THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS

Today was an awesome day as we received our approval from USCIS to adopt two children. Now we can submit our dossier this week and we will wait for our invitation to travel to Latvia.

We also continue our fervent prayers for God's financial provisions to be able to complete the adoptions of our two future daughters. We trust He will provide somehow even though we cannot see how or know the details, we believe God is faithful.

Moving forward with gratitude and hope

Today we received a wonderful surprise in the mail that will enable us to submit our dossier to Latvia for translation. Now that we have met this week's goal for provision, we will set a new goal for our next step.

We must now concentrate on the big picture of raising the additional $25,000.00 to complete the process of bringing home our two little girls. We have budgeted very conservatively to determine our financial goal. We are more than happy to share the breakdown and detailed budget with anyone who is interested in knowing.
Please e-mail us privately at teamwollschlager@yahoo.com.

We are very grateful to Grace Haven Ministries who has committed to assisting us administer donations to our adoption fund. This way individuals who may be interested in helping us with this very large task, can obtain a tax receipt for any charitable contributions. To learn more about how you can help, please read our family fundraising letter and Grace Haven's Support Letter below.

November 13th , 2010

Mark and Theresa Wollschlager
2332 Targa Lane SW
Marietta, GA 30064
H:678-797-1974
Cell:678-314-7388
E-mail: teamwollschlager@yahoo.com

Dear Friends, Family and Community,

We are writing to you today with a special request on our hearts. We are in the process of adopting two precious little girls to add to our family. We know that God is calling us to take care of the orphans, and we are humbly asking if you will join us in this call to bring our little ones home.

Our future daughters are currently in Latvia in an orphanage. We have specifically identified one of the girls upon a referral from close friends who are working with the Latvian Ministry. This little one we affectionately refer to as “Sweetie Pie” since we will not be given her legal name until we are in country. “Sweetie Pie” was born with Achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. She turned one in July and urgently needs a forever family to care for her and love her. Our second daughter has not been identified as of yet, but we know the Lord has a wonderful surprise in store. We are also open to our second daughter having special needs.

Will you join us in prayer for the protection of our little ones until we bring them home, and prayerfully consider contributing financially to help us meet the high cost of the adoption process? We have met all our goals thus far and received our USCIS Notice of Approval last week. Before we can travel for our first trip we must raise an additional $15,000.00. It is our desire to travel to Latvia the week after Christmas. Our trip will be delayed indefinetly unless we can raise these needed funds. We are working with a Christian adoption agency, All Blessings International http://www.allblessings.org/, to bring our children home. This first trip is one of three required trips to Latvia We will bring the girls home on the first trip and have legal guardianship of them. We will return to the country to finalize the adoptions after the New Year. Tax –deductible donations can be made to Grace Haven Ministries P.O. Box 956, Rogers, AR 72757. Please be sure to place the reference “Wollschlager family adoption” in the memo line of your check or money order. I have attached a letter of support from Grace Haven Ministires.

If you can help us financially or with your prayer support, we would be so grateful. If you have further questions or would like some details not expressed in this letter, feel free to contact us at home:678-797-1974; cell:678-314-7388 or e-mail us at teamwollschlager@yahoo.com.

Thank you for your love and assistance.
Joy in Christ Jesus,
Mark and Theresa

27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James1:27( NIV)








Dear church, family, and friends of Mark and Theresa,

Grace Haven Ministries (www.GraceHavenHome.com) is a Christ-centered, nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the body of Christ to actively extend their faith through adoption and orphan care. We are also committed to ministering to the needs of adoptive families by offering adoption grants, fundraising support, adoption conferences, post-adoption support groups, and ongoing prayer and encouragement.

We believe that adoption is more than just bridging the gap between needy children and waiting families. Adoption is a beautiful illustration of the gospel. Before we became Christians we were orphans, separated from our heavenly Father. But Jesus Christ paid the price for our redemption so that we could be adopted into God’s family. Galatians 4:4-6 says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

We know that orphans and the fatherless hold a special place in God’s heart. Psalm 68:5-6 tells us that “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families." Not only are orphans close to the heart of God, but God has called for all of us to care for orphans. James 1:27 instructs us that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” There are many ways that we can care for orphans. Some are called to sponsor a child. Others are called to be a foster parent or mentor. Still others are called to adopt or to give financially to adoptive families. And some choose to do many of these things all at the same time!

