Sheppard is his pseudonym through Reece's since we cannot disclose his birth name yet. We also can't say what country he is in so we will be referring to Eastern Europe on the blog until we have passed court.
We appreciate your prayers that the process will go quickly and smoothly! He is about to age out, and the statistics of what happens to orphans who have aged out are grim. Many fall prey to crime and imprisonment, sex trafficking and suicide. The question most of our friends have been asking is if Sheppard knows about us. Unfortunately, we cannot tell him we are coming for him until we are in country and meet him face to face. This is for his protection, as anything could happen between now and our first trip to meet him. There is also a small chance that other families further along in the process could ask for a blind referral while in country and adopt him, though it is highly unlikely due to his age. It does hurt though, knowing that his birthday is looming and he is thinking that no one has chosen him. Please pray that God will give him hope and ease his fears even if he doesn't know why just yet. Please pray that our paperwork and fundraising would go quickly and easily so we can travel to him as soon as possible.
Want to know a little bit about our boy? This is from a blog post from another adopting mom who wrote about our Sheppard mere days before we committed to him:
I wish you could have seen the facilitator's eyes as she described Sheppard's need for a family. She is heartbroken that no one has chosen him yet. She is haunted by Sheppard's sorrowful begging. Every time this facilitator visits his orphanage Sheppard implores her to find him a family.
"I will wash dishes! I will clean the house every day! I am a good boy! I will love my family!" he begs her.
This boy may be older and he has been institutionalized his whole life, but the facilitator assures me that this boy is very kind and considerate. He is not the kind of boy to turn around and say 'no' to the family coming to get him.
The facilitator states that she is absolutely sure that this boy would fit into any family, even a family with small children. Not many older institutionalized children get such an amazing testimonial from the facilitators.
The fact that he is begging for a forever family and has waited 15 long years to be chosen...we can't put into words how much this breaks our hearts. Our first fundraiser will be launched shortly! We will be selling T-shirts online!!!! Get ready to share and donate if you can! We are going to get this boy home! I'll be sharing a link here and on facebook as soon as we launch. Woot!
Thank you all :) and Merry Christmas!
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