Monday, January 17, 2011
GRAB OUR WIDGET
Would you help us spread the word??? You can add our widget by clicking HERE (on the left hand side of website it says Grab this fundraiser's widget) and adding it to you blog or website. We are trying to raise the $5,000 for our matching grant from LifeSong for Orphans and have only 2 1/2 weeks left to do so. This $5,000 is CRUCIAL because it will then become $10,000 and that will be all the funds needed to complete our adoption.AND it's all TAX DEDUCTIBLE! Thank you so much for helping! As an added plus, leave a comment with your blog or website and I will add you to the drawing pile to win one our our adoption shirts we have in stock (Men's or Women's design, varying sizes available).
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Praise and Prayer!
Praise and Prayer go hand in hand together. Today we are rejoicing, rejoicing for the past, present and future. God is so good!! As I sat down to start our taxes last night I went thru out of curiosity adding up the total for our adoption and travel expenses last year and was blown away!! Blown away at the actual amount we spent on everything AND blown away at how God provided $12,000 that we didn't have!!!! God is soo good!!
Some people ask how are you affording an adoption in this economy, now an adoption of not only one but TWO? I simply state it is God!! Yes you have to follow thru on your part and live essentially, sell anything that is a "Want" and not a need! It's all about just saying "YES" to what God has called us to do and leave the rest up to him! So in these next couple months we are praying for more miracles :) to happen!! Not only financially for this adoption but mentally, physically, spiritually and so on. We are the ending stages of preparing to bring our sons home. Rearranging rooms, painting, and God has once again came thru! We have some very close friends in our lives that have been down this road a time or too, it's so amazing to see how God puts the right people in your lives for a time and season.
During my devotions today I came across this verse and although it may have a couple meanings for different situations this is what stood out to me today and thought I would share:
Some people ask how are you affording an adoption in this economy, now an adoption of not only one but TWO? I simply state it is God!! Yes you have to follow thru on your part and live essentially, sell anything that is a "Want" and not a need! It's all about just saying "YES" to what God has called us to do and leave the rest up to him! So in these next couple months we are praying for more miracles :) to happen!! Not only financially for this adoption but mentally, physically, spiritually and so on. We are the ending stages of preparing to bring our sons home. Rearranging rooms, painting, and God has once again came thru! We have some very close friends in our lives that have been down this road a time or too, it's so amazing to see how God puts the right people in your lives for a time and season.
During my devotions today I came across this verse and although it may have a couple meanings for different situations this is what stood out to me today and thought I would share:
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Matching Grant plus a little surprise!
Dear Family and Friends,
“A father of the fatherless…God setteth the solitary in families…” - Psalms 68:5,6
Some of you know we have felt called and directed by God to adopt a “fatherless” child(ren) into our family. We are adopting from Sierra Leone, West Africa. We just received news in December that the adoption law in the country is set into place and our next step in the adoption and hopefully the final step is traveling for another 2 weeks, going to court while we are there and bringing the boys home.
Did you know it is estimated less than 10% of all orphan children are adopted into evangelical Christian families? According to current estimates, if only 10% more Christians in America would adopt, it would be equivalent to providing homes for all the orphans in Eastern Europe (1.5 million), Latin America (400,000), and the US foster care system (150,000).
Some of you are probably wondering what has prompted us to adopt. Well, primarily, we’ve felt so clearly directed by God to adopt that we want to obey Him, and we also desire to give an orphan child a family that he probably won’t otherwise have. God desires for orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for and adopted into Christian families – ultimately so they can become saved, and be adopted into His eternal family through Jesus Christ! There are so many things God has used to prick our hearts and move us to adopt, here are a few:
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction… James 1:27
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will – Ephesians 1:5
The biggest challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to another child, but it is in finding the finances to make this happen. We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, document preparation, home study, airfare, travel, attorney fees, etc. to be $21,000 - that’s certainly money we don’t have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him. By God’s grace we’ve been able to pay the initial $8,200.
Honestly, it’s a little difficult (because of our pride), to make our needs known to the Body of Christ around us, but we also know it’s very Biblical to do so. We appreciate your friendship very much and would like you to pray & consider helping us in our adoption. There are two ways you can help:
1. Prayer – Please pray God would tenderly care for Kevin and William in Sierra Leone until we are able to bring them home, that God would prepare Emma and Jayden for the upcoming changes to our family, and that God will give us wisdom, discernment, and insight as we raise Kevin and William to know Jesus Christ.
2. Financial support - Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining $12,800 in adoption expenses, to bring our boys home?
Lifesong (www.lifesongfororphans.org) has graciously given a Matching Grant of $5,000 to help pay the remaining adoption expenses. If you would like to be a part of God bringing William and Kevin home, you can send your tax-deductible gift between now and February 9th 2011 to the address below. Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on William and Kevin’s behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.
