As the Dust Settles

As the news of the exit letter suspension sinks in, I wanted to let you all know that we have hope.

I do not have words to describe how I am feeling during this difficult time but I find comfort in God's Word.

 

Psalm 13

How long O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

 

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

lest my enemy say, " I have prevailed over him,"

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

 

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

 

Amos 6:6

But let Justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

 

Psalm 68:6

God sets the solitary in a home.

 

 

Urgent Prayer Request

We are coming to you all today with heavy hearts, asking for you all to pray with us.

We received word yesterday that the DGM(Congo side of immigration) has suspended issuing exit letters.  This means that no families can leave the country with their children.

 

They are saying the suspension will take up to 12 months.  This would slow down our adoption and keep us from getting our kids  for at least a year if they stick to their guns.  We have not yet heard from the U.S. embassy as far as what this means for families who are already through court and have kids waiting in the Congo.

 

We are asking you to pray with us this weekend for comfort and direction.

Please also pray for all these kids who are currently stuck without parents.

There are many families who had travel plans for the next couple weeks to pick up their kids and are devastated at the thought of waiting an additional year to bring them home.

This is unjust and the best thing we can do is cry out to our heavenly Father who has the power to change anything.

Will you adopt again?

First off I would like to ask...how do you like the blog makeover?

I thought is was incredibly cute and if you know me very well, you know that I LOVE animal print.

This makeover took me at least two hours to figure out....blogger makes me nuts!

 

Anyways....

 

As this adoption is starting to look like it is coming to an end(I am not holding my breath), I have been asked if we will adopt again.

Honestly if I were a person looking from the outside in, I would think,"No way will they adopt again!  They would have to be nuts to do this over again!"

 

True

 

I feel like I must be nuts for wanting to do this again.

The truth is, Lord willing, we absolutely want to adopt again.

This has been the most difficult thing I have done in my life.

The pain that the wait has inflicted on me feels unbearable at times.

The heartache of years lost with my children is almost too much to take.

I am fairly certain the process is making me clinically insane.

 

But

 

I have never felt more spiritually rich in all my life!

I am beginning to enjoy the chaos.

God has opened my eyes and now that I have seen I can not do nothing!

God has made himself so real in these past couple of years, I can not help but want more...I need to see more of Him.

 

We are feeling the need to switch it up a bit though.

International adoption is a LONG journey full of unknowns and changes of plans.

So we were thinking perhaps we would adopt one domestically next time around.

Or maybe have a baby the old fashioned way next.

There is always the possibility that God will totally change our direction and we could end up having little Pehl kids on the other side of the world again.

 

Who knows which route we will take next.

It will be a surprise!

All I know is that as long as its God's will, we will continue to add to our family through adoption.

How much you raised during Both Hands.

Well we finally have the total amount raised from our Both Hands fundraiser.

Thanks again to everyone who who made this possible.

 

Amount Raised

 

$5,700

 

We are not about $19,000 short of what we need to be fully funded.

Praise God!

We are moving forward.

Isryelle's Court Documents

We have a huge praise report.

We have received all of the documents that we need to file for Isryelle's visa today.

We are waiting for them to be translated to English, and then we can send all her paperwork into USCIS.  As soon as USCIS approves it(in 1-2 months), they will send the approval to the U.S. embassy in Kinshasa. 

Then the REAL waiting begins.  They will begin a 4-6 month investigation into Isryelle's background.  As soon as that is completed, they will bring her into the embassy for an interview and issue a visa.  We will finally be able to pick her up!

 

Please keep praying for Boaz's documents to come through.  We really want to get the investigation period started on both kids. We also need all you supporters to pray that  both of our kids complete the investigation around the same time.  They are from two different areas of Congo and their investigations will be done completely separate.  It will be difficult to have one child sitting in D.R.C. ready to come home because the other does not have a completed investigation.

 

We REALLY do appreciate your prayers!

Both Hands Video!

 

Here is a little recap of our Both Hands project in video form!

It is a beautiful video and I want to give a big shout out to Jared for donating his time to make it for us.  It turned out better than I ever imagined and really showcases how awesome of a day that was!

http://bothhandsfoundation.org/gavin-and-rachel-pehl

Raising the Prices

We got some bad news the day after we finished our Both Hands project. 

