LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER!

Our adoption journey has felt like a roller coaster, with lots of unexpected twists, turns, and upside down loops! On our journey, we’ve laughed, we cried, and sometimes we wanted to get off the ride right in the midst of it! Yet a firm resolve remains in our hearts to continue! We’ve learned from other adoptive and foster families our feelings are not uncommon.

Our heart for adoption was birthed in us long before we were married 12 years ago! We both individually surrendered our hearts to The Lord Jesus' will for our lives, had a desire to be married, have a family, and had a joyful willingness to welcome children into our family through adoption. This was something we discussed early in our courtship. Our desire did not diminish after having our biological daughter Faith Angel (who is in heaven), or our biological son, Samuel, who is now 10 years old! We all love Jesus, have committed our lives to him, and accepted HIS call of adoption. Even Samuel since being a young child has wholeheartedly been a champion for orphans in need of adoption!  About 5 years ago, we began taking action steps to pursue adoption. That included the various options of private domestic adoption, foster to adopt through local child welfare systems, and international adoption.

Those steps led us to say yes to the Hong Kong program about 3 years ago. We were matched with a beautiful 8 year old girl who had been in an orphanage and then placed in the care of a foster family. Unfortunately, after almost 2 years of faithfully pursuing her adoption, we were told she declined international adoption. At 10 years old she chose to remain in Hong Kong, hoping she'd be adopted by her foster family of 8 years, or granted to stay with them until her legal age. This was very difficult for us, but we understood her reasons. While we were not able to bring her home, she has been adopted and etched into our hearts forever!

While that chapter in our adoption journey closed, we remained open to God’s direction for our family. We took time to process our loss. After several months, MUCH PRAYER, and many family discussions, we unanimously felt God was leading us to continue our journey of adoption. Some wonder why? Undoubtedly, the journey has not been quick or easy, but the reason why we continue is simple. We love Jesus, and we surrendered our lives to Him and whatever He calls us to do. We each individually feel led to do our part with making a difference in the life of a child who needs a forever family! So we continue to say, “Yes!”.

That brings us to the next chapter in our lives…we are pursuing a young girl in Colombia for adoption! We have already been pre-matched, have our updated home study approved, received approval from USCIS to change countries, and have diligently been working on completing our dossier, which will be ready to ship to Colombia in about a week.

Adoption is a hard journey, but the children waiting for their forever family are worth every minute of work, every financial sacrifice, and every effort made to love and grow together as a family. We want to do our part to demonstrate the love of Christ in words and action! We covet your prayers as we persevere on this challenging journey. If you feel The Lord is putting it on your heart to partner with us financially, we would be forever grateful for a donation of any amount you are able to give...every bit helps!

We are humbly asking for help to meet our adoption fundraising goal of $29,500. Currently, we urgently need $2,800 to help us send our dossier to Colombia for their approval. From the depths of our hearts, THANK YOU – for every sacrificial prayer, encouraging word, and financial gift!

We remain steadfast in our adoption journey as we reflect on God’s Words:
John 14:18 – “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.”

With joyful expectation,
Jorge, Jen & Samuel Uriostegui