One more update- our next rummage sale will be Saturday November 16! We are still collecting items and working on a location! We truly appreciate your support and donations.
Here is our letter about fundraising through Lifesong:
October
21, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
Some of you know we have
felt called by God to adopt a “fatherless” child into our family. We are
adopting a little girl from Ghana, Africa and will be matched with a specific
child in the next 12 months. After we have been matched, we will travel
for court then we will travel a 2nd time to bring her back
home. As a family, we’ve been excitedly praying for her, and we’ve
already named our daughter- Jada Suzanne. For those of you who don't know, Suzanne is my moms name and my middle name.
What has prompted us to
adopt? Primarily, we’ve felt so clearly directed by God to adopt that we want
to obey him. We also desire to give an orphan child a family that she
probably wouldn’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 adopted into His eternal family through Jesus
Christ.
There are over 147
million orphans worldwide and 120,000 children currently in the U.S. foster
care system. It is estimated that less than 10 percent of these children
are adopted in evangelical Christian families.
The biggest challenge is
not opening our hearts and home to another child, but it is finding the
finances to make this happen. The estimated cost for the adoption is
$35,000. 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 $5,000. We have held 2 fundraisers: a rummage sale this past May
raising $3,800 and an online Facebook auction this past September raising
$4500. We have now paid a total of $13,300 towards our adoption!
Honestly it’s a little
difficult (because of our pride) to make our needs known to the body of Christ,
but we realize it is biblical to do so. Your friendship is appreciated,
and we would like you to pray and consider helping us in one or two ways with
our adoption.
1. Please
pray God would tenderly care
for Jada in Ghana until we are able to bring her home; that God would prepare
us for the upcoming changes in our family; and that God will give us wisdom,
discernment, and insight as we raise Jada to know Jesus.
2. Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover
the remaining $20,000 towards our adoption expenses to bring Jada home? Our goal date is December 4th,
but funds will be accepted towards our adoption until the child is in our home
and/or our adoption is complete.
Please make checks
payable to “Lifesong for Orphans.” In the memo, note family account number (#4038) and family name (Richardson) to
assure it goes to the correct account. Please email to Life Song for Orphans,
PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744. Lifesong has been blessed with a partner
that underwrites all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation
and other partners). That means 100% of
your donation will go directly to the adoption.
Another option is to
give online. Go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate. Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.” Complete
the online form and fill in the family account
number (#4038) and family name (Richardson).
In following IRS
guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This
organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the
donor’s suggested use. Individual donations of $250 or more and yearly
donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt.
Receipts for donations under $250 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is
a 501©3 tax exempt organization.
Thank you for investing
in the Kingdom through prayer and finances- it will be an investment with an
eternal return! We’ll give you an update with a picture of Jada and details as
we receive them. Please pray this entire process will glorify God and fulfill
His purpose. You may continue to follow our blog at www.therichardsonadoption.blogspot.com.
Sean and Sarah Richardson
We also received a letter of support from Lifesong that we are mailing with the hard copies! Please let me know if you would like me to mail you or your family a fundraising and support letter.
We truly appreciate and are overwhelmed with all of the love and support we have received. Please continue to pray for us during this "waiting period" until we receive a referral. Please also pray for our daughter (whom we will name Jada) and the people who are caring for her.
Love you all,
Sean and Sarah
