Once again, we praise the Lord for the opportunity to have a part in the adoption of a child into a God-centered home. The Bixbys made a request to God that He would once again shower His grace upon them by blessing them with another child. God certainly showed Himself faithful by granting this request.

Morning Star Baptist Church began a prayer chain specifically for the Bixbys beginning on Monday at 4:00 am and continued to pray throughout the day until midnight Tuesday morning. Again, we began praying as a church on Tuesday at 5:00 am and continued to pray every hour until midnight Tuesday night. God showed Himself faithful by answering our prayers!

On Wednesday night we then had a prayer and praise service where we sang and read many Psalms praising God for His faithfulness to us as a church and for His grace that He bestowed upon the Bixbys! What a great time we had!

Please continue to pray for the Bixbys as they travel back to Rockford from Greenville, SC.

Please consider sending a gift to Hannah’s Heart in order that we might help the Bixbys with costs accrued throughout the past month and a half. Check out “The Corban Project” website at www.globalgracemissions.org/blog/corban.html to make a donation, either via PayPal or by sending a check in the mail.

Praise the Lord for His incredible grace!

Corban was born yesterday (9 January), and Bob and Jennie and Patience were able to take him with them when they left the hospital today. The Lord’s providential timing and miraculous intervention were so evident. Thank you for praying for them.

Hannah’s Heart has seen a little over $2,600 come in toward alleviating the estimated costs ($8-10,000) of the Bixbys’ adoption. We praise God for the great things He has done these weeks to bring Corban into this family.

Learn more about how to help: THE CORBAN PROJECT

Read the Bixbys’ story in detail on their YouBelong journal:
REQUESTED OF GOD [email to request password]

This past May 2006, Shannon and Tricia Brown went to China to bring home a baby girl: Grace Lu Brown. Grace was to be their fifth child, but their first adopted child. The Browns are very normal, human beings who happen to have an extraordinary story to tell - a story almost inseparably intertwined with the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We had one name to choose from, and that was GRACE…. Adoption has given us, given my family…a fuller understanding of God’s grace to us in our family, and what He has done on our behalf - how He must feel when a child is rescued into His family, when He rescues somebody. And how He must feel to be able to shower them with love and make them part of His family.”

To gain a better understanding of adoption as a rescue ministry and something close to the heart of God, take the time to listen to this brief testimony of the Browns’ experience adopting Grace:

a testimony about Gospel-centered adoption
(MP3 testimony from Shannon Brown, 7 January 2007)

Journey to Grace (http://www.youbelong.net/thebrowns)
Browns’ online adoption journal
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Beth Murschell is home now in Florida with the Murschells’ new family member: Chloe Jane Yoon Jin Murschell

Read more about the Murschell family and Chloe Jane here:
http://juxtaposition.wordpress.com
http://www.murschell.com

Also, please continue to pray earnestly about the Bixbys’ adoption situation, especially over the next several days.
Bob’s weblog
Bixbys’ YouBelong journal (password required)
The Corban Project

What a great opportunity Global Grace is having just this week to help someone in need! We received an email tip of a local need in the Rockton, IL area. Our very own Ed Foster and his son Joel are laying laminate flooring for a widow who recentlyl lost her husband. We are helping by meeting some renovation needs that her house has needed for some time. We will be continuing the work for the next two days.

We know that the Scriptures clearly teach according to James 1:27 that, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (NASB) We are attempting to “flesh out” our love for our Lord by loving our neighbor and meeting a need that is evident.

Please pray for our efforts. We are certain that this widow and her sons do not know Christ as Savior. Again, what an opportunity for us to show the love of Christ.