LATEST UPDATE: The Dewberrys are FULLY FUNDED, pending receipt of a $5K grant! Read the latest news here: http://www.tenfororphans.org/archives/605

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Taylor was born in May 2005. She is a sweet girl who is HIV+. She asks for a family so often. So many families have traveled to her orphanage, but never for her. Sadly, because of her age, she is in danger of being transferred. She is growing up so fast and ever aware that she has no family of her own. One adoptive family who visited with Taylor in April 2012 said that she was “very sweet, smart, and loved on the baby. She wanted to talk to us very badly and was learning some English. She is tall and very pretty.”

In an exciting turn of events, Joe and Nicole Dewberry recently felt God leading them to adopt Taylor! She turned 7 in May 2012, so what an amazing birthday gift for her to be FOUND! The Dewberry’s travel date is June 16th, which is coming very soon! Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of their control, they find themselves in a fundraising EMERGENCY! They need a total of $32,854.00 and only have a small portion of it. There are several reasons for the large amount of expense. Due to work obligations, Joe Dewberry has to travel to the country twice. Additionally, because their time in country is during the 2012 Euro Cup, the flight costs have doubled. With the doubled price in flights, an extra trip for Joe with train fare and travel in country, the cost has increased more than they were aware of or planned for. The cost for renting an apartment in the area has also increased to around 10 times the normal amount, and they are praying that they don’t end up with an exorbitant apartment cost during Nicole’s nearly two month stay. This possible expense has not been taken into account in their amount needed. Please pray that it is not an issue! Because their finances, including their emergency fund, have been recently expended due to other adoption expenses that sadly did not result in bringing a child home, they are trusting God to provide the funds for what He has called them to do. You can find more on the Dewberry’s story below. Please also check out this blog post by Taylor’s future aunt, Denise Collins, for more details on this family’s situation: http://onelittlestarfish.blogspot.com/2012/05/spare-change-challenge.html

About the Dewberrys:

Joe and Nicole Dewberry have always loved to surround themselves with the lost and forgotten youth. The Dewberrys have been in youth ministry and working with at-risk youth for their 13 years together. Currently, Joe and Nicole serve as volunteer Regional Directors for New Horizons for Children (NHFC), an orphan hosting ministry program. They are working with NHFC to start an outreach ministry for orphanage graduates. The goal of this ministry is to teach the orphanage graduates about Christ as well as job, life, and social skills. The ministry will also hold quarterly Christian camps for the orphanage children, the goal being to plant the seeds of Christ before they graduate. Locally, in Raleigh, NC, the Dewberry family has a passion for skateboarding, and they’ve started a skateboarding ministry called www.fallenbutsaved.com. They design and build custom Christian graphic skateboards to reach out to the Raleigh area skateboarder kids.

Joe & Nicole met their son fourteen year old Kolya over the 2010 NHFC Christmas hosting. The Dewberrys adopted their son Kolya in May/June of 2010. Nicole travels to Eastern Europe twice a year with the NHFC team. While on the fall 2011 interview trip, Nicole met a fifteen year old boy named Sergei. Being fifteen, the Christmas 2011 hosting made Sergei a “last chance” child, meaning this would be Sergei’s hosting chance to find a forever family. Joe & Nicole hosted Sergei over Christmas 2011 and returned to Eastern Europe in February 2012 to adopt him. The adoption disrupted, Sergei struggled with the perceived idea of freedom with no rules or boundaries as he was due to leave the orphanage in a few months. Sergei had also developed a relationship with a young lady, and he could not bear to leave her. At one point Sergei asked the Dewberrys to return for him, they did. Once Joe and Nicole returned, it became clear to all that Sergei was not ready to leave or could not leave without self destructing.

Why are the Dewberrys adopting again? Their plan was to adopt a girl in the US once they’d returned with Sergei. For many years, Kolya has carried a void in his heart for a younger sister. When Kolya was five, his three year old sister was adopted by an Eastern European family with no good-byes or any following contact. His older brother Dima was sent to a different orphanage. Dima ran away from this orphanage twice searching for Kolya and his sister. Dima searched for Kolya for eight years before finding him. In lieu of two self-financed international adoptions, the Dewberrys have extended their financial resources. Their intention was never to adopt in Eastern Europe again, having been emotionally and financially tapped out. The Dewberry’s adoption dossier is in Eastern Europe and is ready to go. They’ve recently completed their US home study to adopt and then they found out about Taylor. Taylor is HIV+. This time Joe and Nicole have to jump and pray that God will carry them. They know they’re called to adopt Taylor and God has made it abundantly clear. They are often reminded of the saying “if God will lead you to it he will lead you through it” and that God doesn’t make mistakes. It was no mistake God leading them to Taylor. With the dossier being accepted in country, the majority of the paper work hurdles have already been cleared and the Dewberrys could travel on short notice, giving Taylor her forever family.

The Dewberrys thank you for prayers and any donations as you feel called to help them bring their girl home. Please visit their blog at http://www.andthisonematters.blogspot.com