A Child Waits Foundation
Adoption Grants & Adoption Loans
International and Domestic Adoption
Family Stories
International Adoption 2020
In 2020 we awarded grants to help 152 children to be adopted from 22 different countries and 25 states in the USA. Some of their wonderful pictures and adoption experiences are recounted below in the family's own words.
Anaka - India
We are home now! After a prolonged 21 day trip we are home and settling in as a family of 6. It was an amazing adventure and we are thrilled to have our daughter home with us. Thank you again so much to A Child Waits foundation for providing the much needed assistance to make it possible for our family to travel together to pick up our precious daughter! One fun fact is that we've decided to call her by the name we gave her which is Anaka - meaning Grace. She actually chose to go by this when she heard us say it...what a gift!
Harong - South Korea
Our family wants to express our sincere and heartfelt thanks for the enormously generous grant that A Child Waits provided for our family. We were nearing the end of our adoption journey, and we felt that with the big adoption loan we took and some manageable credit card debt, we would be set financially to travel and cover final expenses. However, we were hit hard with the challenges that Covid-19 brought, which included half of our income being lost when I was laid off from my job in July. That was a big problem for us! We went from having our trip fully secured with paid family leave to having none of my income at all--and only a couple months until travel! We immediately scrambled to apply for every grant/loan program we were able to as fast as we could but unfortunately our request for help was continuously declined. We started to lose hope, but we knew we weren't going to let anything stand in the way of our finishing this adoption.
We continued to prepare and put together a fundraiser for more financial help, but then we were suddenly notified by our agency that we were expected to be in-country much sooner than we had anticipated--we had to fly out in two weeks! We were excited but anxious of how we would manage. But like an answered prayer, we were very soon contacted by one of the grants we applied for: A Child Waits. They learned of our situation, and expedited their review process just so our case could get considered as fast as possible since we were travelling so soon. Just a few days before our scheduled flight, we were allocated an absolutely amazing grant by A Child Waits! Words cannot express our gratitude for all that A Child Waits did for us to help us finish our adoption. Thank you so much, A Child Waits--thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Tanya & Veronika - Ukraine
We will never be able to thank you enough for everything that you and A Child Waits Foundation has done for us. I am attaching a few pictures now. One picture is Dasha seeing her new sister at the airport. She had prayed every night for two years. It was a touching reunion. Another picture is of Tanya and her biological sister reuniting after years apart. Thank you than you for reuniting these precious girls. Our hearts our family.
His Blessings
Ada-South Korea
Thank you for your generous financial gift towards our adoption! We are overcome with gratitude as your support has provided us the opportunity to bring Ada Ha-Yeon home from South Korea. Although Seoul, South Korea will always have a special place in our heart and family, we swell with joy at the fact that Ada is with us now!
God’s hand was evident in our journey, and one way we were able to see His goodness was through your financial giving. We praise God for you! We also saw God work in the timing of our process. We were able to move our custody date forward a week, and we were able to expedite her visa process which landed us home from Seoul on 3/11/20. We praise God for protecting us during travel and keeping our family healthy during this difficult time.
Ada is adjusting beautifully in our family with a few expected hiccups. Everything is so new to her, so we continue to play, love and guide her as she transitions. We provide comfort and familiarity while also encouraging her to explore something new. She is such a gift to our family! Again, thank you for having such an important part of her story. Your contributions allowed us to be obedient to God’s calling, and this is something we will always be grateful for.
With Thanksgiving,
Corey, Holly, Will, Callan, and Ada
Vasana - Thailand
Vasana is a delightful little girl who joined our family at 8 years old from Thailand in March 2020. Less than 3 months after arriving she underwent open heart surgery to correct a congenital heart defect that left her with extremely low oxygen levels in her blood, which limited her activities and affected her in school. Since having the surgery she has thrived: learning to ride bike, wakeboarding, and running without feeling tired! She is currently in 3rd grade, where she has made many friends and has significantly improved her math and reading skills. She is a creative soul, always drawing and creating, painting her nails, and arranging flowers from the home garden. She is full of love and affection, and an incredible big sister to Suwannee, who was also adopted from Thailand in 2018. We are so grateful to the generous donors who eased some of the financial burden of Vasana's adoption and surgery, especially during this difficult time in our nation's economy. It is hard to imagine our lives without this incredibly sweet and brave girl!
