Market SALE and update!!

We have been enjoying our summer while awaiting a travel date for our adoption.  We praise the Lord that we can be advocating for orphan care to our community through the Kaylee's Hope Booth at the Central Plaza Market in downtown Valparaiso.  Derek and I both agree, its not our favorite thing to get up early in the summer and set up our booth downtown and be there all day, but it has been worth it even for the conversations alone.  So far there have been people just hearing about orphan care needed around the world that maybe wouldn't have heard otherwise.  We also had the pleasure of being prayed for by a couple that knows our 'co-booth operators', Lisa and Matt Allyn.  Praise God for that, prayer means everything and we can do nothing without it.  We met a sweet lady that had just moved here from another state to attend VU for the summer and then to see her at church on Sunday was neat. We also have had a few people come up to our booth and ask if it was for 'pets'?  pet adoption?  Well, as needed as that is, no, this is for 'people' adoption.  Imagine that?!! A community or world that knows more or 'hears' more about 'pet adoption' than 'people adoption'?!! Where have we missed the mark?

{How could we as a people care more the dying pets in our world than the dying people?  I know that sounds harsh, but think about it! At the age of 16 in EE children age out of orphanages and have no where to go, unless they are one of the few in a community with a mission available called a 'transition house'.  There is a need right there. Who is willing to be Christ and go help the orphan that needs to learn how to survive for 'thrive' in their own country?  Without this help, unfortunately, the only offers coming along their paths are the predators on the street to take them into prostitution and crime.  Imagine a young person hungry and without shelter, that person would be very willing to go with whomever promises a better life. Even if that promise is a hoax.}

We have also had friends come out and say hi and buy some items! {thank you}  We have met new friends who love and support adoption as well. We had one guy come up and say he supports what we do, he has a son from Ethiopia and would get another, but its now just him and his son.  We didn't hear any more than that, but he left us wondering. Bless him Lord. We had a couple families come up and say hello, this is so and so..and its their daughter or son from another country or state.  So cool. We had one sweet 6 year old girl that was from EE and just adorable! Her mother gave us all kinds of tips about traveling, etc. She had to take 4 trips! Can you believe it?!! We loved how she talked so openly with her daughter right there. Mother to her daughter: How many years have you been here now? Daughter: Uh, 4? Mother: Well we got you in 20....  and its now 2013.  Daughter: Oh yes. Um....said her number. It was so cute!

So a big thank you to all our new friends who now know about our blog! And thank you to all our friends who have bought from us or visited us this month.

We will be done on SATURDAY, JUNE 29th!! 

ITS OUR LAST DAY for the Central Market.

Come on out for our SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy One, Get One Free at $5 jar/bag

OR

5 items for $10!!!

Yes you read that right! 

We have a BUNCH of pizza dough, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mixes, M&M cookie mixes, body scrubs and salts left.

We have LIMITED AMOUNT of pastas, pancake mixes, oatmeal...

We just heard this morning we will not have a travel date before July 8th.  I wish that was more clear, but that is what we heard.  We also have some unofficial referrals, but we never know until we get in the country so we are not getting our heart set on anyone yet.  :)  

We will be having a RUMMAGE SALE yet at Derek's parents home in Hobart, IN in the early part of July. 

Derek and I celebrate our anniversary July 3rd!! Its our GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY! 3 years on the 3rd.  It looks like we will be taking our anniversary trip as a trip to Indy to get more docs appostilled.  Such is life!! We will make a fun day out of it this time!! :)  (these docs are just extras in case....)

Please pray for this to move QUICKLY as school begins for us mid-August and Derek especially has a lot of responsibilities.  God speed, right?! Well, that means all will work out in His timing, but we still pray for swift work this summer and back home before at least the start of school.  

Paper in Flight!

PAPER:
Our dossier is headed out of France as we speak and on its way to our country! Once it hits the ground our translator will be hard at work and get it to the MOE next week (first week of June). Then we wait for a travel date.  Our facilitator and friend says it should take a week or two to obtain a travel date.  The travel date is expected to be near the end of June. We plan on arriving in country earlier than needed to get settled and visit some orphanages.  We are thrilled, excited and nervous about this endeavor, but know it is God's calling!

FAMILY:
 We are also nervous about being away from our kids for a month over the summer, but know they are looking forward to spending time with their dad and his family! Our daughter will be packing for college and working while we are away and hopefully we will be back in time to take her to Grace College's Orientation Weekend in mid August.  Our oldest son will be looking for a job and learning to drive this summer. Our youngest son will be going to as many soccer camps as he possibly can to pursue his passion of soccer! They will also go on a trip with their grandparents to a state park and just enjoy some down time.

