The Krug Family

Russia - 2002

Since the best place to start is the beginning, we will go back several years to our first thoughts about adoption. Our journey to have children began with heartache when we lost our precious angel, Zachary, on March 15, 1998. Following our loss and our failed attempts to get pregnant for the second time, we made the decision in June, 1999 to adopt a baby from Russia. We completed all of the required paperwork and obtained the necessary approvals and clearances to proceed, but God had other plans for us at that time. The day of our last Home Study interview, we found out we were expecting our daughter, Corinne! We knew that we would be unable to complete the adoption process because Amanda would be going through surgery and 6 months of bed rest during this pregnancy. We made the decision to put the adoption on hold.

We went through several close calls and Amanda spent 7 weeks in the hospital during this pregnancy trying to avoid a premature delivery. Then, on April 12, 2000, we welcomed Corinne into the world. We were so excited to finally have a baby! We spent the first year of her life enjoying her and watching her grow. Soon after her first birthday, we started thinking about having more children. We thought it would be nice to have the children a couple years apart, but due to the complications involved in Amanda's high risk pregnancies, we thought it might be difficult to try to care for a toddler and be on bed rest at the same time. Our thoughts once again drifted back to adoption.

We thought this might be the time to pick-up where we left off and pursue a Russian adoption. We had a few things working against us in that we had moved to a different state and the adoption agency we had been working with before was not licensed in our new state. Consequently, we had to start from scratch with our home study and pay to have a whole new home study performed by a licensed agency in our new state. We were starting to realize it wouldn't be as easy as picking up where we left off, we basically had to start from scratch (fees and all)! Since it had been 18 months since our INS approval, we had to start that process from the beginning and pay all the required fees on that end as well. When it was all said and done, we ended up changing agencies and all the money we had paid back in 1999 (close to $5000) was lost for good! Since Amanda was a stay-at-home mother to Corinne, we were living on one income and didn't have a lot of extra cash to put toward the adoption. In addition, we had recently bought a new house and were adjusting to all the new expenses that were involved in home ownership. We had the heart for adoption, but our finances were not cooperating!

We decided to pray about it for a while and start saving as much as we could and see where God would lead us. I have to admit; at this point it was looking pretty bleak! We put our tax refunds, rebate checks, spare change and yard sales proceeds toward an adoption fund. Then, we decided to send a letter to our family and friends to let them know of our desire to adopt and ask them to consider helping out in any way they felt led to help. We were reluctant to send this letter out in the first place, it felt like we were begging people for money, but our family encouraged us to do so and we did. We didn't get a whole lot of response right away, but little by little, people would help us out and we were able to accumulate enough to pay for the home study, INS application and the initial agency fees. We were very excited, but we were still reluctant to jump into this process without knowing where the money would come from for the remainder of the fees. Our family agreed to give us the $10,000 that we would eventually get back from the tax credit, so we could get started. We were still coming up short and hoping God would provide the remaining funds.

Some friends of ours introduced us to a Pastor who was in the process of starting a foundation to help families with international adoption. We applied to the I CARE foundation and were approved for a $5000 grant, but since the foundation was in its infancy we weren't sure how quickly we would be able to obtain the grant and we were hoping and praying it would come in time to cover the necessary expenses. Even though there was a bit of uncertainty, we knew this was an answer to our prayers and God's way of telling us to move forward with our adoption.

In December of 2001, we filed our preliminary application to adopt through Bethany Christian Services and we were finally on our way. At each step of the process, the money became available to us exactly when we needed it. There were times we didn't know if we'd get the money in time and those times just increased our dependence on God and allowed us to put our trust totally in Him.

The process moved quickly and by June of 2002 we were ready to submit our dossier to Russia to wait on our referral. We expected to wait approximately 3-6 months to receive our referral, so imagine our surprise when we got a call from our social worker in July, one month later. We couldn't wait to get to the Bethany office to meet with our social worker and see the pictures and video of our new little boy!

Seeing those pictures for the first time and watching the video was amazing-from that day on we couldn't wait to board the plane and go to meet our new little boy. We were already proud parents, showing everyone we knew the pictures and video of Nikolay! We were so excited to be moving forward so quickly, but we did have a few moments of worry because we needed more money than expected and things were moving so fast! We once again turned things over to the Lord and told Dan what we needed and the I CARE foundation was able to give us our first grant that would allow us to accept the referral and move forward. We were eagerly anticipating the call to travel and meet our little boy!

We finally got the call we had been waiting for in mid-August and later that month we made our first trip to Russia to meet Nikolay and spend some time getting to know him. Our family helped us cover the expenses of our first trip to Russia, but we were still a little worried about the finances to cover the 2nd trip. We had applied for a low-interest loan through A Child Waits Foundation and worked with them to file the necessary paperwork and answer additional questions about our financial situation. A couple of days before we were scheduled to leave for Russia, we received the exciting call from Cynthia that we were approved for the loan and a check would be in the mail shortly! Once again God provided and we were able to make this trip knowing the funds would be available for our 2nd trip! We needed the $10,000 loan to cover the fees that would be due to our Russian coordinator once we returned to Russia to finalize the adoption. Once again God provided and also enabled us to fit the payments into our budget! We were on our way!

Meeting Nikolay for the first time was a bit surreal, he looked so much smaller than he had in the video, but we could tell this was the same little guy we had been getting to know through pictures for the past month. He was a bit shy at first, but once we gave him some toys to play with he warmed up to us rather quickly and began laughing and playing with us from day one. We were able to visit with him a few more times and by the final visit, he came running to us with his arms wide open and a big smile on his face. It was difficult to leave him, but we knew we would be back soon and the next time he was ours forever!

We took lots of video and pictures and were able to cling to them for the next few weeks until we received the all-important call that we would be returning in mid-October to finalize the adoption and bring Nikolay home! As we approached our 2nd trip to Russia, we found ourselves in need of additional cash to pay for our airfare and living expenses while in Russia. We applied for an additional grant through I CARE and also applied with another foundation called CARI and between the two of them were able to come up with the outstanding fees! Once again God provided what we needed just in time!

This trip was much happier and exciting because we knew Nikolay would be coming home with us in the end! Our official court date was October 15, 2002 (Amanda's father's birthday)! Everything went smoothly and the adoption was approved. We filed the necessary paperwork for his passport and visa and on October 17th we were finally able to go to the orphanage and take Nikolay with us! We traveled to Moscow and spent a few more days processing paperwork and finally on October 20th we were able to bring Nikolay home to the smiling faces of our family and friends who met us at the airport!

Nikolay is a joy to have around! He is so loving and good-natured; everyone who meets him loves him! He has learned the English language remarkably quick and is starting to speak a few words on his own. He eats and sleeps well and is growing more every day. He and Corinne are only 13 months apart, so we have our share of fights and squabbles, but we also enjoy watching them play together and give one another hugs and kisses. Everyone comments on how much he looks like our daughter and many strangers ask if they are twins! We have no doubt God hand-picked this precious child for our family! It's hard to imagine life without him!

When we began the adoption, we were expecting to pay a little over $20,000. Due to some changes in the fees and the need to switch regions and Russian coordinators mid-stream, the final bill was more than $30,000! God provided each step of the way and enabled us to complete the adoption, even with the added expense! God is truly amazing! We are so grateful to Cynthia and the wonderful people at A Child Waits Foundation! Without the loan, we would not have been able to bring Nikolay home! The work your foundation does to help orphans and their families is so important! We pray God will provide the funds necessary to help many, many more little ones find their forever family!

Brian and Amanda Krug