We have decided to host Gertrude this summer. We don't know when we'll be traveling for the adoption, and we don't want her to miss another opportunity to come to the U.S. Below is a letter we sent to many of our friends and family, giving some background on hosting and our experiences with Gertrude. If you are interested in supporting us either financially (to help us with the expenses to bring her here) or prayer support, please read the letter below and respond to Simple Obedience Ministries. Thanks. We can't wait to see our little girl!
April 20, 2007
Dear Friends and Family,
We are very excited to tell you about an incredible mission project that we are participating in this summer with a ministry called Simply For Latvia, a missions project of Simple Obedience Ministries, Inc.
In many countries around the world, there are thousands of children who live in orphanages. Many families, including ours, are hosting one of these orphans in their homes for four weeks this summer. Many of these children have never experienced unconditional love or learned about God, and these are two of the main focuses of the hosting. Some of these children are available for adoption, and we pray these children will find their forever families. Some are not adoptable but through their experience will prayerfully have a new hope and confidence that they can take back to Latvia. Our greatest prayer is that all of these children will one day have a relationship with Christ.
As some of you know, last summer we hosted a beautiful nine year old girl from Latvia. Latvia is a very small country in the Baltic States, just west of Russia. The girl we hosted was Gertrude Liepina (Kivlina). Gertrude (pronounced “Gare-trude-a, with a rolling “r”) turned 10 on September 21st, 2006. Three weeks into our hosting, we decided we loved this child and wanted her to be a permanent member of our family. We pursued adoption and all was going well until we took our first trip to Latvia for a court date. Gertrude’s birth father showed up to court 4 hours after we got temporary custody of Gertrude, saying that she was his daughter and he wanted to take care of her. Long story short, the Latvian courts are in the process of terminating his parental rights, but we don’t know how long it will be so we decided to host her again this summer. This will give her another opportunity to live with our family here and to know that we still love and care about her. It may also help her to feel more comfortable with the prospect of being adopted, as she is torn about what she wants since she has family in Latvia. If for some reason the adoption does not work out, Gertrude will have had the opportunity to experience the love of a family at least one more time, and to get to know her Heavenly Father better.
We’re sending you this letter because we want to give you an opportunity to be involved in this mission. Two things are needed: financial support and prayer support.
It will cost about $1450.00 to bring Gertrude here. We are responsible for the full amount. It is a significant amount of money, mainly because airfare is so high, and we need to pay for her visa and medical insurance for the month. Also, while she is here we will have to buy her some clothes and a few toys and games.
If you would like to make a financial contribution, please write a check to:
Simple Obedience Ministries
6110 Cedarcrest Rd Suite 350, #165
Acworth, GA 30101
Please write "Murphy hosting" in the memo portion of your check and include the slip at the bottom of this letter.
Simple Obedience Ministries is in the process of filing for 501c3 status. Once approved, your donation will be tax deductible and at year’s end you will receive a receipt for tax purposes. Please remember that no donation is too small. If 20 people sponsored us with $5.00 each, we would have $100!! Donations for the hosting must be in by May 10, since airfare will be purchased soon thereafter. Most of the donations are needed by this date.
Any monies donated after this date will be used for clothing and toys that we will purchase for Gertrude while she is here. If you would like to sign up to be a prayer partner, please e-mail us at kstmurf@bellsouth.net and let us know so we can send you prayer requests and updates. As a prayer partner, we will ask you to pray for the specific requests that we will send you via e-mail. Prayer support is a vital part of this mission and is every bit as valuable as financial support.
You can learn more about Simply For Latvia and their mission projects by visiting their website at http://www.simplyforlatvia.org/. There you will find information about the hostings, mission trips, and easy ways to help the children and missions in Latvia. Simply For Latvia is a non-profit organization in the process of filing for 501c3/charitable status. They simply want to obey God and help children and their families in Latvia. Simply For Latvia (mission project of Simple Obedience) is completely non-profit and receives no money for the hostings. No fees are added to the hosting costs. Because of their charitable status, all donations are non-refundable. If you have any questions or would like more information, contact Jennifer@SimplyForLatvia.org.
We hope you can sense our excitement, and we pray it has spread to you as well. We will be sure to send updates and pictures of Gertrude’s visit with our family. We appreciate your support so very much.
