A Dear Friend Needs Nelp

While I was in Kiev last year, one of the wonderful mamas I met was Lyndi Shupp. She was there adopting an adorable little boy with Down syndrome through Reece's Rainbow just as I was. Now she and her husband are just days away from returning for another son--a 15 year old this time. And they've run into a unique adoption twist that requires lots of prayer, an additional chunk of money and extra time in-country. PLEASE pray for them and if there's any way you can contribute to their adoption fund, I know they would greatly appreciate it.

Here's a plea for help from Meredith Cornish, the Ukraine adoption coordinator for Reece's Rainbow.

Although I don't generally post about specific adoptive families on
here, this one is not just ANY adoptive mom, but one that spends about
20 hours every week helping OTHER adoptive parents through the process!
She is one of my "team mates" for the Ukraine program of Reece's
Rainbow. We have 100 kids in the process of being adopted right now and
in addition to raising her 6 kids (one of whom was adopted from Ukraine
last year and happens to have Down syndrome) and helping these families
home, she also has been making her own dossier up and pursuing a 15 yr
old boy with epilepsy from Eastern Europe!

Now
with 7 days left before they fly to EE, they received some news about
their adoption which led to the following post. Please read and PRAY,
and consider helping the Shupps to make Freddie a part of their family!
He is 15 years old already, and international adoption law says that
after his 16th birthday a family cannot begin the process to adopt him
if they don't already have specific papers filed before then. This is his last chance!

Lyndi and Bill Shupp's family profile is available to be viewed at www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorshupp.html
and donations are tax deductible. They WILL receive these funds "in
time" to use them if donated this way. You can also visit her blog
(linked on the header below) to see their other fundraisers you can
participate in if you'd like to give in that way.

Here's from Lyndi:
There's been a bit of a Hiccup
A few days ago, I got an email, one I had to sit on and wait for more
details, but one that I thought was devastating at first. Well, now
that I have details, we are a bit more optimistic, but still in a
"panic".

What did we learn?
We learned that our Freddie was not born in the country we are traveling to, but instead, he was born in Russia.

What does that mean?
That
means that in addition to attending court in the country he lives in,
we will have to have a country lawyer go to Russia after court to
obtain his original birth certificate.

How does this affect the adoption?
Other
than adding a few steps, it does NOT affect his ability to be adopted!
Praise Jesus for this, we were very worried until we got our details!!!

What does this mean financially and to your timeline?
It
DOES affect these 2 areas!! The cost of this person to go get his birth
certificate is an additional $3,000. It also prolongs our stay by about
a week.

What are we doing now?
Well, for
now, our plan is to move forward and get Freddie, he has been the child
on our hearts for the past 2 years and we feel that with the help of
EVERYONE, we can still make this a reality. A friend offered to take
Patrick while we travel, this was offered before, but I originally
turned it down, but have now accepted, so we now have the money from
his plane ticket to help with some of the expenses, but we are still
gonna need YOUR help!!!

What am I asking from you?
I
am asking EVERYONE to PLEASE PLEASE help us bring him home. I know many
of you have already helped, but this is such an unusual situation that
I need your help now more than ever. I ask that you each post on your
blogs, on your FB, spread it by word of mouth, however you can, please
help spread the word!