Pray Beans Home

On Monday, June 14, we are hosting an event called "Pray Beans Home."

We affectionately call our little guy "Beans" because he is from the birthplace of coffee and he is a little cute bean! We need to pray him home.

YOU CAN JOIN US! Over 100 people in all four time zones of the US, Australia, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Greece, and more are going to be praying for our son tomorrow night at 7 pm Central Time.

Here is how you can pray:

Here is the situation:

The orphanage that our son is in had its license revoked. Every child who is eligible for adoption out of Ethiopia must be in a licensed facility in the country. This makes it so that each child is overseen by the government before they are sent overseas. Understandably, this gives the government more oversight. We appreciate this because it can make it harder for anyone to be involved in unethical practices.

When Beans' orphanage had its license taken away he became ineligible to be adopted. He needs to be in a licensed facility. We need to pray that he gets to a licensed facility. Either the orphanage he is in needs to be given its license back or he needs to be moved to a licensed orphanage. We have no control over either option and neither does our agency.

We are working with a great agency. They have been amazing to work with and we would highly recommend them. There really is not anything we can do. That is where you come in! We need you to pray with us. For a while, we kept this quiet because we thought it might be a short delay. Right now, it has seemed more urgent.

In Ethiopia, the courts close from August to October. We need to have our case seen before the rainy season so that we don't have to wait until October. If we do have to wait, that is not the end of the world. We can be patient, but we want to bring him home as soon as we can.

Prayer

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14

You are a part of a group of over 100 people (and counting!) who will be praying for Beans at 7 pm Central Time on June 14. This is amazing! You can pray however the Lord leads, but we also want to be specific so we are going to give you some ideas and direction. Also, it can be easier to pray when you know what to ask for. So here we go.

7:00 - 7:15 Worship - We are going to throw some songs on the ipod and just spend some time getting our hearts set on the Kingdom of God. Life can be crazy - worship is a great way to slow down and focus.

7:15-7:25 Thanksgiving - We are so thankful for this little guy. He is healthy. He is 4 months old right now. He is an answer to prayer. God's providence has brought him to us.

7:25-7:35 Prayers for Beans. Here are some ideas:

Health - that he would gain weight. that his body would absorb nutrients from the formula. that he would develop a strong immune system.

Development - that his brain would develop well. that his motor skills would increase. that he would emotionally develop in the right ways. that he would learn to trust the world around him as a safe place

His Heart - that the love of God would be very real to him. that he would be smiled at and held every day. that he would interact with the world in positive ways. that the Holy Spirit would fill him with peace and love.

7:35-7:45 Specific prayers for him to come home to us. Here are some things to help you pray:

1. Pray that a government official would walk into Biruh Zemen orphanage in Addis Ababa and give them a license again.

2. If Biruh Zemen does not get a license, that the government will move Beans to a licensed orphanage.

3. Pray for protection from any plans of the enemy to keep Beans from us.

4. Pray for us to be given a court date. It looks like we need to get a court date by July 4th in order to make it before the rainy season, although that date can change.

7:45-7:55 Pray for the process once we get a court date (we will be present for the court date). The court date is where he becomes our son officially with the Ethiopian government. Only about 1/2 of families pass court on the first try. Pray for the following: (HT: http://www.allglorybetogod.blogspot.com/::http://thewallbloggers.blogspot.com/)

1. The MOWA (Ministry of Women's Affairs) representative, judge, and orphanage director would attend be there, and anyone else that needs to be.

2. The official seals and signatures would be where they need to be in the paperwork.

3. Our son's name is on all the documents and spelled correctly.

4. Our names are on all the documents and spelled correctly.

5. MOWA would write the approval summary for the judge and get it to him or her on time.

6. The judge or MOWA representative are not in a meeting.

7. That court would not be postponed.

8. That nothing would be able to come against court being passed.

7:55-8:00 Pray for us. With the addition of another trip we have to take to be at the court hearing, we need to raise another $4,000 beyond what we were expecting. Pray for our hearts in the waiting time. Pray that we would be prepared as a new mom and dad. Pray for protection from the lies that the enemy can send our way. Pray for strengthened faith in God's sovereignty.