Dear
Family and Friends,
As
you know, we began the process to adopt a girl from Poland at the end of
January. Our last update was almost one
month ago. At that time, we had just
heard from our agency that she might not be adoptable, but they had promised to
investigate further. This week we finally
got an update. Agniezska is completely
free to be adopted!
Agniezska
will turn fifteen on April 24th, 2014. She has lived at the orphanage in Poznan only
since she was twelve. We have no information about her father and how long he
has been absent, but we do know that her mother has for years been neglectful
and emotionally cruel. The few calls and letters Agnieszka has received from
her mother while at the orphanage have been full of venom. After each of these
contacts, the orphanage workers noted the Agnieszka was shaken (“very nervous”).
This neglect and abuse is why Agniezska now lives under the protection of the
government of Poland. To say the least, for some time she has not known
parental love. We hope very much to change that.
Until
January 6th, we had not planned to adopt an older child. God put her
on our hearts when we saw her photo in an unexpected email and read a short paragraph
about her. Now, we are excited and
scared. Adoption always feels to us like a grand adventure, voyaging into unknown territory. We are also feeling a bit like Gideon
in the Bible. Gideon was willing to fight a battle, but he was also extremely
aware of his shortcomings. … Among our personal shortcomings are our income.
Teaching is something you do for the love of it – there’s little reward to do it otherwise. And even less to store away for
rainy days …. We forecast the total adoption cost ‘rainfall’ to add up to…..(keep your hats on)……$35,000! … And that
does not include the unpaid leave from our college adjunct instructor jobs.
Victor
and I are willing to spend our energy and love on her for our remaining years,
but money is not something we have right now.
Carina feels an absolute peace that God will provide
every dime of the expenses, some of which we are already confronted with. Victor is still trying really hard to
experience that peace. Of course, God’s
provision often comes through the generosity of folks, like you, who also want
to see one more of His kids rescued from a life without love, family or
resources.
Now,
we would not ordinarily go around asking for large sums of money from our
friends and family. But in our role as
advocates for Agnieszka’s future, we've got the extra gumption here. We will be
giving this girl all we have, but we need you to help us get started. You know us personally. Some day you will
likely get to know Agnieszka. We need folks to dream big alongside us… When was
the last time you wrote a huge check – a once-in-a-decade size one – because
you felt that it could really do some good for someone you will actually know? This
would be an amount that makes you shake your head and then smile.
A
couple of years ago, when Carina wrote many of you, asking that someone give
Victor their kidney, it was a very big request.
Within only a couple of days, our friend Randy called us asking if he was too late to volunteer. He was concerned
that someone else might have offered their kidney before he had the chance to
be the donor! Though Randy was
disqualified as a donor for medical reasons, Victor’s eventual donor, Anne,
later told us that giving her kidney was the most wonderful thing she had ever
done in her life. That same eagerness
and spirit of adventure to do something really good is what we hope to witness
again.
Wanna
send us $5000? There is only room for seven nutty people to get that kind of
crazy joy (7 x $5000 = $35,000). Only
three lunatics could send us $10,000.
And only one laughing maniac can send us all $35,000!
Okay,
so we know that some of you would love to make a giant donation, but
can’t. Another way the adoption costs
would be covered is if 140 donors give $250.
If that still feels like too much for you, then do it together with your
book club or your co-workers, or Sunday School or something. You get the idea. We need all of you to get in on this with us.
We
are setting up three different ways to donate to our cause. The third one is the only one that offers a
tax deduction, and it is not ready yet.
- 1. Simply write a check to “Children’s House International” earmarked for Kozaczuk, and mail it to: Children’s House International, 2084 Alder Street, Ferndale, WA 98248
- 2. Use the PayPal button above to make a donation that will go directly to us. We will put all PayPal donations into a special bank account designated only for adoption expenses.
- 3. We will soon get set up on an adoption fund-raising organization which offers a tax deduction. Let us know if you choose to go this route, and we will make sure you know right away when the set up work has been completed.
