As many of you know, we are currently in the process of adopting another baby, a sibling to our Timothy. This baby boy (it looks like, that has already changed once) is due in February, but may be early as Timothy was. Continued prayers for him to continue to stay in the womb as long as possible would be appreciated, as well as for the adoption to go through. We fully realize, especially based on what happened with Timothy, that this may fall through again, but are stepping out in faith anyway and trusting that God has the best plan for this baby.
We are also feeling called to pursue another international adoption. We met two girls from Colombia this summer during the Summer of Hope program (the same program our Katiana and Jenalyn came through). We were not really planning on going in this direction at this time, but God has a way of changing hearts and making His will clear. We have been approved to have contact with the girls while we pursue their adoptions. This is no guarantee of adoption, but is still a step nonetheless. Kelly Johanna is currently 11 years old, and her sister Ana Maria just turned 10. They are both beautiful, sparkling young ladies whom we look forward to inviting into our family in the near future.
Right now, we are focusing on the paperwork for the baby's adoption. Once that is finished, we will begin the process for the girls' adoptions. In the meantime, we have come up with or been suggested some very creative fundraising opportunities. We will need to raise the funds once again for the international adoption.
We have come under criticism recently for both our fundraising efforts AND the fact that we have adopted in the first place and want to do so again (specifically by some family members, who will not be receiving this, or any other messages from us). However, we believe this is still what we are supposed to do, and we still believe that our God, the Father of the fatherless, has a plan for these orphans that He has brought into our lives. That being said, if you are not interested in being on this email news list, please let us know. We only want to keep those of you informed who are interested in these exciting changes in our lives.
We will also update through our blog, http://www.lfurniss.blogspot.com, and for those of you on Facebook, on there also.
In the meantime, while we do not expect anything from any of you (except maybe for continued prayer support and encouragement), those of you who are interested in the fundraising aspect of this adventure do have the opportunity, if you feel so led, to take a look at a couple of fundraisers we are currently organizing and starting to promote.
The first one we are quite excited about. Just Love Coffee Roasters sells high quality, organic, free trade coffees. Proceeds from their sales go towards building schools for older children in Ethiopia. They also have a fundraising program we have signed up for. We receive proceeds of $5 for every bag of coffee or T-shirt sold, $3 per travel mug, tote bag, or hat, and $1 per coffee scoop. Just Love Coffee runs the website and tracks the sales for us and sends us the proceeds monthly. We have set a goal of 2000 bags of coffee sold. That website is
www.justlovecoffee.com/furniss
You can place your order there directly and the coffee will be shipped to you, or you can place an order through us and we will have it shipped to you.
The second fundraiser involves this puzzle:
We are selling the pieces of this puzzle for $1 a piece. When a piece is purchased, the name of the buyer will be written on the back of the puzzle piece. We will assemble the puzzle as pieces are sold and when all the pieces are gone and the puzzle fully assembled, it will be framed on both sides so both sides can be viewed. This will then hang in our house as a reminder of all who helped bring these girls home into their forever family.
We do have some other fundraising options that we will pursue at a later date, and are always open to more creative ideas that anyone has. Once we have our international home study completed for the girls, we will be able to pursue adoption grant options, also.
For those who would rather just make a direct, tax-deductible donation, you can always send payment directly to:
The Sacred Portion Children's Outreach
7104 Bristol Lane
Bozeman, MT 59715
Designate it to us on a SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER (IRS rules), not on the check, and it will go directly into our funds there.
Thank you to all of you who have encouraged and supported us in the past, and who continue to do so as we travel this road again. It is exciting to see the healing and restoration God has brought to our children, and we are excited about being His tool for this purpose once again. We will send updates every few weeks as things progress.
