A Child Waits Foundation
Adoption Grants & Adoption Loans
International and Domestic Adoption
Family Stories
International Adoption 2015
In 2015 we awarded grants to help 147 children to be adopted from 14 different countries. Some of their wonderful pictures and links to their adoption experiences are below.
Abraham - China 2015
I wanted to thank you for the grant that my family received to assist us with the adoption of our son, Abraham, from China.
We had a wonderful trip and it turns out that he was the piece our family puzzle was missing all along. Abraham is adorable! He is the happiest child I have ever met and has adjusted very easily into our routines and lifestyle. Abraham, it turns out, has aniridia. We weren't expecting no iris at all but we are in the hands of a wonderful specialist from Children's in Pittsburgh.
Abraham and our other son, Alec, were best friends from the first moment.
Our family can't thank your organization enough for the support and assistance to make it possible to bring home Abraham. Thank you!
Anaka - China 2015
Anaka Tao joined our family in November 2015. What a joyous event after over a year of working toward that moment! Since she has been home, she has bonded with her family and settled into her new life here. In less than a month, she will receive BAHAs (hearing aids) that will give her the gift of "normal" hearing for the first time in her life!
Our daughter has had the rare opportunity of having three mothers in her 3 years thus far. She was loved by a foster mother who poured into her, knowing that she would have to let her go. We got to meet that woman and thank her and cry with her. We get to send her updates and let her know that her legacy of love is being continued an ocean away. We get to raise our newest daughter to appreciate her special place in our family and in the hearts that cared for her before we could!
Audrey - China 2015
We are so very thankful to A Child Waits Foundation for their generous grant in support of our adoption of Audrey Mae. Audrey is adapting so well to our family. She glows with love. We had some reservations regarding adopting out of birth order, but Audrey thrives in the role of big sister and loves her little sister, Eva, whom we adopted from Ukraine.
Our lives are so blessed by the addition of Audrey to our family. Throughout the day, I will sometimes exclaim that my cup runneth over and the girls, with their emerging speech, will often repeat, "my heart cup runethes over." So, thank you again, for your kind and generous gift to our family.
Sylvie & Kate - China 2015
It's been over a year since our adoption was complete, but never too late to say Thank You for all the help and support you gave us!
Kate and Sylvie came home in November 2015. At the time Sylvie was very ill and desperately needing a liver transplant. We spent the next 6 months in and out of the hospital, had many surgeries, and a great deal of medical interventions to keep her alive. God has done an amazing miracle in her life and she is here with us today, as healthy as she has ever been. She was able to receive her transplant in April of 2016. We praise God for this miracle!
Both girls are doing beautifully. It seems as they have always been part of our family and we can't imagine life without them. With Gratefulness
Yu Min - China 2015
When God first put it on our hearts to adopt Yu Min, all we had were some pictures and a medical report. The pictures were adorable, but they were void of personality. The medical reports were overwhelming, but God gave us a peace to accept them, knowing that He had called us specifically to her. So we went to the other side of the world to bring home a "little" one we did not know, with medical needs we knew very little about. Seems crazy, crazy to be called to a person you do not know; crazy to take on medical conditions that are beyond us. However, there was that peace and that knowing that this was what God was calling us to do.
Yu Min is a precious young lady who is full of life and giggles. She is a gift and treasure to our entire family. We would not trade her for an easier life or less hassles. She is worth all that it takes to keep her healthy and healing. She is such a gift, She is our daughter.
We are so thankful to all who have given to our adoption, We had no funds to begin or complete this adoption, but God did. He has used family, friends, and several grants to make this adoption possible. Thank you, A Child Waits Foundation and donors, for being part of our fourth adoption journey.
Annie - China 2015
Dear Board of A Child Waits Foundation,
As I sit writing this letter, my two beautiful daughters are right next to me, coloring, smiling, and enjoying the day. There are truly no words to thank you all for what you have done. Your work is literally changing lives for children, and I have two children who are evidence of this!
