Meet the Helf Family

Updated September 4, 2013 to include a new t-shirt sale.

                                       

Meet the Helf family.  I "met" Brooke in an online group of adopting families.  I bought a necklace from her for my mom for Christmas.  I love her jewelry and love how hard she is working to bring her daughter home from Eastern Europe.  Unfortunately, I can't show you Reya's picture but I can tell you that this 16 month old little girl is a beauty! 

Here is what their blog has to say about the Helfs:

This is a blog about our family heeding God’s call on our lives to go to the uttermost parts of Earth from our perspective. We are documenting this journey God has placed us on to be a witness to others. Bear with us as we open our hearts to Him and show our hearts to our calling.

We are a constantly growing family of 7 living in Monroe, GA. Craig and Brooke both grew up in the eastern suburbs of Metro Atlanta. We have 4 beautiful children: Eileen (10), Merrick (6), and Adalynn or Addie (5), Karis (2) and we also have Jana (15) living with us while here on a student visa.

We are currently in the process of adopting a little girl with Down Syndrome from Eastern Europe. We can’t wait to bring this little love bug home to her brother and sisters and to shower her with love!

God has brought us through an incredible journey over the past four years both in our marriage and in our relationship with Him. He has brought Craig back to a calling God placed in his heart at the age of 17 with a focus on missions in the former Soviet Union. Through friends hosting an orphan which led to an adoption, we have hosted five, going on six, children from an orphanage in Liepaja, Latvia. This has led to prayer to seeking God’s will in adoption as well. God has called us to serve the people of Latvia – whether that means full time missions there, short term mission trips there, or being advocates for missions here, we continue to seek God’s will in our next step.

Brooke has worked very hard to raise the money needed to complete their adoption.  She also continues to generously help others along the way.  I think one of the things that I most admire about Brooke and her family is that they have walked the walk.  They have served in Eastern Europe and worked in the trenches with orphans there.  They are not just going to "rescue" a child.   They want to continue to be involved in the work that is going on there.  

Can we encourage this wonderful family?  Even if you can't make a donation, head over to their blog and leave an ENCOURAGING comment.  Adoption is hard.  It's exhausting.  Encouragement and support are crucial---even when they come from complete strangers.

If you love adoption blogs like I do, you can follow their journey  here.    

If you feel led to donate to this amazing family, you can make a tax-deductible donation here.   They have a matching grant of $500.  Any donations made through their paypal will be doubled when they reach $500!  (brooke@thehelffamily.com)

If you want to purchase a hand-knit item to help with adoption costs, you can do that on my Scarves and Skirts for Sara's Friends page.  (50% of the price of the item will go to the Helf family.)

The Helf family currently has handmade jewelry available to purchase on their facebook page or on their new website.   They are currently selling Handmade Jewelry, Metal Stamped Jewelry, Medal Stamped Key Chains, and Vinyl Lettering.  

The family is also selling these great shirts from Fund the Nations.  If you would like to purchase a shirt, you can leave a comment on their blog.  Here is what Brooke had to say about the t-shirt sale:

We have some AMAZING one of a kind t-shirts to sell that an awesome ministry helped us design. These are awesome, quality shirts and when you buy them, the proceeds go to help our adoption! "Love" is written in many different languages in red and then "Love needs no translation" in white. In the background are all the continents. We are pre-selling these shirts for $22 each. If you would like more than one, your price is $22 for the first one and $20 for each additional shirt. Please let me know what sizes you would like and I'll get you a total that you can send to PayPal. Our goal is to sell at least 25 shirts in the next 2-3 weeks. Get a great shirt and help bring Reya home at the same time! Thank you!

Can you find a way to support and encourage this great family?  They are hoping to travel in October or November to meet their daughter.