Merry Christmas Haiti

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45

2010…What a year this has been! We are so very thankful that He has crossed our paths and that you are a part of our lives and His story. 2010 has revealed His story to us in ways that we pray we will never forget. This time last year we began to pray seriously about adoption, and adoption has certainly been the theme of this year. Nearly one year ago we began the process of adopting two precious girls from Haiti. Our adoption story is long and complicated and we ask for your continued prayers. Many have asked us, "Why are you doing this?" Adoption is a beautiful picture of what Christ has done for us. He paid our ransom, gave us new life, and is preparing our forever home! We don’t have to adopt, and we don’t expect our sacrifice will always feel worth the cost. Yet, how much did Christ sacrifice for our ransom? “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). Why would He leave His home in Heaven, come to earth, be born to serve and to die, just so that we can experience life? Our adoption experience has enabled us to see the true meaning of Christmas in deeper ways than ever before. We pray that we will never again take for granted the life that has been given us. We have learned more than anything this year to “wait on the Lord”. 2010 has almost come to an end and although we wish we were also at the end of our adoption journey, this reminds us that in our earthly life we will always be left longing and waiting for our forever home. We do not know the times and dates that He has set, but we are trusting in the One that knows (and is) the beginning and the end…and everything in between.

Adoption and the Gospel go hand in hand in such an unmistakable way that it is almost difficult to be part of one without the other. We praise our Lord for the many adoptions (both physical and spiritual) we have been blessed by in 2010. We cannot begin to count the opportunities to share the Gospel and the love of Christ this past year both in Haiti and at home. We have seen many of the youth we are honored to work with come to Christ this year, and many in turn leading others to Christ. What joy we have in seeing the next generation seeking and serving our Lord! Our most precious of these times has been experiencing the salvation of our own son, Ethan, who was adopted as God’s son June 25^th, 2010. We are so proud of both of our boys who are hungry to learn all they can about God’s Word and His world. They have been our biggest supporters throughout our adoption process, and we are forever grateful for the grace, love, and support we have experienced from our family and many friends. We were blessed to experience our 10^th year of marriage in 2010, and we are so grateful for the gift of each other. Most of all we are thankful for our Savior who came to earth to give us the hope of eternal life, and has blessed us with all these things. Thank you Father for giving us the One who gave it all. “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13).

Because He first loved us,

Eric, Elisabeth, Ethan, and Evan Ream (and our Elita Marguerite and Esmée in Haiti)