Video message

Just thought this would be a fun way to give you an update…

Enjoy…..this was the best "take"….LOL

How much does it cost? Why is it so much?

Please see the breakdown of the estimated fees we will occur in order to bring JE home…

Cost	Allocation	Time Due/Explanation
$300	Application Fee	Due at time of application
$500	Supervisory Fee	Review of home study completed by another agency. Due at completion of home study
$3,000	Agency Processing Fee	Due when dossier is sent to Philippines
$200	ICAB Dossier Approval Fee	Due when Dossier is sent to Philippines
$2,000	ICAB Placement Fee	Due at time of ICAB approval
$3,000	Agency Placement Fee	Due at time of ICAB approval
$1,000	Child’s Visa & Travel	This fee covers the processing and bureaucratic fees, documents, passport, visa, and other overseas expenses in getting the child ready to travel. Due when submitting letter of acceptance to ICAB
$1,000	Child Care Support	This is a donation to the child’s orphanage to cover some of the costs associated with caring for the child.
$1,000	Humanitarian Aid	Supports the orphanage outreach projects of The SPCO, specifically the Rehoboth Children’s Home in the Philippines
$6,500	Transportation, Accommodation & In-country cost	Estimate of parent’s airfare and child’s one-way. 5 days in country.
$1,800	Home Study Fee	Due at completion of Home Study
$100	Documents Fee	Estimate cost of acquiring various documents such as marriage certificates
$890	I-800A Application & Fingerprinting Fee	This is paid to USCIS and is based on two adults.
$600	Post Placement Supervision	This is the cost of social worker visits/reports during the six-month period following arrival home.
$21,890.00	Total Estimated Fees

Week 4: Envelope Fundraiser

We are steadily pushing forward with this fundraiser and the mounds of paperwork we need to plunder through.

Here's our current grid….we have 60 squares filled...

Our lowest number available is 33 and largest number is 196. Our kids have joined in on the fun and pick numbers and used money from their piggy banks.

So what's going on in the process?
Our social worker will be visiting us in about 2 weeks and our home study should be completed by the end of October. We are hoping to have all of our documents for the dossier by then to submit to the agency. We have to file for the I800a after our home study is complete which will be the last thing to go in our dossier.

So we are praying and believing that everything falls in line…we are believing that we will be fully FUNDED and the need for money will not hinder the process.

Interested in participating in the fundraiser, click HERE!!

Week 2: Envelope Fundraiser

Thanks to all who participated in Week 1 of our fundraiser. We filled 47 of the 200 boxes and got the top 3 numbers on the grid pledged!! Praise God!!

We are believing God that we can have 100 numbers colored in by the end of Week 2. If you are new to our blog this week, click here to read and learn more about our fundraiser.

As for the adoption process, we got a lot of items out in the mail for our home study. We are getting all the necessary documents for our dossier.

We got a magazine in the mail from our agency….well written too!! Almost at the back of the booklet was a picture of the kids from the Gillette Summer of Hope 2014. I've seen this picture a few times but it was something about seeing it in a 8 x 10 size…..I fell in love with our boy all over again….his SMILE just does something to this momma's heart!!

How can you help? Pray, sow (donate) and spread the word to others to help us reach our goal.

I leave you with a quote I saw on a church member's Facebook page.. "In regards to missions, the goer and the sender get the same reward." I feel this true in the area of adoption too!!

Remember you don't have to send a check or cash, you can donate directly to our adoption account at www.adopttogether.org/petwayfamily!

Family Update

We just felt we should give an update as to all the changes going on in Praise Family Land. For those of you new to our blog, this gives you a fast way to know more about us. In June, I resigned from my teaching job in the public schools to be home with the kids. I also accepted a position as the Church Administrator for our church and along with Tyvon picked up some more pastoral care duties there. This job is flexible so I work 4 days a week while the kids are at school. This was a giant faith step but we are blessed and honored that I'm able to do this. I love being home when the kids wake up in the morning. I'm able to prepare breakfast, we have a time of praise and worship then devotion and I get to take them to school. It's awesome!!

EJ has been home for a little over a year from Ghana. He is very accumulated with the family and we are the same with him. We celebrated his Forever Family Day at a park and then created him a memorial book. He and his "twin" TJ are in 3rd grade this year but in different classes. He is playing academy soccer this fall. The girls AT and TJ plan to take a dance class at our church. DJ is enjoying her play dough and cuddling with mommy and daddy when the kids are doing their extra-curricular activities.

Over the summer, I had the pleasure of going with AT on her first mission trip to Meddelin, Colombia. It was a great time to share with her and be able to experience the move of God with our oldest daughter. It just ignited her passion and desire for the things of God more.

