Adoption Letter

This is the letter we (Bethany and I) sent out to friends and family that will ‘officially’ begin the journey of bringing home an adopted child from Africa.  For more info on our adoption process, please visit: http://loverunsdeeperthanblood.com

ADOPTION:   TO TAKE BY CHOICE INTO A RELATIONSHIP AS ONE’S OWN

At the age of 19 I, Bethany, felt deep in my heart a call to international missions. For some the “where” is not clear but for me, it always has been: Africa. I began dreaming of a life in a red dirt hut working with African children on a daily basis. After I got married those plans were put on hold while Nathan prayed through his length of calling toward Africa. In 2006 Nathan and I made a trip to Uganda that confirmed in our hearts that we were indeed BOTH

called to lifetime missions through international adoption. However when we returned to the states we were discouraged to learn that Uganda was not open for international adoption. We prayed and waited that something would change and a way to adopt would present itself. In the meantime we searched the WORD and found that adoption is clearly God’s heart. It says in Ephesians 1:5, “…He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.” There are roughly 100 million orphans around the world and if God can adopt us into His family and call us His own, we too should feel called to follow His example by adopting. So this year we committed to taking the steps toward “legal guardianship” which is available in Uganda but very difficult to navigate through by yourself. A few months into that I received an email from a friend thrilling us with the news that Uganda was now open and that Holt International (www.holtintl.org) was offering assistance toward adoption from that country. PRAISE GOD! We jumped online, learned as much as we could, attended a web seminar, requested the information packet and completed the application. We could not be more excited to see yet another promise God has placed in our hearts coming to pass in His perfect timing.

As many of you know, adoption is a costly process. Please trust that we will be doing everything we can by applying for grants and scholarships along the way but some of the steps have to be completed before we can qualify for those. The first steps are the application and homestudy. This is performed by a social worker and quite simply they are called in to evaluate our home life. Upon approval we begin what is know as the “paper pregnancy” where we complete a dossier telling the Ugandan government about ourselves in great detail and depth. The next step is our child placement stage where they will send us as much information as they can attain about our adoptive child and send it to us for “approval.” Then we arrange travel and go to Uganda to pick up our new child and bring him/her home.

So what are we asking for? Help. We believe God has already provided the money we need to fulfill this calling He has placed on our family. We also believe that some of it has been placed in your care. All we ask is that you take a moment to prayerfully consider if what you have been given might be in part to help us on this journey of expanding our family. We know these are tough times but every little bit helps.

The cost coming up most quickly is for our homestudy. We will be working with Adoption Home Study Services (www.adoptionhomestudyservices.org) and need to raise $1,100 as quickly as possible.

Is that all? No, this is simply a step. But it’s a step toward a miracle. As we continue, the costs will continue. Once we get through the homestudy phase we can apply for grants to help supplement for other parts of the process. We will likely call on you again to help with what is not provided after pursuing those options. For a full breakdown of our costs, please contact us via email at gaddisadoption@comcast.net

Of course we also ask for your prayers. This is new territory for us but we trust the partnerships we have with Holt and AHSS to show us the way. We also know that we will see God work and provide for what we lack as long as we walk confidently in His calling.

The amazing invitation that God has for us is that when we step into the realm of adoption, we find that God Himself is there, the true Father to the fatherless.  The opportunity to enter into adoption is both an opportunity to glorify God by presenting the world with a picture of His heart – and to come and know Him.

“Religion that God, our Father, accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” – James 1:27

Join with us on this journey!

Join our cause on Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/304529/2048873?m=200ef49e

You can donate directly to our cause through Paypal by clicking the ‘Donate’ button below:

Humbled and Grateful,

Bethany, Nathan, Jaxon and Jovie Capri Gaddis

I’m Playing Out in Naples!

After 4 years of being here, I have yet to play out (meaning play my music that I’ve written around town, other than at a church)…..UNTIL NOW!!

This Saturday night, June 6th, at 8:45PM at Six Degrees Exhibition Art Gallery, I will be sharing the stage with a friend and fellow songwriter, Matthew Stewart, who is moving back to San Francisco next week.  This is his last show in Naples.  This is my first show in Naples.

Matthew goes on at 8:00 or 8:15 pm and since I am at church until 8:30 or so, I will go on around 8:45 or 9.

What does this mean for you?

Well, if you are here in Naples, and you want to hear me play some of my own original songs, feel free to come on down and support me!!  For those who go to church on Sat. night, it is after everything, so you can skip on down to the art gallery when you leave church.

Here is all the info you need to know about the event:

Six Degrees Exhibitions Art Gallery

1100 Sixth Ave. South

Naples, FL  34102

10$ cover to get in.

The Gallery is near the corner of 10th street on 6th Ave. S. next to Tin City.

PLEASE COME AND LISTEN AND SEE ME!!  I WOULD LOVE TO SEE ALL OF YOU THAT I KNOW, HERE IN NAPLES, THERE!!!

Saturday, June 6th – I go on at 8:45 or 9pm.  I’ll play about a 20-30 minute set.

AND…BETHANY, my wife, is going to sing with me as well!!