The Nichols Adoption Journey
4/20/2022 Update: Flights are booked!
Sharon
4/4/2022 Update: We have referrals!
Late last week Greg and I received word that the ministry in Kyrgyzstan submitted for our review, a referral with four children available for adoption! We have spent the last several days pouring over what information and pictures our agency has been able to obtain about each of these kids. We are now working on finalizing our decision on which child we would like to visit during our 1st trip to Kyrgyzstan. This stage of the process is called “the bonding period”. This is an approximately 2 week long trip where we will spend 10 days visiting with this child to get to know them better and confirm that we indeed want to complete our adoption with this child. Once we confirm (after the bonding time), we would officially be “matched” with this child and the paperwork and court processes for finalizing the adoption would start. From there we will have two more (shorter) trips that will be required to 1) complete the court hearing with the judge and 2) finalize the birth certificate, passport, and finally bring our child home forever!
3/19/2022 Update: After a very long pause, as our adoption agency and country of adoption worked through some challenges with a standard reaccrediation process following a restructuring of the country’s ministry departments, we are finally able to move forward with our pursuit to adopt a young child from Kyrgyzstan.
Following the need to update our dossier and resubmission back to the country, we have just received great news that the ministry in Kyrgyzstan has officially approved our family to adopt from their country! This is amazing progress made in less than 6 weeks since our dossier was resubmitted for review. Our family has now entered into the “referral phase”. This means that we are now waiting (So much waiting when pursuing adoption!) for a referral from the ministry in Kyrgyzstan of a child available for international adoption. Please pray for the ministry as they work through this process and for our family as we prepare for this referral along with the processes of reviewing the paperwork, etc. Most importantly, please pray for this child that God has called to be a part of our family.
If you feel called to, we do have a means to accept donations to help cover the cost for our adoption. Lifesong is a wonderful partner that helps hundreds of families fundraise for adoptions. 100% of donations submitted through Lifesong are applied to the cause and are tax-deductible. Currently we have a matching grant opportunity that will provide us up to an additional $3,000 of grant money if we raise $3,000 from donations. Currently we are about $2,000 away from being able to max out this grant opportunity.
Thank you so much for your time in following our adoption story. We would love to hear from you if you have any encouraging words of wisdom or inspiration as we continue this journey that God has called us to follow.
With Love,
The Nichols Family
9/21/2020 Update: Our completed dossier has been sent to Kyrgyzstan for translation and will then go to the central authority for review and approval! We are getting so much closer to bringing home our child!
Hello, we are the Nichols family and this is our adoption story.
For us, adoption was in each of our hearts before we even met. There was no real plan or direction at that point. Just an understanding that for us, adoption would someday be a part of our life story.
Fast forward twelve plus years from “I do” and we have grown from a family of two to a family of five including Makayla (10), Elijah (7), and Josiah (2). It was about 18 months following Josiah’s birth that the idea of adoption went from just a small thought of one day to a big-time discussion and deep prayerful conversation with God on when. It was hard to think of stretching ourselves to parenting more than three children. After all we both work full time and raising any children this day and age is not easy. But in the end, neither of us could ignore the calling we both felt. God was calling us to start the process of adopting a child in need of a family to call their own. A child of God that needs a home and place to feel safe and loved. Permanency and a place to teach them about an all-powerful Heavenly Father who loves them deeply.
Adoption is a big calling to undertake. It is taking on the brokenness of this world and having God use us to bring healing to the most vulnerable of all, children. We are leaning completely on God to not only provide us with the financial means to complete this adoption, but to equip us with the strength, wisdom, and patience we will need to care for the needs of this child. It is one of the biggest steps of faith that we are making as a family. Something that we know will stretch us farther than we have been stretched. It is our prayer that we are molded into the people God desires of us to be through this adoption journey. And that through it all we can bring glory to God with an amazing testimony of His goodness, faithfulness, and love.
After doing some research on various opportunities (both domestic and international) along with various agencies, we decided to apply for adoption through Lifeline Child Services in Birmingham, AL. And through Lifeline, we selected the Kyrgyzstan program. A place that has been in Sharon’s heart since she served on a short-term mission trip there back in 2003.
For a bit of geography and history, Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked mountainous country in Central Asia. The Kyrgyz are traditionally a nomadic people who raise livestock. During most of the 20th century, Kyrgyzstan was a part of the Soviet Union which introduced new language (Russian) as well as cultural changes to the people of Kyrgyzstan. Since becoming an independent nation in the 1990’s Kyrgyzstan has faced many challenges that have made life hard economically for many of the people in Kyrgyzstan.
Our family would like to welcome you to join us on this journey. To be a part of something that is truly living out the Gospel of Christ. Would you please prayerfully consider being apart of our adoption journey? Through your prayer and financial support, we can truly “move mountains” (Matthew 17:20) and show the power and glory of our Heavenly Father. Our family has already been blessed with a $3,000 matching grant offer from LifeSong For Orphans for the first $3,000 we raise.
We are so excited to be on this journey and can only pray that we can use our adoption to not only help an orphaned child, but to positively impact others around us as we are used as instruments of God to “defend the fatherless” (Deuteronomy 10:18).
With Love,
The Nichols Family
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 “Nichols 08897”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, 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.