In the book of Matthew, Jesus instructs us that “whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.” Jesus is constantly challenging us to move out of our comfort zone and love our neighbor as well as we love ourselves; to sacrifice our time, money, and resources for the benefit of others just as Christ sacrificed himself for us. He goes on to say that “whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for me.” (Matthew 18:5, 22:39, 25:40)

Today there are an estimated 143 million orphans worldwide. Standing shoulder to shoulder there would be enough orphaned children to go around the world three times! That is a staggering number of children in desperate need of food, clean water, shelter, and families. It seems like such an impossible goal to care for that many children. On our own we may not be able to care for them all but we can start with one. In fact, if only 7% of those who claim to be Christ followers chose to adopt a child in need, Christians would care for all of the adoptable orphans in the world!

Mark and Theresa have decided to take Jesus’ words to heart and become one of those 7%. They have heard God’s call to care for orphans and the fatherless and have stepped out in faith and obedience to adopt two little girls with special needs and give the one thing that orphans around the world want more than anything else…a loving family.

As many of you know, adoption has a price. Whether it’s the price Christ paid for our redemption on Calvary or the price adoptive families pay to rescue children in need…adoption is expensive. This cost prevents many families from adopting. However, Mark and Theresa have decided to step out in faith believing that if they are obedient to God’s Word than he will be faithful to supply all their needs according to his riches in glory. (Philippians 4:19) Grace Haven Ministries is standing in faith alongside them, believing with them that God is going to do great and mighty things on their behalf. We invite you to be a part of God’s provision by sending a financial gift towards their adoption. Funds donated to Grace Haven Ministries will be given as an Adoption Grant to help pay for their adoption expenses. Your gift is tax-deductible and you will be given a receipt for tax purposes.

*100% of all funds raised will go directly to pay for adoption expenses. Nothing will be taken out to cover Grace Haven Ministries’ administrative costs.

Thank you for investing in the Kingdom of God through your prayer and financial support. Not only are you helping to give two little girls a loving home but you have made an investment that will reap an eternal return! God bless you for storing up your treasures in heaven.

For His Glory,
Leslie Hutsler
Grace Haven Ministries
Fundraising Support



For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

What's next?

I have had more than just a few readers ask me when we are traveling and what is next in the process until Sweetie Pie and Sissy come home. We are just awaiting our I-800A to be processed and approved by USCIS. Then we will beable to travel at our earliest convenience for our first of three trips to Latvia. We are looking forward to this being before Thanksgiving.

My apologies to all of you dear friends who enjoy keeping up with our adventures via this Blog. I admit I have been absent from cyberspace for quite a while, but I have several great reasons..........Five boys, a husband, two beagles, homeschooling and two highschoolers on Fall varsity teams. Hopefully, I will be more attentive to this Blog when we travel.

Lots of Love,
Theresa

Mountains need moving

I would like to thank everyone who has been keeping our adoption process in prayer. We are moving right along with the process and hope to travel in the next 2-3 months. We are committing the entire cost of this adoption to prayer. We have now held 4 fundraisers and were blessed with volunteers to assist us with each.

Our greatest need still remains to raise a large amount in a short time as each stage of the adoption process requires funding. We are now in the most need of angel donors to partner with us to give these little girls a loving home and family to call their own. If you or someone you know would like to be an anonymous angel donor, please contact Kayron Paramore at Disability Connections, our non-profit sponsor. Karen will provide you with a tax voucher to use for your charitable giving. The number to Disability Connections is 478-741-1425. The address is 170 College Street. Macon, GA 31201. Please place "Wollschlager Adoption" in the memo line if you are using a check. Please pass the link to this Blog on to anyone you know that might be interested in helping.

YEAH!!!!!! We received our FBI clearance!!!

