Chosen for Adoption

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace.” ~Ephesians 1:3-5a~

We have always heard, and known, that adoption is a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but our understanding of this truth continues to grow with each day and step of our adoption journey. The beginning of the process was arduous as we waded through paperwork, counseling sessions, meetings, fundraising and waiting. We were working for a little one whom we loved, did not know and who was not aware of us. We were reminded daily of Christ’s pursuit of us while we were unknowing of Him. This stage was humbling as we remembered again and again the love of our Saviour. This first stage in the journey was just a small glimpse into the sacrificial love God offered us through His Son, Jesus Christ. On April 29th, 2019 we received approval to begin reviewing files for CARA (India’s Adoption Governing Authority). This was a blessing, but proved to be one of the most challenging things we have ever walked through. We received our first referral soon after approval, and we listened in anticipation as our case worker began to review specifics. It became clear early on that this child was not the one Christ had for our family, but saying, “No” to an actual child is hard and excruciating. We prayed and cried as we considered this file, then another with the same response. One evening, Jessica was talking with a friend about the difficulty of the situation. She explained to her the guilt associated with the decision. She talked about the pain of reviewing an additional file with fear of another, “no,” and she expressed her fear of never knowing clearly who our child would be. Our wise friend was so gracious to remind us that even this challenging decision is a picture of the Gospel of God’s grace. Just as Christ “chose us in Him… for adoption as sons,” (Eph. 1) we would choose our child and be able to share this great truth with them someday! We are so thankful for the wisdom of others and the great truth of His Word, and we are also excited to announce that our fears did not become reality. On June 19th, 2019, we officially said, “Yes!” to a beautiful two year-old little girl! We could not be not be more excited! This journey has been challenging and humbling all at the same time. Our trust in Christ and understanding of the Gospel continues to grow each day with each new step. We still have a lot of paperwork and waiting ahead as we prepare for our daughters arrival. We ask that you join us in praying for wisdom, perseverance, trust and grace as we work and wait. We also ask that you pray for our little girl. Pray for safety, her health and even now that God will be preparing her heart to know us and Him.

We Received a Matching Grant!!!

Hello everyone! 

We have exciting news! Lifesong offers financial assistance to adoptive families through partnership with local churches. One of the ways they utilize these partnership is by gifting families "matching grants." What this grant allows is for every donation through Lifesong to be matched dollar for dollar up to a certain amount. Along with the matching grant, Lifesong also offers a crowdfunding option to enable people to donate easily, and it also allows individuals to receive a tax deduction for their gift. 

We are overjoyed to announce that we have been awarded a Matching Grant of $4000.00! This grant was made possible through the generosity of Colonial Heights Baptist Church in Ridgeland, MS in partnership with Lifesong.  We are humbled by their generosity, and look forward to seeing how God uses their giving in our family and surrounding community.

We are including a link to our crowdfunding page along with additional information on how to give. You may give either through our crowdfunding page, or by sending a check directly to Lifesong with our family account number and name (#8271 - Townson Family) included on the check. 

We are so thankful for our community of family, friends and many more. This journey would be impossible without your support, prayers and love. 

Blessings,

Nathan and Jessica

myStory Crowdfunding Page:

https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/townsons-adoption-journey-india/

Information on Giving: 

o   Please make checks payable to Lifesong for Orphans. On the check memo line donors need to note “Preference: Account #8271 - Townson Family”

o  Please Mail Checks To:

    Lifesong for Orphans

    PO Box 40

    Gridley, IL 61744

o   NOTE: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization.  This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.

o   Individual donations $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt.  Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.  Lifesong is a 501©3 tax exempt organization.

Where are we now?

Hello everyone!

We know it has been a little while since we have updated our blog, and we are sure many or you are wondering how things are going and where we are in the process. We will do our best to try to give you the specifics of what has happened, where we are currently, how you can be praying for us and how to get involved.

In our last post, we had just completed our home study, and we believe we were awaiting a finalized copy... We received our finalized home study at the end of January and were able to register with CARA in India. CARA is the Central Adoption Authority in India, and we must first receive their approval prior to being matched with a child. We officially registered with them on January 31, 2019. Upon registration, our caseworker said they have seen this particular step in the process take anywhere from 3-5 months. It could be shorter or longer than that depending on the number of applications sent to CARA and their ability to sort through them.

While preparing to register with India, we also applied for immigration with the USCIS in order to be approved to migrate a child into the US. This process began with an initial application and then we waited until we received an appointment time to appear at a USCIS location to have our biometric fingerprints done. We receive that letter last week, and we are scheduled to have our fingerprints done on Monday, March 11th!