1. Please make checks payable to: Lifesong. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “preference Johnson #1693 Adoption” in the memo section of your check. (*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong which retains full discretion and control over its use.)
Mail checks to:
Lifesong for Orphans
Attn: Johnson #1693 Adoption
PO Box 40/202 N.Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744
2. You can also give directly thru Paypal thru this link http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html MAKE SURE to note in the comments section PREFERENCE JOHNSON #1693 ADOPTION or this will not be applied to our account.
Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and finances – it will be an investment with an eternal return! (Matt 6:20) We’ll give you an update with a picture of the boys and details as we receive them. Please pray this entire process will glorify God and fulfill His purposes!
In Christ,
Rich, Tiffany, Emma and Jayden Johnson
(Feel free to copy and paste this and share with your facebook friends, emals, blogs, etc)
“A father of the fatherless…God setteth the solitary in families…” - Psalms 68:5,6
Some of you know we have felt called and directed by God to adopt a “fatherless” child(ren) into our family. We are adopting from Sierra Leone, West Africa. We just received news in December that the adoption law in the country is set into place and our next step in the adoption and hopefully the final step is traveling for another 2 weeks, going to court while we are there and bringing the boys home.
Did you know it is estimated less than 10% of all orphan children are adopted into evangelical Christian families? According to current estimates, if only 10% more Christians in America would adopt, it would be equivalent to providing homes for all the orphans in Eastern Europe (1.5 million), Latin America (400,000), and the US foster care system (150,000).
Some of you are probably wondering what has prompted us to adopt. Well, primarily, we’ve felt so clearly directed by God to adopt that we want to obey Him, and we also desire to give an orphan child a family that he probably won’t otherwise have. God desires for orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for and adopted into Christian families – ultimately so they can become saved, and be adopted into His eternal family through Jesus Christ! There are so many things God has used to prick our hearts and move us to adopt, here are a few:
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction… James 1:27
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will – Ephesians 1:5
The biggest challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to another child, but it is in finding the finances to make this happen. We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, document preparation, home study, airfare, travel, attorney fees, etc. to be $21,000 - that’s certainly money we don’t have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him. By God’s grace we’ve been able to pay the initial $8,200.
Honestly, it’s a little difficult (because of our pride), to make our needs known to the Body of Christ around us, but we also know it’s very Biblical to do so. We appreciate your friendship very much and would like you to pray & consider helping us in our adoption. There are two ways you can help:
1. Prayer – Please pray God would tenderly care for Kevin and William in Sierra Leone until we are able to bring them home, that God would prepare Emma and Jayden for the upcoming changes to our family, and that God will give us wisdom, discernment, and insight as we raise Kevin and William to know Jesus Christ.
2. Financial support - Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining $12,800 in adoption expenses, to bring our boys home?
Lifesong (www.lifesongfororphans.org) has graciously given a Matching Grant of $5,000 to help pay the remaining adoption expenses. If you would like to be a part of God bringing William and Kevin home, you can send your tax-deductible gift between now and February 9th 2011 to the address below. Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on William and Kevin’s behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.
1. Please make checks payable to: Lifesong. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “preference Johnson #1693 Adoption” in the memo section of your check. (*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong which retains full discretion and control over its use.)
Mail checks to:
Lifesong for Orphans
Attn: Johnson #1693 Adoption
PO Box 40/202 N.Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744
2. You can also give directly thru Paypal thru this link http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html MAKE SURE to note in the comments section PREFERENCE JOHNSON #1693 ADOPTION or this will not be applied to our account.
Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and finances – it will be an investment with an eternal return! (Matt 6:20) We’ll give you an update with a picture of the boys and details as we receive them. Please pray this entire process will glorify God and fulfill His purposes!
In Christ,
Rich, Tiffany, Emma and Jayden Johnson
(Feel free to copy and paste this and share with your facebook friends, emals, blogs, etc)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Well a new year brings new goals, hurdles, budgets, dreams, plans, etc... We are so excited for all God has for the Johnson family in 2011. At the end of 2010 we received amazing news from the government of SL: the adoption law has PASSED and is ready for us to move forward with the adoption once the current ban lifts, which we expect to be this coming week or two. We have so much to be thankful for this past year and the year to come. God has blessed us with 2 amazing children here and amazing children in Africa waiting to come home, wonderful friends, family, church and the list goes on and on.
Here are some recent pictures:
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a great New Year!! The best is yet to come!
Here are some recent pictures:
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a great New Year!! The best is yet to come!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
cmas card 2010
With Love Chartreuse Christmas 5x7 folded card
Create modern Christmas photo cards at Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.
