18 team members

We have built up a team of 18 people so far!

We are praying about this thing every step of the way and God is blessing us.

Its not to late to get involved.....here are some ways.

 

1.) We would LOVE to have some more team members!

 

2.)  We need stamps.  We will hopefully be sending out about 2,000 letters as a team.  That is a lot of stamps and will cost us about $1,000.  If everyone could donate a few stamps, it would really help save us money.

 

3.)  A website has been set up on Both Hands where you can sponsor our project.  It is really easy to sponsor online using a debit/credit card.  Every little bit helps.

www.bothhands.org/gavin-and-rachel-pehl



Both Hands Fundraiser - Be a part of the team!

I am getting really excited about this project.

Gavin and I have spent the last week praying about a widow that we could serve.

God brought us one!

Our Both Hands project will take place on September 7th.

We will be fixing up a sweet widows house.

We will clean up trash in her yard, trim bushes, pull weeds, rake leaves, take down old gutters, and do whatever else she may need.

It will be a great time to bless her.

 

We are looking for a team of volunteers to help us with this project.

If you are interested in being a part of our team, all you have to do is say yes!

We will be putting together a team this week.

 

Next week, we will plan a envelope stuffing party.

This is where each team member will bring all their addresses over, we will have a potluck, and send out fundraising letters.  The letters will be asking your family and friends to sponsor you for this project...it is very similar to collecting pledges for running a marathon.  We will supply the letters, envelopes, and stamps.  You will just need to bring a side dish and the addresses of every family and friend you can think of.

 

After that, you just show up on project day and love the widow that we are going to serve!

A Friend in Congo

I have a sweet friend who traveled to Congo this week to pick up her daughter.

Her daughter happened to be in the same foster home as our babies.

She was able to take a few beautiful pictures for us!

It feels so strange that she is there with them yet they feel SO far away from us.

 

They were wearing the sweetest traditional Congolese outfits!

These are made by one of the foster moms and I plan an buying a few when we go.

She said that both of the kids were tiny!  She said that they look so big in pictures compared to how big they are in person.  I have been wondering if their weights are inaccurate because they do not look that small in pictures.  My friend assured me that they are in fact very small kids.

 

One of the first things I asked her was if she could tell me anything about their personalities.

I want to KNOW my kids so bad...any glimpse of who they are makes my heart smile.

She told me that Isryelle did not want to play.

She stood by herself and had a sad look in her eyes.

This breaks my heart and surprises me.  She always looks so happy in pictures.

This next picture has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen.

They must have told her that her parents are coming for her soon!

She looks so ladylike in that dress!

 

 

My friend let me know that Boaz played with her!

He enjoyed playing with cars and blocks.

When the blocks would fall over, he would laugh!

What a sweet sound that must be!

 

I am not going to lie, these pictures made me ball my eyes out.

The fact that my little girl looks sad is heart breaking.

I am missing my little boy's laughs which I am sure is constantly changing.

I am still crying out to God to bring my babies home.

I have faith that they will be here soon.

 



Five Months and Hoping

Today marks five months since we accepted our kids referrals.

As I try to write this post, I just don't know what to say.

Some days I have a hard time being very happy about the situation.

Our prayer lately has been,"Lord we don't know why you are not bringing them home yet but we will make a daily choice to trust you."

Every night we go to sleep aching for our little ones and every morning we wake up and choose to trust God's timing.

 

I am starting to want to get their rooms ready.

I am thinking about the adoption shower.

I want to start preparing for their arrival.

What if they don't come home for a year or even longer?

I don't want to prepare for them too soon and have the constant reminder of empty bedrooms and clothes not yet worn.

 

To top it off, in there last update pictures they both looked very unhappy.

Boaz looked sick.  He had a snotty nose, goopy eyes, and was sweaty like he had a fever.  His mouth was hanging open as though he could not breath through his nose.  Isryelle looks a little under the weather too.  Our normally happy girl did not crack one smile in this months updates.  We are still praying that they come home soon.

