Exchange student update

YES! We are going to be HOST family to a Chinese student! This story is pretty cool... I had some mixed feelings about the first program we were looking into and I was on my knees asking for guidance on where to go what to do. We really want to do this but my gut kept telling me "this program is not for your family" So before we even heard from the pubic school about placement, I declined. Heartbroken but not discouraged because I felt the Lord working and I just let it be (which is super hard for me). I AM NOT KIDDING when within minutes of letting it go (doesn't always work that fast, right?) I went up to check my email and this is what I found. Rachel's principal, Pastor Brad sent this to all the school families... (Cut from email)

Dear Parents, I wanted to forward to you a letter from a Christian Ministry that is bringing in Chinese students to stay in Christian homes & attend Christian Schools. I talked to the president of this ministry today & he is saying that we would be able to have as many Chinese students here as we would like. The board has established that the student's families pay full tuition as well as $4500 per student per school year that goes to the host families($100 per month goes back to the student for spending money). In China, if you preach to a person about Jesus, you will be put in prison. Now they are paying us to bring them into our homes & learn in our Christian schools. If you are interested in hosting a Chinese student or two this year, please reply to this message. Thank you for praying about this opportunity. ~Pastor Brad

Here is the letter from David Benoit:

China's Doors are opening wide for missions please read!

My name is David Benoit I am the President of ACEFI.

Affordable
Christian
Education
For
Internationals.

Our website is http://www.acefionline.com/

We have been told by our China contact that we could have as many as 500 applicants for this year.

These students will be screened and tested to insure that they have adequate English Skills.
We are looking for schools that want to be a part of our network. These are paying students who are serious about education. Think about it, we can place thousands of kids from China in America. This is a communistic unchurched nation, yet they are willing to send their students to us knowing they will be placed in Christian homes and Christian schools. Some of these kids will have unbelievable influence and talent.

There is a powerful, underground church in China that is praying that they will have the freedom to worship like us. Who knows what student might come to America in a Christian environment that could answer that prayer. God is opening the doors, will you help us?

We can only imagine what kind of impact this will have on missions in China in the years to come.
If your school is interested in receiving some of our students this year, we would love to have you onboard.
If you are a boarding school or you have good host families, we will find the students and give you all the paperwork to process them very quickly.

David Benoit

How AMAZING is God?!?!? So needless to say, HE had other plans for this young man that will be joining our family on October 1st!

I have so much work to do but I'm thrilled to be doing it, I think it will take my mind off the wait for our Miss Maddie. This week, Trevor and I are cleaning out the office to make a comfy space for our student (I have no name yet so for now it's "student" lol), I'm going to keep it basic so he can decorate how he wants when he gets here (advice from Trevor). Did I mention how awesome and excited Trevor is about this??? Well, he is and honestly we wouldn't do it if his heart wasn't in it because he'll be with student most of the time anyway... I need to finish the application, it's kinda like an adoption application and most importantly I need to start preparing for MADELYN!!! My sweet young lady who is going to turn 8 years old in about 6 weeks. I am so weepy for her lately, I feel pain in my heart because I have no idea what she's thinking about all the changes coming her way, I wish there was a better way to show her how much we love her already and how important she is to our family. We're still waiting to hear back from our agency whether or not CJ will be able to visit her when he's there in October. PLEASE LORD!

I laugh when I try to take a break from blogging, I think I've blogged more since my "break" then I did the entire month of July! LOL...

Have a beautiful Sunday!