Frustrated!!!

We can afford to have 9 children.  We can feed them, clothe them, see to their medical needs.
The problem is paying for the adoption of our 9th child.

It is not by any means affordable.  We are looking at approximately $18,000 in total costs.  Home study, agency fees, medical fees, immigration fees, translation fees, orphanage donation, visa and passport, airfare, travel in country, hotel and food in country, post-placement fees. It adds up.  QUICKLY.  And this is with some of the fees being reduced for special needs adoption.

We have had 2 tag sales that raised $329
We have had private donations totalling $320
We have $455.50 in our chip-in


This leaves a long ways to go.  Today I began grant searching in earnest and it is driving me nuts. 

Some background information for anyone reading who has never adopted:  Having a home study done is VERY invasive.  Jamie and I each had to write a biography.  Our kids were questioned.  Our home was inspected.  We had CORI checks and background checks done.  We will be fingerprinted.  We have submitted tax returns and a complete breakdown of our finances.  We have given references, and proven we have jobs and will continue to have jobs.  We had physicals to show we are not about to die.  We even  proved our cat and dogs are up to date on their rabies vaccinations.
And in the end, our agency decided we are worthy.

So WHY does every grant organization out there expect us to prove all of this to them again???  All they need to know is we are Christians, we are adopting, and we need help.  They get a home study as proof that we are adopting-- just read it and they will see everything they need to know.  Why does a Christian adoption grant organization need to know my home equity, my retirement funds balance, how many bills I pay a month and how much is leftover afterwards??  Our annual income is right in the home study.

What has happened to Christian charity?  To the body of believers helping one another? 
If and when we get our tax return, we can pay for a large portion of this adoption ourselves.  But not all.  And not at the expense of having zero savings and three teens zooming towards college.

We need help, and apparently we have to bare ourselves to strangers (the grant organizations) who will decide if we are worthy and hopefully give it to us.  Not to us, but to a little girl in Estonia who desperately needs a Dad and a Mom.

We are not the only family adopting.  You can see others here , here , here , here and here .  That is a lot of families seeking help for their international adoptions. 

Now, I know the organizations need a way to decide who gets their limited funds-- again I say the home study shows income, faith, number of children in the home, and type of child being adopted.  All the family needs to add is what their adoption will be costing.  Applying for grants is just being told to prove ourselves worthy over and over again.  (Not even going into how many times we have to give our Christian testimony-- as if some of us are more saved than others.)

I had better stop now.  I should be spending my time filling in all these forms I printed out...