Why Haiti? Why not domestic?

This is the question I am asked the most, and it's one I had to answer for myself early in this process. Even a trouble-free international adoption is infinitely more expensive and time-consuming than a domestic adoption. Why not skip those hassles and open our home to a child from the US?
The short and honest answer is: Our hearts and our faith are leading us to Haiti. Everything else I write is an attempt to substantiate and rationalize these emotional, intangible factors. This is a far cry from the research and numbers-driven decision to open a restaurant, but it is a motive similar to what led Jennifer and I to get engaged at 19 and married at age 20. The greater success of our marriage relative to our business gives me comfort in making this decision :)
Our decision to adopt from Haiti is basically driven by the understanding that, if no one adopts a child from Haiti, they have no opportunity to better their lives. No education, no employment, no reliable food source, no clean water. Nothing. We have great compassion for US orphans (any orphan, for that matter), but our hearts are leading us to Haiti, and that's where we're going.

If you pray for our adoption, please pray specifically for:
1. Our children. The kids that God has for us are in Haiti! I would certainly pray for your children if they lived in Haiti! Please pray for mine :)
2. PreparIng for our trip to Haiti May 28 Jennifer and I are working diligently to complete the US int'l adoption process and to gather the supplies we will take to Haiti. Haiti will test our physical, emotional, and spiritual strength. Every personal account of Haiti has been foreboding: Don't go to Haiti unless God sends you there.
3. The big unknown is of course funding, but I know God would not lead us begin this process if he wasn't going to enable us to finish it.

Thanks for your prayers

Adoption Progress

We mailed off our passport applications two weeks ago, we've completed three separate levels of background checks, child abuse/neglect background checks in two states, had our home inspected for two hours by a social worker, and accidentally overdrafted our checking TWICE because of adoption expenses.

I'm writing all this down for posterity so that our children can read it one day when they choose our nursing home. Adopting internationally is easily more complex than opening a business, but we're betting the farm that the return on investment will be even better.

We don't know our children's names or faces yet, but I have no trouble praying for them. FUTURE MCGEEs: We love you, and we are fighting for you, and I can't wait to meet you.

Trip to Haiti Scheduled (Written March 1, 2010)

We'll travel to the orphanage in Haiti May 29 to June 5. Our church had originally planned a trip for February, but they rescheduled because of the hurricane. Traveling to the orphanage to meet my children is a required part of the process. It's surreal to consider that "my children" are living in Haiti right now, but I expect it will become very real when I see them, hold them, and then have to leave them in Haiti while we come back home and continue to work through the adoption process.

I'm meeting with Adoption Homestudy Services today to learn more about the required class. The home study class is required of any family that adopts, whether domestic or international.

There are still a boatload of unresolved issues standing between us and our adopted family, but I continually am reminded that God wouldn't lead us to do something unless he is going to work out the details.

Please pray for us and our as yet unknown children :)

We're Adopting (Written February 26, 2010)

I've been putting off making this decision public, but this week we are passing the "point of no return" I have been waiting for.

Jen and I are beginning the process to adopt 1-2 young children from Haiti. They're at an orphanage that our church has supported for several years, and we expect to travel to Haiti this summer to meet them and spend time working in the orphanage.

We still have a LOT of unanswered questions and unresolved hurdles, but I am confident that God has prepared us for this opportunity. If I believe this is what God wants us to do, then I cannot allow those questions to stop me from moving forward -- I'm just taking my questions with me as I walk forward in faith.

Our immediate goals are:
- Completing the required Adoption Homestudy class
- Getting our passports so we can travel to Haiti this summer to meet the kids
- Funding this process. Cost estimates range from less than $10k total to as much as $30k. The biggest determining factor is how long the process takes, and the length of the process is determined largely by the Haitian government's cooperation. Since Haiti is currently in anarchy, this is the single biggest unknown.

In spite of these challenges, we're moving forward. I don't believe God would lead us to adopt these children without faithfully blazing a trail, we just can't see the path yet.

We sincerely request your prayers.

Andy McGee