Edward - Ukraine
Edward has been home for 6 months now. The day he came home was the same day America was shut down. My husband was with him and never returned to the same home he had left just a few days before. This was true in many ways for us.
In spite of the world wide shut down we have been able to accomplish a lot! We have legally changed his name, he passed his last semester of 9th grade at our local High School, he has 2 part-time jobs, a social security card, a bank account, was accepted into a trade school to learn carpentry and may be on the honor roll for his 10th grade year. All of this taking place during a global pandemic, one can clearly see that we serve an Almighty, all Powerful, God!
The grant from A Child Waits Foundation enabled us to bring our son home so we could equip him with the necessary tools, love and support, that children need to succeed in this life. He's been given a chance, a real chance for real change to make a difference for the better. I am almost certain he will use this gift and extend it to others when he has the opportunity to share everything he has learned.
We are forever grateful for your part in this story!
Cherish - Liberia
Cherish wrapped her arms around my legs this morning, piping her now ritual greeting of, “Mornin’” as she smiled up at me. Now she’s chattering animatedly as she pushes her baby doll around in a stroller. We have delighted in her movement toward joy as each of us has learned to lean into the new shape our family has taken since Cherish became our daughter and sister.
Our adoption journey, like most I’m sure, was punctuated by hope, worry, celebration, and lots of ups and downs. From the moment we decided to pursue international adoption we knew it would be expensive, and at times we found ourselves wondering how all the financial pieces were going to come together. In the final days and weeks leading up to our travel to Liberia, the last daunting piece was figuring out how we were going to afford our travel expenses. I can hardly express the relief we experienced when A Child Waits Foundation provided us a grant covering these expenses. We were free to board a plane to bring Cherish home at last.
We arrived home on March 14 of this year, just as the global pandemic was beginning to cause enough alarm to trigger travel restrictions. As I reflect on the possibility that lack of funds could have prevented us traveling in time to bring Cherish home, on the possibility that we could all still be waiting to be a family, I am even more deeply sobered and grateful for the care we received through A Child Waits Foundation. Even as I write this, Cherish climbs into my lap to stroke my cheek and croon, “Hi, Mama,” and my heart swells.
Philomena - Sierra Leone
Our story is rather unique. We are an intercultural family, Peter was born and raised in Sierra Leone and Larice is from New York. We have worked with the Sierra Leonean immigrant community in Columbus Ohio since we got married in 2007, pastoring a church of majority Sierra Leonean descent. We have dreamed of adopting since we got married 12 years ago. After 3 biological children (2 boys and a girl), we decided that we would like to pursue an adoption. After much prayer we decided that we wanted to adopt and orphan from Sierra Leone. We were not picky but had a little desire in our hearts to have another girl who was younger than our daughter. Our dream came true when we came to know about Philomena’s story through a non-profit that sponsored her. She had been orphaned since she was 2 weeks old and lived in an orphanage on the outskirts of the capital city. When we learned about her she was just turning a year old. Upon hearing her story and seeing her photo, we decided to pursue the adoption. The process was going well until we hit an unexpected twist.
Two months before we were set to travel, Sierra Leone changed their requirements for adoption to require a 6 month in country fostering period. By this time we had already finished our homestudy and were half way done getting our own approval. We had already began preparing for our trip to Sierra Leone for court and making space in our home for our new addition. It was not an option for us to abandon the adoption.
We knew that we were uniquely equip to take on this in country stay with family and friends on the ground and a first hand knowledge of the culture and language. In fact, it had been our dream to spend an extended time in the country with the older children. If this is what it would take to get our new daughter home, then we were willing to do it. With the help of our village, we prepared to go with our family for the 6 month stay. It was not easy but the support we received from our church, family and employers made it possible.
Our family spent an amazing, not 6 but 9 months in Sierra Leone. Navigating the court and visa process until we came home with little Philomena in March 2020. It was a long road but absolutely worth it and we would do it all again in a heart beat. She is happy and healthy and adjusting to the cold weather in the US. Grant foundations such as A Child Waits helped us through what seemed like an impossible financial hurdle and made this huge feat of 9 months out of the country possible in order to bring our daughter home. Thank you once again for everything that you do and the blessing you have been to our family.
