A friend of mine posted this today on my facebook page this morning and it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much Rebecca. You are a real friend and I am glad God has brought us together.
Friends! Please read this in it's entirety! PLEASE SHARE!!!!!
Adoption is the heart of God. Adoption is a miracle born out of tremendous loss and suffering. Adoption is Ashes traded for a crown of beauty.
Adoption is NOT a popularity contest. Adoption is expensive. Adoption is Redemption. Adoption is WORTH it.
Michelle Barrett is all too familiar with the costs and joys of adoption. She is a single mom to six children, 4 grown and 2 littles at home that she adopted domestically. Michelle, a children's pastor in Florida, took a leap of faith when God called her to adopt a three year old special needs boy in China. He has a sensitive special need that has been surgically addressed in China, but he will require ongoing medical intervention and testing to see if the repairs were adequate. Her son seems to have declined in health from the initial reports to the final update. This boy needs to come home ASAP.
Michelle and her older children have worked tirelessly to raise the funds to bring "Brennan" home and give him the love of a family that EVERY child deserves to know. She has budgeted most of the adoption funds from her own income by scrimping, sacrificing, and doing without. In addition to paying the expenses out of pocket, they have done garage sales ($500 for the first one and $218 for the second), T-shirt sales (a design that Michelle created with her children), she has made handmade jewelry and handmade blankets with her middle daughter and sold some, an online auction ($38 for the first one and $588 for the second), a candle fundraiser ($62) a Barnraiser (Barn Dinner & Dance - there was a torrential downpour, I know because I was there), and they have sold personal items too. Even though Michelle is employed by a church, the church has not been supportive of her adoption and will not allow her to do any fundraisers there.
Michelle is like most single moms I know....strong, independent, courageous, and self-sacrificing. I know because she is a friend. She is all too familiar with giving, giving, and giving more of herself. She gives advice to struggling moms, she runs a FB travel group for those who are preparing to travel around the same time, and she organizes spreadsheets to keep everyone informed of where they are in the process.
She isn't comfortable with asking for help or accepting it. But, FRIENDS, she NEEDS our help to bring this boy home ASAP. She is supposed to leave for China in TWO weeks (October 8, 2014) and she is short on funds, despite her valiant efforts to raise the funds to bring Brennan home. She has applied for numerous grants and loans and been DENIED. She reluctantly asked for help from family and the help was there until an unexpected medical issue became a financial burden and they weren't able to honor that commitment. As a last resort, she reached out to her agency to plead for some assistance and once again she was turned away and told to find another way. She has prayed, prayed, and prayed some more....believing in faith that the money to complete his adoption would be there. But it still isn't. YET.
That is where WE get to bless her and be the hands and feet of Jesus TODAY. We know that God wants this child to have a family and grow up learning about Jesus and wearing cowboy hats and boots (Michelle lives in a cute rural town). We also know that SATAN will do anything to prevent it. Friends, GOD won! God can move this mountain, BUT WE have to step up and be His hands and feet in order to get that mountain moved. Today, the financial burden feels like a mountain to Michelle. But, WE can make it crumble and fall.
Some may ask, if Michelle cannot afford this adoption, how can she afford to raise Brennan? That is a fair question and seems to be the first question people ask. Simply, put...an adoption from Ch*na costs about $30,000.00 to $35,000.00. How many of us have 30k sitting around that isn't earmarked for something? Not me. Michelle has paid/raised about 20k thus far and needs $9,673 for in country costs and $1950 for airfare to travel and bring Brennan home. This includes the orphanage "donation", the airfare (which is cut in half thanks to a generous friend who has offered her Buddy Passes), Consulate costs, Brennan's medical visit, Brennan's Visa, Brennan's passport, hotel, and the China adoption paperwork and notary fee. Michelle has a modest income and lives conservatively. She can afford to provide for Brennan from her income. Subsidies from her domestic adoptions allow her to provide for the children that she has previously adopted. Her older kids are self-sufficient. She only needs help with the hurdle of bringing Brennan home.
Devastated, Heartbroken, Defeated. That is how Michelle feels today. But, we have the opportunity to BLESS her and help be part of a complete MIRACLE. Friends, will you please prayerfully consider helping Michelle chip away at this mountain???? No Amount is too small to give. Please SHARE this and encourage everyone you know to just give, even if it's a small contribution.
These are the ways you can help today:
You can make a contribution to her YouCaring site -http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/barrett-family-adoption/238217
YouCaring is the preferred way to donate because the site does not charge fees.
You can visit her Bucks for Brennan site where she is selling some jewelry, special order blankets and special order T-shirts -https://www.facebook.com/groups/790715917640575/
If you would prefer a tax deductible way to contribute (win/win, especially if you are looking for a tax deduction this year!), you can:
Make a donation directly to Michelle’s adotion agency , BUT notate very BIG that it is for the Michelle Barrett adoption at : http://lifelinechild.org/
Lastly, there is an account set up with Reece’s Rainbow that is also tax deductible. However, it is funded through paypal donations and there may be fees associated with using paypal.
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=CPm8AJJ0hE0m25x393yRqEPOa9nYUgvQMKWEJubKU18onNCbK3TWHGY2Uvm&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8dbd0a2170b502f343d92a90377a9956d7
Please pray for this family and follow their journey to Brennan at:
She has a blog that you can follow her journey to bring him home atwww.bringinghomefamily.blogspot.com
Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus!!
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