Author: LS

Our minimal goal needed for our adoption is $68,000.

Currently we have raised: $55,644.07 through donations and matching funds.

We are thankful to be able to set aside as much of our savings as possible for additional expenses that cannot be covered through fundraising, but have $15,000 available to make up any difference remaining.

We have $4,611.07 raised through our church fundraiser.

The overall amount (excluding our savings) is: $60,255.14…desired amount to raise: $7,744.86.

Giving Information:

lifesong.org/donate/family

Enter either our last name or our account number: 11196

To give by check: 

You can make the check payable to Lifesong for Orphans.  On the check memo line you should write: Preference: 11196 Stannard.  The checks should be mailed to: Lifesong for Orphans, P.O. Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744. 

Our minimal goal needed for our adoption is $68,000.

Currently we have raised: $54,494.07 through donations and matching funds.

We are thankful to be able to set aside as much of our savings as possible for additional expenses that cannot be covered through fundraising (i.e. larger car, clothing, furniture, airline tickets for American citizenship hearing, etc.), but have $15,000 available to make up any difference remaining. This is sufficient to meet the minimum needs for the adoption to occur, but our prayer is to raise all the funds if possible to cover unexpected additional prices (i.e. airline prices being higher, potential flights within Brazil, etc.) and allow us to cover all the additional expenses mentioned above.

We have $4,385.61 raised through our church fundraiser.

The overall amount (excluding our savings) is: $58,879.68…desired amount to raise: $9,120.32.

Giving Information:

lifesong.org/donate/family

Enter either our last name or our account number: 11196

To give by check: 

You can make the check payable to Lifesong for Orphans.  On the check memo line you should write: Preference: 11196 Stannard.  The checks should be mailed to: Lifesong for Orphans, P.O. Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744. 

The Vlog is back and just in the nick of time! Grab some popcorn and enjoy 6 minutes of updates, a new filming site, and adoption finances!

We are one document closer to having the Dossier completed for Brazil!

This week we received our clearances from the FBI background check. That means that the only document that the Dossier is still lacking is the permission from the US government (I-800a form). The application for that was sent of at the end of the year and we have received confirmation that it has been received and now assigned to an adjudicator. The process to check all the paperwork that is a part of this application can sometimes take several months. But we are thankful that on our end, everything we can do for the Dossier is now done and once we get the governmental approval, Lifeline can send this out to Brazil.

One step further down the road…

Our minimal goal needed for our adoption is $68,000.

Currently we have raised: $47,819.07 through donations and matching funds.

We are able to cover $15,000 through our savings.

We have $3,709.91 raised through our church fundraiser.

The remaining minimal goal is: $1,471.02

Giving Information:

lifesong.org/donate/family

Enter either our last name or our account number: 11196

To give by check: 

You can make the check payable to Lifesong for Orphans.  On the check memo line you should write: Preference: 11196 Stannard.  The checks should be mailed to: Lifesong for Orphans, P.O. Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744. 

We are excited to share that we heard back from the Brazilian judge much faster than we expected and our letter of intent was accepted!!

What does this mean?

It means that the sibling group of 4 children that we are pursuing will now not be available for any other families to view or to submit letters of intent. In essence, they are locked down for us, pending the successful completion of all the application steps. Once our dossier is approved by the Brazilian government, the status will be changed to officially matched.

So while we are still not technically matched yet, this is the next best thing that guarantees we are the only family linked to these children. We are very excited for this step as it give sufficient guarantees to start more concrete planning. Officially this is still not a guarantee of a match, but it makes the match extremely likely to become official pending the approval of our dossier.

Praise the Lord for this step and keep joining us in praying for the other application phases (specifically that the I-800 US government application would go as quickly as possible).

Our minimal goal needed for our adoption is $68,000.

Currently we have raised: $37,819.07 through donations and matching funds.

We are able to cover $15,000 through our savings.

We have $2,897.92 raised through our church fundraiser.

The remaining minimal goal is: $12,183.01

Giving Information:

lifesong.org/donate/family

Enter either our last name or our account number: 11196

To give by check: 

You can make the check payable to Lifesong for Orphans.  On the check memo line you should write: Preference: 11196 Stannard.  The checks should be mailed to: Lifesong for Orphans, P.O. Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744. 

Since our home study is now officially complete, we are able to begin launching applications for various scholarships and adoption grants. Although there are many available, the demand is also quite high. We have been busy over the Christmas holidays using this time to fill out the applications and submit as many as possible.

We would love to ask you to join us in praying for the applications that we have been able to fully submit:

• Help Us Adopt
• Here I Am Orphan Ministries
• National Adoption Fund
• Promise 686
• Room for One More Child
• Show Hope

We also have a several that are in process and we are working to complete (in some cases we still need to gather a few things before we can submit them):

• Katelyn’s Fund
• MCC Adoption Grant
• The Never Alone Foundation
• Stone Family Adoption Assistance Fund

And there are several others that either require an official match before application or who aren’t currently accepting more applications and so we will have to keep checking back in the coming weeks and months:

• Christian Orphan Fund
• Every Child Has a Dream
• Gift of Adoption
• JSC Foundation
• One17
• Pure Gift of God
• Joseph’s DreamCoat

Happy New Year!

As we launch into 2025, we have some brief updates to share. Just before the new year was rung in, we had everything in place and our 800a application (permission from the US Government to adopt) was mailed off. The next step with this is to wait for the permissions to be granted.

Normally, when the application is received it sits in a lockbox for 2 weeks while an adjudicator is being assigned to it. At the end of that time, it will land with a particular USCIS agent, who will then be responsible for reviewing everything and granting the necessary permissions. The entire process can take up to 3 months, but prayerfully it will be less time consuming.

Our dossier to Brazil is nearly complete and the only piece that is still missing is the 800a approval. Once we receive that, the dossier can be sent off to Brazil in order to get permission from the Brazilian government to adopt (which can also take up to 3 months) and after that we would get permission to travel.

We are still awaiting the decision on our letter of intent, but hope to receive a ruling on that perhaps by the end of January.

This means that we are currently in a waiting phase – one of the hardest phases for adoptive families to be in and the one they spend the most time in. Thank you for your continued prayers and support during this time!

Our minimal goal needed for our adoption is $68,000.

Currently we have raised: $32,069.07 through donations and matching funds.

We are able to cover $15,000 through our savings.

The remaining minimal goal is: $20,930.93