Countdown has begun...

Well, in is just a few short hours we embark on the latest adventure. 22 hours and 21 minutes to be exact. Little did we know that following God into the woods of Southwest Arkansas in 2005 meant we would be following Him into Russia in 2010. While it is just a temporary journey, we are praying that God would use us for His glory on this side trail. What that looks like from this end of the trail I cannot tell but we will soon see what awaits us around that bend ahead.
We go on this journey because we want to see where it leads...where God is already working...and how we can join Him...or simply to praise Him...anywhere, just to be with Him. We chose this path, following Jesus wherever He leads, because it is THE grandest adventure of a lifetime...of an eternity. Sure God takes us where He goes...through the valley of the shadow of death...into the barren places...into the dry places...into the green pastures by the still waters...even into the snowy hills of Russia. But wherever we go we are assured that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords goes with us. And that is exactly where we want to be, right with Him, now and forever more.
I pray you can say the same. I pray you can find the peace that comes with the Prince of Peace. I pray you can say, as we can...It Is Well With My Soul! To God be the Glory!
And we are off...

Visas Arrived!

The visas did arrive and they look great. Now on to the packing...

Visas!

Our visas for Russia have been approved and are winging their way back to us. They should be here today! This is one of the very last things we need before we leave this Friday. Please be in prayer for us as we go to Russia to finalize the adoption of our son. Also, please pray that God will give us our daughter. Even though she has been placed in a home in Russia by the house mother, I am going to ask the judge to give her to us. It is in God's hands now. There is nothing I or anyone else can do to ensure that our daughter gets to come home with us. God alone can save her now. How appropriate for Easter and Holy Week that God alone can save. Hosanna!

Please Pray! Adoption of Ella in Jeopardy

I will fully explain at a later date but for now, please pray that God will bring Ella home to us. Our adoption of Ella is in serious jeopardy. The situation appears hopeless to us but our God can do anything. Only God can intervene now. Thank you.
+david

Jake's Update

Jake is finally scheduled for his surgery. On November 20th, he will have his surgery at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. We have been waiting on this for some time, since June. There were a lot of hoops to jump through to get him into the program. In the end, we are sure this is where he needs to be. The Scottish Rite Hospital will cover all of his surgical needs as well as other medical issues until he is 18 years old. As Jake has several medical needs this will enable the best care possible for him.

Adoption Update:
As many of you know, We are adopting Jake and Ella. They are both special needs children from Russia. We feel God directing every step of this process. We are very grateful to have this opportunity to add two very precious children to our family. Both Jake and Ella have been collected into ONE adoption. That means less costs and only one trip over to Russia to finalize the adoption. However, since Jake is here on a medical visa, he must have his surgery and recuperation BEFORE we can go finalize the adoption. This has meant that Ella has had to wait and wait for us to come get her. She has know about us since the middle of June. My prayer is that she not loose hope.

Things are finally rolling along so it looks like we may be able to go over and finalize the adoption in early 2010. My hope was to have Ella home by Christmas. That will only be possible now as a gift from God. We cannot wait to have them both home with us.

Preparing for Surgery

We are making plans to have Jake's foot surgery. It is going to be performed by two groups of doctors. One group from the LEAP Foundation and another group from the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. They each have certain specialties that may be necessary to successfully treat Jake's feet. The LEAP Foundation is a missionary doctor group treating mostly facial deformities. They are the primary doctors operating on his foot. Jake came over early on a medical visa for this very purpose. We are a little anxious. This will be our first child to have major surgery. He is a tough little guy but when he cries, he cries great big crocodile tears. It makes you want to grab him up in your arms and hug him and protect him. Please pray that the operation is successful and he has very little pain. Also, pray that he recovers quickly. We still have a little girl we are ready to meet in Russia. After Jake has recovered we will be heading to Russia to finalize the adoption of our two newest children.

Ella's Room

Ella's room before. It is upstairs with her sisters. Her bed is located to the right of the little window, next to the closet space.

Ella's room after.

Jake's Room

Jake's Bedroom Before (tucked in there behind the stairs)

After

Pictures!