I am so impatient some days that it was making me slightly crazy to think of waiting until tomorrow to call the FBI again and find out if they would expedite our clearances. God knew that I could not wait and I really wonder how hard he was laughing when I was trying to convince my self two more days were not a big deal. Getting to the point....... I called the contact yesterday named "K" that I had befriended last Wednesday(it had at least been a full week that I contained myself). She happily announced that we had been cleared on July 30th and gave me the FedEx tracking number. "They should already be at the adoption agency", were comforting words to hear.

Next step, our home study will be written and delivered to us so we can send in our I-800A and get the next level of clearances and approval so that we may travel for our little girls.

Hurry up and wait!!!

In the wonderful world of International Adoptions, we have learned the expression "hurry up and wait" so well that we become skilled at it. I'm not sure this is a good thing. I much prefer the steady pace where we pray for wisdom and God's guidance at every step of this process. I find that when I do this, I am not so stressed out and everything happens in God's timing whether or not I have to hurry and complete a task or wait for results.

This week was a perfect example. I was feeling anxious about the fact that the FBI is taking excessivly long to process fingerprint cards, as long as 12-13 weeks(unless you live in one of those great states that also do Live Scan electronic transmission to the FBI) Georgia is not one of them, they only do Live Scan for the state clearance. After calling the Central Processing Center in Virginia twice in the last week and being told that we were not showing in the system yet, I was really not a happy camper. Our prints had been received according to my certified return receipt on June 24th, which means we have another 8 weeks/2 months to wait possibly. This means our homestudy will pend being complete until then and we would also have to wait to send in our I-800A to USCIS for their approval. I was determined I had to do something, so yesterday evening I started to Google my predicament (you know we are never alone in our circumstances) and yep, there was an entry by another couple living in Georgia waiting and waiting and frustrated. I think their's may have been a domestic adoption, but, you get the point. Apparantly, their social worker had suggested that they drive a couple of hours to Tennessee and have the Live Scan done to get the results back in 5-10 business days. There was not a follow-up post so I do not know if they did it and the end result, but it sure sounded like a great plan.

So this morning as soon as I could, I called the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to make sure there were no hoops for residents of other states to jump through. If we were going to pack up the boys and take a day trip to Chattanooga, it had to be a successful venture. Well, the scoop is that "they can no longer do this for non-residents." Sounds like there were many others trying to honestly beat this crazy system too and someone figured out that it might be too efficient for the government to handle. Seriously, who in the Georgia Department of Whatever, decided that transmitting fingerprints electronically to obtain both state and federal level clearance at the same time was not an incredibly amazing idea! For sure not an adoptive parent!

O.k., now that I have vented about how my plan did not work, here is how God's plan is superior as always...........Mk 11:22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

God knows I am persistant, but I want only His will to be done. So I decided to call the FBI processing center one more time to see if I was missing something or if this 12 week thing was a done deal. I was connected with an agent I will call K. and I asked her if it did not make a difference any more that we wrote EXPEDITE/INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION on the front of our envelope. I shared with her that in 2007 when we adopted our three sons that this was the process and we got our results in 3 weeks as opposed to the 8 weeks that it was taking back then.

She then told me that it did not make a difference any longer. Then she paused and asked me if we had "waiting children". I said, "oh yes, we have two little girls that our waiting for their family to come get them." She asked me what country and took down all of our information along with the name and address of our homestudy adoption agency. She asked me if I had my tracking number from my certified mail receipt and I gave it to her. She told me the words that comforted my heart, "We will track your cards down and work on expediting the clearance" She told me I could call her next Friday to get an update and hopefully news that our results were being sent to our caseworker. What a wonderful plan, God's plan. Thanks be to God!

Applebees Flapjack Fundraiser

We had a wonderful time yesterday at our Flapjack Fundraiser. Thank you to all of our guests and the many of you who could not be present, but bought a ticket and donated to our adoption fund. I am always amazed by how God weaves every detail of life into a beautiful tapestry that contains different threads and colors for each of us, but when we come together in fellowship and share our common love for Him, all of our colors blend and match into a design we could have never created on our own.

We hope to schedule another Flapjack Event in October and hopefully will have had our first trip to Latvia to bring our new daughters home.