Boaz has some hair!  I am sure by the next update they will have shaved his hair again.  I just love this...I can't wait to grow it out!

Even when she is not very happy, she still shows her attitude.  She crossed her arms and gave the camera a very serious face.

 



Want to Help a Widow AND help bring our kids home?

BOTH HANDS!

If you have not heard of this organization...you should!

It is an amazing idea and we have been approved to be a part of it.

There are a couple different ways you can help.

 

Here is how it works.

 

1.We will find a widow who we can serve.  This can mean anything from helping her paint a room to doing some serious construction. 

 

2.Then we will put together a team of volunteers and draft a letter to send out to family and friends explaining the project we are doing for the widow and the fact that we are searching for people to sponsor us for our work.

Sponsors can pay a volunteer for every hour that they worked or just give a lump sum.

The sponsors checks will be sent to our Lifesong fund and will be tax detectable.

We will write these letters up for our volunteers!

 

3.We will put together an envelope stuffing party and all of our volunteers will send letters our the THEIR family and friends.  That is my favorite part!  I think our family and friends are getting a little sick of fundraising letters:) This way so many more people can have a chance to be part of bringing our babies home.

 

4.  We will serve the widow!  We will raise money for our adoption!  We will give God glory!

 

How you can help.

1. We are searching for a widow who needs to be loved and served.  If you know of one who could use the help, let me know.  My husband is a contractor so if you think the job is too big, bring it to me anyways.  It might not be!

 

2.  Volunteer to help with the project and get sponsors. It is going to be so much fun!

 

3. You can commit to sponsoring me, Gavin, or one of our volunteers.

 

4.  Pray for this awesome opportunity.  We want God to have so much glory through this project!

 

rachelwilson2@hotmail.com



Personality Guessing Game

Gavin and I both spend a lot of time dreaming about what our children are like.

We get lots of pictures of them that show off their personalities a little bit.

Every time we get a new picture, we think of another personality trait that the child might have.

Its strange having children who you do not "know".

We are looking forward to picking them up and finding out what their personalities are really like.

 

OUR GUESSES

 

Isryelle

We think Isryelle will be a really happy little girl.  She smiles a huge genuine smile in a lot of the pictures we get of her.  We think she will have the sweetest little giggle and will be the life of the party.  We already see so many similarities between her and Irelyn.  I am sure they will get along great!  We also think she is going to be very girly.  She is always throwing out a little sassy pose for the pictures.  We can see her just being a little love bug.  We think she will run, play, and dance around and then come over to our laps for some snuggles at the end of the day. 

 

 

Boaz

We think Boaz will be more reserved.  He rarely smiles in pictures and even when he does, they are not full smiles.  We have NEVER seen his teeth.  We think he will be stand offish at first.  We see him going with the flow but taking a long time to let us in.  He has been passed around a lot in his little life and I think it will take him a while to trust us.  We think he will be calm, collected, and tough.  We think he will really enjoy American food and having sisters to take care of.  We think he will be loving and genuinely caring.  We think he is just going to be a really sweet little boy that will be a joy to be around.

 

We will see how accurate we are when we go get them!

Care Packages

I am sure you all remember those care packages we put together for our kids a few months ago.

We sent to someone in Canada to take with her when she went to pick up her daughter who lives in a foster home with out kids.  The poor thing has still not been able to pick up her daughter!  Due to some government difficulties, she is not sure when she will be able to pick up her daughter.  Please make an effort to pray for this mother and daughter until the little girl goes home!

 

In the meantime, our coordinator is heading to Congo in a week or so. 

Our packages have been sent to her to take with her to Congo.

I am beyond excited for our children to get there packages!

Our coordinator will take a lot of pictures while she is there and I am sure she will try her best to take pictures of the kids opening their packages. 

