Welcome to Together by AGCI. I’m Marissa Butterworth. As we kick off the new year, my co-host Melissa and I are gonna be celebrating all of the incredible things that God did in 2022. And I have to tell you, it’s been an incredible year. I often joke with people that God looked at our plans at AGCI for this year and said, you guys, this is really, really good. And then followed it up with, and you guys are so cute. Just wait until you see what I have in store for you. And that’s been completely the case for us. Today I’m joined by our AGCI, Senior Director of Adoption, Sam Moore. And together we’re going to celebrate all that happened within our adoption program this year. Hello Sam. It’s so good to have you on here. I’m so thankful that you made time for this. I know you’ve been so busy coming out of 2022 and all of the things that we’ve doing and I that we’ve been doing, and I can’t wait to just celebrate adoption. And I wanna start off really by hearing like the high points of what this has looked like. So as of today, well first of all, you can say hi, I’m just talking right over you. That’s okay. Thank you for having me Marissa. We’re excited to share all of the amazing updates from this year.
It’s been, it’s been an incredible year in adoption. I love it. Well, like I was saying, as of today, how many children are projected to have been home or are home? What does that look like? I don’t know how you do your numbers, but how does, and how does that compare to years past? We’re really excited just to know that the, the process of of matching children with their forever families is back on track. We see the committees and countries, the adoption committees in the various countries we work in are meeting regularly. Again, that’s huge. And we also see, saw the ability for us to travel. We were around the world this year. I know we’ve said that a million times on various podcasts and blogs, but it’s true. We, we got to travel this year and we were back to meeting our partners, meeting kids in person, getting to know their stories and then being able to tell and share their dreams and their hearts with potential families who were really moved to hear about them and learn about them and ultimately commit to adopting them. So it was a really exciting year for waiting child advocacy, which of course if anyone is a longtime listener, knows that’s a huge part of my heart and work. Yes. But it was, it was a huge year for official referrals as well.
So like I said, we’re back to those pre covid matching process numbers back up into the eighties and perfectly. By the end of this week, we’ll be close to that 90 mark, which is super exciting. We have a lot of families that are, even this week of Christmas praying over files of kids, which is incredible. Wow, that’s incredible. I love hearing all of that. It makes me so happy. Will you share for people that maybe haven’t heard this before, what exactly is a waiting child? Yes, absolutely. So we, in most of the countries we work in, it’s a very standard process. So there are multiple registries. There are, there is a registry of children who are legally freed for intercountry adoption. And then there’s a registry of families who say, we are open to a variety of ages, special needs, number of siblings, 2, 3, 4, 5, however many siblings families are open to. And the typical process is that a central authority or the governing entity over adoptions in that country will have a committee that’s selected to review who are the kids that we have that are in need of families and who are the families that are open to this variety of needs. And then they make matches. They say, oh family, the Smith family is open to these things and sweet Johnny has the needs that they’re open to. They’re a great fit family for this child.
And they make a match when there is a child on that first registry or that first column list that has needs that are outside the scope of any of the families that we have that are registered. For example, maybe a child who has a really high level need or a sibling group of five or a child who is older. Oftentimes we see older children that we don’t have families that are open to older kids on that registry that that child moves to a different registry, they move to what’s called a waiting child list or a waiting child advocacy plan. And then we are able, as a G C I and other agencies are able to meet these kids, get to know them and tell their story. Many of of our listeners are maybe a part of our Waiting Child videos that we send out. And those children become waiting children because they’re exactly that. They’re waiting for the right family to step forward. We always are looking for families for kids, not the other way around. And that is, that is what makes them a waiting child.
