A Tandem Ride With God

I used to think of God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I didn't really know Him.

But later on, when I met Jesus, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Jesus was in the back helping me pedal. I didn't know just when it was He suggested we change, but life has not been the same since I took the back-seat to Jesus, my Lord. He makes life exciting. When I had control, I thought I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at break-through speeds; it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it often looked like madness, He said, "Pedal!" I was worried and anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared", He'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey, our journey, my Lord's and mine. And we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found in giving I received, and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it, but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus.

And when I'm sure I just can't do any more, He just smiles and says... "Pedal."

(Author unknown)

I'm thrilled to share with you that the money has come in for us to secure the investigator and lawyer. This does not mean we have all the money needed. We still have a LOT to raise!

I do want to clarify one thing. The dinner and auction is NOT tonight, it's January 29 @ 5PM.

Now that Christmas is over, I am beginning to work on collecting items for the auction and dessert table. So, if you're reading this and have a business or have something you'd like to donate or if you want to make some sweets for the dessert table please contact me at tonya@mpdcad.com.

Would you please pray for something else? We know God is in control of all that is going on and we totally believe He'll provide every penny needed to pay the lawyer and investigator. He's provided all along, why would be doubt it this time? Something that we have been talking about and praying about is this....somehow the Lord making a way for us to be able to leave the beginning of February and stay in Nepal until we are able to bring Trek home. The Lord would have to work out the details of course, but if Mike could somehow do his 'regular' job from over there and we are able to continue to pay our bills, he could work the times they have electricity and the times they are without it, we could work/teach/play with the children and didi's (care takers of the orphanage). It would be like a short term missions trip for a month or two serving in an orphanage! There is so much that needs to be done there and with wanting Trek in our custody as soon as possible this would just be an awesome thing to do. Would you please pray about this with us.

Please continue to spread the news about the petition! If you haven't taken a minute to sign it please do it now. Click HERE to sign.

To make a donation click HERE.

Fighting the US Government to bring Trek home

Orrington family fights to bring Nepalese child home

BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN BENNETT
“I’m excited about it,” said 16 year-old Robin Davis (left) at her Orrington home on Friday. “I’ve wanted a sibling forever, and I’ve always wanted a little brother.” To the right is her 4-year-old sister, Noelle, who was adopted from China.
12/24/10 07:50 pm Updated: 12/25/10 01:44 pm
By Nok-Noi Ricker
BDN Staff

ORRINGTON, Maine — Trek was 5 days old when Katmandu, Nepal, police found him abandoned on the streets of the Asian country’s capital city. He has lived for two years in an orphanage with little food and no toys while waiting to be taken into someone’s home and heart.

“He’s only 17 pounds,” said Tonya Davis, who, along with her husband, Mike, has fallen in love with the youngster. “He’s this little peanut.”

The Orrington couple feel a calling from God to spread their love to children in dire need and adopted Trek earlier this month with hopes to have him home for Christmas. But U.S. government red tape is preventing the child from getting a visa.

“Back on Aug. 6 the U.S. suspended adoptions with Nepal,” Tonya Davis said. “They did it because they believe the paperwork Nepal was providing is fraudulent.”

The government of Nepal issued the Davises their referral letter on Aug. 1 approving their match with Trek, just beating the U.S. moratorium.

The good news is that those already matched with a child are in the pipeline and their paperwork will continue to be processed, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website states.

“There [are] about 80 pipeline families and we’re one of them, the only one in Maine,” Tonya Davis said.

New adoptions have been suspended for abandoned children in Nepal because “the Department of State has concluded that the documentation presented for children reported abandoned in Nepal is unreliable,” the USCIS website states.

The U.S. is not alone in suspending adoptions from Nepal. Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom recently suspended adoptions based on similar concerns, the website says.

The State Department sent a team of investigators to Nepal in August to review the 80 adoptions in the pipeline and found nothing fraudulent, but even so it still is requiring adoptive families to jump through very expensive hoops, Mike Davis said. The pipeline families are now required to hire a private investigator in Nepal to look for the parents who abandoned their children, as well as a U.S. lawyer to process all the paperwork, he said.

The lawyer and investigator are expected to cost about $10,000, and that’s money the Davises don’t have.

Add to that the fact that a clock is ticking away toward a deadline.