 

I have started a "secret" page on FB where I am sharing pictures of the kids with family and close friends.  When the kids are officially and legally ours, which God willing should be soon, I would be happy to add many people to the group to follow our process and see pictures on a more personal level.  Hopefully by the time we get pictures of the kids opening their packages, we will be able to add more people to our group.

 

If you want to be a part of this FB group let me know!

If we are not friends on Facebook, we should be!

Rachel M Pehl

Look me up!

The Kids Rooms.

People have been asking about the kids rooms lately.

"Have you decorated?"

"Will they have their own rooms."

"What are the themes of the rooms."

"When will you post pictures."

 

 First off, I have not even started on the kids rooms yet.

Boaz will have his own room...at least until we add more boys to the family.

I am actually thinking that Isryelle and Boaz will share a room and a bed while they transition.

They are used to sleeping in a bed with about 8 other kids so I am sure Boaz would be lonely all by himself.  On the other hand Irelyn has never shared a room and may need time to get to know her new sister before making that big step.

 

Boaz's room is going to be a forest theme.

We have a huge elk head that Gavin killed a few years ago and we have no where else to put it accept for his room.  It will be accompanied by many antlers, horns, and animal skins.  These are all things that Gavin was unwilling to get rid of and since the only place to put them was the "storage" room, they are becoming part of the decor. The room will be all boy...that's for sure!

 

Isryelle will share a bunk bed with Irelyn and the theme of their room will stay the same at it is now.

I am going to get Isryelle her own personal letters for over her bead and comforter that shows off her personality(I have to guess what her personality is like for now).

 

I know some adopting families who set up their children's rooms before they even had their referrals.

The thought of having my kids rooms all set up without my kids in them broke my heart.

I don't want to walk into rooms that are all set up for kids that I do not have home.

We could get the kids home at the end of 2013 or we could get them home well into year 2014.

I don't want the constant reminder that there are little people missing from our family.

Now I do plan to prepare the rooms at some point before they get home.
I just don't want to get my hopes up by setting up the rooms too soon.
For the last 3 years of our marriage, Boaz's room has been a storage area.
Everything that didn't have a place went into that room...you can imagine what that looks like.

So step one is getting the room cleared out and cleaned up!
We are also on the lookout for bunk beds so let me know if you hear of any good deals!
I will keep you updated as we prepare the rooms and will of course post pictures when they are ready.

 



A Helping Hand

I have met so many people through adoption.

Adopting parents just seem to gravitate towards each other.

It is so comforting to have friends that know exactly what we are going through.

 

There is a special friend who I have never met in person who has taken it upon herself to help us get our children home.

Every since we left our agency with Ethiopia for ethical reasons, she has been supporting us with kind words and prayer.

She recently decided to help us with our sheet fundraiser and sold a lot of sheets in her area for us!

It is such a blessing to have someone like her in our lives encouraging us through this process!

 

You know who you are!  We appreciate you!

Foster Abroad!

Gavin and I are very passionate about orphan care.

We are asking God regulary what more we can do to take care of His children.

One of the commands God gives us in scripture is to love.

We can not fix the world.

This world is broken and dark.

We can LOVE people with the love Jesus has for us.

 

John 13:34

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:  just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

 

Jesus died on the cross for us while we were still sinners!

What great love!

He COMMANDS us to love others and what do we do?

We take care of our own.

 

We make sure we have all the comforts our money can afford while others go without food.

We save up for a vacation to italy, but do not make sure the least of these have shelter.

We pray for the orphan, the widow, the stranger, but we do not do anything to help them in their distress.
Faith without deeds is dead.

 

I am guilty of all of these things!

I live in the U.S. and I am accustomed to fancy cars, lavish dinners, and pretty clothes.

We do not actually know these suffering people.

It is so easy to just put them out of our minds.

I was so comfortable.

Then God opened my heart to the suffering of others.

God broke my heart for what breaks His.

 

It was painful and uncomfortable to physically hurt for all of the starving, cold, lonely children in the world.

