Hare Adoption

Can You Help Get Three Kids Home From Rwanda?

2011-04-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Our friends the Gundersens are adopting three children from Rwanda and are in need of help. Would you consider donating to that cause today? Click on the button to the right or go to http://brothersnsisters.wordpress.com to help.

A Testimony to God's Provision

2011-03-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us while we were gone! The Lord heard your prayers and we all arrived safely home in one piece and without any major medical conditions. Thank you for caring so well for us!

This most likely will be one of our final blog entries on this blog (turns out there isn't as much time to write these days!) and we think it fitting to give as much glory to the Lord as possible for providing the money we needed in order to adopt. So let me share with you how the Lord has provided every dime we needed to bring home our four kids...

Our adoption journey started a few months after Dave and I were married. We lived in a 450 square feet apartment, had $40,000 in student loans, weren't making enough money to pay our bills, and Dave was still in college. But dear friends of ours adopted and they told us about how destitute their little girls were before they adopted them. They told us that many girls who age out of the orphanages go into prostitution and how the orphanages simply did not have the resources to care for the children so that left them very sick. Feeling very moved by what we heard, on our way home from our friends' house, we decided that we would for sure adopt no matter what.

About a year later the Lord gave us very high paying jobs which allowed us to pay off all of our debt and the next big expense was to save up for was our adoptions. At that time were were going to adopt two children through Vietnam which would cost about $80,000. The week we turned in our application to adopt, both of us were laid off of our jobs and Bush announced the recession. But we decided to still go ahead and pursue the adoptions knowing that the Lord had a special place in his heart for the helpless and that he would provide.

So we got new jobs and made probably 10% of what we were making before. To top that off, both of us were full time Masters students and were only working part time. But we just kept praying...

Vietnam closed to international adoptions which led us to Ethiopia. So instead of $80k in fees, we would only need to come up with around $30k. We are pleased to say that the Lord provided every single dime we needed:

Friends and family contributed to our adoption fund
We received thousands upon thousands of dollars in grants
Our new employer reimbursed us $16k for our adoptions
Friends threw us a wonderful shower which took care of all the baby items we needed

We got Kaden and Makyra home and even had some money in the bank. We praised the Lord for his provision and thought we would move on...

However, soon after we brought them home we really felt as if the Lord was leading us to adopt again (See previous blog if you want to read about what led us to this decision) but this time I wasn't working and we didn't see any realistic way to fund the adoption. So, at first glance, this looked like a "closed door" but we just prayed that the Lord would provide.

And PRAISE THE LORD, even though for this adoption we received very few grants, He decided to use other means to provide this $30-$35k. Such as:

Dave's employer again will reimburse us $16k
There is a significant tax rebate for families who are adopting this year
Friends we hadn't seen since college heard we were adopting and decided to mail us their tax return.
A couple in our church got married and instead of asking for presents at their wedding, they asked all their guests to contribute money to adoptive families in our church.
Our church also helped us financially.

So, in sum, the Lord provided around $65,000 within the span of a year and a half for two people who started off as full time students working part time jobs.

We write this because we want everyone to know that the Lord answers prayer and that the Lord is not limited by finances. His Word is very clear that he cares deeply about the orphan, widow, world missions, and so on. He is committed to these causes and he has all the resources in the world to see to it that the orphans are cared for. Often he directs these resources to those who will care for them.

Unfortunately, the orphanages in Africa and the streets of Africa are still full of children that need to be adopted. So if you are thinking about adoption, but are hesitant because of finances, let the testimony of how the Lord has provided for us compel you to adopt. It is not irresponsible to look to the Lord for provision, it is faith.

"For from him and to him and through him are all things. To God be the glory forever. Amen."

Romans 11:36

P.S. For future family/ministry updates, please visit our blog at haretranslation.blogspot.com

Updates from Stacey

2011-03-14T20:12:00.001-07:00

Hey friends, thanks for your prayers.

I have some updates from Stacey:
1. Zoey has scabies and an umbilical hernia. Scabies are yucky, itchy, and contagious - but treatable with a topical creme. The hernia is not a huge deal, though it could require some minor surgery.
2. We passed Embassy! So Stacey and Karen will definitely be bringing the kiddos back on Thursday, 3/17/11 at 6:30pm. You are all invited to our Airport Party! (see below)
3. The trip has been very hard. Stacey has not slept barely at all due to jet lag and the kids have not been adjusting very well.

How you can be praying for Stacey and Karen:
1. Endurance, endurance, endurance - especially on the plane ride home.
2. That the kids would sleep on the plane ride home.
3. That Zoey would start feeling better and that the hernia would resolve itself and not need surgery.
4. That God would use this time to draw Stacey and Karen closer to himself and remind them of his love in the midst of trials.