When we sent out the first newsletter, I did not feel that it was the time to include their pictures, but now I feel comfortable including them and sharing their sweet faces with you so you can really see who they are that you are praying for and helping bring home to their forever family, and possibly making it more real for you in your prayer journey.
Enjoy!
In Christ’s love,
David, Karin, Ashleigh, and Abbie Owens

Elvira "Ella" Owens

(Ella is sitting in a wheelchair, but she is not handicapped. She can walk, run, and play. She is in a special needs orphanage and is the only child there who is not in a wheelchair. She is just sitting in it as a chair.)Jacob "Jake"Owens

Adoption Newsletter #2 May-09

Hello all! First of all, let me humbly apologize for how very tardy we have been in getting the new newsletters out to you. I sat down and began it many times, but I had so much to tell and had such a hard time getting down on paper what was in my heart, that I never completed it. This one may be a little long consequently so please bear with me.

We moved March 3 to our home on our land. All went well and smoothly. That was a huge answer to prayer. We are so thankful for all your prayers on our behalf. We are mostly unpacked and getting settled in. In the last newsletter I was hoping to get the initial office visit for the home study scheduled. It occurred at the end of February. It went well. We also had our home visit portion at the end of April. The agency doing our home study and post-placement visits is Grace Adoptions. Ed Appler and his wife Sharon are fantastic! Their website is www.graceadoptions.com if you would like to check them out. Currently we are waiting for the final report of our home study. We will then be able to finish up the last few documents in our dossier. We are getting close to the end of the beginning of the adoption process. Thanks for your continued prayers for that!

There was some very big news that we were asking for prayer for about Jake. There was a Russian woman interested in foster parenting Jake. This had the potential of being a very bad thing for Jake. If he were put into foster care he would no longer be adoptable (according to Russian laws). Additionally, he would not receive the medical care he will require. Alexandra Goode, the director of International Guardian Angels Adoption Agency who is handling the international part of the adoption, immediately did all the necessary paperwork to request Jake be allowed to come to America on a medical visa. If the medical visa was allowed, Jake could come to America, have medical treatment, and live with us until we took him back to finalize the adoption. If it was denied he might end up in foster care in Russia forever. It was an anxious time. God sustained us through this time by your prayers and our many great friends. We are sorry we did not get out a newsletter with that information so you could be praying along with us. We will do better in the future.

After two months of praying and wondering just exactly how God was going to work it out, it is over. The Russian woman was very persistent. She was demanding they give Jake to her. Those in charge at the orphanage did not feel this was in Jake’s best interest so they kept denying her. Meanwhile, the medical visa approval was taking much longer than usual. Someone Alexandra called the “prosecutor,” who is in charge of adoptions there in some way, was upset that they kept sending Russian children to America for surgeries when he felt they should be able to care for them right there in Russia. He delayed Jake’s medical visa until it could be ascertained if the surgery could be done in Russia. It seemed as if this would never be resolved.

Today, however, is different. Just last night we received word that Jake has been approved for the medical visa. Praise the Lord!! Hallelujah! He is so good! They do not have a date yet, but Jake is coming very soon. It will not be very long now until we meet our son for the first time.
He will have surgery at Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, SC and then will stay with us here in Arkansas until we go to Russia to finalize and complete the adoption and get Ella. God protected us from persistent attacks on our hopes and dreams. God delivered us. He is so good. Yeah!!

We also found out last night that we can make small photo albums for each of the children and send a small little doll or stuffed animal as well. Alexandra Goode will hand deliver them to Jake and Ella when she goes to pick up Jake. She will be able to tell the children about us, show them our pictures, and tell them we are their mommy and daddy and sissies. We will also put in pictures of our house, their bedrooms, and our dog, Bella.

We are just so excited today we can hardly contain our joy. God is good and He is faithful. During these several months of waiting to know what would happen with Jake and the medical visa and the Russian woman, we always knew absolutely that God was in control, that He was bigger than all of this, and that none of it was a surprise to Him. We also were not worried and had peace about it most of the time. We knew He had told us that Jake is our son and that we needn’t worry about it at all. Thank You, Lord.

