This is a slightly modified letter for the blog that I mailed out to family & friends early this month. Would you consider sponsoring me for the 1/2 marathon?
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Dear Family & Friends,
As most of you know, God has led Amber and me to care for another orphan by adopting again … this time, a baby girl from Silas’ birth country, Ethiopia. We should be on the waiting list this month, God-willing, but the wait will be long as we expect it to take at least a year before we get a referral. We can’t wait to have her home and be together as a family of 4.
What most people don’t know is that there are 147 million orphans in the world. Almost 6 million in Ethiopia alone waiting for a family to call their own. To have a mommy and a daddy. To be unconditionally loved. 147 million orphans is half of our population in the United States. To put it in perspective, most of you know that I’m a Chicago Cubs fan. It would take over 45 years of sellouts at Wrigley Field to equal the number of orphans in the world. Just because we don’t see it daily, we can’t pretend this crisis doesn’t exist! God has called us to SO much more … more room in our hearts, in our homes, and in our relationship with Him.
On October 16, 2010, I will be running 13.1 miles in The Middle Half Marathon to raise money for our adoption. Although it will be a challenge for me to complete this race (to say the least!), I will be especially motivated knowing that I am running for our daughter.
We have to travel twice to Ethiopia for our daughter … soon after our referral, we will have an initial court date and will meet our daughter for the first time. We will be in Ethiopia for about a week and then will have to leave our daughter in Ethiopia. :( We will need to pass court to finalize our adoption in Ethiopia a few months later and then travel back to bring her forever home.
I am asking our friends and family to support me in two ways…
1) Prayer. We had dozens and dozens of people praying for Silas and his adoption. We are asking for you to join with us in praying for our daughter. For her health and safety. For her birth family. For God to start to open her heart and ours for an immediate bonding that only He could provide. Also, please pray for my training for the marathon. As you know, I’m not a runner :). But I feel this is an invitation from God to spend time praying and thinking about our daughter while running. And for me personally, to get healthy to be the husband and father I need to be for my family.
2) Sponsorship. We have a total fundraising goal of raising at least $7700 for our adoption … $1 for each mile we have to travel one-way to bring our daughter home. This goal is about one-fourth of our total adoption expenses. For this half marathon, I hope to reach my goal of raising $3000 for our adoption. With the expensive cost of adoption and having to travel twice to Ethiopia, I would greatly appreciate you being part of our daughter’s story by making a donation toward this goal. Each dollar is a mile closer to bringing our daughter forever home. As you feel led, please share this story with other friends and family as well. Also, if you are running a race in the next year, you could help us with our fundraising goal for our daughter’s adoption. Please contact me if you would like more information on that.
If you have any questions at all, please email me at luchttd@yahoo.com. If you’d like to follow our journey (I can’t guarantee how often I’ll update it but I’ll try), our blog is http://luchtadoption.blogspot.com. If you would like to sponsor me in the half marathon, please click the ‘DONATE’ button on the left side of the page.
I have a picture below of our family as a reference point for praying for our adoption and our family. We can’t wait to show you an updated family picture once our daughter is forever home! THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR DAUGHTER’S STORY!
May God richly bless you in every way that you serve Him,
Troy
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
3 comments:
Your story is amazing. My husband and I are sponsoring an adorable little boy in Uganda right now and have just started the preliminary process for adoption. We are reluctant to consider international adoption because of the HUGE costs and time it takes. I just wanted you to know that your story is inspiring and that I will be praying for Silas to have a little sister as soon as heavenly possible. God bless you and your family...all 4 of you!!
This is so cool...I am getting ready to send out a letter (haven't written it yet) for support as I attempt my first triathlon. I am dragging my feet knowing once I mail the letters...I have to do it!! This may have been the push I need. Thanks for sharing. This is an encouragement to me as we try to raise the funds needed for our second adoption as well. I can't wait to follow your story and race!!
We loved getting to meet ya'll this weekend!! It was such an amazing time! Silas is just precious!! And we are so excited to follow your journey to his baby sister! Yay!!
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