The Setliffe Family

El Salvador!!!

Hey friends! As most of you know, Matt & I feel very called to adoption & know that God is calling us to enlarge our family in this special way. We have been praying about this for years & feel like God is telling us to "go"....to start the process. We turned in a pre-application with an agency to hopefully adopt from Colombia, but after lots of factors (unrest in the country, 8 weeks of required stay in the country, a waiting list, not hearing back from the agency, etc..) we feel like God is closing that door. So after lots of prayer & talking we still feel like God is calling us to adopt a hispanic child. I have had such a love and passion for hispanic culture for most of my life & have always had a heart for hispanic people. I can't tell you how excited I am that God is leading us in this direction!! Matt is like--I just want a kid--I don't care where they're from :)
So...after doing some more research we have decided to go with America World Adoption Agency. I have been to 2 (or maybe more--I can't remember!!) of their seminars over the last 2 years. I know that they are a godly ministry that reaches out to the orphans of the world, that they have integrity & that people that have used them have great things to say. However, until recently, they only adopted out of China (we're not old enough) and Russia (never have felt led towards that country) and they were very expensive. So I had just kind of discounted them. But the other night I just decided to look at their website again & was so thrilled to see that they had just added a program to El Salvador!!! I was so thrilled, but a little hesitant, b/c I know that they are more expensive than other agencies. But after doing some research I found out that they are actually cheaper than the Colombia program we were looking into. Praise God!! So after prayer & lots of talking we feel confidant that this is what we're supposed to pursue!!
So last night I filled out an application, sent in a picture, sent a letter of intent, and money for the application fee! We will hear back from A.W in the next 10 days to find out if we've been accepted into their program. I can't even tell you how excited we are about this. All we can say is that we know that by pursuing adoption we are in the center of God's will for our family & it feels so refreshing. Does that make sense? We need so much prayer in all of this, so we ask you to add us to your prayer lists!! You are our greatest encouragement & support & we desperately need you during this time. Here are some things that you can begin praying about:

* That if it's God's will to go through El Salvador, that we will be accepted

* That nothing will hinder our acceptance into the program (specifically Matt's crohn's and the length of our marriage)

* That God will begin, even now, to provide the funding that we need to complete this process (around $15,000)

* For the birthmother of our baby. Our baby is probably not even conceived yet, so we know that this woman will be going through difficult times in the coming days. Cover her with prayer that she will have faith to keep this baby & strength to make the most loving decision she could ever make by giving her baby a better life through adoption

* For Matt & I's marriage & communication during this process that it will be strong, edifying and Christ-like.

Thank you so much for your prayers!! We love you all so much & are just so excited about this new door that God is opening! Pray especially for the next 10 days as we wait for word about our acceptance!! We love you!