Your generous grant allowed me to bring my daughter, Annie, home from China just two weeks ago. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing and brave this little girl is! Despite being legally blind due to her albinism, and speaking little English, she has adjusted to life here in record speed. She is loving, kind, SUPER smart, and is picking up English at a record pace! I adore her, and literally would not have been able to bring her home without your help. As a single mom, it would have been impossible for me to afford the adoption costs.
But, Annie is only part of the story. You see, I already had a daughter whom I also adopted from China three years ago. Ellie is four, and has the same disability as her sister. The bond between these two is nothing short of magical. I had prepared Ellie for Annie’s homecoming, and as the weeks led up to our trip to China, we talked a lot about what Annie would be like. I warned Ellie that Annie might be a little scared at first (Ellie, in typical four-year-old fashion, can be, umm . . .a little overwhelming when she is excited J) Well, I shouldn’t have worried. On “Gotcha Day,” there were six families in the Civil Affairs office waiting for their children. Annie was the last child to arrive, and when she entered the building, a momentary hush came over the room. Ellie immediately ran to Annie and said, “Annie! There’s my Annie! Ni hao, Annie! Don’t be afraid; I’m your SISTER!” There was not a dry eye in the room as the two sisters literally JUMPED into each other’s arms. I am attaching the picture of this moment to this letter. Since that day, they have been absolutely inseparable.
A Child Waits Foundation changed the lives of not one, but TWO children on that day. These two were meant to sisters from the beginning, I am sure. Thank you, thank, you, thank you for all you have done for my family
Zoe - China 2015
We want to sincerely thank you so much for blessing us with A Child Waits Foundation grant to complete the adoption cost for our travel to China. We were relieved from our financial adoption burden before we left our trip. We appreciate your foundation so much! We received our beautiful daughter, Zoe Kaihua, April 18th in Beijing, China. Our trip was smooth sailing, except for Dan getting food poisoning for a few days. We arrived home April 30th and have adjusted back to Eastern time zone.
Zoe is such a great baby!. She is 13 months old now. She loves to eat and is a great sleeper. We taught her how to clap her hands, wave bye- bye, and practices walking every day. She is a happy baby and has already adjusted to her new home well. She loves playing with her daddy and loves bath time with mommy.
Thank you so much again for being a part of our adoption process financially and growing our family. We are truly blessed by your foundation.
Elizabeth - China 2015
From as young as I can remember, I (Trina), have always wanted to adopt an Asian girl. My parents tell me that it all started when I was around 10 and we visited a distant family member who had adopted a Chinese girl.
Adopting internationally was something that was shared very early on when Craig and I began dating. Craig immediately latched on to this vision as well, and we knew that somewhere down the road, God willing, adoption would be in our future.
Fast forward about seven years after marriage and having two little boys of our own, to the point when we were finally 30! While most people cringe at reaching this milestone, we were eager, as it meant we were now old enough to begin the process of bringing our daughter home! We got notice on Christmas Eve of a possible January 6th travel date- earlier than we had expected! We were thrilled.
Our time overseas was nothing short of amazing. Elizabeth latched onto the both of us equally, and very quickly too. Her laid back, easy go lucky personality came out right away, and the trip that others had told us to not think of as a vacation, had really became just that! How wonderful it was to spend 16 days with our little girl, in her own country, getting to know her and soaking up every precious moment. We all stayed perfectly healthy; she slept through the night immediately; she was even happy the entire 14 hour plane ride home. Wow! It was almost to good to be true, this little girl handled it all so impressively!!
Upon returning home, she adjusted very seamlessly to life at our house with two crazy little boys and all of their rowdiness! It feels as though we have had her for a lifetime, even though it has only been one short month since she was first placed in our arms.
Our daughters name is Elizabeth Grace: Elizabeth after my middle name, as she has always been my desire. Grace after God's grace, for giving her to us, and the grace he extends to us each and every day. We would like to thank A Child Waits for helping us bring our precious Elizabeth home. We truly do not know what we would have done without your generous donation to our family.