The fact that there have been no families that have stepped forward to say, we’re open to their needs, but if we had more families that were open to their needs, which we know they’re out there because we have these amazing stories from all from this year and many years passed where families have stepped forward, if that family had been on that registry already, there would’ve been a direct match. Okay. But since there wasn’t an option, they kind of moved to that and then, and then we’re able to advocate for them in a different way. And oftentimes families will come to us and say, you know, my, my home study, all my documents were approved for zero to seven, but we saw Johnny and he’s eight or David and he’s eight and we think that he could be our son. And then we move work with them to update their documents and to be able to okay, to adopt him specifically. So there’s always, we see the waiting child process is very hopeful and as a way that God is really growing hearts in growing the hearts of these families as they explore waiting children. So it’s been, it’s been a really amazing year for that process and it’s been awesome to witness as families have come forward. Oh, definitely.
And I love, you guys have done such an incredible job, in my opinion, of helping to let us like see those faces, get to know those kids. And, and that’s because of what you were talking about that your team has been able to travel and like go and meet these kids in person and put something together. What is that like usually look like? How do you do that? And then how do you get the word out to families about these waiting children? So it’s like, we know it’s the emails, but are there other ways of advocating? Is this, and is this what like adoption looks like now? Yeah, it’s a great, it’s a, it’s a great topic to explore because to your last question like is this what adoption looks like now? I think that it is, it’s an incredible way to advocate for, for children. And it is a way that allows us to tell their stories in a way that still provides so much dignity to each of them. You know, we give each child an advocacy name, we try to protect them as much as we can in the process, but it also allows families to grow in their understanding of who, who is this child? What are their needs? What are their, their hopes and dreams? Like what’s their grandest dream? Most of them say a forever family when you ask them that question.
And so I do think that given the fact that those registries that we described, often the families are open to a variety of needs, but sometimes, not always the needs of these waiting kids. It’s a way to fill in that space, to fill in that gap and to, to stand in that gap for these waiting children. How the trips usually work is that we, we get to travel, which is amazing. We get to go and be with our partners and we ahead of that trip, we are working for months in advance to work with the children’s homes or to work with the central authority to arrange for us to meet with kids who are waiting, kids who don’t have a potential family option. And we are able to go and spend the day with them. We get to typically one of us and we always are fighting over which one of us has to, which one of us films and which one of us hangs out with the kids cuz we all wanna engage. Sure. We take turns and we take turns depending on who’s bilingual and who can engage the best. But we keep t bear eye in mind. We don’t just, you know, stick the phone in front of their face and start asking questions. We spend a lot of time actually off camera before we start filming, hanging out with them, getting to know them, having snacks and Okay.
Love doing puzzle puzzles and love that nobody sees, but it’s special cause and it’s honestly the most fun for us cuz we’re like, this is the part where we get to know them. And just through that play, through that connection and through that comfort and meeting their needs, making sure they feel safe and secure in the space. Making sure they have a snack and they have their sugar, you know, a little juice and everything. Yes. Then we’re able to, all the things we need all the kids. Yes. So the kids need, yeah, that’s, yeah, I love it. And then we’re able to jump in and we ask them questions. We often do a touch of, of that kind of play or art therapy and like asking them to kind of draw what they dream about or draw what their family might look like, what they envision a family. So we do a little bit of that just to kind of get them in their, in their comfort zone and, and allow them to express in a way that they feel comfortable. And oftentimes that’s through art or through playing and if they have siblings we ask them, you know, to share what their favorite thing about their siblings are. So we just kind of, we approach and meet every child where they’re at.