Also, since our first newsletter, we have discovered that those wishing to donate to our adoption fund and desiring it to be a tax deduction, can make your contributions directly to International Guardian Angels Adoption with a note that it is for the David & Karin Owens adoption. You can still contribute directly to us or through IGAA. (See both addresses below)

We have many blessings and praises that we are thankful for and would like to share with you:

• Several financial contributions. Thank you so much for your generosity. We are so grateful, humbled, and very blessed by your giving to our family. Thank you!
• Completion and move to our new home. We are all moved and are trying to settle in. It is wonderful to have our own place again and so much fun to prepare a place for Jake and Ella in it.
• Jake and Ella’s rooms ready. We have both of their beds and rooms all made up and ready to go. They look adorable and are ready for sweet, adorable little children to fill them.
• A successful home study. We have now completed both parts of our home study and are just waiting on all the final paperwork to be completed.
• A successful beginning to the Immigration process. We have gone to Fort Smith to the Immigration office there and begun the process of being approved by the U.S. Government for adoption. We have done our part. Now we must wait for them to finish theirs.

We have several prayer requests that we would like to share and ask you to pray about with us. God does hear our prayers and will answer them. Thank you for your faithful prayers on behalf of our family and our dear little ones.

• That everything goes smoothly to complete all Jake’s paperwork for the medical visa and safe travel for George, Alexandra, Jake, and Elena (another child they are bringing to America on medical visa).
• For Jake’s surgery and recovery.
• For our safe travel to and from Greenville, as well as our time staying there.
• For the possibility of a place to stay near the hospital while in Greenville, at a Ronald McDonald House or some other similar facility
• For our bonding and attaching with Jake and he with all of us.
• For our adoption expenses. Thank you in advance for your help and generosity on behalf of Ella and Jake. Thanks again so much to those who have already given. We appreciate it so much.
• For some boy clothes and toys for Jake.
• For the communication/language barrier. They only speak Russian, and so far, we only speak English. We hope to learn some words and phrases to be able to communicate at least a few things. Pray they learn the language quickly as children are generally apt to do, as well as they not to get frustrated over it. Pray we are creative in thinking of ways to communicate with each other.
  

Thanks so much for all your prayers. It means so much to our family.

I will try very hard to get newsletters out much more frequently.  I would like to keep you all updated on how things are going, how God is answering our prayers and working in this journey, as well as any continued or new prayer concerns. Please feel free to send this along to anyone you feel would pray on this adoption journey with us; we encourage you to do that. This is not just a faith-building adventure for us, but also for all of you who are traveling it along with us.

The addresses to send donations to or to contact us directly are as follows:

International Guardian Angels Adoption
1400 Limestone Creek
Keller, TX 76248
Please be sure to put in a note about it being for the David & Karin Owens adoption.

OR

David & Karin Owens
99 Middleton Rd.
Arkadelphia, AR 71923
Send any email correspondence to karinowens@bluebottle.com

Enjoy!
In Christ’s love,
David, Karin, Ashleigh, and Abbie Owens

Grace Adoption Agency

We are working on the domestic side of the adoption, anything and everything concerning the US and Arkansas, with the Grace Adoption Agency in Conway, Arkansas. It is run by Ed and Sharon Appler. We have been blessed with our associating with Grace. They too are excellent people to work with and we recommend them to you.

The Goodes

We are very privileged to be able to work with International Guardian Angels Adoption Agency run by George and Alexandra Goode. They are a lovely, caring couple with huge hearts for children. If you are looking to adopt internationally, I would highly recommend them. There are none finer.

Adoption Newsletter #1 Feb-09

Hello Family and Friends,

Our family has such exciting news to share with you. We are simply bursting with joy and excitement! We are currently in the process of adopting two precious children from Russia. The purpose of these newsletters are fivefold: to keep all of you updated on the status and progress of the adoption process, to let you know how the children are doing, to let you know of any specific prayer requests and needs that we may have, to give us something to have later as a testimony of God’s amazing work, and finally to simply give us something to do during this long waiting period.

