God is on the move!

This is from our friend in Liberia. Please read to see what God is doing in Liberia.

Dear Friend:

God is on the move in Liberia.

Come join the nation in celebration! We are putting GOD on display & showing HIM for who He is. We will be declaring HIS glory throughout Liberia, and amongst the nations of the world. GOD’s Family is coming together for 3 Days & 3 Nights - At the SKD Sports Complex in Liberia.

You are invited to the “HOW BIG IS GOD” WACSN Praise Crusade at the SKD Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia on March 27, 28 & 29. If it is not possible for you to attend, please consider being a blessing by sponsoring one or more seats for others in Liberia wishing to attend. The Lord said in his word, if His (Liberian) people who are called by His Name humble themselves, and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, He will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

We Are Expecting the LORD to Inhabit the Praises of HIS people, and to show HIMSELF strong by Renewing, Refreshing, and Restoring all who come with a genuine desire to be touched by GOD for HIS glory alone. The Liberian people are desperately in need of a new direction that is God centered.

Tickets for the Crusade are being sold for $10.00 on eBay at the link below. Watch the video and if you are led or touched to do something to help change this nation, please support our efforts in this Praise Crusade. I humbly ask that you forward this link and message to your friends and family and pray for the seats you buy, that God will move in a mighty way in the life of each person that sits in your purchased seat.

Under His Wings and in His Love

Maria Luyken

WACSN Praise Crusade

http://www.howbigisgod.org

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=150317409367

A prayer

I found this on Brandi's Living Freely blog. I wanted to share it with you. Merry Christmas!

Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and wars so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done

to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

And so the wait begins

We have done everything we can do at this point. So now the hardest part of this journey begins "we wait" For those of you that know me, really know me, waiting is not something I like to do. Now, I don't mind waiting in line or in traffic but make me wait for something like, my children to come home and we have a problem. We were under the impression that Lydia and Leo would be joining us in March at the latest. We heard yesterday that Liberian adoptions are taking 9-12 months on their end. So, I sit here trying to see the good in this. I said "trying" This does give us more time to raise money. So some of the pressure is off there. If we leave in June or later to bring our children home then we can fly Delta and maybe some kind person will donate their frequent flier miles---hint hint :) This also gives me yet another chance to learn to trust in God's timing. After all He has proven Himself over and over and His timing is perfect.
So please pray for peace that surpasses all understanding for us.
Ami

What costs so much?

I am sure most if not all of you are wondering why adoption is so expensive. We wondered too when we first started this process. Here is a break-down of costs:
Home Study fee:$1500. This is where we pay someone to come visit/inspect our home and interview us and write up a report stating that we can adopt. We have to go through approx. 6 interviews total and gather lots of paperwork.
US immigration fees: $1670
US adoption agency fees: $4600
International Agency fee:$10,200 (This includes orphanage support fees, Liberian government and court fees, etc.)
Travel: $8000 (Adrian and Ami) $15000 (Whole family) Yes, travel is almost half the cost of the total. We would love to be able to bring Johnny and Rachel with us to meet their siblings in Liberia. We want them to be able to share that memory with us, and to know firsthand what life is truly like in Liberia and what it looks like to live in an orphanage in an impoverished country.
Total: Approximately $32,970
If you have any questions or comments we welcome and encourage them.
Thanks for reading this!
Ami

Join us in PRAYING

We got word last week that the orphanage that Lydia and Leo are at ran out of food last week. This made Thanksgiving bittersweet for me. I am thankful to God for all he has provided for us. I am also heartbroken over the thought of our children not having food. It is so hard to reconcile the two thoughts together. The adoption agency we are working with wired a thousand dollars to them to buy food and they shipped a container of food that should be there mid-December. Donations and sponsorships are down for the orphanage most likely due to the "economy".
Will you join us in praying for Hoover Village in Liberia? There are 400 children there along with the teachers/workers. Please pray for God's provision of food and clothing. Pray for Mr. Kofi. He is the director. Pray that his faith will be increased. Pray for Lydia and Leo. Pray that God will provide the money to get them home to us.
Please also pray for God to open people's hearts to adopting. YUP! He did it with us He can do it with anyone!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about "Life interrupted"! We were well on our way to an empty nest with an almost 18 year old and 13 year old.
God is so Faithful and so Good!
I am amazed by HIS GRACE!
James 2:5 "Listen, my beloved brothers has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love Him?"

I600-A

Our I600-A is in Nashville! It got there in record time and we are praying in faith it will get approved and arrive back in record time.

Giving

"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy." ~ Proverbs 31:20

We have set up a PayPal account so people can give to help us bring Lydia and Leo home. We are still working on a way to take tax deductible donations. This has definitely been a faith building experience. I have found myself doubting God just this week. It seems like such a big amount. I have to keep reminding myself that God is a BIG God. He called us to do this and HE will make a way...
Ami

Oprah Video On Liberian Adoption

Isn't it amazing how God speaks to people?

Want to be challenged and encouraged? Watch this great video about a church in Charlotte that stepped out in faith and answered God's call to care for orphans.

Part 1:


Part 2:

Just a quick update: We have one more interview and our home-study is complete. We are now waiting on some paperwork to come back so we can file even more forms. It's complicated and I won't bore you with details. If your reading this and feel inclined to pray for us, please pray for our paperwork to come back quickly! Our kids are ready to come home!
We are so excited about what the Lord is doing and has done!
Blessings
Ami

Sunday November 9

It's Sunday. We get to go church!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!! What a beautiful morning in East Tennessee! The leaves are the prettiest I have seen in years!
Today We will be handing out announcements about our adoption. They are absolutely spectacular! Thank you to my good friend Heather. What a blessing you are!

By the way thank you for reading my blog. I will be working to figure out how to download pictures and other things later today. Thanks for being patient with me as I learn these things.
To God Be the Glory!
Ami

It's Friday

It's Friday! It has been such a busy week! We mailed our home-study packet and have our first appointment next Thursday the 13th with Carolyn our case worker. What is a home study? Here is a definition from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_homstu.cfm
This process has three purposes: to educate and prepare the adoptive family for adoption, to gather information about the prospective parents that will help a social worker match the family with a child whose needs they can meet, and to evaluate the fitness of the adoptive family.
Or in my opinion to keep you busy answering questions about your life for hours! No just kidding! But it did take both Adrian and I HOURS to complete. I mean how do you answer questions like "Would you be willing to move if your neighborhood wasn't diverse enough? Or how do you plan on disciplining your children? I think the autobiography they asked me to write was 6 pages! Wow! Not even a page for each year I've been alive! I must live a boring life! Not really. My life is way to exciting for words right now. I am literally singing praise to my creator all day! I am in AWE that he would choose us to serve Him in this way! John 1:12 says "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God"

first post

We have found our children! Lydia is a beautiful four year old girl and Leo is her older brother. He is eight. Their parents are still alive yet unable to care for them. They were brought to an orphanage in Liberia back in August. We are trying furiously to get our paper work completed and a homestudy set up. We need to raise money. More on that later. Please keep Lydia and Leo in your prayers. Lydia is recovering from Malaria. Please pray for her complete healing and for protection over Leo as well.
To God be the Glory!
Ami