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Mama No Leave

May 9, 2013 By 6 Comments

RaeAn

The last three weeks have been very challenging with RaeAn. We think it started when RaeAn’s “baby baba” finally went bad and we stopped her bottle three times a day. For the first week after she “quit” she just wasn’t her sweet, normal self. She started to have more temper tantrums, more anger and exhibit extreme frustration with an increasing separation anxiety. Her latest phrase is:

Mama No Leave!

She found the story in her children’s Bible where Moses’ mother had to put her baby in the river and got very upset saying, “Mama sad, Mama sad.”

While watching a Winnie the Pooh video where the Mama Elephant lost her baby, RaeAn got so upset at the story that she had to turn it off.

Yesterday she brought in a big stuffed rabbit and a little stuffed rabbit and said, “Mama Rabbit, Baby Rabbit. Mama no leave.”

Since the day RaeAn went to live with her foster mother after she was found at the orphanage until recently she’s been on a bottle three times a day. We wonder if the loss of this comfort that she’s had these past few years has triggered this increased sense of anxiety and fear that Christine is going to leave.

This week is much better than the first but she still cries and asks for her “baby baba” sometimes. Even toddlers mourn and experience the feelings of loss. And RaeAn has experienced more lost than most at her age.

Join us as we pray for RaeAn, that God will comfort her heart and let her know that truly, Mama No Leave. Even more so, God No Leave. Pray also for Christine, she’s exhausted…

Thank you again for your prayers for our family, life and ministry this week in Rwanda. God is listening and He is answering!

Filed Under: Christine, Murphy, Pictures, Prayer Needs, RaeAn Li

Still the Light

December 21, 2012 By

Crowson Xmas in Rwanda 2012

Merry Christmas from Rwanda! We’re enjoying having my mother, Judith, and my Aunt Rosanne with us this Holiday Season. This year, we have a special guest as you can see in the picture above:) As we celebrate the birth of Jesus in Rwanda, we are reminded that He is the Light and the great Healer. There is evil and darkness in this world which seeks to destroy the beauty of all that God created. But Jesus’ birth opened the door for healing, re-creation and victory over the darkness. We celebrate the hope of new creation this season as we remember the love that God lavished upon us in Christ.

We were encouraged by the following story and thought we would share. Blessings to all this Christmas Season!

In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT

T’was eleven days before Christmas, around 9:38
when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven’s gate.
their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.
they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.
they were filled with such joy, they didn’t know what to say.
they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day. ”where are we?” asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.
“this is heaven.” declared a small boy. “we’re spending Christmas at God’s house.”
when what to their wondering eyes did appear,
but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.
He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.
then He opened His arms and He called them by name.
and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring
those children all flew into the arms of their King
and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
one small girl turned and looked at Jesus’ face.
and as if He could read all the questions she had
He gently whispered to her, “I’ll take care of mom and dad.”
then He looked down on earth, the world far below
He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe
then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,
“Let My power and presence re-enter this land!”
“may this country be delivered from the hands of fools”
“I’m taking back my nation. I’m taking back my schools!”
then He and the children stood up without a sound.
“come now my children, let me show you around.”
excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.
all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.
and I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
“in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT.”

Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, Pennsylvania

Filed Under: Christine, Crowsons, Murphy, Pictures, RaeAn Li, Stephen & Matthew

Filled with Gratitude

December 16, 2012 By

Happy Holidays from Rwanda! Our family is so thankful for your continued prayers for us these past few months as we settled into our new home and life in Musanze. We prayed for years that God would prepare us to live and serve in this valley and these past few months we’ve experienced evidence of his going before us to prepare the way. Be sure to see the slideshow below with lots of pictures!

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Packing up in Kigali...

On August 3, we finished packing our things in Kigali in the morning, traveled to Musanze and then unloaded the truck in the afternoon. We’re only two hours north of where we were in Kigali, but moving a family was just as challenging! I forgot about all of the physical and emotional stress that this kind of transition brings on. Now, months later, we are “recovered” and getting used to our new life here.

Crowsons in Musanze - Fall 2012We’re thankful for our new landlord, Jean Baptist Twahirwa, who went far beyond the call of duty to prepare a special place for our family to live. He’s not just a landlord, but a new friend. We’ve already been blessed with a meal at his home and were introduced to many of his family members.

