Here is our Adoption Journey so far…
We started this process of adopting 2 little girls from Liberia in April of 2022.
After visiting Liberia for 5 months in 2024, we decided to additionally adopt a little boy. This little guy, already bonded to our Liberian daughters, also became very close to our entire family during our time in Liberia, and now, life without him with us is unimaginable.
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, which prompted our visit to bond with our kids and explore all avenues in person in February of 2024. We returned home in July of 2024 after exhausting all resources to unite our family permanently.
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.
As we continue to wait, we are committed to intentional international parenting. We will continue to visit as much as we can and continue to pursue every avenue to unite our family on one continent. We appreciate any encouragement as we continue to walk this road.
Keep…. …going.
We have matching grant here up to $400. We still need $8,884 to pay our son’s fees. We are so grateful to our community of support.
James 1:27
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Psalm 23:3
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
Since we have decided to adopt a 3rd child from Liberia ( bringing us to 6 kids overall), we are officially actively fundraising.
Agency fees + travel expenses + home study fees + Immigration fees = around $19,000.
We have already received $4,016.00
So we have $14,984.00 to go.
Our daughters’ fees, including travel, are paid in full. We are grateful to all of you for the answer to that call.
If you would like to read more about our story or find a tax deductible avenue to donate to our cause, click here:
https://bit.ly/adoptfaster
If you would like to shop Noonday Collection, and support fair trade all over the world for small business owners, those proceeds will also support our son’s adoption expenses.
Click here to shop Noonday for Arthur:
https://noondaycollection.com/rachelsmith-forarthur
To make a tax deductible donation to HOBI, click here:
https://hopeofblessinginternational.org
This video is an overview of my “packing list” for Liberia. Although we have not had any solid progress, I firmly believe we are very close to bringing our kids home. We are updating our home study to include our son, and are hoping for $8.884.00 to find its way to us soon to complete his fees. We are doing our textile drive, so if you live close to us, or close to Mount Juliet, TN, there are drop offs both places to help with our Phill the Box fundraiser. Basically any clean clothing or textile in any condition is welcome.
For the families waiting with us, I believe we are so close…like within 100 days….
Even if we are not, I pray we will live in the world of intentional international parenting, supported by so many around us, fighting with the tools we have each day to speak for those who cannot be heard without our voice.
Happy Packing…I believe we will all be traveling soon.
Keep…. …going.
International Home Study….Round 4.
My most recent visit Liberia had 3 objectives:
1. Hug my 3 Liberian kids and spend time with them.
2. Connect matched parents in our same position with their children, who wait in the orphanage alongside my kids.
3. Do good at every opportunity.
All 3 objectives were accomplished in ways that exceeded even my expectations.
None of my efforts would have been successful without the assistance of Nelson, Pauline, Samuel and Selah, leadership at Hope of Blessing International (HOBI).
If you need an encouraging story about Liberia, and the state of our current world, watch this one.
Watch it and share it. We need more stories like these.
Thanks to my Liberian friends for helping me stand in a gap to provide hope internationally spanning across many families caught in this adoption process delay. We tremendously appreciate your efforts on our behalf.