Of course keeping TBRI in our minds as always, that’s kind of an AGCI, an AGCI core there. But yeah, so it’s, that’s kind of how we do it. And so when we get home from one of these amazing trips where we get waiting child advocacy trips, we’re able to make calls to individual families who we think might be open to the needs. So like I said, there’s sometimes families that come forward and say, I was, I was approved and open zero to seven, but we learned about a child who’s eight and we are open. We think we could be the right fit family for this child to meet their needs. And then we’ll, we’ll review with them and, and we’ll talk with them about that child. So one of the ways is just direct calls. We know our families really well. That’s a blessing for us. Each of these families is a blessing. Yes. We get to get to learn about their, their stories, how they became a family, how they’re be growing, their family and, and their hopes for as they’re growing their families. So our i a s team, our international adoption specialists, case managers, they get to know these families so well. And we do two through prayer and encouragement calls through group quarterly calls
So it’s really wonderful because as we’re meeting children, we get to say, oh, I wonder if this family would be open to this child’s needs. I think they could meet this child’s needs. And, and as soon as we get home, we’re able to call. Actually we started calling families from Columbia this past trip cuz we I love it. Yeah. You’re like, we can’t wait. We gotta do this now. Yeah. We would get home and we would check, we were on Columbia time, which is east coast right now with daily savings. And we would look and see like, okay, what time is it where the family lives that we’re about to call? Yes. Cause but honestly the families don’t care what time it is. They wanna hear about kids a hundred percent. They’re like, call me anytime of the day. Absolutely. So we had a lot of fun. And then we also did a group call with all, all active families in the program. When we got home, we recorded it where we just introduced kids that we met and tell their stories, tell, you know, share some video, share some photos, which has resulted in, in many families reaching out. We actually have two families entering AOR today. AOR is our two week process of reviewing a file for a child to consider. And we have two sibling groups.
One is one Deanna and Amelia, who are 11 and 13, and then Lizette and David who are nine and 11. And we have families open to considering their needs just today. So we’re so excited and it, it really, every single time is a huge celebration to our, to our reason for chatting today. Like every single child, every single sibling group that we’re able to keep together, it’s, it’s a huge day for us. Yeah. Yes. And, and these kids that have, you know, different unique needs or you know, their sibling group or they’re older and just like less likely tore be brought home into a family. It’s just incredible. I, I think it’s huge and it’s so exciting to see and it’s so inspiring for me to see these families that are coming along that are praying through this and giving that over to the lord of who their child is going to be and supposed to be and trusting him for that. And then, you know, that you guys are working with these families too to figure out who’s the best, you know, like you said, who’s the best family for these kids, especially after you’ve had a chance to, to meet a lot of ’em. It’s just, it’s so cool to be able to be a fly on the wall and watch this happen like with you guys, but we get, we all get to watch.
So I love it and love and you know, we get to see these faces of these kids and you know, I think at least, and maybe you have, maybe you’re dead inside if it doesn’t hit you no matter, like we’re, I don’t think we’re, now I say that, knock on wood, I don’t think we’re growing our family anymore, but every time I see these kids I’m like, oh gosh, like could that be us? Could we be their fa you know, you just ask yourself that. So it’s just so incredible to see and, and I love seeing, it seems like to me, adoption has changed dramatically from, we, we adopted in 2012 through Ethiopia and it was like, you know, our daughter was a baby that came home and things have really seemed like they’ve shifted a lot within adoption since then. And I think, you know, for the better to meet these needs. Yeah. Do you, is that, am I just like totally making that up or is that true? No, no, that’s definitely true. The landscape, it’s kind of funny cuz in the adoption field we’ve been saying for years the landscape of adoption is changing. So when you use use that term, often adoption professionals kind of laugh cuz we use that landscape. It sounds so fancy. I love Yes, it’s super fancy. It’s so fancy, but it’s true.
The, the this, this field and this, this work and the way that that needs are being met has changed. And it is for the better. I think that we see a huge increase in domestic adoptions happening in ch in the country of origin for that child. So that’s great. Columbia, of course, I talk about Columbia a lot. That’s my, that’s my one of the, the main programs that I work in. But Columbia is a program where this is absolutely true and you see a huge increase in domestic adoptions, meaning that families in Columbia who are Columbian are coming forward and saying, we would like to adopt a child into our family. That’s how we’re choosing to grow our family. I love it. And also we see a huge number of biological families being able to stay together with the appropriate resources, which of course at AGCI, that’s a huge win for us. Yes. That is something that for everyone involved, but that’s something that moves us hugely because that that connection and that reunification and that that option for permanency, for a biological family to stay together comes before the p of place, which is our adoption p but but that, that potential of trying to keep a family together and having resources in place to do so is, is for the best, is in the best interest of that child. So we, and we’re of celebrating too.
