Livingston Benefit Concert

It has been a busy few days since our last post. This past weekend our family went to Livingston, LA to visit friends and raise money for the adoption. Last Friday night, the Franklins, sang a benefit concert to help raise money for the adoption. We had a great time and we raised over $2,200 at the concert. The Franklins are a great family who live out the message they sing and preach. They put on a great concert. Check out their website at franklinministry.com. They not only sing concerts, but they lead worship for revivals and special events and Craig preaches. Pray about having this family in your church in the future. You will be blessed.

Sunday morning, I preached at FBC Livingston where I served as student pastor for almost 3 1/2 years. The church took up a love offering to be added to the concert proceeds. Including shirt sales, we raised just under $3,500 for our adoption fund. A huge thank you goes out to all those who attended the concert and the worship service Sunday and gave toward our adoption. Thank you very much for your support.

Our God is an amazing God. His provision for our family has been unbelievable over the past several weeks. God has truly shown up and showed out for His own glory. It is hard to imagine that just under 2 months ago, our family had exhausted all of our savings and were still needing thousands of dollars just to complete the adoption. But true to Scripture, just when we were weak and empty, God was strong and He began to fulfill our need. Over the past 6 weeks, God has provided all that we need up to this point in the adoption process. We have not reached our goal, but we are confident that in His time we will. Thank you for being used by God in your giving and especially in your praying for our family.

Where we stand.

It has been several days since our last post. There is not much news to report. Our dossier paperwork has been translated and authenticated and is on the way to Taiwan. There it enters into the court system and we will not get any news until our case is complete. We have been told to expect up to 9 months before our case is through the court system and we can travel. Obviously, we are praying for a much shorter wait. The average wait on the courts is 6 months and the shortest wait has been 4 months. Along the way, our wait times have been the shortest our agency has seen. Please pray that we set the pace again.

This weekend our family is traveling to Livingston. Friday night there will be a benefit concert for our adoption at FBC Livingston. A huge thank you to the Franklins for singing this concert. Our family has been friends with the Franklins for several years. If you don't this family, check out their website at franklinministry.com. If you are in the Livingston area on Friday, come out and say hello. Sunday morning, I will be preaching at FBC Livingston. I am looking forward to being with so many friends and people I love from that church.

We have been hearing from so many people about our adoption. Thanks to all who support us both financially and prayerfully. The updates on this blog may be quite infrequent depending on how our case progresses. I will update this site as often as we are given new information.

Gumbo Galore

Last Friday, some friends from our church and others held a gumbo lunch fundraiser for the adoption. We began the day around 8am with plenty of gumbo and rice for the tickets that were pre-sold. Unfortunately, our best figuring on the amount of gumbo and rice needed to fill the orders fell way short. I have never seen gumbo cooked so fast. We were able to deliver all the lunches on time and there was plenty of gumbo to go around. I would like to thank all those who bought tickets and supported our adoption. We raised about $3500 and every penny will be used to adopt Eli. A huge thank you to all those who helped cook, clean, deliver, and sell tickets. You are greatly appreciated.

Name Change

For quite awhile, Heather and I have been discussing and praying about a name for our son. His Chinese name is Yi-Fan Chen. The American name given to him by the orphanage was Tyler. He has been referred to by both those names on the blog and many of you have been using one or the other name in praying for him. A few days ago, Heather and I decided on what we would name him once the adoption is finalized. We have decided to name him, Eli Chen Terry. Heather and I continue to thank you for your prayers for our family and for Eli.