Tuesday, June 14, 2016

800.

800.

800 DAYS. 
(2 Years, 2 Months, 1 Week, 2 Days)

Imagine this.

You have a son... An 8 year old son. 

He lives 7775 miles away from you. For 800 days, he has been in an orphanage. 
While he's around nannies and many other kids, he somehow feels alone...

He's seen children come and go. And as he watched them leave with families, 
he's left standing there longing for that same thing to happen to him. 

Longing for parents who would come and scoop him up and take him to his forever home. Longing for a mother to cover his boo-boos with bandages and kiss his cheeks. Longing for a father to play with and to kick a soccer ball to. Longing for nightly hugs and kisses and prayers. 

Yet, there he stands.
ALONE.
For 800 days. 

Two birthdays. Spent alone. Dozens of holidays. Alone. 

Can you imagine being this boy? I can't. But I know someone who doesn't just imagine it.
He lived it. He's LIVING it.


This is "T".
I wish I could show his full picture and share his full name. But due to privacy and laws, we cannot until court has passed.

Just know he's absolutely precious and SO very handsome!

Today is his 800th day of waiting.




 Here are those parents that have to live with this heartache every day. 
Who have been waiting and longing for their son. 
They have been in the process for 1,143 days. 

one.THOUSAND.forty.three. 

They received the referral for their son 448 days ago. Yet they stand here in Florida.

Waiting.

Their son is stuck. In Ethiopia.

The process has taken much longer than they ever anticipated. There have been so many unforeseen issues that are holding their son's case up and he's caught up in the middle of a political debacle. And in the midst of all these mix ups and technicalities, this 8 year old boy stands. alone. and waits.

He longs to meet his family. 

His family has decided 800 days is enough. They have decided now is the time to go and meet their son and reassure him that they cherish him. They are there. They are real. They are fighting for him. And most of all: They love him. 

They will be going for two weeks in July for this unexpected trip.

This is our time. Our time to rise up and help them with these unexpected expenses. To help the Richards family get to their son. And to help this sweet boy know that there are hundreds of us back at home who care for him and are waiting for him, too. 

Our goal is to raise $5,000 in two weeks. Seems like a lot, but God can totally do it!

*** EDITED TO ADD ***
**** THEY JUST RECEIVED WORD THAT EVERY DOLLAR THEY RAISE, UP TO $5000 WILL BE MATCHED BY A LIFESONG FOR ORPHANS GRANT!!! ****




Will you help? Here are FIVE ways:




- ONE -
Pray! This is most important. Please pray for God's provision. Pray for "T" and that God will comfort his waiting heart. Please pray for Duane, Danyelle, and their two sons at home. Pray for their hearts as they wait and fight to bring their boy home.


- TWO -

Will you give $8.00 in honor of his 800 day wait? 

For every $8.00, I will put a name on a graphic shaped of Africa that will be cut out of green, red, and yellow (Ethiopian colors) vinyl and be put on a canvas for the Richard's to hang on their wall. This vinyl canvas piece will be a great reminder that they will have forever of all those who supported and prayed for the Richards Family! And what an awesome thing for their son, "T", to see when he comes home... Here's an example of what it would look like, with only the Richards' name. Let's fill this up with hundreds of supporters!


You can do your first name, your family last name, or even each name in your family! 
Just $8.00 per name! You can do this HERE.


- THREE -



Another option is to buy a tshirt HERE! We have many sizes, colors, and styles!




















I designed these tshirts for the Richards' adoption with Ephesians 1:4-5 in mind:

 "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."

You see, God chose us. God adopted us into His family. God loved us. Every single one of us are chosen, adopted and loved by Him! And this is why the Richards family is adopting their son. They chose him. They are adopting him. They love him! 

These shirts come in various sizes, styles, and colors. There are men, women and children sizes. This is a PRE-ORDER sale, meaning these shirts have NOT been ordered, yet. I will run this sale for 2 weeks. It will end on June 28, in which any shirts ordered will then be purchased. I will email each customer when we have the shirts in hand and again when we ship them. If you want to order a shirt, do so quickly. Again I will not take any orders after June 28!!

(P.S. If you are local and prefer to pick up your shirt order, please use the code FREELOCAL, so you are not charged shipping fees).


- FOUR -

If you would prefer to just give a monetary donation, that would be greatly appreciated, too! You can give directly to their grant page and also keep track with how close they are to their $5,000 goal with all the fundraising options. Just click HERE. Your donation to this site will be tax deductible!


- FIVE -


Please share. Share this post to your friends, your family, anyone!




LET'S HELP END THE WAITING FOR "T"!

#bringThome