Like I think that that it’s such a huge piece of what you guys do. Absolutely. Yeah. So that is really something that we get so excited about when we hear and when we see a global increase in that, when we see a global increase in domestic adoptions happening. Because it also, again, that potential of a child staying within their birth culture, having access and connection to their birth country, that is also comes before the international adoption piece. Yes. And so that’s also to be celebrated. So we do see that across the board globally, that it has, there is an increase in that. That’s incredible. What absolutely. And what that, what that looks like is there are less, the children that are being placed domestically typically are younger because they’re going through the legal process of, you know, what is my permanency path earlier on in life. And if they do end up on a path towards international adoption because that is the last and final option for them, they typically are a bit older or it’s because maybe they have an identified need that someone in the country is unable to meet. Okay. For example, a medical need or there are, there’s a big sibling group and there aren’t families that maybe are open to that or an older child. Okay.
So we often see again that theme that families who are adopting internationally that are open to younger kids with mild to moderate needs, absolutely they will be able to be matched eventually. But the wait times for that process are a bit longer because those children are being adopted domestically, which again is, is a, is a great thing. We’re happy that’s that, that’s happening. And so the shift in the landscape is that most of the children that are in need of international adoption are older, do have more moderate to severe needs or are a part of a larger sibling group. And so, and what that looks like, what older is, is really just five and up so chil because of how long it takes for those legal processes and permanency paths to come to their final fruition. But that is what we are seeing across the board. And so what we’ve been so moved by and amazed by this year is that families are still stepping into that space and stepping out in faith and saying we can be a family for an eight year old. We can be a family for a child who has a unique need that we believe we can, we can meet or a family for a very large sibling group, which we’ve had a number of families step forward for this year that have blown me away.
Some very brave dads who’ve stepped forward for four or five girls, which I’m always very impressed by. But just overall, just the family’s hearts have been to get to know the hearts of these families who are, are so open and are stepping forward has been I think the greatest blessing for me this year. It’s been really, really incredible. What a privilege. So what’s the largest family? What’s the largest sibling set this year that, that was placed this year? We had a sibling group of four or well, multiple sibling groups of four. But that has been the largest this year. Have to That’s amazing. So, and it all depends, you know, every family comes to us from a different space. Some have parented before and are coming back and saying, we think we could, we wanna do this again. Some are coming to parenting for the first time, but they’re never alone. We always talk about the theme of, we have an incredible clinical team here who works with every single family has their own connection point with a clinician who is very well versed in adoption and can really walk them through planning, making their resource list and really being ready for, to take on the needs of, of that many kiddos. So That’s amazing. Okay. So I wanna jump right now to hearing some of your favorite stories from this year of, you know, people that have brought their kids home.
Any miracles that you’ve seen, anything I would love to hear? There have been so, so many. It’s hard to I know. How do you pick but no, we had a beautiful story of a family who had, I believe they had three or four biological kids at home who had grown. So they actually were in, in and out of home, you know, college-aged kids. Yes. And so they had parented and they were boy parents. They had had parented lots of boys before and they came forward for two kiddos who were older. Who were they? They came forward actually in the midst of, of covid times for these boys and then ended up traveling this year. So we were able to see those boys come home, which was really amazing. That’s incredible. But just the, the boy, the boy mom mentality is strong. I really Oh, oh yeah. For it. I don’t, I, I can’t relate at this time, but I totally can. I just respect it so much and I love the energy and just their, their connection day. The day that they were able, it’s called in que in Columbia, but their day of meeting each other in person was one of the most moving I’ve seen. Just because they had been, they had been connecting virtually for a little bit.
