begged us not to forget them. and every time... every time, it broke our hearts. So many days we would cry as we prayed for them during the long bus rides back to where we were staying.

 

 

And we have taught our children to pray for them as well. Every child should know the security that comes with having a family.

 

 

We praise God for all He has done for our family. He invited us on a journey that allowed us to experience Him with great intimacy. He walked with us as we traversed deep valleys of darkness, guiding our feet, one step at a time. He never let us fall. All praise and honor and glory are His, the Lord Jesus Christ...FOREVER.

 

 It was His hand that made this possible. It was His hand that provided. It was His call for us to go. And it was HE  that continues to lead us on the narrow path that leads home to His Kingdom.

 

 

 

 

 

The Scroll and the Lamb    Revelation 5

5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. ⁴ I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

 ⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign^[b] on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doers of The Word (guest post)

We met the Higbie Family at our church in Wisconsin but it wasn't until March of 2012 that we actually got to know them...it wasn't until then that we took a step out of our comfort zone, out of our "busy schedules" to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and go help them peel some potatoes for a fundraiser they were having that week. I say that because that's probably not something we would have decided to do on our own for people we didn't really "know", but after the church service that day when Diane starting telling me about their story and the fundraiser and the help they needed, the Holy Spirit prompted me and I knew we needed to get involved, even if it was just donating our time to help them peel some potatoes and attend a fundraiser until past our bed time. I point that out because serving isn't always convenient, loving others doesn't always look like things we would choose to do, but if you know God is telling you to do something, you just obey and He will reward you for it. Josh led someone to the Lord the night of the fundraiser, God multiplied our time and everything we needed to get done was accomplished, and we know that meeting the Higbie's was truly a divine connection and friendship!

 

It didn't take much time spent with Diane to see her beautiful loving heart, so passionate and full of faith! Every moment I spent with her I was encouraged and uplifted, strengthened and refueled. I can't even tell you how much it spoke to my heart to see her love on her family, her precious children, even the ones who weren't "home" yet! She never hesitated to pray, to praise, to sing, you could just see Jesus right next to her every moment and that so blessed me and encouraged me in my own personal relationship with the Lord!

 

Just a few short months after getting to know Bob, Diane, and the girls, Josh and I followed the call of God on our lives to Pastor my home church in Texas and the Higbie's were such an awesome encouragement to us and our faith as we prepared for our big move. We were learning to trust God, and I mean really trust Him, quitting our jobs, not having a place to live or any guaranteed income, just acting on His Word to go...just like the Higbie's, obeying God's call on their lives to adopt those precious children "a world away", trusting God to provide every step of the way when everything was stacked against them. And to see Bob's faith because I can relate to his doubt and reasoning, wanting to understand everything and know how it's all going to work, that's me for sure, but how he just trusted anyway, wow! Josh and I thank God for this couple!

 

I want to share a few things about faith...

 ^"But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]."  (Hebrews 11:6 AMP)

We are supposed to be channels for God to work through us, and how does God accomplish things on earth? How does He love the unlovable, father the fatherless, feed the hungry, etc.? He does it through His Body! We as Christians are His Body, we are the hands and feet of Jesus here on this earth, God works through us, us in obedience to Him, actually taking action.  We cannot please God without faith and faith without works is dead.

 

I like the way The Message explains faith in action - James 2:14-20

^14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

¹⁸ I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”

Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

^19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

²² Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. ²³ If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror ²⁴ and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. ²⁵ But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.

²⁶ If you think you are being religious, but can’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and everything you do is useless. ²⁷ Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.

The Higbie's are full of faith, they are living this out right now, right in front of us, sacrificing so much and being away from their family, against all odds and obstacles, they are not loosening their grip, they hold fast to the promise of God...they continue to speak God's Word and truth when the doubt and the voice of impossibility scream in their face...and God is very pleased with them, they are fighting the good fight of faith, that is the fight you know, keeping the faith, continuing to believe...

 

We encourage everyone to get on board with Bob and Diane and help them out financially as well, they are trusting God for the finances to come in, even as they are already oversees to get these precious children, and how do you think God will get the money to them? Through you and I, He works through people and the longer people disobey and not give when God is telling them to give, the longer it takes. We already know personally the reward of obeying God and giving when He tells us to, it's not ours anyway, we are His channel, to flow through us, not for us to keep everything for our own desires, God has always taken care of us and we do not go without, He is faithful!

 

We pray that the eyes of there condemners have been opened to see the great work that God Himself has fulfilled through Bob and Diane. To God be all the Glory and Honor and Praise. Bob and Diane, thank you so much for living a true Christian life and not being merely talkers but being "doers of the Word!"

 

-In His Service, Josh & Angela Napiwocki

 

http://gracehavenhome.com/families/the-higbie-family/