Give 1, Save 1...actually, save 2!

Ok, so by now you may have seen Christy's earlier post about the types of orphanages in Congo and wondered "what is that all about?" or you may have seen several curious facebook messages from either Christy or I, or both, about some God-sized things that have been happening in our little corner of the world lately and...well, here is one of them, and it's a big one.

We have been blessed with being this week's featured family on the website Give 1, Save 1, which started as an adoptive mother's blog and has morphed into so much more to include featuring a new adoptive family each week to share their (our) story and provide a link so that other's can contribute financially to the cause.  We feel honored and humbled to be this week's family and owe a huge debt of gratitude to Josh McClure from our church, Journey Christian Church, for filming and editing the video for us.  And, as you may have noticed on the website, this week couldn't have come at a better time (funny how God works those things out, huh?)  So without further adeu...

 

Please meet Galvani, a 6 yr old boy who has been living in abandoned cars on the streets ever since his parents both died and his half-brothers abandoned him on the streets. The orphanage that Imani, our 2 yr old daughter that we are also adopting, is currently at has offered him to stay there for about 2 weeks while they try to find a family that will adopt him; if not, he will then go to a state-funded orphanage that lacks running water or electricity, has about 75+ kids and only enough food for each kid to eat every 2-3 days...one meal. The unfortunate truth is that most kids, if not adopted by the age of 3-4, will not get adopted...families simply want babies and toddlers, so Galvani's chances of getting adopted at all, yet alone in 2 weeks, are slim to none.

Other families were interested and we thought one was a "shoo in".  Unfortunately, things just didn't work out with any of the families that were interested.  We haven't been able to shake the thought of him, can't stand the thought of his plight and have felt God's little nudges towards him...so.....

After prayer and council, we've decided to make him a Whitver!!!

I know this is crazy; trust us we both are tremendously scared and nervous, but at the end of the day he's just a boy who desperately needs a family who will love on him and provide a safe place for him, and we feel that this is exactly in line with what God wants us to do as Christians.  And, we know that sometimes God asks us to do things that the world will say is crazy but that should't prevent us from doing His work, either. 

Now, we know that we can't save every child, we know that and we're making additional plans to help those children as well (more on that later) but this is a unique set of circumstances that has fallen perfectly into our lap.  We have the room and we definately know boys;  our hearts ache for what this boy has already been through and we could not with a clear conscience let him go when we could have done something to save him.  We also have no idea how we are going to pay for this, either, but here is what we do know; what God has started He will finish and He will provide.

Please join us in celebrating the newest addition to our family.

Love you all,

Rob & Christy