Please Pray for Zoey

2011-03-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

I just received a text message from Stacey. It said that Zoey has an abnormal bulge on her stomach next to her belly button (maybe a hernia?). She said she also has sores all over her body. I did not get a lot of info as she told me she could not get to a computer. Please pray for baby Zoey.

The Results are In: Our Daughter's Name is Zoey!

2011-03-05T18:51:00.001-08:00

Well friends it only took one day to get 41 responses. We have decided to spell our daughter's name: Zoey!

The score? 30:11

We Need Help Spelling Zoe(y)

2011-03-05T08:03:00.001-08:00

Friends Stacey and I have reached and impasse and we need your help to resolve a spelling issue. Here are the arguments:

Zoey - this is my (Dave's) preference. Adding the 'y' seems to eliminate any possibility of someone calling her 'Zo' (like Toe). I also think it is cool to have a name with both a 'z' in it and a 'y.'

Zoe - Stacey's preference. This is the more common spelling. So, peer pressure I guess :)

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Another Prayer Answered! Off to Ethiopia!

2011-02-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

Another answer to prayer! The US Embassy has cleared all of our paperwork and given us the green light to come pick up our kids the week of March 14th. So myself (Stacey) and a friend (Karen) will fly out March 11th and are planning to return March 17th.

We've recently found out that our kids are only 9 days apart (Elias DOB 7/11/10 and Zoey DOB 7/20/10). We thought that was a fun fact being that their are very different in size.

We would love your prayers during this transition. Namely that our hearts would selflessly love our children at all hours of the day and night and that we would die to ourselves as we seek to serve and parent them well.

A Call (Yet Again) for More Prayer

2011-02-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Well we have some good news. Our case was submitted to the US Embassy in Ethiopia today.

The potentially not so good news is that the Embassy has been declaring "investigations" on adoption cases. This means that they could require an interview with the birth mom or additional documentation. They could pass us immediately and then we would get to pick-up our kids soon after or they could require an investigation which would mean there would be indefinite delay (months? We just don't know). So, we really want to get our kids home and think that is what is best for them as well so we ask you to pray with us that the Embassy would pass us immediately.

Thank you so much!
Stacey

The Lord Answers Prayer!

2011-01-25T05:25:00.001-08:00

Meet Zoey Lindsay Salam Hare...

Meet Elias Daniel Ewenetu Hare...

Zoey's Story:
Zoey is 5 months old. Dave (who is currently with them in Ethiopia right now) reports that she is crawling, yep crawling. Pretty incredible. Here is what Dave emailed to me about his experience with Zoey...

"She is soooooo cute. When I came downstairs I met her grandfather (Melese). Totally unexpected. I was able to talk to him for a little while, he was very nice. His daughter (Bogalech) had given birth to Zoey and brought her to his house. She then left and never came back. He does not know who the father is nor where she went. He was very sweet and wanted a picture to take with him. Zoey is chill, but quite adventurous. She would not stay in one place. She laughed and laughed. I spent a few hours there with Zoey. It was so much fun. I love her. I was not sure how I would feel during all of this. But I feel so much love and joy."

Zoey means "life" in Greek - looks like we rightly named this little one!

Elias' Story-A Product of Rape but no Less Precious:
Elias is currenty 6 months old. Dave had the opportunity to meet his mom today. He emailed me about his experience:

"She was very sweet and very young. She told me she was very happy that her son could go into a home where he would be taken care of. She blessed us. I asked the translator to ask her about his father. But the translator already knew. She had been raped. They did not know who the father was. It was quite a bit of news to get right at that moment. I cried. I am so happy that we can adopt a boy who was the product of rape. And I am so proud of her. She was really happy when she drove away because she knew we would take care of him. What a bold little girl. I asked a few more questions and hugged her. She left."

We praise the Lord for the selflessness of Elias' mother and for bringing something beautiful out of such an aweful crime. He is no less made in the image of God because of how he was conceived and we love him to death already.

We praise the Lord for the selflessness of Elias' mother and for bringing something beautiful out of such an aweful crime. He is no less made in the image of God because of how he was conceived and we love him to death already.

"To you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless."
- Psalm 10:14b

The Ethiopian courts just today declared these children to be ours and if all goes as planned, we will be returning to Ethiopia in six weeks to bring our kids home with us.

Leaving for Ethiopia in 9 days...Please Pray!

2011-01-14T17:08:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give you all a little update...

Dave is headed to Ethiopia next week to appear before court in Ethiopia. If we pass court we will be bringing our children home about 6 weeks later.

Please pray that we will pass court this first time and that everything that needs to happen for this to take place would happen (i.e. birth-parents would be present, paperwork would be in place, etc).

If we pass I'll send out some pictures!

Thank you for the prayers,

Stacey

PS To those interested, Elias is now 5 months old and Zoey is 4 months

Court Date!!

