TREASU(RED)

I just had to share... this is the first outfit we have bought for Cooper. Isn't it perfect? Ahhhhhh, I can't wait to see it on him!

I have heard from my agency that we are next on the list for an infant boy referral! Our agency owner, Shimeliss is on his way to Ethiopia to do his regular visit and find referrals. I should have news soon.

LORD, BRING HIM TO US!

Moral Of The Story

As you know, Jeff has been called to go to Niger, Africa to do missions. I have never really felt called to go because I wanted to focus on Perm and Ethiopia. I politely say “NO” when people from our church ask me if I plan on going. I would tell them, I plan on going to Africa next year, but that is to pick up my baby in Ethiopia.
So the other day I am driving in my car and minding my own business when God talks to my heart and says that I should get involved with a vaccination clinic that my church does in Niger! Whaaaaaa? I reminded God that the next trip was planned for June and I was keeping my schedule open for Ethiopia and Perm…. And that was that. He didn’t bring it up again.
Here is the deal. I used to work for one of my closest friends and we would go all over the country doing blood draws and vaccination clinics, flu shots, etc. So when they started planning this venture in Africa they thought of us. My friend’s husband is South African and she has no intention of going to Africa any more than she has to. "Would I be interested?" they asked. Hmmm?
So the other day we had a West Africa Mission meeting at my house. I really love the couple who started the West Africa stuff at out church, they are at our house and she mentions again that I should go with her on the next vaccination team. It is tempting because I think it would be so fun to go with her, but I quickly answer with “I can’t plan anything for the summer right now until I know more about our plans for the adoption.” Her response was a big smile and “Oh, I am going in May now.” …………..I could hear God laughing.
So, now I am headed to Niger, Africa in May to assist in giving children a meningitis vaccine. The last time our church did this they vaccinated 4,300 children!
Moral of the story; God doesn’t take NO for an answer.

Check out: http://www.gowestafrica.org/

Shock to the heart.............

This past weekend Jeff and I were invited to do a Missions Conference with an IMB (International Mission Board) member. His name was Randy Newbury and he was very interesting. He worked in the field in Brazil for 15 years as a missionairy.

He shared lots of cool facts and stories that you never hear anywhere else. I wanted to share this story with you. (Some of the details are left out because these particular missionairies were serving in a hostile country where missionairies are not allowed.)

This family of missionairies are driving one day and pull into a gas station to fill up before a long drive. When they pull in they notice a man standing next to a pump. The man is holding an automatic weapon and is wearing what looks like a soldiers uniform. There is no car that might belong to him in sight. The man is standing at attention, which is strange, especially since he is alone.

The family fills up with gas and drives away. As they are leaving the wife says to her husband "I really feel like God is telling me that we are supposed to stop and tell that man that God loves him." The husband smirks since this is an offense punishable by death in this county. He tells her "Did you see that gun? Not a chance".

They continue down the road for a few miles before the woman approaches the subject again. "I just really think God is telling us to go back and talk with him" she tells her husband. " No, we have our kids with us, it is not safe; we aren't going back" he tells her again.

Finally the woman prays out loud saying "God, I ask you to put the blood of that man on my husbands hands instead of mine because I wanted to go back and he wouldn't." Talk about a guilt trip! So finally the husband gives in and turns the car around. He agrees to talk to the man if he is still at the gas station.

As the couple pulls back into the station, they see the man still standing at attention, eyes fixed in the distance. The husband musters up his courage and gets out of the car. He walks up to the man and hesitantly says "Sir, forgive me if I offend you but I feel that the God that I serve has asked me to tell you that He loves you." The man who is dressed like a soldier puts his head down, as if to ignore the man. Then something strange happened. He looked up into the missionairies eyes and said, "Two days ago I cried out and asked the One True God to reveal Himself to me. I heard him speak to my heart and tell me that if I would come to this exact place on this day and wait, He would send His messenger here to tell me about Him. Are you that man?"

That story sent a jolt through my heart. I had goose bumps. I wondered how many oppertunities I had ignored to be the answer to prayer. What if that family hadn't gone back? What if the next time God asks me to do something that is scary, I chicken out? Will I be brave enough to respond?

Quieting the flesh:

The battle inside is always raging. I want to get out my calendar and have a sit down with God; explain why I need Him to get on the ball and have such-and-such done by such-and-such day. I want to explain to God that if my Ethiopian child is abandoned rather than being dropped off at an orphanage, I might have to wait longer to adopt him. If that happens it might interfere with my plans to go on mission in Russia later this year. I want to tell him that adoption makes planning hard. As if he doesn't already know all of this!

