Our HUGE announcement...

Dear family and friends,

Two years ago this month we stepped off the plane from Ethiopia, Africa with our twin girls. We were elated to have all five of our children together and to have the girls in America as our own. We have been blessed with five healthy, lively children and we were extremely content. Little did we know that the Lord was going to use those two little girls in a big way. God has shown us over the past 24 months that He has other plans for our family.

Spending time in Ethiopia has forever changed Monte and me. Since being home, material things are not as important and the "American Dream" is very far from our minds as we witnessed so many people with nothing. There will be tens of millions of children who will go to bed tonight without a mom or dad to tuck them in. Once we really were able to grasp the meaning of that, we both realized there is so much more we can do. We know we have more room in our home and our hearts to take an orphan who has nothing and give them a family that will always be there for them. The Lord has made it very clear to us that we are following a calling that is talked a lot about in the Bible.

James 1:26-27 "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."
and...
Psalm 82:3 "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."

As of July 5th we have started our second adoption. This time we are adopting from Uganda, Africa. Uganda is in Eastern Africa (southwest of Ethiopia). We are seeking a boy with the age parameters of 0-6years. We will most likely receive a referral for a 4 or 5 year old. Uganda is a relatively small country (smaller than Oregon) and has approximately 2 million orphans. Most children become orphans because of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, childbirth or water borne illnesses. It is a sad situation and while we know that adoption will not solve the global orphan crisis, it can fill a large need.

When we adopted the girls, funds were not an issue. The government had an adoption tax credit that covered a little over half of their adoption and that helped us tremendously. We also had a few people give us monetary gifts and we had many people give us gifts of clothes and things that we needed for the girls. Those acts of kindness blessed us to our core. We appreciated each and every one who came along side us and rejoiced with us as we followed the Lord's calling on our life.

This time around the adoption tax credit will not be available. Because of this we will be doing numerous fundraisers throughout the adoption to help us with the financial aspect of adopting. It will cost us around twenty-five thousand dollars to bring our son home. There are a lot of factors that go into the cost of an adoption and here are a few:
Adoption Agency (we are using Generations Adoption, generationsadoptions.org)
Home study Agency (they will make sure our house is safe and make sure we are fit to parent another child)
Background Checks
Lawyers
Country Fees
Medical Clearance
Travel Shots
Visas
Orphanage Fee
Airline Tickets to Uganda
Hotel in Uganda
Food in Uganda

Our first fundraiser is this: Last week I started a program called "Couch to 5K". It is a training program to get me in shape to run a 5K run in 9 weeks. I have not run a 5K since college and I haven't workout at all in over 2 years. I am going to run my first 5K in 11 years on September 10th. I am doing it for me and for our children, especially our new son. Running gives me a chunk of alone time to pray for my little boy that we will welcome into our family in about 18 months. I find peace knowing that the Lord knows exactly who he is and we will also know in His perfect timing.

We are asking our family and friends, if you feel led, to come along side of us to help us bring our little guy home. One way you can support us is by sponsoring me for my run on September 10th. No amount is too small, because literally every dollar gets us one step closer to getting him in our arms. 100% of your donation will go toward our adoption costs.

Above all I ask that you join us in prayer. Please be praying for us as we walk through another adoption that is full of ups and downs. Pray that we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus! Pray for our current children as they open their hearts to another brother. Also, for our new son and brother, please pray that his heart and mind will be open to us as well.

We will also have a donate button on my blog if you would rather give via PayPal.
I will also be updating the blog on a regular basis with any adoption news.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us either by email, tishaalexander@gmail.com. You can also find me on facebook,Tisha Hubbard Alexander.

With lots of love and thankfulness,
The Alexander Family