"Her Name"

I can't begin to share with you how excited our boys are about having a little sister!!

Drew (2) doesn't understand much about it yet, but he thinks it's cool cuz he's going to be a "big brother!!!"

Jeremy (5) is soooo excited because he is now the "biggest brother!!!!"

About a week and a half ago Jeremy was pondering all of this and excitedly asked, "Do we get to pick her name???" I said, "Yes, do you have any great ideas?"

He pondered awhile longer and said, "Well, this can't be her real first name, but we can call her... 'Princess!'"

He then thought a little longer and said, "I think her middle name should be 'Sweetie.'"

I remarked, "So you think her name should be 'Princess Sweetie Nielsen?'"

He said, "Oh Yes!!"

Well, I guess we'll have to ponder over that one...

Our "Announcment Letter"

                                                                                                                                         4/28/11 

Dear Family and Friends,

We are so excited to share with you that we are in the beginning stages of adopting a baby girl from China! We have recently been accepted into the China “Waiting Child’ Program through the America World Adoption Association. 

Our Family Story

            We have been blessed with two AMAZING boys! Jeremy and Drew never cease to amaze us with the unique personalities and gifts the Lord has given them! We have decided that we are done having children biologically, but still have a desire to have a girl. We truly believe that adoption is God’s “Plan A” for our family, not a last resort, or a “Plan B.” We are excited to embark on this crazy journey to bring our daughter home!

Why Adoption?

            We did not come to this decision lightly and definitely sought counsel before pursing it fully. Our question eventually became, “Why not adoption?” With 163 million orphans and only 9,300 international adoptions last year, we knew we needed to do something. We hope to be an inspiration to others and that our desire to adopt will become contagious to many. Adoption is our personal, tangible way to carry out Christ’s mission in helping orphans!

The following quotes are from the book Adopted for Life, by Russell D. Moore. This book is one of the many avenues that opened our hearts to adoption.

“We believe Jesus in heavenly things—our adoption in Christ; so we follow him in earthly things—the adoption of children…”

            “Adoption is, on the one hand, gospel. In this, adoption tells us who we are as children of the Father. Adoption as gospel tells us about our identity, our inheritance, and our mission as sons of God. Adoption is also defined as mission. In this, adoption tells us our purpose in this age as the people of Christ. Missional adoption spurs us to join Christ in advocating for the helpless and abandoned…”

“You have a stake in the adoption issue, even if you never adopt a child…For some of us, I hope this book changes the makeup of our households. For some of us, I hope it helps change our monthly bank account balances. For all of us, I hope it changes something of the way we say, ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ in our pews next Sunday and the way we cry out ‘Father’ on our knees tonight.”

Why China?

            When we were reminded about the “one child policy” for urban couples of China, our hearts broke. Parents want to have a son because this ensures their future care. A son is everything. If they have a girl first, most choose to give her away to life in an orphanage, or leave her abandoned in the streets. This means that at least 90% of China’s orphans are girls. Our desire is to rescue a girl from a life of orphanages! What a great way to have an “in” with a closed (to the gospel), communist country too! We will, in a sense, be bringing a piece of China to America to teach her about her Creator, in hopes that she will in turn win many others to Christ.

The Cost

            The cost of International adoption is not cheap! China’s adoption program costs anywhere from $26,000-39,000. Believe it or not, other countries are much higher. You might wonder why we did not choose local adoption via the foster program considering it is not very expensive. There are pros and cons to both options, and for our family, international adoption is the best route. 

How can you be a part of our adoption?

            We ask that each of you prayerfully consider what your personal “stake” is in the world-wide adoption issue! Is it to pray faithfully for the millions of orphans, or to pray for families who have adopted? Is it to provide money for those who need help adopting or organizations that help orphanages? Is it to become an adoptive parent? Whatever your role is, you are needed!

            Currently we are unable to proceed in our adoption until we have raised more funds. We need around $4000 upfront to really get the ball rolling now that we have already paid the initial fee and have been accepted into the China program. Our prayer is to raise enough money to help fund our adoption and to possibly raise above and beyond to be able to bless others who want to adopt. We also know there are probably many other families with a heart for International adoption that don’t have the money either. 

While we don’t own “the cattle on a thousand hills,” we know and serve a God who does! Would you consider being a part of our adoption by helping us finance it? If the body of Christ rises up and gives financial support to those who would like to adopt, then perhaps tens of thousands more people would adopt. We certainly don’t have $35,000 lying around. Although we are living within our means and doing well in our day to day finances, it would take a long time to save that much money on a Pastor’s salary. Part of us is glad that this whole thing costs so much. The reason being is, it requires us to trust God so much more. It also gives many people the opportunity to play a significant role in the adoption of our daughter. There are not too many more exciting things we can think of than for hundreds of people to have contributed to bringing a baby orphan China girl to our family!

How you can be praying

            Given the time frame of the International adoption process (usually 12-18 months), it is quite possible that our daughter is in the womb of her birth mother this very moment.

Would you please take some time to pray right now for our future daughter?

Would you also pray that the Lord will prepare our family for this new addition?

Would you also be praying that we would be able to raise the funds necessary to complete this adoption?

Please pray for continued unity for us and that the process of this China adoption will go reasonably smooth.

Where/How you can give financially

            1. Our agency, America World Adoption Association, has a program called the "Eternal Family Program," which enables family and friends to contribute toward the cost of our adoption. Of course, we present this to you as an opportunity, not an obligation. If you feel led to partner with us financially, America World will accept contributions on our behalf and will provide a letter or email to you which will substantiate that the funds have been received by AW. Regarding tax deductibility, America World suggests that the amount claimed as a tax deduction, if any, should be discussed with a tax professional.

            Contributions can be made either by credit card or by check and 100% of the funds will go directly towards our adoption.

Credit card contributions can be made online at https://www.awaa.org/forms/payment.aspx and the “Notes” section should be used to identify both the Eternal Family Program and our family (Tim and Tiffinie Nielsen).

            Checks should be made payable to America World Adoption Association (AWAA), and both the check and “Eternal Family Program” form:  http://www.awaa.org/downloads/development/EFP_Contribution_Form.pdf (a download warning might come up when you click on this, but it is safe) should be sent directly to America World Adoption Association, Attn: Accounting Dept. 6723 Whittier Ave., Suite 202, McLean, VA 22101

 

Stay Connected

            As we have done in the past, we will try to keep you updated as much as possible through e-mail! If you are not on our e-mail list because you have received this from a friend, please send your e-mail address to tim@fbclodi.org and we will add you to the list!

            Please feel free to forward this e-mail to those who you think might not be on our e-mail list, and/or who you know have a big heart for adoption! We know a lot of people, but the body of Christ is much bigger than we could ever imagine!

We love you all and are excited to share this journey with you!!

With love and thanks,

Tim, Tiffinie, Jeremy, Drew, and baby princess Nielsen 

           

Testing the "Blog thing" out

When we told Tim's parents we were adopting, one of dad's questions was, "So, are you going to start a blog about this?" I laughed :-)!! Most of you know that I am not quite the "internet saavy" person, and the fact that our parents know more about this stuff than I do put's me a little to shame!!

So, here I am, testing this whole "blog thing" out...it's taken me about an hour to get this far (no laughing) on my blog...

I'm sure there is a lot more that I can do with this blog (pictures, cool designs, etc.), but I'll do my best to just keep you all posted about our journey as best I can!!

Now, I suppose I have to logout and figure out if I can get back on to post another post :-)...stay tuned!!