David, Thiago, Samira & Miguel - Brazil
The K family started their adoption journey in September 2018. After months of waiting and praying, God revealed His plans in October 2019 when he advocated for this precious sibling group of 4 needing a forever home. Jordan and Kristi instantly knew these were their kids and fought vigorously for them. Six months later, this new family of 6 was united as one. The family spent 7 weeks together in Brazil for their bonding period and returned home to Alabama in May 2020.
Thank you again for all you do!
Mario & Robert - Bulgaria
Bryan and I wanted to take this time to thank your Foundation for walking with us on our adoption journey - it would not have been possible without your help!
Delanie now shares the joy of sitting in a field of Texas bluebonnets on a warm Spring afternoon with her two brothers. And they all feel the love of a forever family. We are all so grateful for everything you have done for us.
Alek - Bulgaria
Thank you so very much for the grant that we were given for our adoption. Travel during a pandemic presented unexpected challenges and expenses, and your generosity helped make it possible for us to bring our son home.
Our son, Alek, has been home from Bulgaria for four months, and he is such a beautiful addition to our family. He is a bright spot in our lives, and we feel so fortunate to be his family. Thank you, again, for your generosity.
Andrii & Anastasia- Ukraine
We had a very fast adoption in Ukraine. Our first appointment there was Aug. 17, court happened quickly on Sept 8, we took custody on the 10th and came home on Sept. 17. A lady in the adoption ministry there said she couldn’t remember any other ever going so quickly!
We are so thankful for this grant, it got us all back home together! We are still adjusting, the new kids are doing very well.
Kimberly & Emily - Brazil
Thank you again for the very generous gift.
We just got home with our two daughters, Kimberly and Emily! We were gone for 7 weeks. We had to live as a family for 30 days with temporary guardianship, then the adoption was finalized. After that, we had to travel to Sao Paulo city for their emergency Brazil passports, then on to U.S. Consulate in Rio for their U.S. visas. "
Andres - Colombia
Dear A Child Waits Foundation,
It is from the bottom of our hearts that we write to thank you for your donation to us. What a gift! We never could have afforded this adoption without you, and we hope you know how important you all are to our family, and that we pray for you often. The work you are doing is priceless, and we know that you are able to do it through your hardworking and giving donors who so selflessly give to help families such as ours. We hope you will read our story and take comfort in the boys' lives you have helped to change.
People often ask us how we came to choose adoption. We always answer with the truth, which is that adoption actually chose us, we did not choose it. After many years of trying to get pregnant, and multiple expensive and exhausting visits to the fertility clinic, I told Bob, my husband of 8 years at the time (now 11), that I was starting to feel like a science experiment. I shared with him that this wasn’t how I wanted to grow our child and that if it were meant to be, God would open that door for us. He agreed and we both were done with trying to start a family from scratch at the moment. We needed a break and to allow ourselves to regroup. Since Bob and I first started dating, we both knew adoption was eventually going to be a part of our plan. So, while Bob and I always had an open mind and heart to adoption, we had decided to table the idea of having kids all together and allow God to lay our path for us.
In the meantime, we had signed up to receive emails from All Gods Children, an adoption agency we had read great things about. Every now and then we would receive an email from them, with a picture of a child with a caption above their head that read “Are you my forever family?” While all of these children were adorable and deserving of forever families, at the time I only admired them, adding them to my nightly prayers and moved on with life; until one day on an early spring morning in April of 2017. I was lying in bed after working the night shift at our local hospital…. just casually scrolling through my emails trying to wind down so I could sleep. That is when adoption chose us. There was a picture of a four-year-old little boy from All God’s Children waiting for a forever family. Today we get the honor of calling him our son. Something was different this time, it was more than admiration and adding him to my list of nightly prayers. I knew in my deepest heart that he was our child. I felt this urgency to go get him, and without even talking to Bob about it, I picked up the phone and called to inquire about him. “He is still available,” she said over the phone and my heart jumped for joy. As soon as Bob walked through the door that evening, I told him everything. He looked at this little boy’s face and said he felt it too. Eight months later, we were arriving back home with Cesar in our arms.