Ezekiel - China 2015
We are a family who has been serving in East Asia since 2009, arriving with three children and giving birth to a 4th within a few months of arrival to our host country. We moved here to join a Christian charitable organization which has a family medicine residency program to train local physicians in western style family practice medicine. Our medical team also does regular charitable outreaches to area orphanages, nursing homes and other underserved rural villages in the countryside, and E. has been going to several orphanages regularly since moving here. Over the years we have seen a number of children with disabilities have permission to go into foster care, and then become adopted into forever families.
In the spring of 2014 we became aware of an 18-month old boy in the orphanage who had complex congenital heart disease. Initially the plan was for him to receive his surgery at the typical hospital that contracted with the orphanage, but two hospitals said they were unable to do his repair until he was 10 years old. As a result, the orphanage made him available for international adoption. When E told her husband B about this child's dilemma, his first response was, "Well, why don't we adopt him?"
As we entered the adoption process, we did not have any idea where we would find the finances to pay for either any urgent medical care or for his adoption. As it is, our entire budget for living and serving overseas is raised through personal fundraising efforts, and there was no margin in the budget to absorb the costs of an international adoption. We are so thrilled to say that at each step along the way God has given us signs of His provision in big and small ways, and He has used individuals, groups and A Child Waits Foundation to allow us to finance the entire adoption process!
Since we reside here in China, where most Chinese families only give birth to one child, our situation with five children sparks a lot of curious discussions with everybody we encounter. People wonder how someone can embrace a child with a disability, how they can absorb the cost of medical care, how one can love a child that is not biologically related, and much more. Just living our “normal” life in our neighborhood has been a tremendous opportunity to communicate not just with our words but with our actions the immense value we place on human life. It is an honor to serve God by loving this precious boy and providing him with a family, and to see the joy he has brought to so many around him.
Hayat - Ethiopia 2015
I am so thrilled to get to write this thank you to you. You helped us with the expenses of adopting our little girl and on June 25th, 2015 we welcomed her into our forever home from Ethiopia. Our daughter Hayat turned 7 years old on 1-9-16. She is the light of our world and of the school, our neighborhood, our church and everywhere we go. Her smile is always on and so big and bright and when she laughs it is so genuine now and sometimes you’ll hear a snort with it. Now, just over 6 months home , she is very attached to her family and is cautious who she goes to outside of those she really knows and trusts, knows right from wrong and follow most basic directions, She loves her night time routine of taking a bath, getting lotion and PJs on, brushing her teeth and then cuddling on the couch until she falls asleep contently next to my husband or I (sometimes even one of her brothers).
Thank you again so much for the assistance. This was our second adoption in 3 years, both from Ethiopia, both older children and God clearly provided every bit of what we needed and we are forever grateful!
Blessings and Love
Miriam & Aviya - China 2015
We came home with our two newest daughters from China and it is wonderful to be a family of six!
The journey of adoption is frequently wonderful, exciting, and full of emotions. It also has many facets, such as the paperwork and financial mountains, which are sometimes overwhelming and daunting. Even upon arriving home, we are overwhelmed with both joy and stress as the medical attention they need is also addressed.
For their medical needs, we have health insurance to help. But there is no insurance when you adopt. It is similar to giving birth without any insurance -you pay all expenses in full. This is a mountain we could not move on our own, but because of generous donors and foundations like A Child Waits Foundation the financial burden was lessened for our family so we can focus on meeting the needs of our two newest daughters.
We thank you with deep gratitude for standing beside us with prayers and financial support as we brought our two precious miracles home.
Jia Eve - China 2015
We have been home from China for just over one month now. We are adjusting and settling in very well to our life as a family of four.
Our daughter, Jia, is just absolutely amazing! Each day, we see her become more comfortable, trusting, and accepting of the love her new family has for her. It has just been absolutely amazing to watch the transformation take place! We realize that it will take a great deal of time for her hurts to heal and for complete trust to develop, but we are just so amazed and thankful to have her with us and to witness what the love of a family can do - even in just a few weeks.
We are just so, so very thankful to you, Cynthia, and everyone at A Child Waits. Your grant was such a tremendous help - just such a wonderful gift - and answer to prayer! Thank you for everything that you do to help build families through adoption. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help out in the future.