2010-11-29T10:18:00.000-08:00

We just heard from our adoption agency that we received a January 25th court date. Dave'll be traveling to Ethiopia to appear before the court and if we pass then we will be bringing Elias and Zoey home 6 weeks later. Please pray we pass!

Loving Children not "Our Own"

2010-09-17T12:02:00.001-07:00

To those of you who have adopted, you have probably had to read state-required materials which talk all about attachment, bonding, and the like. The main goal behind such literature (in my mind) is to give adoptive parents tools to create a relationship that is unnatural (ie two strangers coming together through the process of adoption) into something that is natural (the bond between parent and child). Because of these readings, and before adopting Kaden and Makyra, I wondered to myself, "Will I be able to love a 'random' child from across the world in the same way I could love a biological child?"

As a Christian, I would say, "Definitely." And it isn't because of the tips that were suggested in these adoption materials (although these materials have their place) but it is because I know Love himself.

"God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." 1 John 4:16b

If God is the very source of all true love and God abides in me, then I have the ability to not only genuinely love my adopted children, but I even have the supernatural ability to love my enemies. I can truly love my children, because I have been truly loved by God.

"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

And these words have been proved true in my life. I am surprised by how much love I have for Kaden and Makyra and I wouldn't change a thing about them. I love the fact that the Lord has picked out children for us from across the globe, put them in our home to care for, and given us a heart that is eager to "bear all things, hope all things, endure all things." We can't imagine loving them any more than we already do!

So, to any out there who may be (secretly) wondering if you should adopt because you just don't know if you could love a child as much as your biological child or whatever, I assure you - if you know the Lord then you can! Love for anyone, whether that be a spouse, an enemy, a biological child, an adopted child, or whomever is possible for those who have been loved by God. Love for an adopted child may not be natural, but the Lord loves to give grace to do things that are supernatural.

May the world look at the Church's love for adopted children and know that there is a supernatural love at work!

Referrals!!

2010-09-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that we received referrals for a one week old baby girl and a 6 week old baby boy. The adoption agency said we would probably get a court date in December then travel to bring them home six weeks later. So we could have them as early as January! Wow, this is going fast...thank you Lord!

We are going to name the little boy Elijah (Eli) Daniel. Elijah is in honor of the righteous prophet who the Lord used to take out the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 and Daniel is after my dad and my brother, both of whom I love dearly.

And the little girl we are going to name Zoey Lindsay. Zoey means life, which we felt was fitting being the Lord was merciful to give her life in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances. And Lindsay is after Lindsay Liles at Immanuel Baptist.

Here is a little history of Lindsay...she spent some time in Ethiopia doing mission work and she witnessed many children sick and dying due to the living conditions of the village she was working in. She told me that she went to bed crying because of how impossible it seemed to help these children. She said that she prayed and prayed that the Lord would do something..she didn't know what - but she knew that he was able to care for these little ones. Later on, Ethiopia opened up to international adoptions, and years after that Lindsay found herself at Immanuel Baptist where several members are adopting babies from Ethiopia. She told me that not only had the Lord answered her prayer to rescue these children, but he even put her at a church where she could see before her eyes many answers to her prayers. Would we even have Kaden, Makyra, Eli, and Zoey if it weren't for Lindsay's prayers?

So, we want Zoey to be named in Lindsay's honor because we want her, and our whole family for that matter, to remember that the Lord does hear our prayers. Even when we don't know how he is going to answer them, we know that he can and we know that he loves to answer prayer. There is nothing impossible with our God so let's follow Lindsay's example and ask the Lord for great and impossible things!

"The prayer off a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:16)

Stacey

PS If you'd like to see pics please email me at staceyahare@yahoo.com

Know any Good Baby Names?

2010-08-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

We need your help! We have been able to successfully come up with middle names for our two future kiddos, but we haven't been able to decide on first names. We'd love to get some feedback from our friends and family...

Which boy name do you like the best:
Ethan, Tyler, James, Timothy, Luke, Levi or Eli?

Do you have any other boy name suggestions?

And do you like the name Jada for a girl? If so, which spelling do you like the best:

Jayda or Jada

Do you have any other girl name suggestions?

Thanks so much!

We're Adopting Again!

2010-06-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well we have started the paperwork process to adopt two more babies from Ethiopia. We know that this is pretty wild.

Missionaries on the field and our adoption agency highly highly discouraged from trying to adopt once we were on the mission field but instead encouraged us to adopt before we go to the field (which would be now). It is slightly intimidating to have four children under the age of 2 or 3 but we are banking on the grace of God to prove sufficient.

