Lately....

We've been busy reading The Connected Child:

as well as completing 10 hours of online training from the National Council for Adoption.

We have learned a lot!

Our talented friend Kelsey designed T-shirts for this:

We hope everyone in the area can come next week! 

We are scheduled for our 3rd home study interview this Friday, May 3rd. We are excited about that! 

This week we plan to have physicals completed by our doctors, so we can check that off our list.

We have also been selling the Apparent Project bracelets like crazy!! We had to order another box because they went so quickly! They will be available at Newk's for purchase, or you can message me and I'll ship some to you.

Our Amazon link is still up and going! Think about using it for your Mother's Day purchases :)

Our updated total of earnings is $123.29!

We can't say thank you enough to all of our supporters! This past week we reached half of our first $2,000 goal in donations through our Youcaring link. This has already been an amazing journey; we look forward to what God has in store! 

God, Our Provider

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds!"
~Psalm 9:1

We are so thankful for:

-$780 in our YouCaring fund!

-Prayers and encouraging words from colleagues, friends, and family!

-The date being set for the Newk's fundraiser !
(May 6th from 5-8 p.m.)

-A $500 love offering from Gareth's home church family (Winchester United Methodist Church in Waynesboro)! We had a great time as he led the singing there on Sunday night, April 7. 

-Bracelets from the Apparent Project (www.apparentproject.org) to sell for funding ($8 each, $4 goes to Haitian artisans, and $4 goes toward our adoption)!

-An opportunity for Gareth to play at the William Carey Coffee House on May 9!

-Outside and private donations given by loved ones, and some we don't even know (now THAT'S cool)!
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We covet your prayers in these areas:

-Pray that God would ultimately bring glory to His name through our fundraising and sharing of His story.

-Pray that hearts would be opened toward adoption in general

-Pray for our future child(ren) in their current situation

-Pray that the rest of our home study goes well and efficiently.

-Pray for continued fundraising opportunities, and for future donors (praise for those who have already given!)

-Pray for decisions regarding our work schedules in the next year, as we will no doubt miss school to travel to Hungary.


----Hungary Fact of the Day:  Hungary's capital city, Budapest, was once divided into two regions--Buda and Pest.


Thanks for reading!

$500 Milestone!

We had a blessed Easter weekend!

Once again, thank you, family and friends, for the continued prayers, financial support, sincere interest, and good questions!

We have reached a $500 landmark on the way to our first $2,000 goal!

Gareth wants to list the donors on the blog, but I told him they might want to remain anonymous. Some are, and some are not. If you'd like to see the amounts given and some names, click the "Give Now" to the right (it simply takes you to the YouCaring website; it does not mandate a donation).

We are in between the 2nd and 3rd (out of 4 total) homestudy interviews. The interviews have been pretty simple, straightforward, and easygoing so far. Our social worker will schedule our 3rd interview when we complete the ten-hour training course online (it consists of 9 modules, and we must complete them individually). The course is from the National Council for Adoption. It teaches us from learning about our country, to learning about the Hague Convention, to common developmental delays in adoptees, to what to do and not to do when we meet our child, to the adoptee's medical care when we return home, and finally, to how we grow together as a family.

Regarding funding, as I've already said, we've been so blessed so far, not only with the amount you see over there to the right, but with some outside and private donations as well.

I have a friend working on a t-shirt design currently, and we are going to have a Newk's night later this month (we help Newk's restaurant in Hattiesburg advertise and serve from 5-8 p.m. and they give us 10% of the profit)!
I will let you know the exact date when I am sure.

Also, Gareth is going to lead the music at his home church in Waynesboro (Winchester United Methodist Church) this Sunday night (April 7) at 4 p.m. for a love offering. Along the same lines, he will be playing at the William Carey University coffee house (Common Grounds) in May for tips. We have some business cards on the way that contain our Amazon Affiliate link, our blog web address, and our mailing address. So things are rolling!

We have earned $85.11 through the Amazon Affiliate link! Keep purchasing at http://tinyurl.com/ag594uh !

Hungary Fact of the Day: Hungary's monetary unit is the forint; the exchange rate is approximately 230 forints per 1 U.S. dollar.

Fundraising Update

Dear Friends,

It has been so exciting to see so many of you ordering from Amazon using our Amazon Affiliates link! You have helped us earn $46.26. Please keep ordering through our link, http://tinyurl.com/ag594uh, and share it with your friends and family!