We’re thankful for Eliezer and Seraphine and their 9 kids! (pictured in the middle below to the right of Nsenga and his family) Eliezer is my language helper and Seraphine helps Christine in our home. They quickly began introducing us to their friends and neighbors and have been a “key” that is helping us open many doors of opportunity for friendships in our community.

Crowsons in Musanze - Fall 2012We’re thankful for Nsenga who watches out for our home, spends a lot of time teaching RaeAn Kinyarwanda and introducing her to the kids in our community (pictured far left). He lives 2 hours away by bicycle on the side of Muhabura volcano (extinct :-) ). We were blessed last month to visit his family “on the mountain” and meet his mother, brother and grandparents.

We’re thankful to be with the Miller family (pictured below right) whom we’ve known for almost 12 years now. The Millers worked among the Kabiye people of northern Togo while we worked with the Watchi people in the south. Over the years our paths crossed many times as country teammates. Now we’re excited to be working with them together in the same place! They have four children, Abby, Aiden, Asher and Anna Marie.

Crowsons in Musanze - Fall 2012We’re thankful to have Julie Reagan and Meredith Gravatte here as teammates and teachers. Together, with the Millers, we created the Virunga Valley Christian Academy where the kids from our two families are going to school. Julie and Meredith are doing a great job providing a challenging and supportive learning environment. Our school is already growing as we are planning to add two more students and another teacher in January. At that time the school will have seven grade levels! A special thank you to the churches and friends that support our families in this way!

crowsons-in-musanze-fall-2012-20We’re thankful for new partnerships between ATN-Rwanda and two schools in our community, Regina Pacis and Group Scholare Cyabagarura. Christine is pictured left with Claudette teaching English to preschoolers at Regina Pacis. We prayed for open doors where we could serve the communities here and God led us to these two schools. Not only are we finding opportunities to serve, we are getting to know and are becoming a part of the communities and families that the schools serve.

As we visit and become friends with more and more families here in Musanze, we continue to pray that God will lead us to “families of peace” who are hungry for spiritual transformation in their homes, communities and nation. To find these families, we are serving in every opportunity the Lord gives us, investing in new friendships in our community, prayer walking through Musanze’s neighborhoods and doing our best to be salt and light everywhere we go and with everyone we meet.

Thank you for praying so faithfully for us. God is listening and He is answering. May our Holiday Season be filled with joy and thanksgiving as we remember the abundant love our Creator has lavished upon us!

Filed Under: Christine, Crowsons, Missions, Murphy, Pictures, Prayer, Prayer Answers, Prayer Needs, RaeAn Li, Rwanda, Stephen & Matthew

China Adoption: Adopted Again!

May 24, 2012 By

 

On October 11th, RaeAn was granted her U.S. Certificate of Citizenship (COC) and her immigration to the United States was complete! We thank God for this answered prayer and are so thankful that this immigration journey finally came to a wonderful close! After her certificate was presented to us I was able to ask the USCIS agent about the upcoming changes that we had been hearing about for so long (the ones that caused us so much anxiety!) She said that there were going to be changes and in fact we were one of the last families to be able to process their N600K (application for Certificate of Citizenship for a citizen living abroad) at their office in Honolulu! That month, October, was going to be the last month that they would be allowed to accept and process applications. When I think about the providential timing and answered prayers to so many specific dates, [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Adoption, Prayer, Prayer Answers, RaeAn Li

China Adoption: USCIS Appointment

October 7, 2011 By

Last Wednesday (September 28, 2011), our guide delivered Raean’s US Passport with her IR3 Immigrant visa to our hotel. On Thursday morning we set off on our journey to Honolulu, Hawaii via Seoul, Korea. The journey was long and wore us out! I do want to say though that in my last 20 years of international travel I have never experienced better customer service than with Korean Airlines! I wish they flew to Africa from the States! When Stephen was throwing up during the night due to motion sickness they took care of our every need! They didn’t treat us as “customers” but as friends. So thankful for their service, care and attention! They also took great care of Raean and made sure we had bassinet seats and everything else we needed to take care of her.