What drove us to this decision is the fact that there are 5 million little people, made in the image of our great God, who are starving to death in Ethiopia. This is a plain and simple fact that I personally cannot get over. Yes I know that there are people who are starving all over the world, but I've had more interaction with those in need in Ethiopia due to our previous adoptions. And since I can't help all, I know I can help some. I did a google image search for "Ethiopian orphans" and saw pictures children sick and starving...and they looked like little Kaden and Makyra. We know life would be very complex and difficult having 4 young children (on the mission field!) but it is worth it to us when it comes to saving two lives. We believe the Lord cares deeply for the orphan and therefore we believe that he will give us what we need as we seek to care for them.

As we have enjoyed parenting Kaden and Makyra these past 7 months we are constantly reminded of God’s particular concern for the oppressed and afflicted. Their very lives prove that he truly is a father to the fatherless. However, while we praise the Lord for saving the lives of our children, we are not able to forget the many many children in the world who are still alone, starving, defenseless, and without the Gospel. This reality has led us to again adopt two more children from Ethiopia. There are two key Scriptures that have led us to adopt a second time. As I was talking to a friend (Julie Robbins) about the possibility of adopting more, she referred me to this passage as she urged me to adopt:

“Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.” - Psalm 41:1-2

She told me that those who consider the poor are blessed by the Lord and will be delivered, protected, kept alive, and kept safe from enemies. She encouraged me to not think about the next 18 years of paying for braces and college but instead to live in service to the poor and to rely on the Lord to provide for our needs. Another Scripture that has led us to adopt again is found in 2 Corinthians 9:8. It says:

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

We take the next step in adopting two more kids assuming God's grace will be there for us to abound in the good work of parenting and translating his Word.

Something Dave said to me as we were thinking through this was that at the end of our lives the Lord isn't going to say "Well Dave and Stacey you aimed too high. You sought to pursue things that were beyond my power. You should have settled for less, attempted fewer things for my glory."

No, if God is able to multiply daily the flour and oil in the widows jar then he is able to provide for our family. If he is able to shut the mouths of lions then he is able to keep us from harm. If he is able to save us from sin and death then he is able to give us the strength to be godly examples to our four children. Reading the miracles in the Bible has strengthened our faith and reminded us that there is nothing too great for our God and this God "gives power to the faint [us]" (Isa 40).

We ask those of you who read our blog (thank you for caring by the way) to keep us in your prayers...

Please pray that the Lord will provide financially for these adoptions ($40,000ish).
Please pray that the Lord would give us much grace to faithfully teach our children the Word, to discipline them in love, and to have the energy to care for their daily needs.
Please pray that all 6 of us would have no health concerns that would keep us from going into missions.
Please pray that the Lord would provide a godly single lady who would want to go onto the mission field with us and help us with our kids.

To God be the Glory!
Dave and Stacey

Adoption Complete

2010-01-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

Well friends, we are back in the states, we have our children and we are no longer in the adoption process. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support. We could not have done it without you. Christ is honored in your service.

Being that we are no longer "adopting," we won't be using this blog anymore. You can keep up with our family at:

newharefamily.shutterfly.com

You don't need a password anymore for that site and we will keep it up to date.

Again, we love you all,
Dave

“He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.” Psalm 9:12

2009-12-15T05:42:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce that we have safely arrived in Ethiopia and are at this moment in the presence of our beautiful children. We appreciate so much the prayers of our friends and family for safe travel.

A couple days prior to coming to Ethiopia, I read the verse “He does not forget the cry of the afflicted” and couldn’t help but to praise the Lord for hearing the cries of our children. Through this trip, we have seen specific ways the Lord has responded to the cries of orphans.

Firstly, Christians in Louisville donated 3 suitcases full of diapers, formula, and baby clothes for the African orphanages. Dave and I were prepared to pay fees to check additional luggage, figuring it was well worth it. However, the airline waived the $100 fee we were supposed to pay for no explained reason. But we all know it is because God hears the cries of the hungry orphans and sees to it that they are fed. We gave all these donations to the orphanage and they were very grateful. They have less clothes and baby items for the 25 babies that they watch than we have for our two (and we don’t have a ton). Thank you on behalf of the orphanage workers!

Secondly, yesterday we found out Kaden and Makyra’s stories and are all the more amazed by God’s faithfulness to sustain their little lives.

The director of Kaden and Kyra’s orphanage said that Kaden was their very first orphan. As many of you know, Kaden was abandoned on the road at just one day old. A man named Erjabo found Kaden and took him to the orphanage. Kaden was very sick and, in the opinion of the orphanage workers, close to death. The director said he couldn’t sleep for four days out of concern for Kaden. Erjabo and the orphanage workers saved Kaden’s life. We thus have decided to give Kaden a second middle name “Erjabo” in this man’s honor. Of the millions upon millions of orphans in Ethiopia (not to mention Africa or the whole world), God responded to Kaden’s cry for life and sent Erjabo.

