SHORT TERM MISSIONARIES
BEN & COURTNEY SMITH
When William was 1 ½ years old, his parents abandoned him in a banana field to die. After being notified, William’s Grandmother watched after him, assuming that he would, in fact, die; however, this was not the case. In 2008, Ben and I went to Uganda and immediately noticed William. Physically, he looked so much worse off than many of the other children. From that point, we decided to sponsor him to go to school. We built a relationship with him between then and now, and couldn’t imagine the gift that was awaiting us this last August. Before leaving this past summer, to spend a month in Uganda, we had a growing concern for the well being of William if anything was to happen to his grandmother. As we arrived in Uganda, we learned that William’s Grandmother was having the same concern, as her health was getting increasingly worse.
The family was able to contact William’s birthfather and the father responded with that saying he left William to die at 1 ½ and if William was returned to him, he would be dead within a week. We continued to pray over the situation and felt God continually putting on our hearts that He was only asking us to say yes. The morning of August 15th, Pastor Russ and Pastor Steve went with us to meet with William’s Grandmother, Aunt, and Uncle, whom is also the local chairman of the village.
Nervously, we asked to adopt William and they were filled with joy as they gave us their full consent to adopt William. Our hearts are filled with complete humility and joy. It’s hard to believe that God would find us even close to worthy to watch over his precious child. We are praying daily for an expedient court process, as well as favor from a judge. We are saying yes, yet know that this process is way beyond our ability. We need’s God’s complete favor and we need help from our friends and family. We are asking the church to stand behind us in the process and invest in this process and our family. We need support financially, emotionally and spiritually. We ask that you pray for this process daily that we may be able to take William home to the states with us as soon as possible. We can’t wait for William to join us in missions and serving the village of Toggo. To support us financially please click on the link. Thank you for your partnership.
CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE BEN AND COURTNEY SMITH - UGANDA ADOPTION FUND
Matt & Tiffany Loeffler