by Corey Garrett | Feb 19, 2019 | Uncategorized
We could really use prayer right now, there is so much going on! The main thing is to pray for us to trust God wholeheartedly about everything so that we will be filled with His peace no matter what is happening. Thank you for lifting us up!
- We travel to the US next week! We’re looking forward to spending a long weekend with our girls Emma, Molly, and Wheaton before we go. Pray for good connections and conversations during our time together. The girls will then go back to school during our trip to the US.
- Senegal will be holding the 2019 presidential election this Sunday, February 24. The atmosphere around this election has been calmer than the last campaign (which was in 2012) but there have been some demonstrations and even some deaths in different towns. Please pray for peace and a clear result from this campaign.
- We have been following the procedures that our adoption agency outlined for us when we started this process in 2013. In 2017 the State Department instituted a new procedure for families living overseas that our agency didn’t know about. We just became aware of this new process, and if we are routed into this side-track it would impact us negatively, extend our process and require another trip to the US and a couple more thousand dollars in fees to the US government. We have limited-time visas for the boys, so right now we have to keep going with our planned trip to the US, but it is discouraging to think this might not yet be the end of the process as we thought. Pray that we would find favor with the US government personnel who will look at our packet and that we would be granted the certificates of citizenship we have been working towards for our boys Will and Jake.
- The house-sitting arrangement we had planned during our four weeks in the States fell through. Our home church has already come up with a backup place for us to stay but it will be shared space and there are some details and unknowns to work out.
- We just found out yesterday that the Scholarship Project which we manage has run over the 5-year budget total we predicted when it was approved in 2015 so it needs to be rewritten and re-approved or it will be immediately suspended. As this process takes time and brainpower, and we are packing to leave our house in 36 hours to spend a few days with our girls and then travel to the US with our two 4-year old boys. Pray we would get this done well despite the time crunch.
The Lord is firmly in control. While we are caught by surprise and are in the dark about many things, the same is not true for Him! Our good shepherd is leading and taking care of us day by day and He is working out His good plan for each of these situations. Thank you for your strengthening prayers!
by Corey Garrett | Nov 26, 2018 | Prayer request
We had a big breakthrough this past week on the boys’ paperwork; the US Embassy issued IH3 visas for them, which will grant them citizenship on entry to the US! We have been working towards this for a long time and it is a great relief to have them in hand. We are planning a short trip to the US to finalize the paperwork in spring of 2019. Pray for wisdom as we plan that trip.
Our team celebrating Thanksgiving
Right after we got the boys’ visas we were able to pick up our girls from boarding school and go home together for a big team Thanksgiving. We had a sweet, sweet time with everyone home. We are looking forward to having the girls home for Christmas break soon.
As I write this I am looking forward to picking up Bob Japenga at the airport and heading back to Kaffrine with him. Bob is an elder at our church in Connecticut and a mentor to us. He is coming to do team-building with our Kaffrine team, including doing the Playmaker gifts/motivations assessment and teaching us listening prayer together as a group. We are excited to show him around Senegal a bit, to take time to work on our relationships with God and to get to know each other better. Pray for a productive time together and that God will be in our midst during these days.
by Corey Garrett | Sep 4, 2018 | Praise report, Prayer request
We recently completed work on a new Wolof Bible app for iOS. This new app joins the Android app and the web app and broadens our reach on mobile platforms. To check it out go to http://sng.al/appli.
This app, like the other apps, is built with SIL tools and contains the WorldVenture translation of the Bible. It is a great partnership for us, a way that we can connect with other workers and broaden their reach as well as connect with people who would like to read the Bible in the Wolof language.
The Android app was also updated to a new version with the features that that iOS app has, like highlighting, notes, history, and the ability to choose among five different interface languages (including Wolof).
People are finding and using the Wolof Bible apps. For the Android version over the last 30 days, we’ve had over 700 unique users open the app and interact with the Bible, and those users have opened the app an average of over five times each. Five percent of the users in the last 30 days were new, which has been the trend for many months. So people are not just installing the app, they are really using it, and our user base is expanding. We pray that with the new iOS app even more folks will interact with the Holy Scriptures of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
by Corey Garrett | Apr 14, 2018 | Prayer request
Will (left) and Jake with some gifts we sent them
We are in the midst of our final packing to start our trip tomorrow that will take us to Guinea! Early in the week we will be getting visas from the Guinean embassy in Dakar, taking the girls to orthodontic visits, and then taking Emma and Molly back to school. Then on Thursday we and Wheaton will be heading to Guinea! We will see the boys for the first time on Friday morning.
In the lead-up to this trip, our adoption agency sent us the final tally on our account with them. When we started this process in 2013 we didn’t know how many children we would end up being matched with, nor did we know how long it would take, or what the total cost would be in the end, although we did know it would be expensive. But we believed the Lord was calling us to do this and that He would provide. And we have seen Him do that!
While the financial cost is significant, we believe it is tiny compared to the value of giving Willy and Jacob a family. And, from a financial standpoint, we are past the hardest part! Many of you have already helped us with this adoption. We could not have done this on our own; it has been a group effort and we are so grateful!
We want to let you know what is happening and give you an opportunity to help us get across the finish line if that is on your heart. If you want to help with this last phase, please let us know in the next ten days by emailing or messaging us on Facebook, and we’ll give you the details on how to do that.
This is the only time we will write about this and we don’t want anyone to feel pressured to give. We will be able to cover the remaining costs from our savings even if we don’t get any more help. But we wanted to give you the opportunity to be part of this if you want to!
Here is a brief summary of the large pieces of the financial side of this process. With the help of two large grants and donations from many of you, we have already paid for the three homestudies, US Customs and Immigration fees, lawyer & court fees in Guinea, orphanage costs, and the passport and exit documentation, all totaling just over $48,000.
| Remaining costs: |
|
| Final adoption agency fee: |
$9,454 |
| US Embassy Visa fee: $325 each: |
$650 |
| Medical exam fee: $150 each: |
$300 |
| Plane tickets to Guinea and back: |
$1,610 |
| Lodging for 7 nights in Guinea: |
$539 |
| September trip to US for finalization: |
$4,000 |
| Total remaining: |
$16,553 |
Thanks for your continued prayers for us and for these two precious no-longer-orphan boys! May the Lord knit us together as a family!
by Corey Garrett | Jan 19, 2018 | Praise report, Prayer request
We had a good meeting on Wednesday afternoon, a very warm and open talk with the chief and his son. We talked over some village happenings and also our plans for helping with diabetes and high blood pressure sufferers. The village chief gave his blessing, so we will now start going out to this village regularly to conduct a village-wide health survey to find out who is suffering from diabetes/high blood pressure, and also gain a sense for what the other widespread health problems might be. Pray for this ongoing work as we move forward that God will bless with good relationships and we would have our eyes open to where God is working in this place.
Kody and I will be going out to continue selling scripture in the village markets this evening in a new village to us. Pray also for this work that we would be aware of the Spirit’s moving as we interact with people.
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