Hello from GIASHOPE.org and from our family!
It’s been a minute since I updated this space and I would love if you could pull up a chair, maybe grab your fav beverage and let’s do some catch up! Let me start by sharing an awesome, incredible story of God’s faithfulness! So, as you know Giving Tuesday is here and I am not quite sure how it snuck up on us all, but all I do know is that it’s truly one of my favorite days of the year! It’s just so beautiful to watch the world unite in a day of giving love and money to help fund beautiful missions, projects, and initiatives of care, change and hope. It’s so refreshing and encouraging to watch hearts overflow with generosity!
You know what is even more beautiful than THAT? How about when the Lord blesses and provides and prompts someone to give, without even ever asking them to!!?? It’s so amazing, isn’t it?!
As the year was coming to a close, I felt a rush of anxiety wondering if we would be able to give adoption grants away again this year (the fourth year in a row) to honor our Gia’s birthday in Janurary. Giving was lower this year and we did not have as much time to focus on fundraising for our foundation as most of our time and efforts went towards helping to launch our three adult children out into the mission field to serve long term (more about that in our upcoming Christmas newsletter family update)
As many of you know “Helping families to adopt” has been one of the bedrock passions of our ministry! Our ministry started on this first beautiful branch of love. It’s been such a blessing to watch how the Lord has allowed us the honor to be a vehicle of HIS provision to approximately 28 families who have stepped out in faith to adopt a child with special needs. What a joy to get to steward these families’ stories of faith and to get to be a small part of their walk of faith…. BECAUSE GOD.
So as I was praying for God to provide for a new year of miracles, I felt weary. But, God was working! Out of seemingly nowhere, Brian had a random (yet God- ordained) conversation with a friend who was asking about our ministry. He and his wife have a heart for adoption and felt the Lord calling them to help others to adopt. He then made a significant donation to GIASHOPE that truly has now become a large seed for this Grant-cycle we are about ready to launch into! It was such an encouragement to our hearts and a huge confirmation that the Lord was not done with our little ministry and that He was still very much using GIASHOPE to help others, and also that He was working to raise up others who wanted to partner with us to help fund more HOPE!
I can not begin to tell you how the Lord used this beautiful family’s generous gift to spur us on to even deeper faith, and fan our flame to pray for even bigger miracles! And, because of this generous gift, we were able to provide a gift to a family right away …(even before Giving Tuesday) who was stepping out in faith to adopt a child with special needs from India. In fact, this was the largest grant that our foundation has ever been able to give! All of this was possible because of the generosity of a donor who felt called to help families adopt! …God is so big! He led us to this adopting family through a dear friend who has been an integral and precious part of our own story. It’s just so beautiful how our faithful LORD weaves His family together in love and light through the movement of His Holy Spirit and the same desire to live out James 1:27. It takes a whole body of Christ!
You see, Brian and I remember so clearly being in their shoes. We remember stepping out in faith for that first adoption… That scary “yes” to God, even though there was a HUGE dollar amount in front of you that seemed so impossible. Just SO SO SCARY! You don’t know how God will do it, but you know the ONE who has called you to that beautiful face in front of you who needs you …. and so, in HOPE and FAITH… you trust in what you cannot see. You trust in God’s ability to do what you can not do! And then as you walk forward, to get confirmations along the way, and as you get encouragements through the provisions of the body of Christ… that is truly what spurs a life of radical faith …. seeing God use His church to raise up an army of HOPE! This is what changes the world!
Nothing compares to this JOY! THIS IS HIS MIRACLES!
Oh the Joy to be used by the Lord and to be a vehicle for His resources! Oh the JOY to see God’s goodness as He paves a Red Sea Road to care for the orphan!
We want to keep fighting for Hope! Will you join us today and help us! This is His HEART.
As most of you know GIASHOPE.org was birthed from the seed of deep pain, yet deeper HOPE and ultimately HIS GOODNESS that is never changing. We walked our Gianna Lilyfaith to heaven over 4 years ago, and our world fell apart. Yet our vision became so much clearer. We’ve been given an eternal perspective that changes everything. Our Gia’s life continues to point us to our great Savior who overcame death! Her miracles continue to teach us about our one true HOPE.. the promise that is an anchor in the darkest valley, and we don’t want to keep that good news to ourselves. It is our prayer that Gia’s life can continue to sow hope, goodness, miracles and love into other’s lives.
But we need your help for all beautiful miracles we believe God wants to do!
GIASHOPE.org is a 4-part global initiative to plant God’s seed of love so that abundant life can grow and bloom through adoption support, orphan care, orphan prevention, and care ministry.
- Adoption support: Our Foundation was first birthed with the desire to come alongside other families who are stepping out in faith to adopt! We were very blessed to receive many grants while we were adopting and we want to pass on the blessing so that many more orphans can come home to their forever families! We open our grant application link one or two times a year (depending on funding) to apply for a grant. (stay tuned: application link to be opened in December) … OUR GOAL for 2023: To give grants to 4 more families
- Orphan care: Proverbs 31:8 says to “Speak up for those who can not speak for themselves” and so we are passionate about caring for, and giving a voice to the most vulnerable of this world through helping to support orphans in various foster homes and orphanages, and advocating for Special Needs orphans. Every child deserves hope! OUR GOAL for 2023: to help support and sponsor orphans/foster homes through sponsorship through partnership organizations.
- Orphan Prevention: We believe that the best way to care for orphans is to help prevent a child from becoming an orphan in the first place! Family preservation is a huge part of our heart at GIA’S Hope and we desire to partner with various ministries to help support this mission so children can stay with their biological families. Our GOAL for 2023: To financially support a child/children through partnership organizations (HopeStation China and Tesoros De Dios and Unity4Orphans) that focuses on helping impoverished families in third world countries by providing therapy, schooling and special equipment to assist in caring for their child/children with special needs.
- Care Ministries: After walking our baby girl to Jesus, we experienced the deepest grief of our lives, yet we also have experienced a tangible hope like never before that has rescued us from the pit of despair. It is our desire to share this radical hope of Jesus to the most broken and hurting in our community through various tools and resources that have helped us to fight forward in faith. It is our passion to walk close to those who are walking in a valley and to shine God’s light in their darkness. Some of our care ministries include home visits, letters and care packages sent to those who walk the road of grief, A missions trip to Nicaragua to bring love to those who are broken and suffering, an upcoming missions trip this summer, a newly launched local Farm Therapy ministry that served many families this past spring and summer, and a Children’s book that is in the publication stage. We feel it’s an honor to share Hope with others who need it because of the Hope that Jesus gives us. OUR GOAL for 2023: 1. To continue to have family animal therapy days at the farm this spring and summer so weary families have a place to experience the healing JOY of God’s creation. 2. to publish and launch our book into the world and send our book to hurting families for free.
WOULD YOU BE A PART OF THIS STORY OF HOPE AND MIRACLES! YOU CAN DONATE HERE AT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE
OR WITH THIS PAYPAL LINK
or click the button below:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE, AND FOR YOUR SUPPORT! We are so grateful! God bless you all!
I would have lost heart,
unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living. – Psalm 27:13