Here is our Adoption Journey so far…
We are adopting River (age 8 and her little sister, Sadie (age 6) from Liberia, Africa.
These 2 precious kids will complete our family of 7.
We chose Liberia because we are impressed by Liberia’s resilience and progress as a war torn country that is healing from so much. Liberia works hard to allow adoptions when necessary and to reunite families whenever possible. We are grateful Liberia is allowing us to adopt our daughters, and hopeful as we watch Liberia grow as a country.
We started this journey in April of 2022.
In May of 2023, with the help of our friends and family, church, community, and organizations like Noonday Collection, Phill the Box, Funds2Orgs, and Adopt Together, we reached our fundraising goals to make our adoption possible. At that time, we anticipated our Liberian daughters would be joining our family in 3-6 months time.
We did not get any solid updates for months, until November of 2023, when adoptions for multiple agencies, including our agency, were suspended in Liberia.
There are multiple political conflicts that brought adoptions to a halt in November of 2023. Although these political conflicts put Liberian children at risk, the layers of the conflicts are multifaceted and complicated beyond the adoption process itself.
At this time, there are no adoptions (domestic or international) progressing in Liberian until these political conflicts are resolved. This was a decision made by Liberian governmental leadership.
In February of 2024, we decided to travel to Liberia as a family and do some real-time fact finding on what barriers prevent our family from being together.
We have met with multiple Liberian government officials and multiple individuals who play a role in working in adoptions here. We have spoken with multiple US congressional offices, and have reached out to anyone in the adoption realm that can give insight and advice in a way forward for our children. We continue to hope the US embassy in Liberia will assist us, but have not been able to get a meeting with them to discuss our concerns.
We have visited our children’s orphanage multiple times a week. We have done multiple fundraisers to keep the doors of our daughters’ orphanage open, keep the children’s needs met, and support the staff that cares for them. We have physically done all we can to assist the orphanage in maintaining quality, safety and health for the children. We have discussed our case with experts near and far.
We have been in Liberia for over 3 months, and are sadly running out of funds to remain here.
We fear if we leave, our encouragement and our persistence to represent American families will be lost with our departure. We fear if we leave, the support we have recruited for the kids here will fade. We fear if we leave, the Liberian government will be less motivated to remember our children’s case.
Thanks to each of you and the words of encouragement, financial donations, textile donations and actions of noonday purchasing power to move mountains this past year. We hope you will help us push one more mountain of money out of our way to complete our family.
We continue to humbly ask for any assistance that can be found to support our family in this quest for safety for more than just our 2 Liberian daughters, but a quest to provide a safe way home for them and their peers that wait in orphanages in Liberia.
https://adopt100morehappykids.wordpress.com/2022/10/11/day-196-adopt-our-liberian-daughters-keep-going/
Please click link for full update!!
I’m not sure how to start this one, just know it will end with :
Keep…. ….going.
https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-smith-s
as it always does. Because I will keep going.
My Keep…. …..going bracelet has spread a lot of joy this week. For some reason it softens the blow when the worst imaginable things happen. Days when we unexpectedly lost the most. Days like September 28th. And days like September 11th, where we all lost a lot. And more personal days for me like April 1st and August 1st and May 21st and April 26th. Days my heart pauses and I accidentally hold my breath trying to figure out how to close some gaping hole in my soul the fosters left. Their birthdays. The days we said goodbye. The days in between. My runaway train imagination of where they are and what they could need, and if they remember when I sat for hours in a rocking chair just teaching them to breathe and think and learn how valuable and important they are. How their fight for survival was one they could lay down when under my roof, and what to do when they find themselves at risk for danger. Not “if”. When.
Keep…. ….going.
https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-smith-s
The bracelet helps me. I’m glad my friends are wearing it too. Something about the solidarity of standing together with that matriarch support of who we are together on the outside and what we know is the truth on our worst days on the inside. We still get up, and keep…. ….going. Because it’s a fight. Life is a battle of all kinds of things. Most days I have a lot of fight left in me at the end of the day. And on the days that cause the colossal collapse of that fight, I always have a little hope left. And the confidence of the bracelet.
Keep…. ….going.
https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-smith-s
Because God asked me to. Because it’s the right thing to do. Because the weaponization of our children is real. They will fight for something. Let it not be their life, as my fosters did. Let it be an easier cause. Like cancer or how to build a microwave that doesn’t need power!
Devon Crews, thanks for the bracelet. It still helps.
So as I am searching for what to say or how to start and what to say, on my treadmill, lost a bit today, Jeremy bursts in my sacred dark workout room and I immediately think there is a broken bone in a child somewhere….nope! We got a $7000 grant from Gift of Adoption.
$7000 grant.
Gift of Adoption
Speechless, tearful, happy, and humbled.
Combining Noonday final numbers from Ivonne and all those who helped with our noonday show, total donation came to $1200.
$1200 donation
Noonday Show with Ivonne Liebenberg
https://ivonneliebenberg.noondaycollection.com
So in the last 30 days, our daughters in Liberia have had $9300 cash show up to support their adoption. $1100 in anonymous donations, plus $7000 from gift of adoption, plus $1200 from noonday.
It’s incredible. If you are reading this blog and considering adoption, please know that you can do this and I will help you.