Makyra’s story is even more sobering. Her mother died giving birth to her and in the midst of mourning for her death, Kyra was neglected and went without any food for three days. The director said that she was forgotten by all. But not by our Lord. A government official put Kyra in a bag and brought her to the orphanage. She was not breathing and had to be hospitalized for 11 days. The kindness of the Lord through the Christian orphanage workers saved her life. Thank you God for hearing Makyra’s cry.

And how does God respond to the cries of the afflicted? Most often through his children. The director of the orphanage is a believer who used to go out and share the Gospel with street boys. He started a home for these boys so that when they came to Christ, there could be a home for discipleship and for meeting of their daily needs. Recently he has become a director of one of the orphanages here in Africa because, as he said, “he must obey the commands of God.” He explained that before the Christians took over the orphanage, all the babies died. He said that only those who know the love of God are able to give these children the love and care they need. The Ethiopian government does not have a program for orphans. It is predominately the Christians whoa re caring for the helpless.

We went and got the children and there were several of their nannies with tears in their eyes. They love them so much. We felt nothing but the love of Christ in every hand that has cared for our children. Yes, these people are heroes; there is no doubt about it. But it would be incomplete to stop there: It is God motivating their love. It is God who has heard the cries of our children and has saved their lives. May the Lord save many more and may we as the church be his hands and feet to save the lives of the afflicted and feed the hungry.

Our children are adjusting to their new life with us quickly. Jet lag along with a painful eye infection I recently have gotten has not made the past couple days easy on us. Nevertheless, we love our kids and can’t wait for you all to meet them. You will fall in love, there is no doubt about it.

Will post pictures when we get back to the states! We promise!

We got some new pictures!

2009-12-09T10:07:00.001-08:00

I just posted some more pictures on the Shutterfly site. Check them out!

We fly on Saturday, pray for safety!

We are headed to Africa! Dec 12th!

2009-11-18T10:06:00.000-08:00

Well, we found out today that we will go to Ethiopia for our date with the US Embassy on Dec. 17th. We will fly out on Saturday Dec 12th and we will fly back into Denver, CO on Dec 19th to spend Christmas with our families. We are planning on being back home to Louisville January 4th. Praise the Lord! We can't believe this day has finally come!

Why We Are Adopting

2009-11-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

We've had many people asking what led us to adopt, so we thought we'd copy and paste one of our original posts. We're adopting...

Because God cares for orphans, and one of the ways in which he exercises this care is through his church.

Psalm 68:5 says that God is “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.” Christians, who are being transformed into the image of Christ live out His heart when they care for orphans. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). As God cares for the fatherless, so we as his children care for them too. Our concern for the orphans is a tangible manifestation of God’s love that has been poured out into our hearts.

Because we have been adopted by God.

Jesus left heaven, lived a very humiliating life, ultimately dying for sinners so he could bring people into the family of God and call them his children. Christians, from every tribe, tongue and nation, have been pursued by God and adopted into his family. In the same way we want to pursue those from another nation, not our own, and bring them into our family. We desire our family to be a little picture of this great Gospel.

So that these children will have the opportunity to hear of Christ.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Believing in Christ is the only way to receive salvation and how will these children hear of Christ unless someone preaches to them? We, put very simply, want to adopt children, so that we can tell to them about salvation in Christ.

Because we have been given so much.

We want to give because we have been given the wealth of America, loving Christian families and most importantly spiritual truth. It is only by grace that we were born into such material and spiritual wealth, and we want to extend that grace to children who were born into poverty and little if any access to the truths of Scripture. We recognize that we are no better than those (now our kids) who were left on the streets without anyone to care for them. We have been blessed to be a blessing.

We Passed Court!

2009-11-02T04:27:00.001-08:00

We just found out that both of our cases passed with no problem. We give credit to God who answers the prayers of his children. The soonest date we could be given to go pick them up would be Dec. 17th, and if we miss that date, it would be Dec 31st. We can't wait to meet them and can't wait for our friends and family to meet them as well. Thank you so much for praying for us and our kids.

Court Date!!!!

2009-10-16T10:59:00.001-07:00

We've been given a court date of November 2nd!!!!!!!!

Please pray that we will pass the first time!!!

Another new video and a slight delay

2009-09-30T17:58:00.001-07:00

Hello to friends and family who read this blog,

We did get another new video today so feel free to check out our shutterfly account (newharefamily.shutterfly.com and please email Dave or Stacey for the password. It is Stacey's middle name). The kids are incredibly cute and getting bigger.

However, we thought the courts would be reopening September 26th but we just found out that they won't be reopening until October 12th. Oh the delays...So we thought November would be the soonest we'd get them, but that may be pushed back to December or even January.

Would appreciate your prayers, we'd love to get these kids in November.

Love you all,
Dave and Stacey

More New Pictures!