Emmy - Honduras 2015
" As I reflect on God's Faithfulness during our five plus year process, you cross my mind so often. We are so very grateful for you- you were the hands of Christ to us. Saying "thank you" seems terribly inadequate, although our hearts are filled with gratitude towards you. I wanted to send this picture so you could see the difference you helped to make in our lives and in the life of our precious daughter Emmy, who is waiting no longer for her forever family. She is an amazing child, has adjusted so beautifully, and has completed our family. We recognize God's grace and blessings in this, and we will never forget that He used you and others who obeyed His call to love the orphans who are so precious in His sight."
Theodore - China 2015
Our journey began with much prayer and hesitation. My husband and I are both LP’s (we have a type of dwarfism). Unable to have children of our own we knew we wanted to adopt. All we knew from the start is that God had called us. We had no idea how it would happen. Financially it would take a miracle. One agency even told us it was impossible. Along with that, much like hobbits in the “Lord of the Rings” series we like comfort and home. We are not travelers by nature or adventure seekers. In our wildest dreams we never thought that God would build our family by taking us to China… but He did. It was an 18th month rollercoaster ride that often left us weeping or jumping with joy at God’s goodness. We arrived in China the day before we met our son. We were exhausted, overwhelmed by nerves and excitement. We woke up early and were the first to arrive at the Civil Affairs Office in Zhengzhou. Other families arrived to meet their new sons and daughters to come. We watched as the children walked in and were introduced to their forever families. Our son Theo was one of the last to arrive. He was so tiny and so scared. He screamed and cried for 45 minutes until he fell asleep. After a nap it seemed as though everything had changed. He played, smiled and laughed. He is so resilient and so full of joy. The next day we went back to the Civil Affairs Office and he was able to smile with us in a photo. I see such strength and bravery in this little boy that we now call son. He is a smiling, wonderful daredevil who loves his new “Baba” and “Mama”. We know that one journey has ended and a new one has begun. We are so very grateful for the love and support that made this possible. A precious boy is now a son. A couple is now a family. Glenn and Estrella are now Mama and Baba!! Tears flow as I write this! Thank you!!
Addison - China 2015
I can't tell you how much your grant has helped us with the travel fees!! We returned back to Florida, May 14th... Addison is doing great! We are working on getting her occupational therapy, but she has made such strides since we received her! She was not walking before we got her and she was unfortunately tied down to a chair... She is now walking on her own, she is still not using her right side much, but she does occasionally (only when absolutely necessary) use it.. lol She understands English very well :) She is picking up on things faster than we could have ever imagined... She is just perfect :) I just wanted to update you guys and let you know we are back and thank you for everything!
Aiden - China 2015
I wanted to send a big THANK YOU to A Child Waits for your help in bringing home our son, Aiden. We got home from China in July, and it's been such a joy to have Aiden as part of our family!
We spent a few quiet months at home getting to know each other before Aiden started Kindergarten in September. The first week and a half of school was a hard adjustment for Aiden, but once he learned the routine (and learned mom would always pick him up at the end of the day) he started really enjoying it. He is going to a Chinese immersion school in Minneapolis, which allows him to maintain his native language. His teacher tells us he is a great student and gets along well with his peers. Aiden and his sister Madelyn have bonded and act like typical siblings. Most of the time they play well together, but are known to get into fights over toys that they don't want to share. Aiden is learning what it's like to be a part of a family, and that mom and dad will help him, protect him, feed him, love him, and comfort him.
Again, thank you for your help in making Aiden a part of our family! We sure have a reason to feel blessed this holiday season!
Pauli- Bulgaria 2015
Since Pauli and I arrived home from Bulgaria on February 11, we've been very busy! She is adjusting well and doing great. She has LOTS of friends and is doing wonderfully in school.
This new job called “Mom” can be truly challenging but a commitment I'm so happy I've made for the rest of my life. I love this little girl with every fiber of my being and after searching and waiting for her for over 8 years, I still find myself staring at her in sheer amazement that she’s actually mine.... and you helped me bring her home!
She is a "delight" and those who have spent time with her (including neighbors and teachers) seem to use that word unsparingly.
