Paperwork at the Orphanage!

It has been way to long since I wrote an update on our adoption!  We have recently heard the news that our Dossier (fancy work for BIG Paperwork) has been approved by Colombia, has been translated, and is now in the hands of the orphanage, Los Pisingos, in Bogota, Colombia.  Once the orphanage approves our request we will be placed on a waiting list of families awaiting children.  We know that we will be following at least 3 other families from our agency and probably many more, however, the families from our agency have requested baby girls and we are the only family awaiting a baby boy, so that may help us move up the list faster.  Also, we have been told that we will receive our match/referral sometime in the year 2013. This discouraged me slightly because I just had this feeling that we would be in Bogota for Christmas, but I know God's hand is guiding our adoption and all will be just fine.  Unfortunately, a finalized adoption in the year 2013 does not allow us to take advantage of the 2012 adoption tax credit that may be nixed for the 2013 tax year (that's a $12,000 tax deduction for those of you who don't know and when you are spending nearly $40,000 already that $12,000 would be very helpful.)  BUT I am encouraged to know that the list is lengthy holding the names of other able families to give a child a home, so God be praised.

Fundraising update:  This summer has been the summer of garage sales for the Blackwell family.  We have just completed our third of four (yes, there is one more scheduled for September 8th at the Flea Market in Rockbridge, Ohio - but that's it!).  Many friends and family members have donated numerous items for us to sell in our garage sales. So far this effort has led us to make nearly $2,000!  Friends and family have donated significant amounts as well, $4,000 AND we just received notice yesterday that Steven Curtis Chapman's Grant Foundation has awarded us $5,000 in a grant toward our adoption.  We are so very blessed.  Friends, if you'd like to give and haven't been able to we would still love for you to consider partnering with us in changing the world of one little boy.  More importantly we covet your love, encouragement, and prayers for us in this longggg journey.

But, wait there is more!  More? you say?  On October 20th we have some dear friends that are organizing a Dinner/Silent Auction/Concert for our Adoption Fund at the old Lancaster Train Station from 5:30 - 9pm.  The concert is by our dear friends of Lost and Found from Vienna, WV and our silent auction has everything from free haircuts, a nights stay in a hotel, autographed items, and tickets to Diamond Rio.  Please mark your calendars and plan to join us on that fun filled night.

Finally, Jason and I have prayed and made the decision to put our home up for sale.  Our home is our largest asset and if we could sell it and buy something cheaper (not necessarily smaller), then we could use some of the equity in our home for our adoption expenses.  Our home is officially on the market and we're in the process of looking for something else.  Many have called us crazy, but we feel like the Lord is faithful and has led us into this adoption story and that He will bless our finances, home situation, and future family.  We have the greatest "insurance" there is to have.  So, yes, this may be extreme, but God seldom calls us to do nothing.  :o)

Well, that is it for now.  I will try to update on a more regular basis.  Again, thank you for taking time out of your day to read about our story and to say a prayer for us. (Insert prayer for Blackwell adoption here...)

Love to you all and blessing!

About Colombia

Colombian Orphans

In 2010 Colombia had 577,000 orphans.

Drug trade and civil war have caused violence and consequently a rise in orphans in this country. There are countless children in Colombia who have lost parents due to civil conflict and HIV/AIDS, while others are abandoned due to extreme poverty, parental drug abuse or arrest. Others are abandoned after serving time as child combatants. Most of these children have little hope for adoption because they are “older” (more than 6 years old). Exacerbating the problem is the stigma that Colombian society assigns to these children.

Girls, especially orphans, are abducted into child soldiery and sexual slavery and are sometimes forced into armed service by their parents as a form of ‘tax payment’. In Colombia, for example, girls as young as 12 are reported to have submitted sexually to armed groups in order to ensure their families’ safety. Interpol estimates there are 35,000 women and girls trafficked out of Colombia every year for the sex trade, with estimated profits of $500 million, making Colombia second only to the Dominican Republic in the West. It is beyond comprehension the horror that these women and girls face as they service on average 40 clients per day.

Colombian orphans are emancipated from the child welfare system at age 18. Most leave the orphanage without a high school education, unable to support themselves and with no caring adult to guide them.

(sources: http://www.orphanhopeintl.org/facts-statistics/ & http://www.kidsave.org/colombian.shtml) 

Colombia Facts

Officially the Republic of Colombia (República de Colombia). The third largest country in South America, Colombia has a population of over 46 million people. The territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoplesincluding the Muisca, Quimbaya, andTairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating theViceroyalty of New Granada (comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, north-western Brazil and Panama), with its capital at Bogotá. Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 "Gran Colombia" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. The Republic of Colombia was declared in 1886.Panama seceded in 1903.
Colombia was the first constitutional government in South America, and the Liberal and Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. However, tensions between the two have frequently erupted into violence, most notably in the Thousand Days War (1899–1902) and La Violencia, beginning in 1948. Since the 1960s, government forces, left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries have been engaged in the continent's longest-running armed conflict.Fueled by thecocaine trade, this escalated dramatically in the 1980s. Since 2000 the violence has decreased significantly, with many paramilitary groups demobilizing as part of a controversial peace process and the guerrillas losing control of much of the territory they once dominated. Meanwhile Colombia's homicide rate almost halved between 2002 and 2006.As of 2011 Colombia remains the world's largest producer of cocaine, although production has been falling. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace Colombia is the most violent nation in Latin America as of 2011.
Colombia is very ethnically diverse, and the interaction between descendants of the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans brought as slaves and twentieth-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's varied geography. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains, but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Colombia is located within the ring of fire.
The striking variety in temperature and precipitation results principally from differences in elevation. Temperatures range from very hot at sea level to relatively cold at higher elevations but vary little with the season. At Bogotá, for example, the average annual temperature is 15 °C (59 °F), and the difference between the average of the coldest and the warmest months is less than 1°C (1.8°F). More significant, however, is the daily variation in temperature, from5 °C (41 °F) at night to 17 °C (62.6 °F) during the day.
Based on various studies, more than 95% of the population adheres to Christianity, the vast majority of which (between 81% and 90%) are Roman Catholic. About 1% of Colombians adhere to indigenous religions and under 1% to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. However, around 60% of respondents to a poll by El Tiempo reported that they did not practice their Catholic faith actively.