We are preparing for our second home study interview this Monday (March 18). We have just finished typing our autobiographies in preparation for this interview.  We will have not only a joint session, but individual interviews Monday night.

As you may have noticed, we have an updated donation button on upper right side of this page. Donations may now be made through www.youcaring.com. However, you must be a PayPal member to use the button on this page.  Many of you may be members if you frequently order online, but if you are not, it is easy, safe, and free. You can sign up by clicking here !

 We feel so blessed by your support. Please keep us in your prayers!

Hungary Fact of the Day: Hungary is about the size of Indiana.

:)

Amazon Fundraising

Hi there friends!
So we are doing a whole lot of brainstorming and planning to find different and fun ways to fundraise. One simple way that we have found is by becoming an Amazon Affiliate. Here is how you can EASILY help us with this. A small amount of any purchase you make from Amazon using our Amazon link will be deposited into our account.

Do you ever buy books on Amazon?   

Toys?  

Download music or ebooks?   

Stream movies or TV shows?  

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

All you have to do is use this link:
http://tinyurl.com/ag594uh

Using this link will take you to Amazon using our "code." It will not look any different to you, but a small portion of the total from your purchases will go into our adoption account! 

We cannot see who ordered what but we can see what was ordered.
Thanks to whoever bought Slipstick CB650 Heavy Duty Non-Slip Bed Risers for Under Bed Storage, Chocolate ....we made $0.79! 

That's it!

Please bookmark this site. Add it to your list of favorites and use it every time you shop on Amazon. Please tell your friends and have them use it too! 

Here's an easy way to share. You can copy and paste these into your social media sites as often as you'd like!

Facebook Post:  Help Gareth & Kim ADOPT a child just by using this link when you shop Amazon! http://tinyurl.com/ag594uh  The site won't look any different to you, but it will make a world of difference to their family!  Click. Shop. Help them Adopt!!!

Twitter Tweet:  Help @gbonner1985 & @kbonner528 ADOPT a child just by using this link to shop @amazon! http://tinyurl.com/ag594uh #easiestfundraiserEVER!

Kimberly and I have been so overwhelmed by the support, encouragement, and congratulations we have received regarding our adoption process.  Colleagues, family members, and friends have been nothing but positive.

One of the questions we have been asked is, "So how long will it take?"  That is a good question.  Each adoption is individual; our packet says Hungary adoptions take 12-24 months.  But from what we can tell, the total time is closer to one year than to two.  

Kim and I are excited to see what God is going to do with this process. 




²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. --Ephesians 3:21-22




Hungary fact of the day:       Most of the children are of Caucasian or Roma descent.


Thanks for reading!
-Gareth

Welcome to Our Blog!

We're Expecting!

Ok, so we're not pregnant.  HOWEVER, we have officially begun our adoption journey!  Last Monday (February 18), our social worker performed our first home study interview.  Our home study will consist of four interviews over the course of five months.  During this particular interview, the social worker did a home tour, and Gareth and I answered a number of questions about our marriage and reasons for adopting.

As stated in our "About Me" section, Gareth and I made a covenant to adopt even before we were married.  I was adopted, and Gareth and I want to do the same for a child.  Those in Christ have been adopted into his family, not because of merit, but because of His pursuit of us.  God feels very strongly about caring for those who cannot care for themselves.  Isaiah 1:17 says, "...learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." We also believe that even if Christian families are not specifically called to adopt children into their homes, they can still be a part of the ministry of prayer and support.

We searched through many adoption agencies and found some good ones.  A friend of ours recommended Lifeline Children's Services.  As Gareth and I perused the Lifeline website, he told me he had a peace about this agency, and we should go for it.  So in November 2012, we mailed in our application and were approved!

We were faced with the decision of international or domestic adoption.  This was an easy choice, because couples must be married for three years to adopt domestically through Lifeline.  After considering several countries, we were led to Hungary.

Now, many people assume we are not able to have biological children.  Please know that we still plan on having biological children. One of Hungary's requirements for adoption is that the adoptee must be younger than the youngest child currently in the family.  And since we have not started a biological family, this is where Gareth and I felt the Lord was leading us.

This blog will keep readers updated on our adoption journey and its progress.  It will help our friends and readers know how to help through prayer, fundraising, and donations.

Thank you for reading!  We appreciate your subscription to The Bonner Adoption Journey.