Pastor Bixby got home this past Wednesday night from his time in Haiti serving as a French-speaking chaplain with a medical trauma team. The team found they were able to accomplish their goals sooner than planned, addressing immediate overwhelming needs, laying the necessary foundation for efficient future work, etc.. With more personnel arriving (”fresh troops” as it were) and the situation stabilizing, the team decided it was time to come home. So all of Morning Star’s leadership team members are home in Rockford for the moment, safe and sound, and ready to share what they experienced.

Channel 23 News (WIFR-CBS) came out and interviewed Pastor and Jeremy about what they saw in Haiti and how it’s affected/continuing to affect them. (You can also check out the photos from their trips and Pastor’s journal entry excerpts in the righthand sidebar.)

The men who drove through the night last night have safely arrived in NYC with the truck and trailer of medical supplies and surgical tools. Their trip was not without incident (including a very close call with running out of fuel, and a brief breakdown for a complicated flat tire with broken nut), but also not without providential provision and protection! It “just so happened” that at the same rest stop where they pulled off for the flat, there was a guy there who had ALL the tools and a grinder (complete with generator on back of truck to power it) and the know-how necessary to take it off and to put on the spare the team had brought! His name was Doug, and he was God’s answer to prayer. NOT a coincidence. God is in the details!

Please continue to pray for Jeremy and Anouk Scott. Their referral for the adoption of Alex and Elvin (a.k.a., “Josiah”) had been a hope and expectation for the last 15 months, and for much of that time, according to Liberian court rulings, the boys were legally “Scott” sons. However, the moratorium on Liberian adoptions over the past year or so (for the government to be able to make reforms to the system) has put a significant strain on the waiting process. Jeremy and Anouk were loving and supporting the boys from afar, wanting them home, and praying for clear direction and provision from God about how/whether to continue pursuing them. As of yesterday, October 19th, God appears to have answered their prayers in an unmistakable way. This below is from the Scotts’ adoption journal entry today:

The wait is over….

October 20, 2009

Yesterday I received a phone call from our adoption agency. The birth mother of Alex and Elvin has come back asking to take her two boys out of the orphanage and to live with her. The wait has been long. The boys have been there for two years. Their mother gave them up because she felt she could not take care of them and wished for a better life for them. Now, she feels she is in a better place to care for them and she does not wish for them to stay in an orphanage until the country decides to reopen adoptions. Frankly, I don’t blame her.

As you can imagine, we are disappointed. We hurt. But one of the reasons we wanted to adopt was because it reminds us of God’s Sovereignty. God is sovereign in this as He is with every other situation. Anouk described how we feel right now like one of those days when it is raining, but the sun comes out at the same time. There is a mixture of grief at the loss and relief at the closure, especially since the closure involves them being back with their mother.

We are thankful for the journey. Many people have partnered with us through prayer, encouragement and financial giving. We thank you. Your support to us throughout the last two and a half years has been so appreciated.

We are not sure what the Lord has for us or even why He led us down this road. But right now, our adoptive Father and our adoptive brother, Jesus are comforting us.

Blessings to all. Please pray for us…it is a struggle for us right now.

With much love and appreciation,

Jeremy & Anouk

Jeremy and Anouk Scott were thrilled last week when a friend working with the orphanage in Liberia sent them new photos of Alex and Josiah. The Scotts had hoped to be able to bring the boys home by Christmas, but God has arranged things differently. The Liberian government has been regulating the adoption process and investigating allegations of abuse in the country’s orphanages, so those efforts have necessarily hindered the completion of the Scott boys’ adoption, as well.

God has been answering prayer, giving grace and wisdom to the Scotts and the orphanage staff, keeping the boys safe, restoring Josiah’s health and continuing to help him grow stronger (they learned that he started walking last month!), and bringing them back together into the orphanage (they had been separated during investigations). Financial gifts have been coming in — about $8,000 has come in of the Scotts’ anticipated $12,000 remaining costs, and that in addition to the $18,000 or so the Scotts had already raised and seen provided to cover their expenses earlier on. Please prayerfully consider giving toward the Scotts’ needs.

Visit the Scotts’ adoption journal to read more news and see more photos!

Joy McCarnan is planning and hoping to join a mission trip* through Together for Adoption and Carolina Hope Adoption Agency this June 10-19 with a number of folks from likeminded USA churches to serve orphans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Here is some footage of some of the orphans the team will encounter this summer: [editorial note: Video had to be removed temporarily due to concerns unrelated to the Orphans Refuge team’s trip to Addis Ababa.]
As you view this video, please pray about the Orphans Refuge trip, and please pray about your own involvement in the lives of orphans, foster children, and adoptive families.

DONATION DETAILS:
* If you would like to give toward deferring Joy’s trip costs, here are specifics:
Checks can be made payable to Morning Star Baptist Ministries (or to Global Grace, Inc.), and mailed to this address:

Morning Star Baptist Church
3426 Colony Bay Drive
Rockford, IL 61109

Any funds that are given in excess of Joy’s trip costs will be put into the Hannah’s Heart fund, Morning Star’s orphan care and adoption-financing effort. The current Hannah’s Heart project is helping Jeremy and Anouk Scott bring their sons Alex and Josiah home from Liberia.

Today Ed, Robin and Alex (Losha) arrived home. Some friends and family threw them a “welcome home” party. Although tired from the long travels and change in time zones, they had enough energy to eat lasagna and cake. They took the opportunity to thank everyone for their prayers and support.

We rejoice with them as God has proven His faithfulness and graciousness to them during this long journey.

God be praised.

This is an update from Joel Foster, as of Saturday evening:

Thank you all for praying, Mom and Dad will be able to stay in Penza through their court date. They were also able to pick Losha up yesterday, and he will be able to stay with them through the court date, instead of at the orphanage. Those are both big answers to prayer. They will all be going to a Baptist church tomorrow at 3:00 in the afternoon, and will have an interpreter going with them. Losha was at the hospital for a full four days, and has not really been able to see his friends yet; Mom and Dad plan to take him to see them sometime next week. He was a little nervous coming back to Mom and Dad, not having seen them for a while, but is ok now.

The court date is the next big problem - 2:00 Tuesday. Pray that all goes well.

Thank you.

Joel

Joel spoke with his parents today and forwarded me an update to share:

“They (Ed & Robin) went to Nishi Malov (I don’t think that is spelled correctly) on Monday and had an interview with the Director of the Ministry of Education, the director of the orphanage, and a social worker, all of whom endorsed them. All went well, they had a safe but wild ride they said! They are having an interesting time trying new foods.

Losha might have to stay at the orphanage until the court date because he has lost so much of his russian language, but Mom and Dad really want him to be able to stay with them. I think he is kind of nervous. They would appreciate prayer for that. They also need prayer that they will be able to remain in Penza until the court date. There is some ten day restriction they are trying to get past.

On Tuesday they visited eight doctors, had an amazing nurse who helped them get through, they are all done with their russian medical checkups. They say they are doing fine, just waiting now. They hope to be able to do a little sight-seeing.”

Let’s continue to be praying for our brother and sister as they are in Russia.

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]

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