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raising the ransom

Thank you ALL of you who donated to the Chip-In, shared on social networks and prayed your hearts out.  $20,000.00 has been raised as the RANSOM to bring Carson and John home.  Hallelujah!  I am so thankful for all your help.  All glory to God!

It all began with an e-mail which I received a few days ago, sent to me by a sweet lady who is so burdened for another family.  As I read the e-mail, my heart sank.  How can this be, I wondered?  How can this family even be in this situation?  My heart broke for them. 

But when I saw the photos.  Oh my goodness!  I cannot even tell you what they did to me.  I lost it completely. 

At that moment I knew I needed to jump in and try and help out.

You see, this family is hoping to travel soon.  Like, in just a few days. But the challenges are enormous.  Their situation is so unique.  Actually, I don’t think I have ever heard of anyone else journeying the same road as they are.

Allow me to introduce you to the Cannell family.  Donnie and Karrie have committed to adopting TWO of the neediest orphans I know of.  Just wait until you read about Carson and John.  There truly are no words, but I’m sure that even if I didn’t write a single word here, that you too will be deeply moved by their pictures alone.   

There are some things in life that will never make sense to me.  Suffering children are one of them.

The Cannell’s felt moved to adopt when they first saw a picture of Carson on a waiting child website.  Upon seeing his sweet face they knew that he would be so incredibly difficult to find a family for.  They were right.

Carson has a very rare disease known as Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).  The Cannells are very familiar with the disease and its symptoms–their own daughter has the same thing.  EB causes blistering of the skin from even the slightest amount of friction. It can also cause blistering in the esophagus from the friction created by swallowing food.  It is a genetic skin condition.  The skin becomes so very fragile that even the slightest amount of friction can result in blistering and gaping wounds. I have read that some people with this condition spend most of their lives in bandages. Carriers of the disease are at an extremely high risk of infection.  If left untreated, the infection can lead to death.  Precautions must constantly be taken to care for the wounds and prevent them from spreading any further.

My heart breaks!

Whew!  Can you even imagine living with constant wounds all over your body?  I hate even having one teeny tiny little cut on my finger.  For a child to have to live with this is something I cannot wrap my head around.

The Cannells committed to adopting Carson.  Soon after, God revealed more of His plan to them. They received word from someone else that Carson had a biological brother who had already been transferred to another orphanage for older children about two years ago.  Sweet little brothers had been separated.  But get this….Carson’s older brother, John, has the exact same disease.  He too has EB.  He too has awful sores covering his little body.

He too is NOT getting the treatment he so desperately requires.  I have absolutely no idea how these boys have survived as long as they have living in orphanage conditions that are most probably filthy dirty. How many infections have they even had to deal with in their short lives? Goodness! Only by the grace of God.

And so without even having to give it a second thought, the Cannells knew that they absolutely had to bring John home too.  These brothers needed to be together and they would do whatever it takes to reunite them…in a family of their own.

But as easy as it sounds, their journey has been anything but that.  Because Carson and John are in different regions they have to pay double the facilitation fee!  Double.  That makes it $18,000.00 for the facilitation fees alone–before anything else has been paid.  Are you kidding me?  That is outrageous. It makes me angry!  I cannot fathom how anyone can be charged that amount of money just to facilitate an adoption.  But the sad reality is that adoption fees never really are fair, are they?  Nope.  It is what it is…ransom to rescue a child.

This is where we all come in.  As I have been praying about this over the last few days I have felt so convicted that this is NOT the Cannell’s burden to carry.  I have always said that God calls one family to bring a child (or children) home, but He commands ALL of us to help out in some small way (it’s that pure religion thing in the book of James–“care for the orphans”).  Carson and John are going to receive the best of the best care once they are home.  God has called a family who is so experienced in dealing with their fragile bodies–and what a mission it is going to be!  But oh, my goodness gracious…..they so need a helping hand to get those boys here!  They need us, the body of Christ, to ease the enormous financial burden that they are carrying right now as they prepare to travel to a faraway land to bring their boys home.

My beautiful friend, Tesney (who is still in Russia finalizing Kirill’s adoption), has set up a Chip-In for Carson and John’s adoption.  Because time is so crucial and the Cannells’ travel date is fast approaching, I wrote to Tesney and asked her if I could jump in and try as best I can to help out.  She gave me the green light.  So here I am–asking for your help.

I have put the Chip-In at the top of this page.

And just to add a little blessing for one person who contributes, my family is offering a Nook Color to one of you who donates via the Chip-In from today.

Please note that you must leave a comment here to tell me that you have donated.  The winner will be drawn from the comments on this post!  Only those who donate from today until the goal is met are eligible to be entered.

So, how can we help?

~~~  Donate to the Chip-In.
~~~  Spread the word to anyone you know.
~~~  Ask your friends and family to also come and jump in to help.  Every single donation adds up.  God loves to multiply our seed.
~~~  Pray for Carson, John and the Cannell family.
~~~  Pray for provision–manna from heaven.

Of course we can do this!  It’s nothing for the glorious army of a Mighty God. 

I so appreciate your help with raising the ransom for Carson and John!  Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus to the Cannell family….and their precious, precious boys.

You guys are the BEST!

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