It feels like yesterday, really. It was 2007 and we had gathered around our dining room table to share hearts in our newly formed home church. We hadn’t known Troy and Tana for very long, but felt as though we had. Kindred hearts and a friendship that would grow over the years. We knew that God had brought very special people into our lives.
And He did!
We shared that day about our recent commitment to adopt a young girl who had experienced a disrupted adoption in China, had many special needs, and had run out of time to find another family. We shared our excitement, our fears, our many failings, weaknesses and inadequacies for the task ahead, and our willingness to follow God into the hard places.
And a prophetic declaration was spoken into the heavens that day.
“Some day we will adopt a daughter,” Tana said.
Many years have passed since that day in 2007. So many times I have advocated for children here and Tana has prayed and asked God faithfully whether this one or that one were meant to be theirs. The answer has always been no.
Until…
I shared the desperate need of one of the neediest children I have ever advocated for here. Precious Mabel is living on borrowed time in Uganda. Her future unknown. Her health declining every day…
…her only hope-a family.
And a new heart in America. Mabel needs a heart transplant.
Mabel on the right with a cardiologist who examined her a few years ago.
Without any hesitation my friend and her amazing husband took the biggest leap of faith of their lives and headed into the unknown-to rescue a teenager whose days on this earth are held by the Almighty Father. Every breathe in His hands. Troy and Tana have been working tirelessly to get all of the paperwork completed, and with the help of my friends at Pure and Faultless and an army of others who have rallied, have sped through the process to bring Mabel home.
Last week we heard that Mabel’s health is extremely fragile. She is still hanging on but desperately needs the medical attention that she can only get in the U.S. She is currently in the hospital and, thankfully, is stable, but every day matters when the heart is failing. So very painful for a waiting family when you simply cannot make the process move any faster than the system dictates. Tana shared on her blog last week, “Mabel is not doing well, friends. She is in the hospital and she is alone. She is 14, facing the end stages of heart failure and there is no mama by her side, gently rubbing her forehead and strongly whispering, “Everything is going to be alright baby girl” THAT KILLS ME! No child should have to deal with this kind of diagnosis and certainly not alone.”
Mabel just last week-wearing the necklace that Tana sent her. Weak and extremely frail, she’s holding on.
The Sykes’ are ready to travel just as soon as they are given the green light-prayerfully in the next few days.
We’re trusting our God in heaven for a miracle for Mabel-a new heart and a long, amazing life with a family who already adore her. Mabel’s adoption has been expedited and we long to lift the financial burden that Tana and Troy are carrying as they plan to travel to Uganda to bring Mabel home. Finances should truly be the last of their concerns right now! Bringing Mabel home and getting her the life-saving medical attention she so urgently needs should be the only concern on their hearts.
I cannot tell you how many times people say to us, “We don’t feel called to adopt, but we would love to help in some way. How can we make a difference in the life of an orphan?”
THIS! This is a beautiful, tangible way that you and I can be the hands and feet of Jesus to a child in need. This is how we can care for the orphan when we don’t feel called (or aren’t in a season of life) to go ourselves. This is sowing such precious seed to help a girl who has absolutely no hope in her home country to have a chance at survival.
Would you please prayerfully consider helping the Sykes family? I know it would mean the absolute world to this courageous family who has stepped out in selfless faith. Of course, it’s a very scary journey and few are called to walk it. But they are! They have embraced every step and are leaving the outcome in the hands of the One who holds all things. How blessed we are to call them friends!
Donations to Mabel’s adoption can be made by clicking on this link. They currently need $35K to complete the adoption.
Donations are tax deductible and 100% of the funds donated will go to Mabel’s adoption expenses. No percentage is withheld.
Thank you, friends. We are so, so thankful for the glorious body of Christ who always rises up when there is a need. They care. They love deeply. They pray. They go. And they give sacrificially. I love the mighty army of God!
You can follow along on Tana’s blog RIGHT HERE.
Thank you, thank you for standing with us as we trust God for a miracle for this precious girl. We believe that where two or more are gathered, He is there. We believe in miracles!