It was also a blessing to finally start putting my efforts and my resources towards God's kingdom instead of my own agenda.

 

Luke 12:33

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be requirened, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will damand more.

 

God's word is living and active.

What does the verse above mean to you?

It is a wake up call for me.

 

There have been times that I have literally cried out to the Lord, "Why me".

Why do I have so much when they have so little.

Children don't deserve to starve.

Mothers don't deserve to watch their children starve.

I don't deserve to have a nutrisous meal every night.

 

But I do....so I sought answers as to why.

 

God answered.

 

I can help others.

 

This is a lesson I have to re-learn everyday.

My flesh wants to be selfish and go on that vacation to Italy instead of helping those with less.

Someday I might go to Italy...I am not saying it is wrong to travel.

I am saying that I need to be open to where God is telling me to place my recources.

 

Will ALL that said...I want to tell you all about a ministry that Gavin and I have recently gotten involved in.

The ministry has been started by a sweet, God fearing Ugandan couple who have been called by God to care for the orphans in their area.

Their ministry is called, Africa Foundation for Global Christian Missions.  They specialize in fostering abroad.

Now this is a term I had never heard before. I have sponsored kids, but never fostered one from a differenent country.  The more we learned the more we fell in LOVE with the program.

Fostering a child means paying for their school, medical needs, and food.

It also means sending letters, presents, and pictures to your foster child.

You can also skype with your child and visit your child in Uganda.

It allows for a very unique and personal relationship with you and the child you choose to foster.

 

You will be their financial, emotional, and spiritual support from miles away!

 

Many of the children are orphans while some still live with a parents in the village.

There is a children's home in eastern Uganda where children who could not remain in their villages live. 

 

These children have very little and need our help.

So far, this program has been dealing with foster parents in Uganda.

They are just now beginning to venture out into other countries to recieve help for the kids.

It costs about $35.00 - $50.00 a month to foster one of these children.
If you can not afford that amount but want to foster a child...please contact me and let me know.
We can have multiple foster parents fostering on child.
Please consider fostering one of these children below.
If you are interested in this wonderful program, email me and I will let you know how to get started.
If you have a specific age or gender of a child that you would like to foster that is not on this list just let me know.  I have pictures of many children who need loving foster parents!
When you choose a child to foster, you will recieve more personal information about the child than I have listed on this blog.
rachelwilson2@hotmail.com

Dorcas - six year old girl

Edwin - 6 year old boy.

Jaqueline - 6 year old girl

Eric - 17 year old boy

Moses - 3 year old boy

Joel - 3 year old girl

 

 



July 2nd Update

I had a wonderful weekend away at the WorshipGod West worship conference.

I really enjoyed a weekend WITHOUT the computer.

Its nice not having to think about whether we have moved to the next step or not in the adoption process.

I did, however, really miss my little girl.  It was the first time I left her for that long and I could not wait to get home and see her!

 

When I got home, I had an update of our sweet babies waiting in my e-mail.

They both seem to be doing great and both weigh about 22lbs.

Isryelle looks a little unhealthy...the whites of her eyes are very yellow.

We are sure praying we can get her home soon and give her the care she needs.

 

We are still hoping to have judgement in a few weeks.

At least that is what our coordinator says.

Congo is so unpredictable so it is really hard to say.

 

When we submit our I-600, we will have to pay our agency the rest of the money.

We still need to come up with about $6,000 so you can be praying about that with us.

We are thinking we still have 2-3 months before we need to have that money.

 

As far as the timeline goes for bringing the kids home, we still hope to have them home before 2014.

With how the process is going so far, that goal is extremely unlikely.

I think there is a better chance that we will have the kids home sometime next summer.

 

We never planned to wait this long to build our family and would love to add more children to our family before next summer.  We are trusting in God's plan and waiting to see what he does with our family.

 

Isryelle's very lady like pose.

Those eyes get me everytime!