With adoption most of your time is spent filling out paperwork or chasing down old personal information, trying to find a stranger that will be willing to testify that the information is true, etc. You do all of this to hurry up and wait. To wait on a third-world government to fit you into a schedule that they do not keep themselves. To wait for a child to be abandoned by their mother or loose their parents to AIDS. How sadly maddening because the true tragedy gets overlooked because of my need to hurry God.

For some strange reason, I really need to be in control of my plans. I need to be in the driver's seat when it comes to when and where I'll be. How annoying is it to realize that I am not in control of that....ever? It makes me anxious and panicky just to think it.
So, how do I combat this? How do I fight this battle? The answer is......I don't. I have to sit down with God and ask him to do it for me. I have to quiet my flesh so that God can give my spirit peace.


"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

There is No Me Withouth You

I found this site on another blog that belongs to a woman in my adoption group:


http://www.thereisnomewithoutyou.com/the_foster_mother


Please, please, please read it. AMAZING!

Information on Perm, Russia

Yesterday a friend of mine from my adoption group asked me where Perm was. So I started doing some digging and found a really informative website: http://www.ultratourism.com/perm.php . Here are a few things it had to say about Perm:


Perm is the most Eastern city of Europe, and therefore its province is often referred to as Eurasia. Having a population of 1.2 million, Perm' is the 6th largest city in Russia and the second largest in the Urals. The city was formerly called Molotov, after the minister of foreign affairs during Joseph Stalin's ruling. Perm stretches 65kms along the impressive Kama River - Europe's 4th largest river by length. The city is the doorway from Europe to Asia and to Siberia in particular.


My friend, Brad Horne says there is a lot of outdoor adventure stuff like hiking, river rafting, backpacking, camping. It sounds like a blast. We would like to eventually take a group of American college students and meet up with Russian students to camp out. We want to give Christian kids an oppertunity to share their faith with non-believers. The Russian youth is so curious about American kids and Americans like-wise. We may take a trip over there later this year just to scope out cool places and meet some new kids.

I will definitely fill you guys in when I know more, if you have time, check out the website. I will add it to my links list.

Our First Post

Hi guys!
I decided to set up a blog so that our friends and family can know what is going on with us and our global adventures! We are Jeff (39), Jaclyn (28) and Aiden (8) Wilkinson.
We are in the process of an adoption from Ethiopia, and planning mission trips to Niger, West Africa and Perm, Russia. We hope to keep everyone posted about our adventures so that you can pray, laugh, and learn with us. Here are the details on each event this far:

Cooper Wilkinson will hopefully be joining us sometime this summer from his homeland of Ethiopia. We are working with an agency called Hope Adoption Agency. http://www.hopeadoptionagency.org/ Hope is AMAZING! They are based out of St. Louis, MO but the Hope Family spans the US. We don't have a referral ( when they have a child that matches your age and gender request you get a picture and the history of a child, this is known as a referral) yet but once we do, you will all know about it! For those of you familiar with the adoption process we are finishing up our homestudy and waiting on the completion of our documents so that we can send our dossier to Ethiopia. Keep all of this in your prayers for us!!

Now on to Niger. Jeff will be leaving at the beginning of April to head up a team going over to West Africa from our church. The team will be comprised of our Music Minister, his wife, our silly friend Tim Feldman, and about six others from our church that are part of the music and drama teams. Jeff is in charge of leading them down the Mehana Road, a dirt road about 45 miles long with 42-48 villages along it, many of which have never heard the name Jesus nor seen a white person. Please pray for these people known as the "Songhai"; not only that they would learn of their salvation but also because Jeff could be the first white person they meet.... Now that is just plain scary! :) Here is a picture of Jeff in Niger in June 2007:

Jeff, Lawaly, and Allen on Mehana Road

Jeff is so excited to go back and see his friend Lawaly. Lawaly is now employed by our church to disciple villagers who have accepted Christ. He is a huge fan of Jeff's as well.

We don't know alot about our plans for Russia yet but here is the history of our involvement. Back in 2005 I went on a trip with our church to Dniperopetrovsk, Ukraine to help out some missionairies stationed there. They are the Hornes, Brad (dad), Jeanine (mom), and their four daughters Sarah, Emily, Allissa, and Jenna (listed oldest to youngest). We became friends while I was there and in 2006 Jeff went on a similar trip; hanging out with university students and witnessing to them about our life in Christ. In March of 2007 we stepped out in faith with our friend Blake Alldredge ( one of Jeff's fellow Aggies...WHOOP! and also a really good guy) who had been with each of us on our past trips and decided to do a two man and one woman mission trip back to our beloved Dniper because we had an idea then that the Horne's would be heading on to Russia as soon as they could. Now we are making plans to do a summer trip to Perm, which is about 100 miles south of the Siberian border in Eastern Russia. Yikes, right? We plan on eventually doing a hiking, camping, river rafting adventure that will include Russian and American kids. Here is a picture of us with the Horne family from our last trip to Dniper: