"Everybody needs someone beside them,
shining like a lighthouse from the sea."
- Needtobreathe -
Merry Christmas from Macedonia!
We're so excited to tell you that Lighthouse of Hope is officially an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Macedonia! Our paperwork was filed and accepted the week before Christmas and our organization has been realized!
And what an awesome time it was - as is always the case, God's timing was perfect! The same day we filed the paperwork, we were blessed to participate in our first activity! We were asked by a family from Skopje to be translators when they met their new daughter for the first time. It was really a very cool experience.
The Van Niekerk Family has a beautiful adoption story - complete with the struggles and tears that came from an unrealized adoption, to the excitement and anticipation of being matched with a completely different little girl and meeting her for the first time and taking her home the very same day!
We met with Esther and Dani and their three wonderful kids on the morning of their adoption. Everyone was really excited and anxious. We spent several minutes waiting for paperwork to be completed and their daughter to be ready and then they brought her into the room. She was so precious. Because of the adoption laws in Macedonia, the family was not permitted to know her birth name, so all they knew was "M". She was nervous, her eyes wide as she took in all of the new faces and sights in the office of the orphanage. Their 7 year old son pulled on my hand. I looked down and he said, "She's beautiful. Because she has googly eyes." He was right. She was beautiful!
The family spent a few minutes asking questions and being made aware of her schedule and a little of her history. And then the nurses gave her to her new mother, smiled, and said goodbye. Little "M" was carried into that room an orphan, and 20 minutes later, sweet Chereni (whose name means "star" in Romani) was carried out a daughter. Zoran and I were so blessed to be a small part of that day! It reminded us that we are here for a purpose - and we know exactly what it is. To make orphans into sons and daughters. To give them hope and love, and to show them the truth of who they are. They are precious. Each and every one.
Please join us as we pray for the Van Niekerk family, as they transition from a family of 5 to a family of 6 - and for sweet Chereni as she learns what it is to be loved by a family.
So, what's next for Lighthouse of Hope? Several things!
- We would like to start volunteering at the local orphanage in January, after the holidays (Orthodox Christmas is January 7th).
- We also plan to start working on our NGO website
- We want to start a quarterly email newsletter, to let you know what's happening and how you can be involved
- We are praying about several pieces of property as potential sites for the (future) Lighthouse of Hope group homes
Jen & Zo (and the kids)