“We have 87 days,” Tonya Davis said.

“Our countdown started on Dec. 3,” the day their adoption paperwork for Trek was completed, her husband said. “They are asking for the impossible.”

“What kills me is these children have been adopted by U.S. citizens and it’s the U.S. that is denying the visas,” Tonya Davis said.

People at the orphanage named the 5-day-old boy police gave them two years ago Pratik. The Davises have renamed him Trek Pratik Davis.

The Orrington couple have a 16-year-old daughter, Robin, and adopted their second daughter, Noelle, from China in January 2008. Robin said she has always wanted siblings and is excited to have a little brother to share her life with.

Tonya and Mike Davis left for Nepal on Thanksgiving Day and spent three weeks in the country trying to get everything done in order to bring Trek home. They returned on Dec. 16 empty-handed.

“I believe it will happen,” Tonya Davis said.

“We are committed to him no matter what,” Mike Davis said. “He’s our son.”

The couple met a couple of U.S. missionaries online when they first started doing research into a Nepal adoption two years ago. The missionaries have taken their adopted son into their home to await his visa.

“He’s safe,” Tonya Davis said. “We could not have left if he had to go back to that orphanage.”

When the couple first met their son, he was malnourished and had burns on his face from being out in the sun all day long, every day. Those burns since have healed.

The couple keep in contact with Trek and their missionary friends through the Internet telephone service Skype.

Presents for their 2-year-old son are under the Christmas tree and a stocking has been hung for him, even though they don’t know when he will get to open them.

“We’re still praying for a Christmas miracle,” Tonya Davis said.

“Someone high up in Washington could sign the paperwork and he could be home by New Year’s,” her husband said.

The Davises are holding a benefit dinner and silent auction to raise money at 5 p.m. Jan. 29 at Calvary Chapel in Orrington.

Those interested in more information about Trek Davis’ adoption process can check out Tonya Davis’ blog, www.ifwehavefaithofamustardseed.blogspot.com.

Tonya Davis said people also could support their family and other pipeline families by signing an online petition that is sent directly to U.S. senators and members of the House of Representatives. So far, 10,491 petition letters have been sent, she said.

The petition can be found online at petition2congress.com/3867/bring-stranded-nepali-adoptees-home-now.

If you want to make a donation click
HERE

Would you also PLEASE re-post this on your blogs & facebook!

Please Help Bring Our Son Home!

PLEASE Re-post on your blogs and facebook!!!

To donate click HERE

Benefit Dinner & Silent Auction

to bring home Trek Davis from Nepal.
Calvary Chapel Orrington
January 29, 2010
Time to be announced.

Our son is stuck in Nepal because the United States won't issue his visa.
The US is adding additional burden to families by requiring us to hire an attorney and private investigator. These are added costs that we never expected to have to pay. It's going to be $7500.00 and the investigator will be either $2500.00 or $3500.00.

Time is against us right now. We have 87 days to send in a rebuttal to the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) in New Delhi. The clock started ticking on Dec 3.

The most urgent need for next week is the 2500.00 3500.00 to hire the investigator. Plus we will need to pay at least 500.00 to 1000.00 to retain the lawyer.

It sounds like the lawyer will allow us the month to try and raise the additional money needed. So please pray with us that the Lord will bring in about 4000.00 or more in just a few days so we can get started.

Keep the dinner and auction in prayer. Pray that business will donate all that's needed and that lots will come! We are going to try our best to get the local news to do a short interview with us announce the dinner. Please pray! I honestly don't want to move to Nepal for two years if it's not 100% necessary. I feel like we need to continue to fight for Trek!


Here's a signature on the new petition that I thought I'd share. It pretty much tells it like it is. Please re-post on your blogs, facebook, twitter along with the petition link and the new blog with all the children waiting.

She's stuck in Nepal and it's getting cold there. Orphanage is subsisting on porridge and lentils. My daughter flew there and signed the adoption papers two months ago, but the U.S. Embassy still hasn't produced a visa for the toddler, and so the little one can't enter the U.S. SO frustrating. There are 56 American families stuck in this red tape tragedy. Go to this website to see PHOTOS of the little kids, and then click on the link there and PLEASE sign the petition. http://theywaitnepal.blogspot.com/

Forward this to everyone you knows so they will sign and forward it too. We're hoping for 10,000 signatures by the end of the week. Maybe President Obama will grant the children humanitarian relief status and issue visas for them all. At this point, it's too late to the kids to be home for Christmas or Chanukkah, but maybe we could aim to have them all home by the New Year??????

