Tim's New Book

The time has come!

I’m excited to share with you my new book, Awestruck: Life-Altering Encounters With Jesus. The book focuses on Jesus’ encounters with real people and the real change that occured in real lives as recorded in the Gospel of Mark.

The book will release Tuesday, May 10, and will be available through your local book retail location, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere else that books are sold.

Before I share some early comments about the book, I want to share something special about the book.  Every penny of proceeds from the book will go towards a very special cause to our family- bringing our daughter, Abby Kate, home from Ethiopia to join her forever family. We are in the process of adopting and I hope you’ll consider that if you purchase a copy you are directly impacting real lives!

 Here’s what some are saying about the book:

"Tim Cooper knows the Word of God and has the gift of putting it down on the ‘bottom shelf’ where everyone can be blessed by it. In his latest book he does just that as he takes these ‘Jesus encounters’ in the gospel of Mark and shows how they  can transform your life, marriage, home, and church.”
- Wally Rendel
 Director of Church Relations, Cincinnati Christian University

“This latest book is just another reason I believe Tim Cooper is one of the best young leaders in the church today. His insight coupled with his understanding of Scripture result in a compelling tool for today’s journey.”
-Philip Ling
The Ling Group

“When you encounter Jesus one-on-one, your life changes forever. It really does. As you read these pages you will clearly see that Tim’s life has and yours can, too!”
-Mike Breaux
Teaching Pastor, Heartland Community Church

I’m incredibly honored by each statement.

One of the goals of the book is that it will be applicable to followers of Jesus and those unsure of their path at the same time. Mark’s Gospel is a tremendous starting point and discipling tool at the same time. It is my prayer that Awestruck will both meet you where you are and challenge your journey in the end. It’s very readable and a great length for readers of all interests and levels.

If you would like to help bring Abby Kate home, click below to pre-order an autographed copy today!

A Word About The Ethiopian Adoption Crisis

Over the past two weeks Ethiopia has made many drastic changes to the way they conduct adoptions. The Ethiopian Government has decided to reduce the number of adoption cases approved by over 90%.

The proposed legislation is to try to protect Ethiopian families from those who would seek to act illegally and immorally to create a culture of child trafficking.

We're all for that. The problem, however, is that this legislation will literally spill children from orphanages to the streets at epic proportions. There are currently 5,000,000 orphans in Ethiopia. In 2010, nearly 2,500 were adopted. As you can see the number wasn't nearly high enough to make a dent in the crisis. Now, the government proposes reducing the number of adoptions even more.

The economic strain on the country will be unbearable but the real losers are the kids. Disease will kill more. Unsafe water will kill more. Starvation will kill more. The bottom line is that more children will die at unprecedented numbers if the government does not reverse their decision.

Join us in signing an international petition by the Joint Council for International Adoption to be sent directly to the Ethiopian Prime Minister. It takes less than two minutes to complete. Click here to sign the petition and save lives.

A Special Note From April

There are 5,000,000 orphans in Ethiopia where we have been approved for adoption. The odds are stacked against each of them. 3 out of 10 children in Ethiopia do not live past their 1st birthday. 8 out of 10 use the same streams from which they drink as a bath and toilet. The average annual household income is less than $330. Many of these orphans not adopted through agencies are forced onto the streets or kidnapped into sex and child trafficking as young teens and smuggled throughout the African continent.

There is such a great need.

This year, I will be running the Papa John’s 10 Miler Race in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, March 26. I am taking pledges for each mile of the ten mile race. For example:

• A pledge of $2.50/mile would equal a gift of $25.00
• A pledge of $5.00/mile would equal a gift of $50.00
• A pledge of $10.00/mile would equal a gift of $100.00

Pledges can be made in any amount. If you would be interested and able in helping us bring our daughter home to a life of hope, please consider joining us on this journey. Thanks for partnering with us on this journey as I Run For Our African Princess on Saturday, March 26! 

Sincerely,

April

aprilcooper06@gmail.com

Makayla's T-Shirt, Ordinary Hero, and How You Can Help

So much has happened over the past few weeks in our adoption process.

Our daughter, Makayla, won a contest to design the new youth/kids t-shirt campaign for Ordinary Hero. Ordinary Hero is a non-profit that advocates for adoption while helping families in the process raise much needed dollars towards the process.

Makayla's shirt has now been produced by Ordinary Hero benefiting families of adoption.

Any item purchased from the Ordinary Hero site helps us by sending 40% of the purchase price to our Adoption Agency account. How it works:

Visit http://www.ordinaryherostore.org/

1. Shop Ordinary Hero
2. When you checkout, enter your payment info, and look for the "Affiliate" drop-down menu, select "April Cooper"
3. Share a special bond with our family.

All God's Children International (Our Agency)- New Video

Here's a new video from our agency featuring the music of Matthew West.

One of the videos that helped move us towards adoption

This video, taken from a sermon by Eric Ludy, really moved us. Heroes aren't made, they're moved.
(you'll want to turn off our media player at the bottom of the page in order to listen to the videos)

A Big Announcement

Have you ever had a moment that changed your life? We have. It actually started with a moment that broke our hearts.

To understand our journey, you have to understand where it started.

2010 was an amazing year for our family.

Makayla excelled on the Varsity Middle School Volleyball team and made first chair flute in the concert band. Trace’s All-Star baseball team finished 5^th place in the Ohio Valley Region of Cal Ripken baseball. Both Makayla and Trace excelled in school. Lilly Grace developed her gift of conversation and had the opportunity to visit Cinderella in her castle at Walt Disney World for her 3^rd birthday.

With little to no running experience, April ran nearly 1000 miles and completed multiple races with competitive times, including two half-marathons within a month of each other. She also continued with her substitute teaching. Most importantly, she invested in the development of our children every single day.

Tim had his first book, Miles Past Normal, published (www.milespastnormal.com). He also wrote his second book due for release at Easter of 2011.

We both traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, in September to be assessed for a new direction in our lives and were affirmed to a calling God laid on our hearts to plant a new church in Lexington, KY (www.lexmomentum.com).

Amidst all of these wonderful things, God was doing something else in our hearts. We were challenged midway through the summer at a conference we attended to “allow God to disturb us and break our hearts.” Tim was traveling and speaking about his book which encouraged readers to take miles past normal steps of faith and began to wonder what God had in store in that way for our family.

At the same time, April ran across the blog of one of her sorority sisters from college (www.weloveourlucylane.blogspot.com). What she saw moved her more than she even realized at that point. April’s friend’s family adopted a child from Ethiopia. She began to share the story with our entire family.

As our family learned of the poverty, disease, and hopeless life faced by 150 million orphans worldwide, we were also confronted with the calls of scripture for followers of Jesus to make a difference in the lives of those orphans.

After nearly six months of prayer, research, soul-searching, more research, and more prayer, we have been approved to adopt a child from Ethiopia in order to provide hope for the hopeless. This is our story. This is our blog. Travel with us on our journey over the months to come!