Sunday, April 24, 2011

An Unexpected Easter Surprise!!

Face coming soon
Happy Easter Everyone!!! The Omondis have now been back in Kenya for just a little over a month and we have some exciting and unexpected news.

As we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,  we also rejoice because our lives have been redeemed from the pit and as God's adopted children, we have been given new life  and inheritance in Him. This Easter we would like to encourage you and ask you to pray for another life who has been literally taken from the pit and Lord willing, could be the latest addition to the Omondi family! Yep, it has happened again. We are back in Kenya and believe it or not,  there's another baby!

We have always desired a big family and this last year or so we have been praying that the Lord would direct us in regards to what we should do about adding to our family, either through some form of adoption or just continuing to wait upon the Lord. Anjela has really needed a brother or sister!!

Well, God never ceases to amaze us or show His GREATNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS and very interesting TIMING!! We may have told some of you that about 2 years ago we asked the adoption agency that helped us with Anjela's adoption, that if they were ever to find a biracial baby who needed a home to call us. Well, the reality is, this rarely happens here in Kenya because no one throws away, leaves or puts biracial children up for adoption.

This past week we began to seriously look into embryo adoption or regular adoption in the States of a biracial baby, and wanted to send the agency in America a copy of Anjela’s home study to see if they could use it instead of us doing it all over again. I (Dennis) called the adoption agency on Tuesday this week to try to get it. When I was talking with the lady, Susan, she gave me a hard time by asking me why we weren't pursuing adoption in Kenya again. I told her that if possible we wanted to adopt a biracial baby. She was stunned and immediately told me that unbelievably there was a biracial baby boy who they were hoping to find biracial parents for but that she needed to call the children's home to find out if he was still up for adoption.

In two minutes she called me back and said that the baby was available.  I called Allison quickly, excited about the news! Allison  was totally in shock and didn't know what to say but excited all at the same time. Susan told me that if we were serious to go to their offices in Mombasa and fill out the forms to begin the process immediately. All we know about him right now is that he is a 5 month old baby boy that was found abandoned in and retrieved from a pit latrine (one of the hole in the ground squatty potties) and needs a Mommy and Daddy.

So, our journey began! The following day on Wednesday 20th April 2011 we cancelled everything and went to town to start all the paper work. The crazy and exciting thing is that we actually got almost all of it done! We were really amazed.

The baby has to be 6months old before he can be released from the children’s home. Kenya adoption law requires this to give parents or family  of the abandoned child 6 months to come and reclaim a child before they can be released for adoption. We are also waiting on the police report stating he was thrown away and that no one has come to claim him.

The very exciting, sudden and surprising thing about all this is that we could have a new baby boy in our home as early as the end of May, June, or earlier depending on how fast the process goes. But Susan said that if we would like we could go and actually see him in Nairobi next week. We are all so eager to meet this little boy who we trust will be ours so we are planning a short trip to Nairobi next weekend to visit him at the children's home. We can't wait!!

The crazy thing is that on Wednesday morning before we ever told Anjela anything about what was going on, she woke up and came to Allison and said, “Mama, I want a baby brother named Benjamin.” She looked at me and we were like, “Well I guess we might have to name him Benjamin and tell him that his big sister named him.” I think she got that name from watching the story of Joseph and she liked his brother Benjamin. But this is the first time we have heard her talk about wanting a little brother.

As you can imagine, we are FULL of JOY and our emotions are running wild. We can't wait to meet this little boy! So please join us in prayer these next few days and weeks as we start this process and, Lord willing, bring  this baby into our home. Please specifically pray that the WILL OF GOD be done for His Glory and His FAME!  

Derek Loux once said, 
"My friends, adoption is redemption. Its costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives cost so much. But when God set out to redeem us, it killed Him" 
We couldn't agree more!

We love you and are happy to share this yet another adoption journey with you!!! This is a verse that has been our personal prayer and praise to the Lord as we can only stand in awe at His grace and mercy upon our lives as well as this baby boy's life:
I waited patiently for the Lord;he turned to me and heard my cry.He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire;he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.He put a new song in my mouth,a hymn of praise to our God.Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

3 comments:

In Everything said...

very exciting and amazing news!! Look forward to hearing the rest of the story in a few weeks;)

Jenny Davis said...

Oh my gosh, guys, what an incredible story! Praying for you guys and little Benjamin.

Molly O said...

WHAT? That's incredible. Benjamin would be blessed to call you Mama na Baba. Praying for the Lord's gracious protection and direction as you proceed.
BTW, Psalm 40 is my life "verse"- the whole chapter :)