We received our referral in just ONE day!!!!!!!

We are thrilled to share that we have received our referral only 24 hours after our agency received our Dossier. Especially since we were told it would take four weeks. God is blessing us over and over!!!!

Our little boy's given name is Marvens Romulus and his American name will be ISAAC MARVENS MITCHELL. He was born on August 15, 2009 in Bercy, Cabaret, HAITI. Two years old!!!

He is precious!!!!  The kids are oohing and aahing over his pictures!!!  :-)

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."  1 Samuel 1:27

We just can't thank God enough for this beautiful little boy.

Love,
The Mitchells
Keith, Stacey, Elizabeth, Eric and ISAAC!!!

Our paperwork is on it's way....

Today was a very big day for our adoption process!!!!!  After five BUSY months, our paperwork was finally complete.  We shipped 611 pages to Haiti!!!  I can't even count how many times I checked and double checked every single piece of the required paperwork.  Now after filing immigration paperwork, two social worker visits, psychological evaluation, medical exams, lab work, fingerprinting, criminal background checks, letters of references,  three years worth of financial paperwork, etc......it is finally out of our hands and on to our agency.  Please keep Dr. Jacob Bernard and his staff in your prayers as they reveal to us the child who God has chosen for our family.  We anxiously await our referral.......

Mailing our Dossier to Haiti!!!  The kids would have loved to help but they are enjoying time at the grandparents.

Blessings,
Stacey and Keith

Another goal met!!!!

We have been so blessed during this adoption journey. God continues to provide for our needs in His perfect timing!!! In our first fundraiser (yard sale), we raised almost the exact dollar amount needed that week to file immigration paperwork and translate our Dossier. With the matching grant from ABBA fund, we needed to raise $4000 to send our Dossier to Haiti. We just learned that with the matching grant amount provided by our church, we raised EXACTLY $4000!!! We are so thankful for our friends and family who continue to pray for us and assist with our financial needs.

The final papers should return from the Haitian Consulate in Miami this week. We can then send our Dossier to our agency in Port-au-Prince. We are so excited to learn more about our little boy!!!  We know that at the moment he was born, God knew he would be ours. Please pray for Dr. Jacob Bernard and his staff at New Life Link as they reveal our chosen child to us. We pray that we will know immediately that the referral we receive is His choice for our family.

Blessings,
Stacey and Keith 

Orphan Sunday

Today, November 6th is Orphan Sunday

On Orphan Sunday, Christians stand for the orphan. We are a people called to defend the fatherless…to care for the child that has no family…to visit orphans in their distress. We love this video: Orphan Sunday Video .  It reminds us that we love because He first loved us.

HE Defended, Adopted, Rescued, Sought, Found and Loved US
So when we: Seek, Find, Rescue, Adopt, Defend and Love the orphan.....we make God's heart visible and walk in the way of love.

Almost daily someone tells Keith and I what a great thing we are doing....adopting. We sometimes have a hard time responding to this statement, because it's not about us. All of us have been instructed by God to care for the orphan. Some people do this financially, through mission trips, provide foster care but some of us are clearly called to adopt. We give God the praise/recognition and know that this child will be such a blessing to our family.

Adoption Journey update:  Our Dossier (massive stack of adoption paperwork) is ready!!!  We have four documents in Miami at the Haitian Consulate getting legalized. As soon as we receive those back we will mail it to Haiti.  We expect to have our referral (picture and info about our child) by Christmas! 

Our matching grant through ABBA fund ended yesterday. We will receive the final amount from them this week.  We appreciate everyone who gave generously and are praying for us through this journey. The blog will be updated with the amount raised as soon as it is finalized.

Stacey and Keith