Fundraiser for 3 Polish boys - Hansen family (EAC) - also adopted twins from BG 50.000 dollar

Source: www.youcaring.com

Publication date: January 2017

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HomeAdoptionHelp 3 brothers in Poland join the Hansen family!

Help 3 brothers in Poland join the Hansen family!

For: Justin & Kathy Hansen

Virginia

Organizer: Justin Hansen

Help 3 brothers in Poland join the Hansen family! (Justin & Kathy Hansen)

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$5,751

of $65,000 goal.

Raised by 27 donors

8% Complete

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Every Share Can Raise $37

270 SHARES

270

The Story

We are Justin and Kathy Hansen. We were married on August 30, 2008. Before we were married, we had talked about our mutual desire to adopt one day. We both felt that God wanted us to adopt at some point. We had thought that we would have 1 or 2 biological children first, then adopt. When we didn't get pregnant after a few years, we felt that was God telling us to adopt now. So we stepped out in faith and started the adoption process in August 2011. We were blessed with so much loving support and encouragement, and we were able to raise and save up around $50,000 to adopt our two beautiful daughters from Bulgaria. Our twins, Availya and Evalina were 7 years old when we brought them home last year. Things were rough at first, but we have come such a long way in a year and the girls are doing great! Even after giving a home to 2 orphans, we didn't feel like we were done. We both knew that we would adopt again, we just didn't know when.

During this past year, we decided to have infertility tests done. We had now been married for seven years, and we had never conceived. We essentially just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything medically wrong and just have an answer for the infertility. Kathy went through many invasive and painful tests, and we eventually found out that Kathy has a unicornate uterus. This basically means that she only has half of a uterus. (What, that's a thing? Apparently.) It has been like this since birth and there is no way to fix it. It is still possible to get pregnant, but because of other issues, we would have to have medical intervention. Then, if we were able to finally conceive, we would only have about a 40% chance of a live birth. This news was shocking to us, and somewhat devastating, as we still had hope of a biological child after the first adoption. However, we both know that our adopted children are "our" children. Other than missing out on the first years of their lives, we don't feel cheated in any way. We actually feel blessed and privileged to be building our family in this way.

Neither of us felt peace about pursuing infertility treatments at this time. Independently, we both felt a nudge to adopt again. A few days later, our social worker mentioned, out of the blue, that we should considering adopting again. We talked it over with each other and realized that we were on completely different pages as far as who and where to adopt. But through discussion and prayer, we both decided to be as open as possible and allow God to lead where He wills. As we were looking through waiting children profiles, we came across a sibling group of three brothers, aged 4, 5 & 6 from Poland. They are so adorable, we just had to look at their pictures and information. There were so many "coincidences": Their ages fit perfectly into our family, we already wanted at least one boy, the middle one even looks a lot like Justin. We had even joked the day before that we wanted all of our kids to have names that start with vowels, we already have an A and E, we just need I, O, U and sometimes Y. Ironically, all of these boys names start with a vowel, it's I, O and A, but seriously that's close enough to get my attention! Even though it seemed crazy and completely far-fetched, we both felt drawn to them. We inquired about them, fully expecting to be told that there was no way that we could adopt them. We hadn't even started any paperwork at all. However, we were told it was completely possible and would only take between 8-12 months. Okay... Well, we didn't have a lot of information on them, so surely there would be something that would hinder us from moving forward... But every time we expected to hit a closed door, God kept opening it wider and wider. We felt completely crazy to even be considering this, but through prayer we kept feeling pushed to move forward. We have prayed that God would close a door if this isn't what He wants us to do. In the meantime, we keep blindly and faithfully following the path that He is laying out for us. Taking in 3 boys would definitely be a stretch for us in every way. We feel very overwhelmed at times, but still we feel peace.

It will take around $65,000 to bring these boys home. It is a lot of money, but this is 3 orphans who need a home and a family. It is also 3 souls who need to know the love and kindness of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Even though we were able to raise the money before, we both still struggled to believe that God could do it again. All things are possible, and this is where faith comes in.

Please pray for us through this process. It is very hard and scary. Please consider helping us financially to bring these guys home. Every little bit helps, and you can have a part in giving a family to not just 1 or 2, but 3 orphans!

Many of you might wonder how Availya and Evalina feel about this. When asked why they wanted to adopt, this is what they had to say:

Availya: "I want to teach them about being kind and how to read. I want to teach them about Jesus. Because the one boy would look like daddy, if he only had a beard. We need some boys in this house!"

Evalina: "Because I want to beat them up!" (Not really, just playing. She's a tough girl.) "I want to give other orphans a home. I want to teach them about God. They are cute, and one looks like daddy."

We have broken down the goal into benchmarks, so it's not so overwhelming. Here's what we will need going forward:

$5,000 (Homestudy, Application fees, Clearances & Authorizations)

$5,000 (1st International Adoption Service Agreement)

$18,000 (Submit our dossier to Poland to be officially matched with the boys)

$14,000 (Official referral & foreign program fee)

$23,000 (Travel, in-country costs & finalizing adoption costs)

Fundraiser Updates 4

Posted on January 11, 2016

We started our home study today! We are one step closer to getting these boys home! We still need $3,430 to send out the letter of intent to adopt these guys. This letter of intent will show Poland that we are seriously pursuing the boys. It will also show grant organizations that we are trying to adopt 3 older children, which should put us in a great position to receive some grants and take away some of the financial burden! Our goal for now is to raise this $3,430 so we can take this next step. We have a lot of great fundraiser ideas that will start moving next month, so look out for those. In the meantime, if you feel led to give, please give. 100% of your donations go towards adoption fees and bring these precious boys closer to having a family!

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Posted on January 7, 2016

Yesterday, our agency told us that another family applied to adopt the boys. Ultimately we want these boys to be adopted, but it was still disappointing to think that it wouldn't be into our family. We had felt God leading us to these boys, so we prayed a lot asking God what this meant. Should we just move on? We thought that God was closing the door. Today, we found out that the other family isn't seriously pursuing these boys. Also, the director of the agency is willing to defer (for now) a $10,000 fee so that we can send in a letter of intent to Poland to adopt the boys! At that point, we will be in a strong position to receive adoption grants. To be able to do this, we need to raise $5,000.

Instead of closing the door, we feel like God has kicked it wide open! Can you help us raise $5,000?

Once our dossier is done, we could be travelling to pick up the boys in just 4 months! So every donation, no matter what size, is HUGE to us! If you don't feel lead to give, please be in prayer for hearts to be open.

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Posted on January 6, 2016

Instead of closing the door, we feel like God has kicked it wide open! Can you help us raise $5,000?

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About the Organizer

JUSTIN HANSEN

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VERIFIED BY:

Countries: Bulgaria, Poland

Organizations: European Adoption Consultants