After we arrived at the Honolulu airport (9am) we proceeded to immigration where the officer said, “Are you the family we’re supposed to ‘expedite’? We loved the sound of that! “Yes!” we replied. He told us he would make sure the USCIS got our file that day.

We rushed to get a car rental, find a bite to eat and then make photocopies of adoption paperwork in preparation for our appointment that after noon at 1:30 with the USCIS office downtown. I was only 10 minutes late after trying to find the office! I paid the N600K fee, submitted all supporting documents and then the immigration officer said that we probably needed to redo Raean’s passport photos (we had taken extras in China in prep for this appointment but the color was faded). I didn’t have Raean with me and their office was closing. So, that meant another trip into town on Friday to have her passport photos retaken and submitted. At this point, we had done all we could do. Now it was time to wait.

Yesterday (Thursday, October 6, 2011) the USCIS office called (and emailed) us our interview appointment date and time! We are hoping that this means THERE ARE NO PROCEDURAL CHANGES in the Certificate of Citizenship application process for us and that next Tuesday, October 11th, we’ll be able to complete the interview and receive her CoC.

In the last week we’ve been working on four paperwork issues at once and have made numerous trips to OfficeMax for copying, scanning and emailing:

  • Certificate of Citizenship: We now have an appointment for 10/11/2011 for an interview.
  • 1st Post Adoption Report (PAR) for China: Our first PAR is due October 31st which means that we had to find an accredited Social Worker in the Ft. Worth area to visit us while we are in Texas and do a “home” visit and prepare all of the necessary documents to file our 1st PAR. To begin the process we had to fill out more paperwork and submit it to the agencies office in Austin, Texas (via email)
  • IMG Health Insurance: We were able to file the application and medical records this week and IMG already granted her Health Insurance Certificate adding her to our family insurance. They even back dated her coverage to the day she was adopted in China!
  • Re-Adoption in the US: We were able to file the necessary application forms and supporting documents with a law firm in Ft. Worth to “Re-Adopt” Raean in the US and get a court date for October 21st with the Tarrant County Court to complete the process. This will ensure that in US legal terms, she’s our adopted daughter! When the process is finished, we will have a US Adoption Certificate definitively stating that she’s our daughter! Here’s the legal wording that will be in the court document that we just love:
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Petitioners’ request to adopt the child in the United States be, and it hereby is, granted; that the name of the child be, and hereby is, RAEAN LI CROWSON; and that the parent-child relationship exists under Texas law between the child, RAEAN LI CROWSON, and Petitioners, MURPHY ATHEL CROWSON and CHRISTINE CAROL LANGSTON CROWSON, as if such child had been born to Petitioners.

If/When we receive Raean’s CoC next Tuesday, the next “filing” will be for her US Passport in Honolulu.

In-between all of this paperwork we have been able to enjoy several days at the beach, 2 snorkeling trips, a Hawaiian Luau, a visit to the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor and lots of swimming:) We’ve also enjoyed having Papa and Mama Dear (my parents) here with us as we continue to “bond” with Raean as a family.

We have had a few challenges in Paradise though…. The traffic in souther Oahu is TERRIBLE! One day we spent over 3 1/2 hours in traffic! Can you imagine my frustration! Raean DOES NOT LIKE BEING CONSTRICTED IN A CAR SEAT! Every car trip is fill with lots of tears crying for mama to rescue her! This is one active little girl that does not like to be tied down! On day three of our car rental this parking lot post/column jumped out of the ground and hit our car on the driver’s side causing some significant cosmetic damage! Did you know that Hawaiian parking lot columns are ALIVE!  So glad we bought collision insurance. Lots more paperwork now though filing the claim. I joked that as we were coming to an end of our adoption paperwork that I was subconsciously looking for more! NOT!

We appreciate your prayers for our paperwork processing to much. It’s all coming together at once! If all goes as planned, expected and hoped, we will have Raean’s Certificate of Citizenship next Tuesday, apply for her US Passport that same day (with a two-day turnaround) and then leave for DFW next Friday night! We’ll let you know how things go!

 

Filed Under: China Adoption, Crowsons, Pictures, Prayer, Prayer Answers, Prayer Needs, RaeAn Li

China Days 8, 9 & 10: U.S. Consulate

September 26, 2011 By

We took the immigrant oath on RaeAn's behalf in fulfillment of the US Immigration requirements.