Monday, December 6, 2010
GIVEAWAY TO FEED 5,000 CHILDREN
You heard right we are doing a giveaway to feed 5,000 children. When I traveled in May 2010, we visited a city, Kroo Bay (the poorest place on earth according to the UN) where many orphaned and abandonded children live. In my hour I spent there I probably have 10+ children approach me as orphans needing a home, food, and a family to love them. Honestly, this is where my heart broke and it broke hard for these children. So the TRS team traveling in January has the opportunity to feed 5,000 children and we can't do it without the financial support needed to feed them. It only costs .50 (yes I said 50 Cents) per child, which is $2,500 total. Click HERE if you would like to donate directly to the Kroo Bay feeding program.
So in order to help the team traveling raise the funds needed to accomplish this we are going to do a GIVEAWAY to help spread the word. One winner will win 1 new simply love tee shirt. One more winner will win 1 Magazine necklace. Check them out HERE
Here’s what you need to do to enter: (you pick 2)
1. Write a blog post about the Giveaway and inspire your readers to enter the contest!! You can use any post or pic on my blog.
2. Shout out on FB, Twitter, or an email blast and share the Giveaway and Kroo Bay paypal link to your friends and family!
3. Purchase a Simply Love Sierra Leone shirt or Magazine Necklace (all proceeds will go towards Kroo Bay feeding program)
4. Donate thru the Kroo Bay feeding program link located above
Now, leave me a comment right here on the blog post on how you entered the Giveaway today and your blog address or email. I will randomly select a winner from the blog comments on Monday December 20th.
(PLEASE NOTE WE HAVE 20 SHIRTS IN STOCK(please email me at tiff.johnson85@gmail.com for available sizes) WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO SELL/GIVEAWAY THE SIZES WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN STOCK) Thank you for understanding this!
This is there primary water supply in Kroo Bay
So in order to help the team traveling raise the funds needed to accomplish this we are going to do a GIVEAWAY to help spread the word. One winner will win 1 new simply love tee shirt. One more winner will win 1 Magazine necklace. Check them out HERE
Here’s what you need to do to enter: (you pick 2)
1. Write a blog post about the Giveaway and inspire your readers to enter the contest!! You can use any post or pic on my blog.
2. Shout out on FB, Twitter, or an email blast and share the Giveaway and Kroo Bay paypal link to your friends and family!
3. Purchase a Simply Love Sierra Leone shirt or Magazine Necklace (all proceeds will go towards Kroo Bay feeding program)
4. Donate thru the Kroo Bay feeding program link located above
Now, leave me a comment right here on the blog post on how you entered the Giveaway today and your blog address or email. I will randomly select a winner from the blog comments on Monday December 20th.
(PLEASE NOTE WE HAVE 20 SHIRTS IN STOCK(please email me at tiff.johnson85@gmail.com for available sizes) WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO SELL/GIVEAWAY THE SIZES WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN STOCK) Thank you for understanding this!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
HIV/AIDS
Today is national HIV/AIDS awareness day and although the children we are adopting don't have AIDS I have seen the ill iffects of it first hand. No they are no different than you and I on the surface. AIDS/HIV is TREATABLE in the U.S. but unfortunately in a 3rd world country like Sierra Leone it is not. A good friend of our's posted it very clearly written on her facebook today "In the US, an HIV+ child will grow up, go to college, get married, have kids & live a normal life with a projected normal lifespan. In a developing nation, 50% of HIV+ kiddos die before they're 2 years old... So when people ask "why do you work in other countries when there are needs in the US?" ... This is why folks..... This is why...."
I have been thinking alot today about this issue we are faced with a disease that is treatable but not curable. Our good friend Lori who I and Rich had the opportunity to travel with to SL this year, her soon to be adopted children's mother is HIV+, I watched her bond with the biological mother of her children and watching them laugh and cry together. It really touched my life, before Lori had came in Sept 2009, her children's mother was on her death bed, dying from this horrible disease. She now has the treatments available to treat the disease and has made an incredible difference from the pictures I saw of the Sept 2009 trip. One life changed all because of treatment, which you can provide for any child suffering with this disease.
I am so grateful for the nation we live in and the opportunities such as life that we are given. If you would like more information on how to sponsor a child thru TRS that you can help for as little as $20 a month please visit here You can change the life on an Orphan forever.
I have been thinking alot today about this issue we are faced with a disease that is treatable but not curable. Our good friend Lori who I and Rich had the opportunity to travel with to SL this year, her soon to be adopted children's mother is HIV+, I watched her bond with the biological mother of her children and watching them laugh and cry together. It really touched my life, before Lori had came in Sept 2009, her children's mother was on her death bed, dying from this horrible disease. She now has the treatments available to treat the disease and has made an incredible difference from the pictures I saw of the Sept 2009 trip. One life changed all because of treatment, which you can provide for any child suffering with this disease.
I am so grateful for the nation we live in and the opportunities such as life that we are given. If you would like more information on how to sponsor a child thru TRS that you can help for as little as $20 a month please visit here You can change the life on an Orphan forever.
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