As you all know, we were about $17,000 away from being fully funded.

Well....our agency added on $7,000 in fees from what was originally in the contract.

The adoption world is constantly changing and getting more and more expensive every minute.

It is just one of the tools the devil uses to steer people away from adoption.

 

I am not going to lie, we were bummed!

We are running out of money, and running out of fundraisers we can do.

After letting it sink in for a few days, we feel at peace.

So what if this adoption costs over $80,000?

Its not like we could have come up with any of that by ourselves.

God will take care of us and we pray all the time that our adoption will give God glory!

 

The good news is, we will tell you all mid-week next week how much was raised during our both hands fundraiser.  If you feel let to sponsor our team financially, its not too late!  Just visit the link below.

http://bothhandsfoundation.org/gavin-and-rachel-pehl

Both Hands - The Final Project

Our Both Hands project was a complete success.

We had so much fun serving Zephera(our widow) and she made sure we knew how blessed she felt.

This is the first time I have personally done a service project this big.

It truly changed my heart...God's presence was so strong at Zephera's house on Saturday...it was truly amazing.  About an hour into the project, I thought to myself, "I am glad the kids are not home yet. If they were home, we would not have taken the time to do this project and we would miss out on a major blessing."  I am pretty sure Zephera was blessed but I KNOW without a doubt, our team was so blessed.

 

Praise God for putting together a team of people who worked beautifully together.  Praise God that the weather was wonderful and perfect for a long day of working outside.  Praise God that Zephera was happy to have us working on her home and for the example of Christ we could be to her.  She thought we were angels, I told her that we had the love of Christ in us which allows us to truly love her.

 

Gavin and I want to give a huge shout out to our wonderful team of volunteers.  I wish I could put into words how much it meant to us to serve with you. Our kids are on the other side of world wanting their mama and daddy.  Yesterday, you all made a difference.  You are all bringing them home.  On top of that, you showed Zephera the love of Christ. 

 

I also want to thank my husband who did most of the organization on the project day. He was wonderful at giving out orders and keeping everyone busy.  He was a wonderful leader and I am proud to say he is mine.

 

Thank you to everyone who sponsored our team this weekend.  I am waiting until next week to add up the total donated money so stay tuned for that.  You are all a huge part of bringing our children home.  Without the finances, it would not be possible.

Before

 

After

 

Before

A Prescott firefighter volunteered to come and help us set up defensible space in case of a wild fire.

 

 

After

 

Before

There were multiple spaces under her house that looked like this.

 

After

 

This shed was infested with rats and was full of stuff she has not seen in years.

We took everything out of the shed.  We threw away most of it but kept a few things that she wanted to salvage.

That would be a dollhouse full of rat poop and bedding.

She was so happy to be rid of this shed!

 One of the many rats we found throughout the day.

 We got rid of that bit of trash on the left but the shed is completely gone.

We hauled over 3000 pounds of trash to dump.  That does not include the brush which we chipped and put back onto the land.

 The Oakerlands who gave us the idea for the Both Hands project.

The beautiful view we had while working.

 

 Getting rid of those weeds!

 

 

My papa hard at work. 



We loved having young people come out to help.

Big thanks to Chino Rentals who donated the use of the chipper.  It saved us a LOT of money in dump fees. 

Zephera's backyard looked gorgeous by the time we were finished.  She way very happy.

This was just a little something to show her we love her.

 

Our Lifesong account is still open for donations.  If you feel led to sponsor this project but did not have a chance to get to it before Saturday, its not to late!  Just visit the link below.

http://bothhandsfoundation.org/gavin-and-rachel-pehl

One Week.

We have one week until our Both Hands project.

We are very excited and very busy preparing.

God has provided and we have had a business donate the use of a wood chipper so that we can minimize the amount of tree trimmings we have to put into the roll off dumpster.  So far we have not found anyone willing to donate a roll off dumpster.  We are expecting to have a lot of trash, way more than can fit in the back of trucks.  We are praying that God provides all that we need for this project.

If you feel led to donate just use the link below.
http://bothhandsfoundation.org/gavin-and-rachel-pehl

Here are some fun new pictures of the kids.