Her English improves daily and she uses complete sentences now instead of single words or phrases. When she can’t figure out how to say what she's thinking, she says, “Wait!” or Listen!” until she can find the words which eventually pour out of her repetitively as if she never wants to forget how to say what she's finally discovered!
Her vocabulary is astounding and she has a voracious appetite for learning (i.e. her favorite question being "Why? Why? Why?") She wants me to read to her every night and will ask me to turn off a Disney movie halfway through so I can read to her instead. We'll climb into her bed and inevitably, she'll take the book out of my hands in order to read it to me in her own words (which I've termed Moon Language - a cross between Swahili, Bulgarian, Chinese and Spanish!) Eventually it will be my turn to read to her until she finally falls asleep in my arms and I tip toe out of her room.
She's part athlete and part musician. She sings at the top of her lungs every chance she gets, makes up songs on the spot and snaps her fingers on 2 and 4 in perfect time. She can catch and throw a ball like a 10-year-old and runs with the gait of an up and coming marathon runner.
I feel incredibly blessed and grateful to finally have her in my life.
Thank you again for your extremely generous support.
From the bottom of my heart
Timothy - China 2015
I can’t believe that Timothy and I have been a family for 6 months! Thank you again for the amazing financial gift that came at just the right time when I was preparing to travel and many final costs were approaching. Just one more blessing from God to remind me that He was in my entire adoption journey. Thank you to the wonderful donors who helped bring our family together. As a single woman working for a non-profit overseas, I knew that I could only accomplish this with God’s help and He used A Child Waits to help show me His provision. Timothy is such an a smart, goofy, fun-loving little boy that I am so privileged to have call me “Mama.” Thank you for helping to fulfill God’s wonderful plan for us!
Meili - China 2015
It has been 8 months (last April) since we boarded our flight to go pick up our daughter in China. Meili was 3 ½ years old, completely deaf, and waiting for her forever family.
We didn’t know what to expect when we met her for the 1st time, but we were prepared for anything. She didn’t scream or cry, like some of the other children, but she seemed very indifferent toward us. She fell asleep in my husband’s arms and seemed to just want the whole thing to be over with so she could go back home. She didn’t interact with us, other than letting us hold and cuddle her.
The days went on, we returned home to the rest of our family, and our new life began. Meili did not catch on to signing like the other (hearing) children we saw in China with their families. She didn’t seem to even understand that we were trying to communicate with her and help her to find a “voice”, and express herself. She just seemed trapped inside of herself for so long; playing by herself and not wanting much to do with the rest of us.
A few weeks later, we found out that Meili desperately needed glasses. Not only was she missing the hearing world, she was also missing most of the seeing world too. She was diagnosed with Astigmatism in both eyes and everything was so blurry and distorted for her. We got her some adorable Lavender glasses and her whole world seemed to change. She could finally see our faces clearly and see all the details of the world that she had been missing.
Fast forward a few months to September. We found out that she was approved for Cochlear Implants and we felt good about that decision for her. We went forward with anxious hearts and trust that we were doing the right thing for Meili. It was a couple weeks after the surgery that her CIs were activated and she was now officially “hearing”. However, we knew it would be a long road until she was able to use that gift to communicate.
Today, just before Christmas, she is recognizing her mama’s voice! Whenever I call “Meili” she will turn to find me and look at me. (She doesn’t respond as well to the rest of the family yet, but that will come). She will smile and jump when she hears my voice and sees my face and knows that I am focused on her and trying to communicate with her. In addition to that, she knows several signs in ASL, and although she will not willingly sign to us when she wants something, she does understand several of the signs that we sign to her: Eat, Sleep, Bathroom, All Done, Clean Up, Shoes, Car, Pajamas, Tree, and Cat, just to name a few.
Meili is catching on to things so quickly considering where we started from back in April. She loves to play with her siblings and she loves to be held and snuggled. She has been such a blessing in our lives and we love to see the progress that she makes each day!
Thank you for the grant you provided to us to help us get her home! We will forever be grateful to your generosity!
