Baby Ryan

Pray for Baby Ryan, who I mentioned in the "Crazy Love" post. The update this afternoon from Charity, the director of Gentle Hands, says this:

signing waivers to take ryan out of the hospital. can't handle the bill anymore. he is not responding to meds. he is still struggling to breathe. there are no answers but maybe surgery and he is not well enough yet for that. i looked into his little eyes this morning... fight baby. please fight. hear our prayers for a miracle dear God.

The bill is currently over 100,000 pesos (over $2000 USD). Gentle Hands just does not have that kind of money. Please let me know if you want to help. And please please pray - our God still does miracles.

Crazy Love

I was recently introduced to a blog called "A Place Called Simplicity", among other adoption blogs that's I've started following. Wow, the world is full of cool stories of what God is doing through adoption. In a post this week on Simplicity, readers were invited to participate in "Crazy Love". I invite you to join in too. You've most likely already read about my initial steps towards this fostering and adoption process. If not, be sure to read from the beginning. So here's the additional information I need to add for this post...

I've been a christian since I was eight years old, having been introduced to my Savior at Camp Awana during my first summer there. I didn't start learning how to really live for Christ until I was in high school. Fast forward to when I was 22 and felt God calling me to the Philippines to be a missionary at Faith Academy. My initial commitment was for two years...and that was eight years ago. Around 5 years ago I began attending and being involved in Union Church of Manila. While I am here supported as a missionary (staff at Faith aren't paid by the school and need to raise their own support), I've continued to tithe and give by supporting 4 children through Compassion International, as well as giving to my church. Is giving hard? Certainly, somtimes, but I know that the lives of the four little ones I support in the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Colombia are blessed by it, and as a result, so am I.

For those of you who haven't read it yet... Linny, the writer of "Simplicity" is asking people to explain their needs, link it to her blog, and then challenging people to prayerfully consider giving to those in need. So what are my needs?

Well, there is always the constant of monthly support. God has faithfully provided for my past eight years in the Philippines, and I'm trusting Him to continue by moving in the hearts of current supporters, and praying that they continue to be my advocates in sharing my story with others.

There are some new needs on the horizon for my life, with the new direction my life is taking. Fostering a toddler will increase my monthly budget for sure, though I don't yet know by how much. My landlord is raising my rent by 33% (!!!!) and I currently don't have a housemate to split the cost (please pray hard that God will bring someone!). In addition, the adoption costs are still unknown, and while local adoption costs significantly less than international, its still not within my monthly budget.

Aside from my own needs, I feel VERY strongly about Gentle Hands, a children's home in Manila that I've recently become very involved with. GH is where I found Daniel, and where I now spend most of my free time, playing with kids of all ages and holding babies. My heart is touched daily as I hear the stories of abandonment becoming rescue, of death-door sickness becoming miraculous healing. I LOVE to see God working through the lives of all who pass through the doors of this amazing place. But the reality is that there are 45 children to be fed each day and the medical bills pile up. Currently, Baby Ryan is fighting for his life in the hospital, with a bill mounting of nearly $2000 USD and a need for heart surgery. Two new babies have come in over the past few days, and there are no cribs left for them to sleep in. There are some very real, in-your-face needs that must be addressed immediately. You can read GH's latest newsletter and find out what's happened recently.

So, if you would, please consider praying about giving. It doesn't have to be a lot. As the post said, if everyone gave $5, that would make a huge difference. You can give once, or even consider making a commitment to giving. I know many of you give already, perhaps even to my ministry, and to many other great needs throughout your communities and the world. In this time of economic difficulty, giving is difficult, and not only am I thankful, but I know God is blessed by your giving and returns those blessings to you.

If you are interested in giving to any of the needs I've mentioned, please contact me at audblsmile@aol.com or kim.abels@faith.edu.ph.

Thank you for praying and for being a blessing.

Since the interview...

