Our Story

Having three biological children already, we hadn't seriously considered the matter of adoption as we were happy with the number of kids God had already blessed us.  However, after the earthquake in Haiti displaced many orphans who subsequently needed temporary housing, we evaluated our situation and determined that we have the means to house extra children.  Although we were never able to assist any children from Haiti, my wife continued to desire to help the less fortunate.  This desire, however, wasn't shared with me until later.

My brother returned from Ethiopia in March of 2010 with two cute little boys.  He also returned with some video he took of numerous older children whom he said would likely never be adopted due to their age.  Having children about that same age, I began to think of what it would be like if my children would become orphans in that same sort of environment with no one wanting to help them.  Slowly as I pondered the sad reality that millions of God's children on the other side of the globe will never grow up in a loving family, another disturbing reality became evident: I had never allowed myself to be open to the possibility that God was calling me to be “that person!”  I had previously felt that adoption was for those who either couldn't have kids of their own, or for those who were much more financially capable.  It became evident that whatever I could provide for a child in Ethiopia would be a hundred times more than what they would ever have otherwise.  Like my wife, however, I was afraid to mention it.  Then the day came...

In late April, my wife finally decided that she wanted to discuss the matter with me.  She prayed that I would be open to the idea.  She called me up at work and asked if we could go out for lunch, not telling me what would be the topic of discussion.  When she came to pick me up at my office, I was viewing videos of the older children in Ethiopia!  She began her pre-rehearsed sales pitch of why she felt we needed to consider adoption.  Stopping her short, I told her that she didn't need to go further...I was already there.  We just needed to determine how to make it happen. The initial questions we had were: "how many", "what ages", and "what genders".  On faith, we committed to adopting three children from the ages of 8 to 12, realizing we would have to raise some money to cover the upfront expenditures.  We contacted Celebrate Children International out of Florida to begin the process.   

Then, I contacted A Child Waits Foundation to see if we might qualify for a grant since we were adopting three kids, the ages of the kids were older, and that two of them were siblings.  They confirmed that our case would be one that they would consider.  Their process of applying was very smooth, and they were always extremely friendly and helpful.  They never failed to return calls.  From the beginning, I knew that the foundation was one of integrity.  At the same time, we knew that as with any foundation, resources are limited.  So, we didn't get our hopes up too high.

We flew through the process of adoption so fast; the events are now a blur.  The only thing that slowed us down was a two-month delay for the rainy season.  As soon as the rainy season was over at the end of August, we were in court completing the adoption.  Shortly before our embassy date in November, A Child Waits Foundation called to let me know we received a grant!  Within days we flew to Washington DC to catch our flight to Ethiopia.  However, our plane was diverted to Baltimore due to too much fog, so we missed our connection to Ethiopia.  The next Ethiopian Airlines flight was two and a half days later!  It appeared we were going to have to purchase separate tickets just to get to our Embassy appointment, not to mention staying a few nights in Washington DC.  We hated the idea of having to spend a lot of extra money for a hotel and for more flight tickets, but we had incredible comfort knowing that by the time we returned home, the funds would be there from this grant!

In November we picked up the kids.  I am happy to report that the children, Daniel, Zerihun, and Sorome (ages 12, 9, 8 respectively) are all doing very well and have integrated with our biological family.  They are extremely happy and loving.  Every day there is new excitement.  The children understand the blessing they have to be able to live in the United States.  Additionally, it is impossible for us to escape the reality that this blessing to our family was carried out through the care of people who work for and who support the foundation.  We give our heartfelt thanks to the folks at "A Child Waits Foundation"!

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