We Have a Referral!

Dear Family & Friends,

We have been waiting over two years to share this information, and we can barely contain our excitement.  To be exact, we started our adoption journey in August 2011, and we sent our application to Good Shepherd’s Fold (GSF) in December of that same year.  Fast forward through multiple periods of frenzied busyness completing paperwork, followed by multiple periods of waiting, waiting, and more waiting, and then to New Years Eve 2013.  While spending the evening at a friend’s house, Joey received a text from number with a +256 country code.  The message was from one of our contacts at GSF, and he wished us a Happy New Year from Uganda and asked “can I call you soon?”  Of course we responded, “yes please!” 

His phone call came on Thursday, January 2, explaining that the team at GSF had a situation that matched our criteria request, and they wanted to confirm that we were open and ready to receive the official referral (if you are not familiar with the term, "referral", then click here).  Again, we responded, “yes please!” 

Our referral then came on Monday, January 6, and we agreed to accept it on Wednesday, January 8.  Later that day, we had a great time sharing this news with Zoe, Micah, and Caleb.  They are excited about getting a new brother AND a new sister.  

While we are not at liberty yet to share many details or pictures until our process is complete, especially in a social media type environment, here is what we can publicly share with you at this point:

1. Our referral is for a four year old boy (around six months younger than Caleb) and a two year old girl.  Both children are healthy, are developing well, and have been at the orphanage for a while, so the knowledge of their status is strong, and considering what God brought them out of to even be alive, let alone now healthy, is truly a miracle.
2. Most likely our two required court dates will occur in March (yes only two months from now), though the exact timing of our trip is completely up to the Ugandan High Court calendar schedule.
3. Both Joey and Sarah will need to be in Uganda for around two weeks, and then one of us will need to stay an additional four weeks.  We have been advised to not bring Zoe, Micah, and Caleb.

Thank you again for supporting our adoption process and praying for our family over the past two years, and we appreciate your continued prayers for the Lord to take care of the required steps that lie ahead in the next few months and that He would provide the remaining funds needed to bring this to completion.  You may have noticed that the thermometer on the right side of our blog has remained at around $11,000- for quite some time; also, you may have noticed that our overall need as expected has increased to $20,000- since we will be adopting two children.

Quite a few people gave to our process back when we started two years ago, but understandably so, as we have waited, you may have also waited to give as there seemed to be no tangible end in sight.  Now that this process appears to be so close to completion (possibly less than two months), we are in need of financial support from friends, family, and churches.  If you are interested in helping us bring these two children home, please contact Joey directly at joeybeeson@nics.org.  Also, stay tuned for some creative fundraising opportunities that we are beginning to organize.

Beyond rejoicing with us that we have reached this milestone in our journey, here are some specific ways you can be praying for us:

1. Continued good health and development for our two new children.
2. Continued wisdom for the team at GSF as they navigate through completing this process for us.
3. The right timing for our court dates and that all required documents and processes will go smoothly.
4. Wisdom for Sarah and me as we work through this process, especially as we will have to be away from Zoe, Micah, and Caleb.
5. That God would meet our remaining financial needs.
6. A great transition for our two new children to our family.

Thanks again, and blessings to you all!

Take care,

Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, Caleb, and two more soon!