We have a very narrow window to make it to Sadie’s 5th birthday on 12/1. It was always a lofty goal, a possible miracle, and as I continue to ask God to keep moving mountains out of my way to get my arms around our 2 youngest daughters, I know it is because of the goodness of people around us that we are even close to the realm of making it.
Keep…. ….going.
https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-smith-s
Your generosity and solidarity and encouragement and hope, even amidst an actual hurricane, put us in position to be there, and you continue to hold us in position to make it to a birthday party of a kid we haven’t met. It seems like our family’s journey to adopt these kids is like one big rock. And your help looks like 100 hands rolling one big rock down one long dirt road.
Our “rock” is now in the hands of government officials. Both here in the US and in Liberia. This part is about to get hard. After we get fingerprinted on Monday for the US immigration office, there is nothing left to do but wait. (And fundraise for travel) and wait.
The wait is hard. Your prayers will still move our rock. But our physical ability to push is about to end. The wait is going to be hard. The unknown will be even harder. “When” is better than “if”. Thanks for deleting the “if”. Now we wait.
Hoping our big rock and willingness to roll is paving a highway to make adoption easier, faster, better and make families stronger. Hoping the wait does not stall our adoption unnecessarily.
Each day our daughters live with us is one less day 2 more orphans don’t starve to death.
It is no longer hard for me to ask for help.
God is still God. Kids still need families. People are good, with good intentions.
One thing I know for sure is that these 2 little sets feet we keep chasing down to bring under the protection of our family are worth the chase. These little girls have done and will do great things. They already know how to keep…. ….going. What else will they do? Click the link below to help if you want to. We appreciate the solidarity.
Day 191. Adopt 2 from Liberia.
October 6, 2022Adopt100more
As we recover from Hurricane Ian, we are grateful we did not have any major damage, and have been in a position to help others.
It is so devastating to see a natural disaster first hand. It’s encouraging to see people come together for good. People are good, with good intentions.
We got the rest of our passports in the mail today! We are waiting on the US embassy to acknowledge our intent to adopt from Liberia, and stamp a piece of paper that gives the blessing of the US government for us to proceed to the next step.
We still have a lot more money to find to afford our travel. We got news from Gift of Adoption Grants that we received approval to some type of grant assistance. We are unsure of the amount, or if there are funds available for our family to receive a grant. We should find out by October 18th.
We received 2 separate anonymous donations totaling $1,100.00 this past week. Very encouraging! Especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Our noonday fundraiser went really well! We will announce the final numbers next week. The support there was so encouraging.
We are hoping for an e-mail update this month on how our kids are doing and maybe some new pictures!
It is difficult to sleep and eat and function normally with so much loss all around us. It seems to take such deliberate effort to do simple things, like get out of bed.
We are thankful we kept our lives and our home during hurricane Ian.
Keep…. ….going.
Please keep our family and our town of Cape Coral, FL in your prayers as we brace for Ian.
Arrow is where we are in the picture.
We received a $1000 anonymous donation yesterday, amidst the storm preps. Thanks!
Keep…. …going.
2 more days to shop our noonday show and buy items to help our adoption. Here is the shopping link! Proceeds will be placed here as a donation, so stay tuned on the miraculous amount we will get!
http://bit.ly/noonday4thesmiths
Noonday is a fantastic company started by an adoptive mom who found herself on a similar road we are on several years ago.
Her journey to her son, Jag, in Africa as well, gave motivation for the idea of reselling artisan items in the US from merchants all over the world in developing countries. Click on our shopping link to read more about this company. See the blog for amazing stories of lives being saved through this company’s mission. The bonus for us as an adoptive family is every dollar spent helps an adoption somewhere. You can help by sharing our shopping link with your friends for early Christmas shopping.
I have so many items around my home that I have purchased over the years for different adoptions. Noonday items are a welcome addition to that collection.
http://bit.ly/noonday4thesmiths
The batik art set pictured below is just one example of how one purchase feeds a family in Malaysia and teaches my children about the world as they paint decor for my home.
Today is our noonday show!
http://bit.ly/noonday4thesmiths
Click here to join on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/545472420681853/?ref=share
Our noonday show proceeds will go directly to our adopttogether account, and benefit our adoption directly.
It has been inspiring to read about the Noonday origins and story. Click the link up top ⬆️⬆️on this post to learn more.
We also have Dossier documents we are gathering to be ready to go just as soon as Homeland Security for the US approves our I-600A. Basically this means the US government gives us permission to apply to adopt from Liberia.
When we get I600A approval, we submit our Dossier packet of info and Liberia reviews it to see if we are a good fit to adopt River and Sadie.
Our letter of intent has been sent to Liberia, so they are investigating our daughters’ cases and are making sure they are eligible for adoption, and all other options to stay in their country of origin have been explored and are not viable options.
Thank you for your continued support of our family during this exciting era of our lives. See you at the noonday show at noon today!
We have 76 days until Sadie’s 5th birthday. We’ve done all we can do to make it there to celebrate with her. Whether we put our feet on Liberian soil in time for to see her join the 22% of Liberian children who survive to reach their 5th birthday is entirely in the hands of the US and Liberian government agencies, and our adoption agency’s ability to facilitate that teamwork.
It would be miraculous to be in Liberia that quickly, but it is also miraculous how fast we have fundraised so far, and the trajectory we are on for moving the mountain of expenses is ahead of schedule.
I’m into miracles. And I’m into more laughs and more smiles for these 2 little faces!:)
Keep…. …..going!