When you read the petition, you'll know what the whole story is, but essentially, the Nepal Government had declared that all these kids are "orphans available for international adoption"; but the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wanted to make sure that the children really were orphans so they took about four months to investigate all the kids' orphanage records, and then on December 15, 2010, both Departments declared that NO FRAUD, and NO CHILD TRAFFICKING was found in ANY of their investigations. Thank Goodness!!

But then they said that they want each of the adoptive parents to produce evidence confirming that NO FRAUD and NO CHILD TRAFFICKING has taken place and they've given the adoptive parents 87 days to produce that evidence. Without the confirming evidence, the Embassy will issue a denial to EVER produce a visa. So the new parents have to hire Nepali lawyers and Nepali private investigators (which costs thousands of dollars) to try and track down some police officer or passerby who found the newborn lying on the side of the road two or three years ago. It's a nightmare of frustration because Nepal, like any other third-world country, is more interested in the basic human needs of feeding and caring for the foundlings than in creating official reports and filing them in triplicate so that some U.S. official can be satisfied with a Western idea of proper papertrails years later. None of the adoptive families speaks the Nepali language, and most of them are back in the U.S., desperate to get their new children home. After paying all the normal costs of international adoptions, these investigations are draining the families terribly. Some are selling their homes rather than abandon their children. They've met the children, bonded with them, fallen in love with them, and just want to get them home to proper feeding, medical care, and LOVING FAMILIES.

My daughter has been pursuing this adoption for three years now. I was so hoping my Mom would get to meet the little girl, but, at 99 years of age, my Mom passed this August. But, my 99-year old mother-in-law is still with us and so we can still have FOUR generations of our family together, if only that toddler's visa would come through in time for Great-Grandma Mollie to meet her.

http://theywaitnepal.blogspot.com/

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

They Wait

Petition

I'm adding a new Chip In button to help with the legal fight we now find ourselves in.

Correction

I misunderstood something and need to correct it. I guess if we want to move to Nepal and start a business it would cost 25,000.00. This is NOT our intent. So disregard that. My brain is shutting down, so that's it for now.

Home Sweet Home...but for how long?

When fear shapes our lives, safety becomes our god. when safety becomes our god, we worship the risk-free life. Can the safety-lover do anything great? Can the risk-averse accomplish noble deeds? for God? for others? No.

The fear-filled cannot love deeply. Love is risky.

They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarantee of return.


The fear-filled cannot dream wildly. What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky?

The worship of safety emasculates greatness. No wonder Jesus wages such a war against fear.


{Jesus} said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hand and My feet, that it is I Myself. Luke 24:38-39

The LORD spoke his word to Abram in a vision: "Abram, don't be afraid. I will defend you, and I will give you a great reward." Genesis 15:1

"Am I a God near at hand", says the LORD, "and not a God afar off?" Jeremiah 23:23

It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

Update on orphanage. Out of the $3600.00 that was given for the children at the orphanage, we were only able to get our hands on $1200.00 while we were there. Leaving $2400.00 left to be spent on them. We took care of the needs of the baby room and purchased food, bought emergency lighting for when they don't have electricity. $500.00 was used to give to a different children's home that was in need of blankets. We also brought Maya, Trek and the orphan girl to the hospital for their checkups.

We will be going back soon and will be reassessing the needs. We plan to purchase shoes and jackets for all the children (something very needed). We know they have a huge need there, but at this point do not feel comfortable with giving cash to them. So if anyone wanted to give to help the children still can do so by contacting us (the Chip In has expired). We are looking forward to going back and blessing them in the name and love of Jesus!

Okay now that, that is out of the way let me update you on Trek and what is happening. First of all, he is doing wonderful! I know we have said it a hundred times, but we are soo thankful for PUMA and Mary and Fran and Padam and just the group of believers there! Trek is happy and getting into a good daily routine, for his playtime, eating great, napping and he sleeps great at night. Praise the Lord for a strong little man! So he's doing wonderful and we miss him terrible! We can't wait to have him in our care, which brings me to the update on his visa.

