ADOPTION ANNOUNCEMENT

Dearest sweetest Rachel Rose,

For many years we prayed for you.  Would it be possible that some day the Lord would bring us a child to adopt into our forever family? Several times we almost started the adoption process, but sensed God asking us to wait.  And then during the actual adoption process there were tears over the numerous paperwork delays. Your big brothers and sister felt like they were waiting “forever” for a baby sister! 

And now as we hold you in our arms, we are so thankful for each and every single delay that happened.  Because of those delays - we were the family who got to be assigned to receive YOU.  YOU were the exact child God had picked out for our family.  Since before time began, it was in His plan that YOU, Rachel Rose, would be born in Ethiopia and then adopted into our Halseth family.  How did we get to be so blessed?  The word “thankful” hardly begins to describe the depth of our gratitude to have YOU as our daughter.

The Hebrew meaning of RACHEL is “God’s Gentle Little Lamb, Innocent before God.” Here is one verse associated the name Rachel:

“He tends his flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs in his arms, and carries them close to his heart; He gently leads those that have young.”   Isaiah 40:11

The last two letters of Rachel also have meaning. "EL" is another name used for God in the Bible, meaning "mighty, strong, prominent." A ROSE is seen as a symbol of love and beauty.  Rose is also the past tense of 'rise'.  When we met you, you were living in the city of Addis Ababa which means, “New Flower.” The Bible talks of the Rose of Sharon, and so you are also a namesake to your Grandma Sharon. 

Rachel, you are our sweet, gentle little lamb.  You are innocent before God.  You are definitely lovely and beautiful.  When we met you Rachel, you were in a critical medical condition.  God rescued you and breathed new life into you.  He has a plan and a purpose for your life. We know this full well. May your heart stay soft and tender before the God who loves us all, more than we can know or imagine. May He be mighty and prominent in your life as you arise in His strength.

 Love, Mommy and Daddy

PRAYING RACHEL ROSE HOME!

PRAISE GOD! We are SO thrilled to share our exciting news! Matt and Jenni fly to Ethiopia July 17th!!! Our future adopted daughter is 4 months old and her name will be Rachel Rose.

THE ADOPTION PROCESS
We need to pass two more levels before we can bring our Rachel Rose home to the USA:

Ethiopian Federal Court- pray we pass on 7/22/11.
US Embassy in Ethiopia - pray we pass by 8/15/11.

As soon as we pass ET Fed. court, we are able to take custody of Rachel within Ethiopia; while we await passing US Embassy. Matt returns 8/2. Jenni has an open-ended ticket and is going to try to stay in Ethiopia long enough to be able to bring Rachel home for good, without putting her back in the orphanage. Otherwise Jenni will need to make a second ET trip to bring Rachel home.

PLEASE PRAY
Passing through the adoption process quickly/smoothly.
Rachel to be healthy and loved-on in the orphanage; also for protection against malnutrition, parasites, etc.
Nathan, Abby and Joshua as we are separated from them.
Safety in our international and in-country transport and accommodations. Also protection for our health.
Praise God for provision for our adoption expenses.  

MINISTRY UPDATE
Matt loved leading the Barnabas team at training camp in June! We are excited about progress on the new training camp building project Matt is overseeing – the building shell is now complete! Pray for the 9 Royal Servants teams serving around the globe.

PRAYING RACHEL ROSE HOME!!

“God places the lonely in families...” Psalm 68:6

We have our long awaited referral for a beautiful Ethiopian baby girl!  Rachel Rose is two months old. Join us in praying:

For loving care at her Ethiopian orphanage.
For favor to quickly pass through both the Ethiopian court system and the US Embassy in Ethiopia.  
That we can travel to Ethiopia by August 1.

Wow, we are so excited! Praise God! We’re thankful for how we have been blessed through donations, fundraisers, and a grant. More than half of our adoption financial need has been provided.  We are praying God will provide the remaining $13,000 needed.  

GOD’S PLANS ARE ALWAYS BEST!

The past few months have been very busy for us as we have been working out all our plans for the summer. However, we have learned long ago that “our plans” are not always “Gods plans,” and that His plan is always best! The verse that comes to mind is: “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”  (Prov. 16:9 NLT)

 Please be in prayer for our work on the development of the new Training Camp, for our role as the Barnabas team leader and for our Ethiopia adoption. We know God has our best in mind as He determines our steps for this summer. We are grateful to serve Him and can’t wait to see all His plans unfold!

LEADING THE BARNABAS TEAM (AT TRAINING CAMP)

Because the new Wisconsin training camp site is not yet available this summer, Royal Servants will hold training camp one last summer in Lewistown, Illinois. In addition to managing the Building Project in Wisconsin, I will also be leading the “Barnabas Team” in Illinois for most of June.

One of the things that speaks volumes to me about Royal Servants is how many alumni students we have that come back year after year. The Barnabas Team is one of our student alumni teams which serves at Training Camp only.  The Barnabas team members help facilitate the smooth operation of training camp for all our international mission teams that prepare for overseas ministry.

We are very excited to be serving our student missionaries and alumni students by leading the Barnabas team at Training Camp this summer!

BREAKING NEW GROUND (NEW SUMMER PLANS)

As you know, for the past several months I have been the Building Project Manager on the new training and administrative building Royal Servants is putting up at the new missions training camp, in Wisconsin. Last week our director asked me to remain in the US this summer in order to continue overseeing this WI building project. Another experienced team leader has been re-assigned to take my place as the Italy mission team leader.

 We had hoped to have the building completed enough to use by June 1st this year for training camp.  However, unexpected delays (especially the wet weather) have pushed construction back.  As a result, there is a huge need for someone to be here in the US (and not have all the staff overseas) while the building project progresses.  So this summer I will be spending a fair amount of time in WI in order to continue overseeing construction.

 I am definitely going to miss leading an international missions team this summer.  At the same time, I sense a specific calling this summer.  It is an exciting opportunity to be able to use my construction skills and education to strategically serve our ministry in the development of the long-term permanent missions training camp site.

PROJECT MANAGER FOR NEW ADMINISTRATION/TRAINING FACILITY

I have the opportunity to put my Architectural / Construction education and work experience (prior to ministry career) to work on a new project this spring – 2011. Our Director has asked me to be the Project Manager for building the new Administrative/Training Facility at our new Royal Servants Training Camp in Portage, Wisconsin. What does that mean? I will be drawing up plans, putting together specs on materials, organizing work crews, and collecting bids from sub contractors. This will save the ministry thousands of dollars from hiring a general contractor. I am excited about using these gifts and skills to advance God’s Kingdom. Our goal is to break ground this spring but there is much to do! Please pray for me as I diligently take on this huge project over the coming months.