But to watch families connect and see their, see meet their kids for the first time and have the kids meet their parents for the first time. Is it, it can go a variety of ways as we know from all of our reading and work with TBRI. Kids can be really overwhelmed but depending on the age there’s a lot of preparation that goes into that. Yeah. That the children’s homes will do with kids and their connection day was just one of the most beautiful that I’ve ever, ever gotten to see. So I was really grateful they chose, some families choose to film their days and some just have it in their own memories. But I was grateful they chose to film theirs because it was really wonderful to see on the other side. So that was really beautiful. And to watch them step out in that faith of God has given us the tools to do this before we can do it again. Yes. And in a different way because these boys had of course their own experiences and history Yep. Of their own traumas that they’ve been through. So to watch that family step forward was really beautiful and they’re doing amazing. So we’re so grateful for them. And then we had a number of families who were in similar situations where they were matched prior to when travel was more, was was happening faster.
So the travel timelines are kind of back to pre-COVID times now for most countries. But we have had a number of families who were matched or stepped forward for a waiting child prior to when we were kind of back on track with travel, who finally got to travel this year Yay. Yes. To night with their children. Which all of those stories stick out in my mind as just being a testament to the family’s faith in God’s plan for them. The fact that many of them were bringing home a child who’s about a year older than they expected to bring their child home because of those delays. Yeah. Those stick out to me because they didn’t run from that. They just stepped in and said, okay, we need help. Like help us prepare for this but we are, but we’re here for it. This is our son, this is our daughter. So that’s been really, really beautiful to see as well. I love it. What’s the craziest travel story that you’ve ha seen this year? Oh my, well we’ve had so, so many. We’ve had really brave families step forward in our South Africa program. Our travel there is very long, but, which families are aware of.
But families have definitely, they have a long, a long time that they spend in South Africa and that has also been really our, is for that program and our director for that program, Jenna and Kim can certainly speak more to it because they are the ones who are on the front lines of working with the families. But the stories they’ve shared with us of how resilient, how families are just leaning in to being like, yeah, we live in South Africa now for a couple months and this is gonna be okay because they have their child with them. Yes. And that’s all that, that really matters at the end of the day. So that has been a little bit wild, but also just again a testament to their faith in God’s plan for that travel and for that child. So that’s been really amazing to see them kind of and then come home. I mean they’re so happy of course to come home and be yes. Able to settle into their new space. But I think most families this year have had some, some really just time like leaning into that time, like deciding that this is going to be such a special time. It’s cocooning, it’s integration. I mean it’s really meeting your child for the first time and spending that time with them.
And so it’s critical in a lot of ways and I think that families have really embraced that this year, especially after having so many years of not being able to travel. I think families are like, oh my gosh, yes. Like let’s, let’s do this. Yes. And a blessing from Covid that came for adoption that came out of Covid is that many, not all, but many families are working remotely and have been able to navigate taking some time of course to ensure they have like full off time. But then being able to navigate longer travel times because of that remote setup has been a big blessing for many families and for kids because families who prior could not have done that South Africa long time in country or some of our other programs that have longer times can now make that work. So that’s been something a blessing outta that. Yeah. So if someone is listening to this right now and they are interested in expanding their family through adoption, what would be a first step that they would take? How do they enter into this for 2023 to be incredible? You know, I know there are so many touchpoints of this, but how do they enter into this process? We, we would love to hear from you. We have an amazing inquiry team, Jen and Lila, who are our first line of contact for families who are interested in adoption.
So you can always reach out to info allgodschildren.org or if you go to our website, you’ll have a direct link to being connected to them. But yes, getting started is the best. I mean it’s, it’s the best thing you can do is call because we’re happy to chat with you Yes. And answer any questions you have. I think it can be, adoption can be a really daunting experience. So we don’t, we want you to, we validate that it is, it can be very daunting. It is hard. There is paperwork involved, there are timelines involved. But we are here to support you every step of the way. And we have, like I said, we have an amazing inquiry team and we also have just an incredible team of program managers of clinicians, of partners in country who do everything we can to try to help your experience of growing your family through adoption. Be a good one and be one that’s led in faith. And that we know that God is standing in with us in every, every aspect of this process. And we also know that 2022 and 2023 ahead, like 2022 have been hard years for all of us. They’ve been hard years in a number of ways, emotionally, financially, from every lens that you can look at. And we want to walk with you in that too.
If adoption is, is on your heart, but you have concerns about finances or you have concerns about the support networks for your family as you, as you go through this process or whatever concerns are on your heart, please call and share those with us and see how we can, if you feel open to and comfortable Yeah. We welcome those calls because we have walked with families through a number of situations and if not for that walking together, we would not have that family would not be the family for the child that they are now parenting. Yeah. So we want to walk with you guys in that. And I think that, you know, we have a number of resources and connections for grants, for loans, for support. We have many scholarships and grants through a G C I alone for families that are open to adopting older children who, children who have identified unique needs, sibling groups. We have lots of options and we also have a great finance team. They are incredible and can help set up, you know, supports for your family as you plan ahead for your adoption. So we definitely want to make sure that you have everything you need and every resource we have available to us, we will share with you so that this can, this can be, you know, a way that you can grow your family. We definitely want that for you. So please reach out.
Our team has all of those resources and is happy to speak with you about that if you call. But that’s really the best way because the only way we can explore waiting children or you could be waiting for an official match is if you get started. So please, yes, reach out. I love it. Let’s, like, let’s kick 20, 23 off with a ton of people reaching out and it’s just the most incredible thing to see how God will use you and really just, you know, to tell that story and to be a part of these kids’ lives and, and to be witness, to bear witness to like the miracle of adoption because I don’t know anyone whose child has, hasn’t come home that there’s a part of their story that is purely miraculous and beautiful. And of course like hard things come with this too. This isn’t, it’s not just something that’s all celebratory. I wanna mention that. Like that these kids being in the position to be adopted means that something really traumatic and difficult happened to them. And that is not the part that we’re celebrating that part. We are, we wanna be in there with them and honoring their story as much as possible and helping them heal. And that’s something that’s a lifelong thing, you know, thing for adoptive parents to walk alongside their kids as, you know, as they go through this.
But I’m so thankful to hear that so many of these kids aren’t on the streets. That they’re, that they’re being reunified first with their biological families, if not that, that they’re able to stay in their countries of origin. And if not that, that they’re moving into that the, that loving incredible families are stepping in and stepping up into this calling and being additional parents. You know, they have their first families and, and we as adoptive families get to be a part of that and, and, you know, I’m a second mama for my daughter, you know, and, and it’s just like such an honor to be able to do that. I’m so excited that these families are doing that and I love hearing these stories of how they’re stepping in in such huge, huge ways. So as we head into 2023, how can we all be praying for this this year and really become active participants and seeing more kids come home. Yeah. We, I love the way that you described that, just families stepping into the process. It doesn’t necessarily mean, you know, you’re jumping to parenting a child the next day. Right. The process takes time and, and like I said, AGCI wants to walk with families through that process and it’s an honor for us to work with adoptive families who are just open to learning about the process.
But if growing your family through adoption maybe isn’t the right fit or time for your family right now, you can still be a part of spreading the word about adoption, spreading the word about the need. Yes. Through your church communities, through your friends, through maybe friends of yours who are thinking about growing your family through adoption. Please share with them, you know, anything that you’ve learned or, or please welcome them to reach out to us so that we can share and answer questions. This is a, a community and we always say like, we’re all together in this because yes, there’s always something or some way that, that everyone can, can share about this work that’s being done on behalf of, of children who are in need of permanency. And I, I do, I do think that there’s ways to share about each, each step of that work, the work that’s being done to support families in reunifying Yes. The work that’s being done to help caregivers and domestic families be prepared for adoption. We do a lot of, we walk alongside a lot of foster families and adoptive families in the countries we work in in that way as well. And then that, that our, our potential of placing children through international adoption is something that we can only do if families who are open step forward or families who are considering being open step forward and, and walk with us as we all learn together.