Blessings,
Scott, Karen, and Tena Murphy
cut here____________________________________________________________________
Simple Obedience Ministries, Inc. – Simply for Latvia
FOR: MURPHY FAMILY HOSTING OF GERTRUDE LIEPIENA (KIVLINA)
I would like to participate as a support and/or prayer partner for the Simply For Latvia Summer 2007 Hosting, project # H0607-KM.
o I would like to give ___________ and have enclosed a check made payable to Simple Obedience Ministries, 6110 Cedarcrest Rd., Ste 350 #165,
Acworth, GA, 30101.
o I would like to sign up as a prayer partner for the Murphy family.
o Please send more information on Simple Obedience Ministries, Inc. and Simply For Latvia.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Interested in Hosting?
Have you ever thought about hosting a child from Latvia yourself? Or, do you know of someone who might be interested? The hosting program is continuing to look for families to host this summer, and soon will be working on getting children hosted over Christmas. Please think and pray about your involvement in the program. You can host a child, or if that is not for your family at this time, you can be a prayer and/or financial partner of a family that is hosting. When one of these orphans spends a few weeks in a loving, Christian home, it makes an incredible difference in their lives. It makes an incredible difference in the lives of the hosting family as well. Also, you don't have to be interested in adoption to host. If you would like more information, please check into this website:
Simple Obedience Ministries
Simple Obedience Ministries
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Live and In Person
Today we got to talk to Gertrude, her sister, and her friend Christina (who will be here early May as an adopted American citizen). Our friend Helen Vipase, Director of
Hope for Children in Latvia, had the girls come to her office today and call us on Skype, the computer call equipped with a camera so we could all see each other. It was so great! We did this once before with Gertrude and she didn't say a word, looked pretty intimidated but today she did much better. I think next time she'll be an old pro! She still didn't say a lot. Her sister asked if we were going to host Gertrude this summer. We told her we have to wait and see what is happening with the adoption, if we are going to be going to Latvia this summer. Gertrude said she wants to come here for hosting. Guess that's no surprise! I told her sister Agnese that I hope she can come one day and be hosted in America. She smiled then buried her head in Gertrude's shoulder like she was embarrased or something. Who knows what in the world goes through these kids' heads! I told Gertrude Tena got a new Game Boy and wants to give Gertrude her other one. She received that news with a very big smile. She looked great, she smiled a lot. Scott told her we went to Helen, GA this past weekend and that we had a jacuzzi on the porch in our cabin. She smiled and told Helen she remembers our jacuzzi (she loved to take baths in our jetted tub---she would say "Mom, jacuzzi, please!!) It was wonderful to get to see her while talking with her. Helen said we will try to do this again on a weekend when Tena can be there. We did put Allie in front of the camera so she could see her puppy dog..she seemed to really like that. She loved Allie. Even though her little bio said she likes cats, Allie promptly won her over!
A little update on the court. We were told on Feb. 7 that the Orphancourt notified the higher court that Gertrude's dad is unfit. This was incorrect information, and that did not acutally happen until March 21. So, the stellar communication with Latvia continues!! Well, at least it's done, now we just have to keep on waiting. Stay tuned...sorry updates come so few and far between but as soon as there's anything, I'll post it!
Hope for Children in Latvia, had the girls come to her office today and call us on Skype, the computer call equipped with a camera so we could all see each other. It was so great! We did this once before with Gertrude and she didn't say a word, looked pretty intimidated but today she did much better. I think next time she'll be an old pro! She still didn't say a lot. Her sister asked if we were going to host Gertrude this summer. We told her we have to wait and see what is happening with the adoption, if we are going to be going to Latvia this summer. Gertrude said she wants to come here for hosting. Guess that's no surprise! I told her sister Agnese that I hope she can come one day and be hosted in America. She smiled then buried her head in Gertrude's shoulder like she was embarrased or something. Who knows what in the world goes through these kids' heads! I told Gertrude Tena got a new Game Boy and wants to give Gertrude her other one. She received that news with a very big smile. She looked great, she smiled a lot. Scott told her we went to Helen, GA this past weekend and that we had a jacuzzi on the porch in our cabin. She smiled and told Helen she remembers our jacuzzi (she loved to take baths in our jetted tub---she would say "Mom, jacuzzi, please!!) It was wonderful to get to see her while talking with her. Helen said we will try to do this again on a weekend when Tena can be there. We did put Allie in front of the camera so she could see her puppy dog..she seemed to really like that. She loved Allie. Even though her little bio said she likes cats, Allie promptly won her over!
A little update on the court. We were told on Feb. 7 that the Orphancourt notified the higher court that Gertrude's dad is unfit. This was incorrect information, and that did not acutally happen until March 21. So, the stellar communication with Latvia continues!! Well, at least it's done, now we just have to keep on waiting. Stay tuned...sorry updates come so few and far between but as soon as there's anything, I'll post it!
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