Hi! Thank you for considering partnering with us in our adoption journey! It’s been a looonnnngggg 5.5 year process and we are weary but are trusting in the Lord’s sovereignty and waiting on His perfect plan.
We started our homestudy in May 2019 and completed it relatively quickly. Then we had a glitch with a background check delay. Then COVID hit and the world shut down… but we continued to see God’s handiwork through all the waiting.
We were matched with a sweet boy in China in November 2020 but we got news he was adopted domestically in March 2021 while we were waiting for travel to open back up so we could go get him. Our hearts were broken, yet we persevered.
After that, we felt like pursing an adoption in Columbia, South America would be a better fit since travel to China didn’t look like it was opening up any time soon. However, several months into our process of hoping to adopt from Columbia, we have hit another road block. Columbia requires original birth and marriage certificates, both of which we only have one copy for Keith and have been advised not to let our only copies go. (Requests for new copies from South Africa are averaging well over a year and in fact, it’s been two years now since this and we still haven’t received another marriage certificate!)
So, back to ground zero, it seemed. We were even more weary but also so confident God has the perfect match for us!
After prayerful consideration, we decided to switch to an organization that works with the country of Malawi in Africa and pursue an adoption from there. We signed on with them in November 2021 and were matched witha sweet 8 year old girl in November 2022 and have been waiting for a court date since, so we were told. However, in December 2023, our hearts were broken again with the news that some very serious allegations have surfaced about both our domestic agency and their foreign service provider, the agency on the ground there.
Our adoption tanked overnight.
BUT GOD… God has divinely connected us with several people since this happened who have fought for us and advocated for our little girl in Malawi. We’ve been told that if we switch to a new agency that isn’t under fire, our match can proceed. I didn’t think I had it in me to start over again with a new agency… but this little girl knows about us and is waiting for us and we HAVE to go to the ends of the earth to get her. We are convinced Satan does not want her in our home and is throwing everything in the book at us to stop us. He must be so scared of the world-changer this young lady is going to be if he’s working this hard to stop it!
So, we signed on with yet another agency. I literally cried filling out that paperwork. For the third time.
As you can imagine, adoptions under the best of circumstances are quite expensive. They can range from $30,000-40,000. We have had some extremely generous friends walking through this journey with us and they are still some of our biggest cheerleaders. However, with these delays and changes, additional costs have been accruing and we wanted to extend an opportunity for our friends and family to join us in our journey. Would you consider joining us to adopt our little girl?
We will need $25k to finish this adoption. We hope to recoup some money from our old agency but this will take time and, frankly, it will be a big battle. It’s a long-shot, but any funds we get back or raise that exceed what we need will go back into the foundation that has so generously supported us this far. Dear friends of ours run this foundation and you can trust me that any extra money we raise or recoup will be used for another adoptive family. But we just don’t have time to wait for the long drawn-out battle of recouping funds… we need to get our little girl home NOW.
Will you please help us?
STRIPE charges an online processing fee (2.2% +.30 USD per transaction). Your donations will be decreased by this amount. You may also send a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo line please write “Lugthart 08687”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744.
Lifesong has been blessed with partners who underwrite all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.
- In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong for Orphans. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.
- Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Individual donations of $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.