So yeah, please just be praying that families’ hearts will be moved by these kids’ stories next year that families who have ever felt that tug on their heart will, will reach out to us so we can walk with them Yeah. Through that process. And just really pray God’s blessings over each of these waiting children and every child. That’s, like you said before, Marissa, every child who has entered the system of care in their country of origin entered that system of care for a reason. And typically that reason is, is is a hard part of their story. And we want to honor that and pray for those, those situations as they approach whatever their permanency outcome might be. And pray that that permanency outcome happens in its timely a manner as possible. Yes. So that children are not lingering in any way that they can either reunify or be placed in a, in a permanent loving home. Whether that’s domestically or internationally as soon as possible. So we’re, we’re grateful for all of the champions and all of our partners. I would please ask for prayer for every partner that we work with in adoption Yes. And all of our other work at AGCI because working with them on a day-to-day basis is, is very moving and very humbling because it is a lot of work and it is something that they dedicate their entire lives to doing on behalf Yes.
Of these kids and families that they’re standing in that gap for. So we’re just lifting them up as well as we move into a new year and praying they all get some rest. Yes. As we head into the holiday season Christmas time, they need, they need to take a, take some breaks. So Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yes. They all, everybody deserves some breaks here. Yes, yes. And thank you. It’s like, so it’s such an honor I think being outside of it to be able to pray cuz you just don’t know, you know what’s gonna happen. You don’t know what, how God’s moving within families’ lives, within children’s lives, what God’s doing to heal families and you know, who he’s bringing into things who, who He’s putting that desire on their heart, you know, and when it happens, you just never know. It’s just such a huge thing. But it, but God’s always in the middle of it. And so even though there are so many unknowns, it’s comforting to know that God does know and that this is his heart and you know that he’s got this from, he has a plan. He has a plan. He absolutely does. And he specializes in the details I’m telling you. Thank God. Really? Yeah. Thank goodness.
Thank God because he, there have been so many stories of when a family who had been waiting for referral, like waiting to be matched with their child, would get the paperwork of the child and would start reviewing and they would look and see like the day that child entered care or like the week the child entered care was the same week the family submitted their dossier Yep. Or their paperwork for the country. Yes. And then during that, that two years families are waiting, but those kids are waiting for their permanency outcome too. And so you’re walking alongside and God is walking with you and carrying us through those seasons of waiting as well and carrying that child through those seasons of waiting too and the heart. So he definitely is with us every step of the way or taking the steps for us while he cares us seriously. Very, very grateful for that. Well, thank you so much for the, for doing this, first of all, for the work that you do every day for entering into this with families and with these kids going to meet these kids. All the, like I know that you have given your life to this as well and I’m so grateful to have you on here sharing about it and, and the work that you do. Yeah.
Thank you for, for taking the time to spend before the, before Christmas, the week of Christmas to talk about these amazing celebrations and just to spread the word and share about, about what we’re seeing and the need. We, we really wanna make sure that families are aware of what the need is so they can step forward in faith. We’re excited for what 2023 will bring. Me too. Me too.
Thank you for celebrating with us today. That was AGCI’s Senior Director of Adoption, Samantha Moore. If you’re interested in finding out more about adoption through AGCI, you can email info@allgodschildren.org and they will get back to you. You can also go to our website and take a look and find everything there. Keep an eye out for our next episode, celebrating all that God has done organization wide with AGCI. It’s gonna be a good one. If you’d like to stay up to date on exactly everything that we need prayer for, we would love for you to join our prayer team. You can head to our website, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and tap on prayer team to sign up. Thank you so much for listening or watching Together by AGCI. If you liked what you heard, make sure to follow us and rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.