As you are all probably aware of now, we are beginning our 2nd adoption. So there's a lot of transition going on with our family. With my income now gone, we have cut back some of our expenses and also aggressively fundraise so that we have the funds needed to keep the adoption process moving along.

Our prayer…(because you know when we ask God, we ask BIG) is one that our 1st Fundraiser will cover all the cost and that JE will be able to join his forever family sometime during this upcoming summer!! We believe God can do it….He's done it before.

We solicit your prayers, encouragement and financial support….IT takes a village…will you be apart of our village?

144 Envelope Fundraiser

Not only are we diving into the adoption process, we are diving into our fundraising BIG time!! We are doing the "144 Envelopes Fundraiser," however we have decided to dream BIG therefore we have extended it to 200 Envelopes.

So here's how it works…

We took 200 envelopes and numbered each envelope 1-200. We created info cards for the donors to keep to know how to pray. (Thanks Ashley Frey who took on this task).

Now, we are asking people to commit to taking an envelope (or more than one if you are feeling overly generous or want to try to help us get all the envelopes distributed)!

When you agree to an envelope, it means that you are volunteering to be responsible for coming up with the dollar amount on your numbered envelope. So, if you have the number 1 you would commit to $1. If you have the number 2 you would be committing to $2, and so on. The highest numbered envelope is 200. So the most anyone would commit to is $200.

Donations can be tax-deductible by making checks to "Sacred Portions" with "Petway Family" in the memo field. If you want to be totally electronic, another option is donating at www.adopttogether.org/petwayfamily.

*You do not have to come up with the money on your own. Ask your friends and family members to join you. Perhaps you could have your small group commit to taking an envelope or two, or you could do your own fundraiser. (If you do this, please let us know, so we can advertise your fundraiser and give others ideas on how they could raise funds!)

Your envelope(s) will be sent to you with the number(s) you have requested. It will already have a stamp and our address for you to send your pledge back to us once you have collected it. (We are having them sent to our personal address to collect them all to send them into our adoption agency together).

If you would like to help, please let me know. I will keep a tally on Facebook for people to sign up for specific numbers.

We thank you in advance for assisting us with this fundraiser. This fundraiser cannot be a success without each one of you.

If all 200 envelopes are committed to and returned...this fundraiser will cover almost most of our adoption cost! 

Would you consider committing to take an envelope?   Leave a comment in this blog post and we can go from there.

If you are curious how much our adoption costs and would like to see the breakdown of expenses, please click here.

Here's how far we have gotten so far in just 2 days…

YOU Lead….We Follow

Where do we start………

We are DIVING in….and not in the shallow parts either…we are going into the deep where we can't really see what's ahead.

We are answering the call by opening our hearts and home to another child through adoption. When we were in the process with  EJ we always said maybe we would adopt again. After EJ came home I (Jamallia) had mixed feelings of ever adopting again…long story……it isn't for the faint in heart….especially the process and all you learn once your child is home. However there was still a longing inside both Tyvon and I and we knew deep down our family wasn't finished growing. Asia is a really big part of our heart…. I frequently joke around that I'm Asian and if you cut me, I will bleed Asian blood….LOL!!

For about the last 6 months, we have really been entertaining the idea to add our family. We looked into China, Taiwan, US (foster system), some of Virgin Islands and the Philippines. While on one of our family vacations this summer, I (Jamallia) so a post in one of the adoption groups about a summer hosting program looking for families of the kids visiting. There were 4 boys and 1 girl from the Philippines needing families. We look into it and had the privilege of being able to "meet" them via wonderful technology. And we fell in love so…….with more than one….but we can only bring one home….so we asked God to lead us….

We are adopting a wonderful little boy from the Philippines who has minor special needs. God has confirmed in so many ways that this is our son and He is leading us. When the time comes, we will share more but can't because of PI rules and regulations. EJ is ecstatic about having a brother and being the "big brother" to show the ropes…! The girls are just busting at the gut to tell the world!! Tyvon is leader in this adoption…he is so solid and "this is our son" and "we are moving forward!" I sure need this because I'm the teeter tooter…. and "are you sure?" One thing I know…. I can't get him off my mind and wouldn't know how I would feel or what I would do if he didn't come home to us!

We are currently working on our home study and getting our dossier together. We are also in the process of doing a massive fundraiser. One of the things that kept me (Jamallia) from committing was the fact that we have nothing saved to start a new adoption….I can't see with my physical eyes where the money will come from. My closest friends know this is a HUGE deal for me. However…BUT GOD…He is already showing us that He will take care of this…… we are already in line to receive a grant…PRAISE GOD.

Spirit lead me where my faith is without borders let walk upon the waters wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior…..

You make me brave, you call me beyond the shores into the waves……

Please share our donation website!! We are using Adopt Together again!! Petway Family Adopt Together Account