Last Friday, after getting RaeAn’s passport, we boarded a plane for Guangzhou, China. Our flight was super easy and RaeAn did great! She played, took her bottle and slept the entire trip without a single tear! We thought the altitude would hurt her ears, but evidently it didn’t!

As we exited baggage claim we were met by our new guide, Elvan. He’s hilarious! We have been laughing at this jokes and stories since we first met! When he was in school, he tells the story of how his English teacher wrote 45 English names on the board for the students to choose from. Peter, Paul, John, etc. Unfortunately, he was sitting in the back. So by the time it was his turn all that was left was “Elvan.” So, he’s been Elvan for the past 15 years!

Saturday morning our family went to a medical clinic where RaeAn had a Medical Exam in preparation for the US Consulate appointment. Saturday afternoon, Elvan and the guys spent two hours going over our paperwork to make sure every little detail was perfect.

Sunday we visited another Buddhist temple where Elvan explained that for the majority of Chinese people, Buddhism is more “tradition” than it is “religion.” We saw lots of people burning incense and praying to the different Buddha statues. Elvan mentioned that for most people there, they were just going through the motions as they have specific needs in their lives. Made me wonder how often we just “go through the motions” of worship on Sundays because of our Christian worship traditions. Is that what our God wants from us? It’s a far cry from loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength…. Something to think about for sure.

Sunday night we enjoyed dinner at Burger King! Yum, yum:)

Monday morning we went to the US Consulate (along with dozens of other families adopting from China) to finalize adoption paperwork and take the “Immigrant Oath.” The consular said everything was in order! RaeAn’s US IR3 Visa will be ready tomorrow! For those who have been following our adoption journey from the beginning, this was THE DAY that all of the paperwork was for! All the notaries, authorizations, home studies, fingerprinting, payments, applications, etc. were in preparation for this day! Hip, hip, hooray!

We’ll get her Chinese passport back tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday) and then Wednesday is a “free day”. Thursday we leave for Honolulu and more USCIS paperwork processing! Still praying that proposed changes in the Certificate of Citizenship application process won’t take effect until AFTER RaeAn’s CoC is completed….

It’s been one week since they first put RaeAn in our arms and everyday just gets better and better. She’s such a bundle of sweetness and joy! She’s bonding well with all of us, something we are VERY thankful for!

There’s one other thing I’d like to mention…When we first received her medical report at the time of her referral, it noted that she was “Active.” Oh my goodness, this baby is ALWAYS ON THE MOVE!!! The only time she’s still is when she’s asleep:) Go, go girl!

Posted more pictures… Enjoy:)

Filed Under: China Adoption, Crowsons, Pictures, Prayer, Prayer Answers, RaeAn Li

China Days 5, 6 & 7: Nanchang City Tours

September 23, 2011 By

We spent the last three days touring different parts of Nanchang city and Jiangxi Province while we waited on paperwork to be completed. We enjoyed a trip to the Chinese countryside where we toured a more traditional Chinese village, visited Nanchang’s Traditional and Historic Pagoda, went shopping for famous Nanchang porcelain (China) and visited a Buddhist Temple (which made us think of Acts 17:24-31).

RaeAn is really taking to us and of course we are totally in love with this bundle of sweetness! Lots more smiles these days with less periods of shock. She’s loving all of us, especially her big brothers! Mornings and afternoons have been so much fun. Night times are hard, putting her to sleep. But that’s always difficult with babies, they don’t like to go to sleep!

Yesterday were were given notarized copies of her Chinese Birth Certificate, Abandonment Certificate, and Adoption Certificate. Today we received her Chinese Passport and letter certifying that her Adoption complied with all of the Hague Standards and Rules (meaning that her adoption is legal according to international standards).

In just a few hours we’ll board another plane and fly south about an hour and a half to the city of Guangzhou. Tomorrow she’ll have her medical exam in preparation for our U.S. Consulate appointment on Tuesday. This week was China paperwork processing. Next week is US paperwork processing. Oh, the fun continues!

According to China, her adoption is final! She’s our baby girl forever and ever!

We are so thankful for your prayers for our family. We are “bonding” well and enjoying wonderful experiences together!

Filed Under: China Adoption, Crowsons, Pictures, RaeAn Li