2009-09-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

I wish I had more to tell you, but we got some more pictures of the kiddos. So...check them out!

NewHareFamily.Shutterfly.com

We got a new video!

2009-09-10T18:54:00.001-07:00

Check it out on NewHareFamily.shutterfly.com

email me if you still need the password (Stacey's middle name capitalized): david.m.hare@gmail.com

New Pictures!

2009-08-18T15:19:00.001-07:00

We just got pictures of Mimi and Kaden!! If you'd like to see them please visit newharefamily.shutterfly.com and the password is Stacey's middle name. If you don't know it, please email Stacey at staceyahare@yahoo.com or Dave at david.m.hare@gmail.com.

Bad News and Good News

2009-08-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Bad News: The director of our adoption agency came to us two weeks ago and highly recommend that we drop our referral of Sena because she said that there was "no end in sight" for when we could adopt her. Sadly, there was a crime committed against Sena’s mother and the courts will not release Sena’s paperwork until the trial for that crime reaches a verdict. Our director reassured us that Sena would be adopted once the trail was completed, but she had no idea when that might be. We decided to take Sue's advise although it was/is hard to let go of a little girl we have never met but have really grown to love.

Good News: We did receive another referral for another little girl named Mimi and we were told that our case has now been submitted to court and we should find out what day our case will go before the Ethiopian court next week. We know nothing about Mimi's situation and are anxiously awaiting to receive pictures of her. We are very excited that her case is moving along quickly. We will most likely receive an October court date and if we pass, would go get them in November.

On a personal note, we thank our friends and family for praying for us during our grieving of loosing Sena. True, we have grown to love her, but our grief goes deeper than that - it is a grief in response to the poverty, rape, AIDS, and oppression in Africa. Jesus Christ has come to reverse the curse of suffering and death in this world and we praise him for that, we trust he is making all things new in his time. We long, as I am sure many of you do, for when he returns and creates a new heavens and a new earth where there will be no more starving children, no more tears, no more pain, but only righteousness and worship of Christ. Come soon Lord Jesus!

God calls for more patience.

2009-07-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends. We have found out today that God is asking us for some more patience. We had originally been told that the courts in Ethiopia were going to remain open during their rainy season. However, we just found out that they are now already closed. This means that the soonest that we could receive a court date would be in October. Then we could go and get the kids in November or December. This is not horrible news, but we do long to bring these children home. Please pray that we would find out about Makyra's paperwork soon and get a court date as soon as the courts reopen. Please pray that we would be patient and trust that God is working all things together for our good.

Lamentations 3:25-26 "The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

The Names of Our Children: Soldiers of Christ

2009-07-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Soldiers of Christ

Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed,
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.

His Gospel to the lost proclaim,
Good news for all in Jesus’ Name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.

Morning and evening sow the seed,
God’s grace the effort shall succeed.
Seedtimes of tears have oft been found
With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned.

We meet to part, but part to meet
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.

Some have asked why we are naming the kids what we are naming them, so I thought I would post. The hymn above was written by Basil Manly (pictured to the right). It is a hymn that cries out for Christ's children to fight in a dark world. We too long for our children to be soldiers of Christ. Thus we have named them Kaden and Makyra.

Kaden means "fighter"

Makyra (ma,caira) is the Greek word for “sword” (as in the ‘sword of the Spirit’ Galatians 6:17).

So...we pray and would ask you to pray that these children would join us in the ranks fighting for our "great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).

Local Government will not Release Makyra's Documents

2009-07-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

We just heard from our adoption agency that Kaden is "paper ready" meaning that all his documents are ready to be submitted to court at any time. However, the local government has Makyra's paperwork and at this time is unwilling to release these documents to our adoption agency. Sadly, they cannot be our children until these documents are released and the case is submitted to court.

But we believe in the power of the prayers of the righteous and a God who holds the hearts of the rulers in his hands. James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." To those of you who know the Lord, we ask that you would pray that God would turn the hearts of the local authorities and that they would release Makyra's papers immediately, He is our only hope.

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my fortress; I shall not be shaken" -Psalm 62:5-6

Makyra Passed Her Medical Tests!

2009-07-08T15:54:00.001-07:00

And finally...what we all have been praying for...Makyra (formerly called Sena) has passed all of her medical tests!!! This means that we have two healthy babies as referrals and we are just awaiting a court date in Ethiopia. Once we have passed court it is usually about 4-5 weeks before we travel. At that point we would have an appointment with the US Embassy in Ethiopia and (presuming that goes well) we will be able to bring Kaden and Makyra home!!! So, there is still a lot that needs to happen, but God has been faithful to answer our prayers so far and we trust He will always be faithful.

New Videos!!!!!