Still don't have the visa. We (group of parents & supporters) continue to send letters, make phone calls, try to get local and national attention to this issue, but still have not seen anything happen on a government level. Very frustrating! So we will continue this fight, but in the meantime we need to work towards our RFE (request for evidence). We were issued our RFE on Dec 3 (our adoption day) and have 87 days to send in a rebuttal. Up to now we had not gotten a lawyer because of two reasons....1. we truly believed that the Lord would intervene before we got to this point, 2. we don't have the money...again another reason we believed the Lord would work this out before we got to this point. But here we are and we are faced with some major decisions to make. We did contact a lawyer and she is working with lots of other Nepal families...and seems to be having success. She sent us a very encouraging email letting us know how she could help us and it was refreshing to read because of her optimism. I called the office to get the fees and about lost it. I guess I shouldn't have been shocked, but I've never needed a lawyer for anything and had no idea what kind of fees we'd be looking at. I have no idea who reads this and you may read this and think we're crazy and that her fees are fair and inexpensive....and you may be right, but we don't have a 'rainy day' account, we don't have retirement money being set aside, we don't have stocks and so on. We live week to week and that's just where the Lord has us right now and we will choose to be happy and rest in Him. So the lawyer is asking for a $6000.00 retainer. $250.00 for that is for our initial meeting to find out who to use for an investigator(an additional expense) and what our next steps would be. She needs the money ASAP! I told the office lady that we would love to have her work on our case, but we don't have the money. She said if we couldn't get the money then our only option would be to move to Nepal for the two years required. At that point we would pull our case and live in Nepal for the two years and then come home on a 'family visa' vs. 'orphan visa'. So as you can imagine my mind is racing wondering what we are suppose to do. My choice would be to not have to move, but we are willing to do whatever the Lord leads us. But if we were to move, there is still a ton that would have to happen to make that possible! We can't just leave when we have bills and things to take care of here. To work in Nepal one would have to purchase a working visa of some sort and that is $25,000.00 so if we don't have 6 thousand, how do we find 25 thousand??? Anyway...that's what is going on with the visa issue. We still pray for the Lords intervention and that we get word that the US government will just issue these and let these children come home.

God is good all the time! All the time, God is good!

Goodbye Nepal

Are you tied up in knots? "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). Strong verb there. Cast. Not place, lay or occasionally offer. Peter enlisted the same verb Gospel writers used to describe the way Jesus treated demons. He cast them out. An authoritative hand on the collar, another on the belt, and a "Don't come back". Do the same with your fears. Get serious with them. Immediately cast them upon God.

Worry is an option, not an assignment. God can lead you into a worry-free world. Be quick to pray. Focus less on the problems ahead and more on the victories behind. Do your part, and God will do His. He will guard your heart with His peace....a peace that passes understanding.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair....For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory...For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:8, 17-18

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts You. Isaiah 26:3

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

Please keep us in prayer today. It will be a hard day for us. We are leaving the hotel soon and will be bringing Trek to his temporary home. We are sad to have to leave him, but thankful the Lord has placed such wonderful people in our lives and Treks lives to help us through this. Please keep our travels in prayer as well. It's gonna be a long journey home!

We have loved our time here in Nepal. The Lord has been with us.

Goodbye for now Nepal. We WILL be back!

Last Full Day In Nepal

Feed your fears, and your faith will starve.

Feed you faith, and your fears will.

Jesus could have calmed your storm long ago. But He hasn't. Does He want to teach you a lesson? Could that lesson read something like this: "Storms are not an option, but fear is"?

God has recorded His accomplishments in Scripture. His Resume includes Red Sea opening. Lions' mouths closing. Goliath topplings. Lazarus raisings. Storm stillings and strollings.

His lesson is clear. He's the commander of every storm.

The LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. Isaiah 59:1

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Today was our last full day in Nepal. We met up with Mary and Fran and hit the streets to load them up on necessary items for Trek and Maya. That kept us busy until about 3PM. Now we are back at the hotel gearing up to pack his stuff to bring over in the morning and of course get our stuff packed up for the long trip home. As you can imagine we have mixed emotions with leaving. We can't wait to get home and see our girls and friends and family, but it's so hard leaving our son here. We are so thankful for the PUMA family. Honestly if they couldn't take care of him one of us would be staying. I could NEVER put a child back into an orphanage!