Khloe - China 2015
We are home from China with our precious Khloe. And here it's already been almost 4 months! Khloe is doing so good and adjusting wonderfully with our family. We are all so in love with her and are overjoyed to finally have her home.
As you know Khloe has a cleft lip and palate. Her lip was repaired in China when she was about 1 year old, and we had her palate repaired 2 weeks ago, she is recovering very well!
Thank you so much for all of your help and support to get Khloe home :) We will never forget your kindness and in turn plan on helping others bring their children home too!
Jackson - China 2015
We want to thank-you for the part you played in Jackson joining our family. He has been home for two months now and is adjusting remarkably well. As we were driving home from the airport the night we brought him home, he said, " Mama, this is a good road....because it's the road that goes to our home.' I thought of how we drive down that road over and over and it has no meaning, until we saw it through his eyes. The value of having a home is so much greater to those who have never had one. Jackson has already shown us how to slow down and thank God for the many things we take for granted. One of the first nights he was home, as I tucked him in bed, he said, " I have been praying every night for years for a Mama and Daddy to pick me and I am so happy God answered my prayers." Thank-you for your part in God's plan to make this little boy's dream of having his own family come true. He has brought so much love and joy into our home. He is so loving and always thinks of others. He is so sensitive to the needs of everyone around him. We thank God every night for bringing him to our family, and we thank God for you and the part you played in making this possible! Thank-you!
Joseph - Philippines 2015
Our family would like to thank you for your generous adoption grant. We brought home our son, Joseph, from the Philippines in November of 2015. We apologize for the late thank you, as you can imagine it has been a crazy, but amazing time.
Here is an update on our progress . . . When we picked Joseph up to bring him home he was 2 1/2 years old. We knew he had hearing loss in his left ear and needed a hearing aid. We also suspected he had severe oral motor problems and significant speech delay. He ate very poorly because of weak and tight muscles in his face and poor motor planning. He weighed 16 pounds and was in size 12 month clothing. While his loving birthmother placed him in the orphanage at birth and he was raised in a very loving and hands on environment, it was very clear to us he had experienced significant trauma. Thankfully he was quite attached to the orphanage staff and he quickly attached to us. We immediately had a hearing aid made for him, an expense insurance does not cover, and had another made this past fall.
A month after being home he started speech and occupational therapy to help him eat safely and enunciate sounds. Joseph continues to have speech one time a week and occupational therapy two times a week. We work with him at home on a very detailed mouth exercise plan as set by his therapist to help him meet his goals. Joseph's vocabulary has improved and his hearing aid helps him for clarity and to understand where sounds originate from. He is now 26 pounds and a size two! He will be 4 this summer.
We cannot imagine how our transition to home would of looked had we not been awarded grants from you and others. It is such a difficult time and we really needed each other. Daddy had a lighter work schedule for the first couple of weeks we were home or we would of been in trouble had he been needed to work full time and another part time job then (like when we were fundraising). Joseph spent so much time screaming and crying as he grieved for his caregiver and familiar settings that it took both of us as parents at home to nurture our whole family. One of us was helping to sooth Joseph while the other was preparing meals, tending to our other two little children (then ages 5 and 4), or taking a short respite break. Joseph was not happy to meet our 4 year old son and the word intense does no justice to describe our first 5 months at home. Now, our two little boys are good buddies and look forward to playing with each other!
Again, your grant helped us to spend time together and focus our energy on supporting and loving our three kids. It also freed us financially to afford his hearing aid costs. Most importantly however, Joseph has received consistent care, love, and a family who supports him. He is now able to sleep through the night in his bunkbed with his older brother at night. He enjoys family devotions, going to church and singing the songs. At home he loves family walks, playing at a nearby park, painting, and helping with the garden. It is fun to see him much more relaxed, be able to explore, and show his wonderful personality. Thank you for making a difference in our family and the lives of so many others! Adoption has been a great blessing to our family and we are thankful for the work you do daily to assist families and orphans.