2009-07-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

We just received a package today with two dvd's of our precious children. They are very cute. And they can be seen online if you go to the Video Section on our photo blog:

NewHareFamily.shutterfly.com

The password for the website is Stacey's middle name (capitalized) and feel free to email me if you need that (david.m.hare@gmail.com). There are instructions in the 'Family Update' section about how to view the videos. It can be a bit confusing, but we have to keep everything password protected for right now.

We still have not heard about Sena's medical tests and we need prayers for that. Pray that God would let us bring these children home soon.

We love you all and appreciate your support.

Kaden passed his medical tests!

2009-05-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

We found out that Kaden (formerly known as Mengistu) was able to get all of his medical tests completed on May 6th, which means that he now is an official "referral." That just means that he is officially assigned to us for adoption! Now we are just waiting for the same for Sena. Please continue to pray for us, as we wait. God has been answering prayers all the way and we look forward to watch him answer some more!

More Pictures!!!

2009-05-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

We just got some more pictures of both babies! They are on the shutterfly site: NewHareFamily.shutterfly.com - again email me if you need the password (which is Stacey's middle name capitalized). The new ones of Sena look younger than the other pictures we have, so the pics might actually not be "new." But tell me what you think!

We have not heard anything new on the medical, so we still need your prayers!

Discouraged but Trusting

2009-04-15T08:06:00.001-07:00

We have had some communication with the director of Celebrate Children recently and have discovered some even more disappointing news. It was our previous understanding that the boy that we are hoping to adopt (Mengistu) had already passed his medical tests and that we were just waiting for Sena. We now understand that neither of them have had the HIV tests and we are still on hold until both of them can get to the hospital. This is hard because it places us in a position of not really knowing when we will be able to adopt or even if these are the children that we are adopting. So...we are discouraged.

Please pray for us as we trust the Lord during these trials. We know that he is sovereign and good and we do not doubt that he "works all things together for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28). That being said, life in an orphanage is hard and we long to bring these children into our home.

So, if you will pray to our Sovereign God for us the following things:

That both children (Mengistu and Sena) would quickly be able to have blood tests done.
That both children would pass their blood tests and not have HIV.
That everything would move quickly enough that we could get a court date before the courts shut down for the rainy season in Ethiopia *we are praying that we would be able to have a court date on July 7th.
That we would trust the Lord and rest knowing that He loves us and loves to help orphans.
That many orphans would be adopted and hear and trust in the name of Christ.

Newest Info - Please Pray to the God who loves Orphans!

2009-04-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

I just talked to Sue (the head of the adoption agency). As far as we can tell Kaden (whom we formerly called Mengistu) has passed his health tests. Sena passed the medical tests, but they were unable to draw blood to do the HIV tests when Sue was in Ethiopia (a problem they have with babies when they are small). Thus, we have to wait until the orphanage is able to take her back to the hospital 2 1/2 hours away (which is hard in Ethiopia) to see if they can get some blood from her. Please, please pray that she is healthy. We would love to bring her into our family!

You can now view videos of both children on our other website:

NewHareFamily.shutterfly.com

The password is still Stacey's middle name (capitalized) and you can feel gree to email me if you don't know it (david.m.hare@gmail.com). There is a few steps you have to go through to see the video, including logging into YouTube. The instructions are on the Shutterfly site. (Sorry it is so hard, but we cannot post these things on unlocked websites).

Here is what you can be praying for:
Pray that Sena would be able to have her blood tests soon.
Pray that Sena's tests (specifically the HIV test) would come back negative.
Pray that the process would move quickly, so that they would not have to live in an orphanage for much longer.
Pray that we would trust God and know that he has a much better plan than anything we could even imagine.
Pray that many orphans (from what I understand 5 million in Ethiopia alone) would be adopted.

We Got Pictures!!!!!! Now with a link!

2009-03-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hey family and friends. We just received some awesome pictures of some cute little babies. Perhaps you would like to see them? Well, I cannot post them online, so if you would like to see them email me!

david.m.hare@gmail.com

NEW INFO: looks like these kids cannot be assigned to us formally until they have had their medical testing. The little boy was found on the side of the road (how sad). They are both around 3 weeks old and seem to be very healthy. Presuming that everything goes extremely well, we could have them home in August! Please pray that they would be healthy and that things with the courts would go well. I will write when I know more.

NEWER INFO: I set up a password protected site that allows people to look at the pictures!

The link is: newharefamily.shutterfly.com

The password is Stacey's middle name (capitalized). If you need that and do not know it, let me know!

Wow! What a Blessing! Thank You!

2008-11-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

"For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God."
II Corinthians 9:12

Wow! We cannot thank you all enough. Stacey and I just found out that all of the money that we were lacking has come in through donations and the matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans! We prayed that God would provide and He has through all of you. Thank you sooooo much for your love and financial support. We hope to have good news about the adoptions soon!