I know that doesn't sound like an exciting day, but that's about all we did. I did take pictures today for your viewing enjoyment. Note....the picture are all backwards. Not sure how to get them in order. I guess start with the pictures from the end of the day and work your way to the beginning.

The one who HATED the elevator when we first got him, now likes it!

Wanted to get a nice picture of him outside the hotel. Guess not.

Maya enjoying her pineapple pizza.

Maya loved her balloon. She kept whacking me on the head with it :)

Trek with father Christmas. Nope, didn't like that either.

The children waiting patiently for Mary and Fran to find the two missing wheels on Maya's stroller.

Maya wanted to be held by Mike all day.

Trek in the taxi.

Sunday In Nepal

I don't have a lot of time to journal this morning because this is our last full day here and there is lots to be done.

Yesterday we pretty much hung out with the girls at the house. Which every day Trek does better and better. Praising the Lord for that. We took him, Maya and another baby from the orphanage to see the doctor. Trek HATED the doctor. I thought she was really nice and was excellent with the kids, but he would tell you different. She said his lungs were clear, no ear infection and he is tiny for his age, but with good food he'll gain quickly. He's been malnourished. He weights 17.6 lbs and is 31 inches short :). Maya looks in good health too! He and Maya will be put on de-worm meds in a few days. Sounds like about all the children that come from an orphanage get them from the water.

The baby we took, we thought might have CP. She's 18 months and has never stood. Her head is the normal size for an 18 month old, but her body is the size of a 6-7 month old. The doctor said it was from not eating enough. She said unless they start feeding her more or she can be moved to a different home or someone adopts her.....
So be praying for her!

Oh yeah, we also visited some ancient place where the King lived like a couple hundred years ago. It was neat to see, but so sad....there are so many people that come here and worship gods/idols. I was able to share with Sumitra that it did break my heart because those idols and gods can't help them. I shared with her that there is only ONE LIVING GOD....JESUS! They think the cows are gods.....

He's the God of this City, Country!

Here are some pictures from our day.

What Happened To Friday?

Strangely, I have no idea. Right now it's Sunday morning and yesterday it was Trek's second birthday. We feel blessed to have been able to celebrate with him, and we believe he'll be home for his third! We started our day with breakfast here at the hotel and then headed over to the PUMA home and went to church with them. Again we were blessed to worship with them. Doug was asked to speak about 5 minutes before they got there, so it was a blessing having him share. We understood everything...cause it was in English! Doug & Jen are adopting M and she will be staying with Trek until the visas are issued.

After church we headed back to the house and had tuna sandwiches and cheese. Then it was time for the birthday party! Mike and Mary and two of the girls went to pick up 30 pizza's and a cake to feed 80! Mary opened in prayer, praying for the Doug & Jen and Mike & I and our little ones that we have to leave here for a season. She asked all the children/teens to keep us in prayer and to set a good example for them :) Each child was able to have two slices of pizza..... this is why we had lunch first. After we ate and cleaned up from the pizza the children put on a presentation for us. Oh my. It was beautiful. They sang several songs in English, had two special solos, and did a cardboard testimony. I don't think there was a dry eye in that room.
I will do my best to somehow upload videos to share. I'll get Mike on that.

After we finished with the presentation the kids sang Happy Birthday to Trek and we had cake. It was YUMMY! They had a German bakery make it. Yummo! Trek LOVED it!!

In all we had a wonderful, blessed day. One we will never forget. We took lots of video and pictures so I'll be done typing and just share pictures (we'll work on videos. If we're friends on facebook some will be there).

And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is God of judgment: blessed are all that wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18
We will wait. We will pray. We will have faith. We will believe. We will have hope.
We will have peace. We will do all these things with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Doug speaking, Padam translating.

This is the building that PUMA is either renting or has purchased. It is being used for church services and for Pastors that come to Nepal to teach the ministers here. I think I heard someone say they might start a Bible college here as well. They are still working on finishing it. Maybe CC Bangor should send a team here to help :) I know Mike would come!

Philip, Padam, M, a local chicken farmer and of course Trek.

Philip trying to get Trek to go to him.

Fran Didi

The girls home where Trek will be staying.

PIZZA!!

These photos are out of order. Sorry. He didn't scream tonight....as much. :)