Anna - Ethiopia 2015
Once our fourth boy was born {May 2008), we began to contemplate God's will for our family. Would we go for a girl? As we were considering our family's future, we began to notice other Christian families adopting children, even though they had biological children already. This caused us to think deeply about adoption as a viable opportunity to have a daughter and help a child in need. It seems to us that God providentially directed our thoughts toward adoption. As we began to explore the opportunities and the cost of adoption, we quickly recognized that if God was calling us to adopt then ultimately He would have to supply all our need.
In the early stages, God spared us from potential disappointment and directed our paths toward Ethiopia. Nearby our home there is a significant Russian community, and a prominent Russian agency. Perhaps this was an open door for us? During our initial interactions with the agency, however, we saw a few red flags. Not long afterward, we recognized that these red flags were God's way of sparing us from disappointment. In December of that year, Russia suspended all foreign adoptions indefinitely. Through circumstances like this, and others, God directed our steps toward Ethiopian children.
As a pastor's family, our income is limited; however, we have seen God step into our world in very unique ways. My wife began an Etsy business to help get us started, and in the process, God has not only blessed her effort but also created an ongoing extra source of income for our family. Our church family supported our adoption through countless cash gifts, a well-advertised yard sale, and loads of prayer. We were blown away by 4 generous adoption grant organizations, like a Child Waits Foundation, which contributed significantly and at key moments confirming that God was in this.
One of the highlights of our journey was the day we received the phone call from our agency with our referral. We were at Knoebles Family Fun Park in PA in (June 2014), and that very day, we also bumped into a father who had several adoptive children, in fact, they had Show Hope Foundation shirts on. I introduced myself to the father, and told him that we had just received our referral, and had also been given a grant from Show Hope. He smiled and told us that he signed our congratulation letter. Just a coincidence? Not a chancel Our God is amazing!
Another highlight occurred at the end of our adoption journey as we were eagerly anticipating our call to come and get our girl near the Easter weekend. We were in close contact with A Child Waits and was amazed to get a phone call from Cynthia Nelson, the president of the foundation. Having worked with several other agencies, I was impressed by the desire of Cynthia to be involved in the application and selection process. We were overwhelmed with how responsive the staff of A Child Waits was with our application, especially as the timing of our adoption came together at a very hectic time for most people.
When we were originally matched up with our little girl, we were astounded by her hopeless story, and God's gracious protection of her. She was found under a bridge by the police and they named her Rakeb (Amharic for Rahab). When we learned her name, we recognized the beauty of God's merciful protection on our daughter, just as God mercifully spared Rahab's house as the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. We decided to save this precious part of her story as her middle name. We have given her the name Anna, which is found in the New Testament, and means favor or grace.
Through the process, our biological children have witnessed God's faithfulness to provide resources above and beyond our ability. Adopting a little girl from Ethiopia has caused our eyes to become more sensitive to the beauty of children of different nationalities, and ultimately, God's desire for all the nations to know Him personally.
0ur Gotcha-day coincided with Easter Sunday [April 5, 2015)-what a beautiful picture of the most momentous Gotcha-day in the history of the world.
Adoption has also given our family a profound appreciation for the larger family of God, which takes an active interest in the adoption stories of families like ours. For this, we are profoundly grateful for the love of God seen in the thousands of people who contribute to adoption organizations like A Child Waits Foundation their personal concern, too.
Levi - China 2015
On behalf of my family and myself, we would like to thank you for supporting us financially with the adoption of Levi. As you already know an international adoption can be quite a strain on a families finances. You helped reduce our anxiety and enabled us to accomplish and finalize our adoption.
Our whole adoption process took one year. We started our paperwork on August 20, 2014, so things moved rather quickly for us. We will forever be grateful to you. On August 20, 2015, a year to the day, we landed in China to finalize the adoption.
The trip to China was a trip of a lifetime. Levi has truly been a blessing. On August 24th his gotcha day, Levi came out with his nannie like he was our child all along. While the other babies were crying and did not want to be held, Levi let my wife and I hold him with ease. His disposition was like, where have you been and let's go. Bonding with our family has not been an issue at all but it did take Levi a few day's to warm up to our family dog Jake. From being terrified of him, Levi now hugs him.
Thank you for your financial support and assistance.