Life kind of hit fast forward since my last post. Last Thursday and Friday I conducted 23 parent conferences (with 6 completed Mon-Wed in the midst of teaching). Friday was the sleepover, then Saturday was Malabon, Sunday was a full day at church and with Daniel, then Monday I headed out of town with some friends for the school break. Phew!!!

So, the latest news is that there is no news. My paperwork was submitted to DSWD last Friday, after a week of running around trying (and mostly failing) to get everything organized. Now its just a waiting game, as I pray that my application is accepted and approved. (You can pray too...thanks!)

In the meantime, I've had a lovely weekend with Daniel - he's been so happy and smiley! We played in the pool at Faith yesterday afternoon for nearly 2 hours. That boy LOVES the water! He leaps in, goes under, and comes up smiling every time. Now if only he would start moving his arms & legs so he doesn't just stay under the water. Apparently, he doesn't seem to mind too much at this point.


My next decision is whether or not to come back to the US for a (very) short time this summer. It was my original plan, but, well, that's a bit out the window now. If I did come back, it would only be for 2 weeks, because at that point I would most likely already have Daniel in my care full-time. I'm leaning towards "no" right now, since its pretty expensive and I could only come for such a short stint.

Thanks for praying for me and Daniel as we wait (trying to do so patiently) for the next steps in this process. Pray too, for our relationship, as he has already started testing and pushing a bit to see what I'll do. He definitely has a strong personality - but that's what God knew he needed to survive his start in life.

After the interview...and in preparation for the sleepover!

I think the interview went well...it was a bit awkward, taking the social worker to the house, having the interview, and then driving her back, but she's quite nice and definitely has the best of intentions for the children she works with. With Charity as my advocate, I can't imagine Minet wouldn't make a recommendation. At least, that's what I'm praying
! (Daniel is practicing having a teacher for a mom...He makes a good table, don't you think?)

My newest prayer request is for God's wisdom in knowing what to do about moving...or not! I found out during the interview that as long as I can maintain my address in the NCR (National Capital Region) at my friends' house, I could actually stay living full-time where I am now. I've recently learned that my landlady isn't selling the house for a few years, so this idea is kind of revolutionizing the plan I thought I would have to follow. I know this may be a bit confusing - email me if you want greater details/explanation. But the basic idea is that I'd like prayer about where to live!

In fun baby news, Daniel is getting new teeth! Two new ones coming in on the top...very cute, but made for a very crabby little boy over the weekend and very little sleep for me.

(My friend David is in town for a brief visit, so I had to get a picture of Daniel with him. We probably won't see him again for about 3 years.)

In other news (well, sort of - still "kid" related), I'm having 7 or 8 kids (6-9 years old) from Gentle Hands over to my house for a sleepover. The kids are SO SO SO excited! Each time they saw me this weekend, they all repeatedly questioned me to confirm the day, how many days they had to wait, who got to come...seriously, I just had to laugh! My big plan is playtime at Faith on the playground, maybe swimming, then home for pizza and games (Break the Ice, Don't Spill the Beans, Marble Maze Construction, etc.), and then cuddle up (so glad its HOT season) for Finding Nemo and popcorn. Then we'll be up early for breakfast and then pile into the car and head back to Gentle Hands so I can go to Malabon. Whew! I'm pretty excited to have these little ones over - they've definitely won over my heart just as much as the babies have. By the way, anyone want to adopt? All these lovely children are looking for forever families! (pictures to come in the next post.)
(Daniel had a lovely cuddle with Jaron at Starbucks last week while I was in our Sunday school discussion group on the other side of the wall)

The Interview

This Saturday, around 1pm, I'll have my first interview with the social worker from Gentle Hands. I haven't met Minet yet, but she's worked for Gentle Hands for a while and is, apparently, wonderful. Please pray that I will answer the questions with wisdom and that the end result will be that I get to take another step forward in this fostering process. Ultimately, I know its all in God's hands, but I am definitely a bit nervous for this first interview.

Thanks for praying!