FUNDRAISING:
As you can see on our thermometer to the right of this page we are about $8,500 away from our goal. We have over 300 jarred items to sell yet from our tasting party fundraiser. If you would like the price sheet, message me! I will also put a link of it up on facebook again. All items are $8 or under. We will also be at the Central Park Plaza Market this summer with a booth to sell the rest of the items! A new friend of ours who is also adopting from another country will be selling t-shirts there too! Please come out and see us!
We may do a rummage sale yet before we leave if we have time. Please more than anything keep us in prayer as we set out on this journey of faith!

The Cost (and Some News on the Adoption)

Instead of worrying about what the adoption is going to cost, I've started thinking about what it would cost us if we DIDN'T adopt.  Yes, the money needed sometimes feels like an insurmountable obstacle.  Yes, we are anxious about how our family will blend with new children.  Yes, the setbacks have been frustrating and, at times, crushing.  However, we won't stop until we have reached the finish line.  There are children sitting in an orphanage that we know will be sitting in their bedroom in our home in the near future.  Quitting now would cost us that vision and it would mean we believed our God could not or will not provide.  The cost of not pressing on is far greater than the finances needed to complete the adoption.

Perhaps you have seen this video before.  If so, I anticipate that you will feel the urge to watch it again. If not, you must watch this brief film.  It puts into words and pictures how we feel about adoption and explains why we have pressed on over the last two years.

Like I said, it sums up the passion behind what we're doing.  We currently have about $10, 500 left to raise before we leave for Europe at some point this summer.  This includes an interest-free adoption loan of $5,000 (which we prefer not to take, but are thankful for this provision.)  To us, it is a big mountain to climb.  However, we serve a God who says through faith we can move mountains.  So, we are trusting that God in His might will throw this mountain out of the way of our progress.  We believe this because we know that God loves orphans more than we ever could and it is His will that these children be loved and cared for.  

So, we submit our plans to God in faith and we trust in Him for provision.  What are our plans?  Well, we will continue to operate the etsy store and sell our remaining jarred items as well as prints, bibs and more.  You can visit the store and support us here.  We also plan to try to sell many of these items at farmer's markets and community sales.  Second, we are planning an event that will include garage sales in multiple locations on the same day.  The idea is that friends, family or adoption supporters will host a yard sale---big or small---to raise the remaining funds.  We are working on sales in Hobart and Valparaiso, but would love to see sales across the region, state, and even the country.  If a sale like this is something you might consider hosting, please let me know by commenting on this blog or emailing me at derekchirch@comcast.net.  Third, we will probably host a couple of nights at local fast food restaurants where a percentage of profits will go towards the adoptions.  Fourth, we will pray for donations and grants to help us.  Finally, we will continue to pour as much money into our adoption account as we can over the next couple of months.  Most of you know that we work in non-profit ministry, so we are by no means wealthy (by the American standard, at least).  But, I think it is important to share that we give a large percentage of our income towards this adoption each month.  It is not much, but we want to do everything we can do if we are asking for others to come alongside us.

At this point, it appears we should have all paperwork completed this week.  We will get everything notarized and sent to Indianapolis for the apostille process.  Meanwhile, our facilitator is already translating our home study and other paperwork we have emailed to her.  Once things come back in a week or so, we will send everything overseas.  It will likely be a month or less until we are given a travel date.  That date could be a couple of weeks away or a month or more away.  So, optimistically, we could be leaving in the third week of June.  Conservatively, we could leave in early July.  Either way, we finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.  There is a lot of money to raise and our paperwork needs to move smoothly, but we prayerfully trust the Lord that His timing is perfect here.  Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and giving!  We've almost completed the journey!  

Then the real journey of becoming a family starts. :)

Updated Item and Cost List!

Check out this file to see all of our current items and the cost!  If you would like to order online, you can do so by clicking the donate button to the right and putting in the note area what exactly you want to purchase.

(NOTE:  Shipping for 1 jar is $8, Shipping for 2-3 is $12, and shipping for 4 jars is $17).

TASTING PARTY PRODUCTS!

Below is a list of items that are complete and ready for sale!

We have many more items and will add them to the list as we get them done. 

We are also willing to sell items sooner if needed!

 

Each of the items below are DRY MIXES and require additional ingredients.

Quarts typically serve 6-8 people.
 

Breakfast

Brown Sugar/Raisin Oatmeal $8.00/Qt.
Cinnamon and Raisin Muffins $8.00/Qt.

 

 

 

Dinners

Five-Bean Chili $8.00/Qt.
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili $8.00/Qt.

Vegetable Beef Soup  $8.00/Qt.