First I would like to tell you a little about the children. Ella is four and a half years old; she will be five in May. She is cute and sweet and loves to run, play, and talk. She loves to play with other children and is quite outgoing and intelligent. Ella has some special needs. She was born with part of her bladder on the outside of her body and has had surgery in Moscow to repair it. She may need additional corrective surgeries once she comes home.

Jake is three years old and totally adorable. He also loves to run and play with other children. He is all boy. He also likes to play with cars and trucks. He is very friendly, intelligent, and loves to smile. He also has some special needs. Jake was burned 40% of his body when he was three months old on his abdomen, legs, and feet. All the little toes on his left foot had to be amputated. He will need further reconstructive surgeries as he grows. These two children are not related biologically and are not in the same orphanage, but are in the same region of Russia and only about an hour apart.

You know I recently heard a line in a movie that I think it so funny and so true. It was “If you want to hear God laugh, make plans.” Well, as some of you may know, we originally began this adoption journey in Korea, but God had His own plans. We were happily pursuing that route. Then God, in His gentle manner, made us aware of these two precious Russian children. We learned about Ella from a coworker of David’s at Ouachita Baptist University. As his coworker told him of a little girl in Russia who needed a family, certain details began to line up. For example, the little girl’s name was Ella. Ella’s is Karin’s grandmother’s name and the name we had chosen to name our next daughter. Our excitement grew.

David and I prayed about it and felt clearly and certainly that this was the direction God wanted us to go. That led us to the adoption agency run by an amazing couple in their retirement years who have incredible hearts for orphans. The agency is called International Guardian Angels Adoption, and they have been around for about ten years and have placed around 200 children with their forever families. You can check them out at www.igaa.org.

While trying to find out more information about Ella, a little boy was brought to our attention. His name was Artem. He was burned as an infant. Once we saw his coy smile, we were hooked. As we prayed, God showed us that Artem was in fact another one of our children. We renamed him Jake and began the quest to bring him home as well. Both of these children have places at our table and in our hearts. Ashleigh and Abbie cannot wait for their new sister and brother. God is so good, and we are thankful as well as humbled that He has chosen us to be Ella and Jake’s forever family.

Currently we are collecting all the necessary documents for 1) our home study and 2) our dossier which basically is a mountain of paperwork that goes over to Russia. Hopefully today we will be able to schedule our first initial home study visit. In Arkansas the home study consists of two visits, one in the agency’s office and the second in our home.

That brings me to some more news. We are, hopefully, moving in just a few weeks. We are moving out onto our own 45 acres of land into a metal building which will be our home for the next few years until we are able to build a home there. All these things together make for a lot going on at one time, and we ask you all to pray about all of this with us. These are many changes at once.

Our specific prayer needs at this time are:

• The finances to pay for the adoption. Our God is a big God and His timing is absolutely perfect. We absolutely KNOW that since He has called us to this, we can trust that He will provide all that is needed to make it happen. David and I have ever been comfortable asking for money, but for Ella and Jake’s sake, we can do it. Please prayerfully consider contributing to our adoption fund, either in a large way or a small way, and all will be incredible blessings to us and to the children.

• A smooth, uneventful process. Please pray with us that there will be no hiccups or holdups and that everything will happen timely, smoothly, and accurately.

• Completion and our move to our new home. Our new home completed on schedule and a smooth move, unpacking, and getting settled into our new home

• A timely and approved home study

• And last, but most definitely not least, for Ella and Jake needs. We pray every day that they have enough to eat, that they are warm enough, that somebody hugs them every day and shows them love and care, and that God somehow in their spirits lets them know that their family is coming to bring them home.

Thank you so much for going on this incredible journey of faith and love with us. We appreciate your prayers. Please pass this along to anyone you feel might pray with us through this journey.

In Christ’s love,
David, Karin, Ashleigh, & Abbie Owens

Any donations may be sent to:
David & Karin Owens
99 Middleton Rd.
Arkadelphia, AR 71923