While bringing Cesar home was more incredible than we had ever hoped for, we knew we wanted to grow our family again-sooner rather than later. We had silly Norman Rockwell type notions of having another boy and the two boys being besties. Getting to grow up together and someday, travel back to Colombia together to answer any lost feelings or just explore their birth country together.
It had been going on 2.5 years from bringing Cesar home when we decided to adopt again. We had seen a picture with a face we just couldn’t forget. Andres was 4 years old and his file, like Cesar’s, had a long list of special needs. I am not joking when I tell you we had 54 dollars in our checking account, as I had been laid off from work due to an empty hospital after Covid first broke out. My mind raced as I wondered how I could possibly ever bring home a little boy who was halfway across the world, and cost about 35 grand to do. I knew I was his mom, and moms are supposed to fix things. We don’t have time to be scared or have pity parties for ourselves. While I knew life was rough for us financially at the moment; I also knew of the strength I had when I looked into my little boy’s eyes. I knew I had to be stronger than he had been asked to be in his few years of life. So I decided to do whatever I could to bring him home. I had rummage sales and stayed up all hours of the night writing for grants. I sold things I never planned on parting with and stopped myself from enjoying extras such as eating out. There were many day’s that were not easy for me. Yet, as things progressed, I saw that God was there with us. Grants started to say yes to us, and it was a sign to me that God was going to hold my hand as I fought to get my son home. While we ended up with several wonderful grants, yours was the best news of our journey! We wanted so badly to send in our dossier but couldn’t afford to do so. Everything was completed, but we needed to pay for it. Your generosity allowed us to do that. I nearly fell off of my chair when I got the call from Deanna. It was a day I will never forget. We can’t thank you enough for helping Andres to get home where he is loved unconditionally and admired beyond words. We know how hard your organization must work and that your donors and their hard work and generosity, are the reason for all of this. We could never thank you enough or tell you how much this meant to our family.
I realize you must get a lot of thank you letters. Please know this is more than that. We were broke. Broke, broke, broke. It was a miracle for you to grant us with this gift of support financially, and I think we are still in shock almost a year later! We are so humbled by the loving and caring presence you gave to us when we needed it the most. You really impacted our lives and Andre's life in ways I don’t have enough words to explain. It is amazing and something we will never take for granted. We know how many families must ask help from you, and to be heard among all the other plea’s during this time, was one of God’s magical moments.
Cesar and Andres are both doing amazing. They are both now verbal and speaking in English eloquently. They love and support one another and have friends and enjoy school. Cesar loves music and stuffed animals, and Andres loves trucks, trains, and planes. They are our greatest joy, and we are so happy we could not have children biologically, because we would have missed out on the two most amazing and loving boys in the world. We are lucky to call them ours and will forever be here to love and support them-no matter what. We are excited to be adopting again and hopeful that our child/children will come home to us in God’s perfect timing. We have attached before adoption and current pictures of the boys. Its amazing how the sparkle finds its way back into their eyes.
We are now starting a third adoption from Colombia again!!! We are hoping for a set of siblings and look forward to traveling back to Colombia again and again. God bless you all and the work that you do. You will never understand how much your gift to us meant. We can’t thank you enough and will carry your kindness with us forever.
Manju, Sanjay, Poonam & Manisha - India
We, Jon and Meagan, officially started the search for our children in May of 2015. After many heartbreaking hurdles such as an adoption agency closure and a country program falling through, we were overjoyed to have finally found our sibling group of four children waiting for us in India on Christmas Day of 2019.
For nearly one year, our family hoped for A Child Waits Foundation grant to ease our stress and financial worries. Unfortunately, a lot of our funding went into our prior agency and country program, so we were scrambling for the funds to finalize our adoption and bring our four children home. We were nervous about the cost to travel to India for a lengthy amount of time due to hotel, food and airfare expenses for our new family of six.
In December 2020, it was the perfect Christmas gift when we got the phone call notifying us that we were receiving funds to finalize our adoption. This brought us so much relief and gratitude as we were preparing to embark on our journey to India. A Child Waits foundation grant reinvigorated our hearts and gave us the boost of energy and hope we needed right before we left on our journey to bring our four children home.
Our family cannot thank a Child Waits Foundation enough for the support you have provided to our family. We will forever be grateful for your efforts and consideration to adoptive families.