 

 

Sides

Texas Cornbread $5.00/Pint

Beer/Soda Bread $6.00/bag

 

 

Desserts

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies $8.00/Qt.
Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies $8.00/Qt.

White Chocolate Chip Brownies $8.00/Qt.

Smores'n a Jar   $8.00/Qt.
M&M Cookies  $8.00/Qt.

 

Organic Beauty Products

Eucalyptus Body Scrub $5.00/pint
Lavender Body Scrub $5.00/pint

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Texas Cornbread



Eucalyptus Body Scrub
 

 

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup, Five-Bean Chili and
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Smores'n a Jar

 

Timeline

Timeline as God directs our steps!

• March 2013
• Tasting Party preparations
• Decide on date and location for Tasting Party
• Master's Dance classes begin  to raise $ for adoptions and the orphan's transition house.
• Dossier paperwork completed including fingerprints redone, medicals completed, copies of marriage licenses obtained, home study update completed, rental agreement copied, background checks completed and income verifications obtained.
• Continue to save $ !!!!
• April 2013
• Continue Tasting Party preparations
• Possibly host Tasting Party this month--still deciding when this was written
• Master's Dance continues
• Send Dossier by first week of April to Indy for appostille
• Meet with friends to prepare for travel
• Research Visa's needed
• Possibly request donations for May Rummage Sale
• Continue to save $ !!!!
• May 2013
• Host Tasting Party-- if not already
• Possibly collect donations for May Rummage Sale
• Possibly host Rummage Sale
• Wrap up the 12 week session of Master's Dance
• Dossier translated
• Receive travel date for summer--hoping for first week of June 2013
• Continue to save $ !!!!
• June 2013
• Samantha graduates from high school!! :)
• These 2 teachers are dismissed from school for the summer! 
• Hopefully we will be on a plane to Ukraine!
• Will skype with family back home!
• Will meet our children and run around doing paperwork!
• July -August 2013
• Have a visit from family?!
• Will bring our children home!

Getting Ready! Our next move!!

Well, the Lord says to not get discouraged. He gives hope and he tells us to take courage.  It is time.
We have been through much, had ups and downs and learned a lot the past 2 years.  This started with the realization of orphan needs in the world way before, then took off with prayer and a picture of Kaylee and changed into a testing of our faith.  Were we going to keep going? Were we going to give up?  Yes and never!! Those were our answers and still are!  The direction took a little time and prayer to decide and we have decided to move toward Ukraine. We do not rule out other options as well, but we do so knowing that our family will continue to grow over the years through adoption possibly from various places!  We do not do this just for us...just because we want more children....no we do this out of knowing the orphan will change our lives out of our obedience to the Lord to adopt.  Do we also want children, well yes. Of course!

So hopefully Ukraine in June 2013.  We have some fundraisers we are working on, as well as saving as much $ as we can and being disciplined to stay on a budget!  Praise God in advance for His provision.

We will be having a Tasting Party in which people can taste items and they purchase them! For example, salsas, sauces, jams, cookie mixes, bread mixes, etc.  This will take about 2-3 months of prep work. If anyone has canning equipment and would like to donate 2 dozen items please let us know! There are also other ways to help, such as donating a bunch of ingredients that go on sale and we can put them together as well.  Canning jars of all sizes are needed as well!  Just let us know if you want/can help in any way and we would love to talk with you!  We are also looking for a cute location to hold the Tasting Party!  There could also be other items for sale there as well, like cupcakes, cake pops, smoothies, fresh juices, etc.  My specialty are fresh squeezed juices and smoothies, so I am considering having some of these ready made items to taste and purchase the ingredients at the party as well!  This party will be in either April or May.

There are other fundraisers as well such as the Master's Dance Academy, a rummage sale and the Kaylee's Hope Esty Store!

I am also trying my hand at making Vera bags, that would be just like Vera Bradley handbags and some children clothes that are just like Matilda Jane.  This will be fun! I will be putting quotes and pictures on my fb pages soon! :)

We know that God can provide and don't expect everyone to just fund us so to speak. We truly do enjoy preparing for these fundraising events and have experienced just how these events bring our friends and family together.  There are some friends and family that want to support us, but are just not so sure about adoption (the old questions of 'why would you want to do that?!) that arrive at the events and have a wow factor when they realize it really is working. Then we also have friends and family that care and really want to understand our perspective on the adoption mission and are motivated themselves to move toward adoption, praise God!.....and finally we have more friends and family that understand the mandate to Christians to care for the orphan and the needy and have already adopted...now being our cheerleaders and educators. When they all come together in one place it just makes the mission happen.  We pray many are inspired, changed and that the orphan truly changes the church.

Timeline of events and travel dates coming soon!! :) Please be in prayer for us, its a big step moving forward again.