Update on Adoption!

2008-11-19T20:06:00.001-08:00

I get a lot of people asking where we are in the adopting now, so I thought I would add a post to update those who are interested. Our little plane is on stage 4 which means that our documents have been translated and approved in Ethiopia. We are now at the stage where we really could receive a referral (which is when they assign us the children) at any time. We are expecting to be getting a referral perhaps in April or May, which would mean we would have two children in July or August! It is all very exciting, but we are basically in that stage where we wait. Pray that even now God is preparing the hearts of these two children to learn of and love Him. (BTW this is a picture that CCI uses on their website to keep us up to date with the progress of our adoption, thanks Sue!)

Would you partner with us?

2008-10-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Partnering with the Hares and Lifesong!

The time is coming, and is almost here, for us to receive the referral of two precious children from Ethiopia. The biggest challenge that we face is the finances involved in international adoption. Between document preparation, attorney fees, and travel costs we estimate we will spend around $32,000 (yikes!). Thankfully our wonderful employer will reimburse up to $8,000 per child (yay!) and we have saved about $10,000 (praise the Lord!). This leaves us with a $6,000 deficit. We have just two days ago received news that an organization called Lifesong for Orphans is willing to match any funds that we receive up to $2,500! If I have done my math right that means that we will be very close to our goal.

Would you be willing to help us adopt two orphans?

If yes, here is how you can help:

1) Send a check to:
Lifesong for Orphans
PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St
Gridley, IL 61744

2) Be sure to place 'Hare Adoption' in the memo of the check and make the check to 'Lifesong for Orphans.' (Note: In following the 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).

3) Please mail the contribution by November 20th. They have set a deadline for us for November 26th to have all of the funds raised.

4) Pray for us. Even if you cannot donate, we need prayer. Adoption is a long hard process and will involve traveling to another country. Only the Lord can sustain us in this endeavor.

Thanks for considering partnering with us in this!

Why We Are Adopting

2008-09-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Because God cares for orphans, and one of the ways in which he exercises this care is through his church.

Psalm 68:5 says that God is “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.” Christians, who are being transformed into the image of Christ live out His heart when they care for orphans. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). As God cares for the fatherless, so we as his children care for them too. Our concern for the orphans is a tangible manifestation of God’s love that has been poured out into our hearts.

Because we have been adopted by God.

Jesus left heaven, lived a very humiliating life, ultimately dying for sinners so he could bring people into the family of God and call them his children. Christians, from every tribe, tongue and nation, have been pursued by God and adopted into his family. In the same way we want to pursue those from another nation, not our own, and bring them into our family. We desire our family to be a little picture of this great Gospel.

So that these children will have the opportunity to hear of Christ.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Believing in Christ is the only way to receive salvation and how will these children hear of Christ unless someone preaches to them? We, put very simply, want to adopt children, so that we can preach to them about salvation in Christ.

Because we have been given so much.

We want to give because we have been given the wealth of America, loving Christian families and most importantly spiritual truth. It is only by grace that we were born into such material and spiritual wealth, and we want to extend that grace to children who were born into poverty and little if any access to the truths of Scripture.

Naming the Children! We Need Help!

2008-09-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Well, as we are drawing nearer to adopting the children we are realizing that we are going to need to come down on some names for them. Since we are adopting one boy and one girl (Lord willing) we are going to need a boy name and a girl name. Here are some of our ideas:

Girl: Evie, Jordan

Boy: Tyler, Ethan

SO, if you are willing to help us out, vote for your favorite (or suggest another good one). I think it would be weird to have Ethan and Evie (too similar) so keep that in mind.

PS The girl in the photo's name is Zenha and she was adopted through Celebrate Children as well, so that name is taken.

Some Updates

2008-09-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

Stacey and I just made it through the dossier process. So all of our documents are now being translated in Ethiopia. This means that the next step for us is to get a referral assuming that everything goes through there. Please pray that all of our documents are approved by the Ethiopian government!

We are adopting through Celebrate Children International (check out their website!).

Adopting Hares

2008-04-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

I decided that I might as well start a blog about our adoption process, because I figure at some point people are going to be asking me how it is going and I am going to have some information. Stacey and I were planning on adopting two children from Vietnam, but it looks as though the political climate is not going to allow for that. Thus, we are planning now on adopting from Ethiopia. We are waiting until this summer to really start the process, but we are hoping to have two new Hares by Summer 2009. Keep us in your prayers.

I really promote adoption. Here are some helpful links on funding an adoption:
http://giftofadoption.org/

http://www.shaohannahshope.org
http://www.abbafund.org
http://www.katelynsfund.org
http://www.lifesongfororphans.org

http://www.legacychild.org

Several of these foundations have been a blessing to us, and I hope that they are to you as well!