Finishing our home study was a huge milestone in the process, and it opened up opportunities to be able to move forward in several different ways. CARA and USCIS were huge steps toward knowing who our little will be! However, we have also been able to begin applying for adoption grants because of our completed home study. There are many different granting agencies, and each one is very unique in their approach. Some agencies offer grants for specific points in the process. Other grants are matching grants, some offer crowd funding and so much more. We have been diligently working to complete as many applications as possible, and we are awaiting many responses at this time. We will be sharing more details about these as we know more.

Finally, we have been blessed over the last several months by the generosity of family members, friends and co-workers who have asked about, prayed for and donated toward our adoption. All of your generosity has been extremely humbling for both Nathan and I as we have seen a community of people come together to support us and celebrate our little one!

We have discussed several different fundraising options with different people, and there are a few we will launch in the coming months. However, we were able to do one fundraising event last weekend thanks to the kindness and generosity of our friends, Sam and Misty Merelien. These sweet friends opened their home last weekend and threw a "Mystery Dinner Party" with all proceeds going toward our adoption! This event provided a lot of laughs and a nice donation to put us one step closer to our financial goal and ultimately the adoption of our child.

The Mereliens' generosity is just one small picture of the many different people involved in this process. Nathan and I realize more and more every day just how much we need each one of you as we journey toward our little one. We cannot thank-you enough for your love, prayers and support!

"The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight." 

~ O Little Town of Bethlehem~

Christmas is over and the New Year is upon us. Nathan and I went to a Christmas celebration with his brother and our sister-in-law recently, and the words of this familiar song really stood out to me. What truth is found in these words. All of our hopes and deepest fears find rest in the person of Jesus Christ! This little child was born to bring peace through His life, death and resurrection. 

"For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, 

Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."

(Isaiah 9:6)

It is with this hope and peace, Nathan and I enter into the New Year. Although we have been silent on our blog, we have been diligently working to gather all of the necessary paperwork for our home study. A home study is a compilation of documents ranging from our birth certificates, criminal background checks, detailed information about our personal family history and plenty of education. There were moments where we felt like we were flying through this portion of the process and other days where it seemed like nothing was happening. However, we are happy to report all of our documents are in, and we are just waiting for our home study to be finalized! Once we receive our finalized home study, we can apply for immigration with the USCIS, and begin the process of registering with the Indian government. 

There will be many long days and weeks of waiting from this point forward, and this process has already shown me how bad I am at waiting. However, I am reminded of the truth that my hopes and fears have already been met in the person of Jesus. I find comfort in knowing He is in control. I find comfort in the reminder that so many, including the prophet Isaiah, spent their whole lives waiting for the One who is now my Savior. I am not looking for His coming. He has already come to be my peace!

Please continue to join Nathan and I in prayer as we continue along this journey. We could not have made it this far without all of your prayers and support. We love all of you and look forward to sharing more in the future! 

Why adoption? Why India?

Dear friends and family,

We are excited to announce that we are in the process of adopting from India!

Why Adoption?

Adoption has been something Nathan and I have talked and prayed about since the beginning of our marriage. As many of you know, I (Jessica ) worked for Lifeline Children’s Services for years prior to Nathan and I’s marriage, so orphan care/ adoption has a huge place in my heart. However, God in His faithfulness was also stirring a desire for adoption/orphan care in Nathan’s heart even before we had met! It is so encouraging to look back on those years and know that God’s hand was at work in all of those details to bring us to the current day!

We have loved the last two years of marriage as we have learned to grow as a couple and are continuing to learn how to love another person as Christ loved the church. Over the last six months or so, God began giving us both the desire to have children, and we began to earnestly pray how to begin this journey. We were open to biological children or adoption. The more we talked, prayed and sought the Lord, the more we realized that adoption was how God was calling us to grow our little family.

Why India?

As many of you know, international missions is also a huge part of Nathan and I’s heart, so we also knew we wanted to pursue an international adoption. We knew Lifeline would be the agency we would use, so we began looking into the different international programs. The need for adoption is huge all over the world, but the Lord kept bringing us to India. At 20 million orphans, India has the largest population of orphans in the world today. India is made up of 2,554 people groups, of which 2,289 are considered unreached with the gospel. (joshuaproject.net) Realizing the need for the gospel and orphan care, God continued to point us to India. Our ultimate desire is that Christ will be proclaimed and glorified through every step of this process.

Adoption is not an easy process. There is a lot of waiting, uncertainties and many financial hurdles to overcome. We know that God has called us to this process, and He will continue to sustain us throughout the journey. However, we also need the prayer and support of all our friends and family. Will you consider joining us along the way? We will give you updates as we move along in the process, and we want to thank you in advance for your prayers and support!

Blessings,

Jessica and Nathan

#townsonadoption #lifelinechild