This campaign supports the return of five-year-old Rachael to her mother, under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. After more than 18 months apart, a U.S. court is now hearing the case, and for the first time there is a real path home. Naghmeh Panahi, who has created this fundraiser, is a friend of Rachael's mother who has been helping get Rachael back to her mother for the last year.

Rachael was three years old when she was taken from her mother, her brother, and everything familiar to her. She was carried off to another country by her father, a man who is a fugitive from Turkey.

For the first year, she was moved from city to city while her mother, Nloofar Ilbaki Aragh, searched for her and refused to give up.

Now picture that mother. An Christian who fled to Turkey for safety, she has spent every day since Rachael disappeared trying to find her, working with the U.S. Department of State, reaching out to anyone who might help, and holding on to hope when there was little reason to.

Eighteen months. That is how long she has kept fighting, while also carrying Rachael's older brother through the loss of the little sister he adored: the birthdays, the laughter, the simple joy of growing up side by side that was suddenly gone.

Rachael is five now. More than a year and a half of her short life has been spent apart from her mother, her brother, and the only home she ever knew.

But there is finally reason to hope.

After eighteen months of relentless effort, a U.S. court has agreed to hear this mother's case. Attorneys have stepped forward to represent her without advance payment, giving this family a genuine chance to be together again. What the family cannot cover on its own is the cost of actually bringing Rachael home the moment a judge says she can go.

Why we need to be ready now

If the court orders Rachael's return, we have to be prepared to move immediately: travel booked, documents translated, and trusted family in place to bring her safely across the ocean to her mother.

A judge could order her to be returned as soon as July 13th!

A child should not have to wait one extra day once the law is on her side. These funds make sure that when that moment comes, nothing stands between Rachael and her mother's arms.

We are raising $20,000 to cover the essentials:

Court filing fees and related legal costs

Translation of legal documents

International travel to reunite Rachael with her mother in Turkey

Travel for the trusted family members in the U.S. who will accompany Rachael on the long journey to the city where her mother lives

Lost income for those family members who must take time away from work to make the trip and see Rachael safely home

Under the Hague Convention, a court can order the person who took Rachael to repay certain costs of her return. If any of these funds are later recovered, they will go toward reuniting this family and helping Rachael settle back into a stable, loving home.

Every gift, of any size, brings Rachael closer to her mother, and brings a brother and sister closer to being together again after more than a year and a half apart.

If you aren't able to give, you can still make a real difference by sharing this campaign with your friends, family, church, and community.

Please help bring Rachael home.

Goal: $20,000

Thank you for your generosity, and for your prayers.