How This All Came To Be

After being blessed with our first two children biologically, we (Nate and Christina) knew we wanted  to build the remainder of our family through adoption.  We welcomed our third child in November 2008 from Ethiopia.  He has been such an amazing gift and we can not imagine our lives without him!  We knew at some point we would love to adopt one more, but we were not sure how or when.  However, as our youngest child approached 5, we thought it was time to find that fourth child!

Our family became licensed to be foster parents last December. The plan, in our minds, was to provide a home for foster children, with the intent to eventually adopt.  We have been patiently waiting to have a child placed in our home, but since December, we have only received 2 calls from our social worker for placement.  Both of them being when we were on vacation in Florida!

Again, it was OUR plan to provide foster care and our plans are not always God’s plans!

About three weeks ago while teaching a class at Crown College, I found out that one of my students was traveling to a Liberian orphanage in May for a short term missions trip. I shared with this student about our adoption from Ethiopia and how we feel such a burden in our hearts for the orphans in Africa.  The student responded shortly after that there was a young boy in Liberia who was in need of immediate adoption. 

I spoke with Christina about the situation that night, and we both felt a peace from God that we should take the next steps to find out more about this boy. We experienced a shared feeling of God’s leading. With a strong tug on our hearts, and a bit of nervousness, we decided to move forward and trust God would pull all the pieces together if it was meant to be.

This brings us to Samuel’s story.  Samuel was born deep in the jungle, in Gewdru, which is in Grand Gedeh County in Liberia. Samuel entered this world with hydrocephalus; a condition which causes a buildup of fluid in the head. As Samuel’s head began to grow, the pressure on his birth-mother to abandon him in the forest increased.  Often, in that region of Liberia, if a child is born with a condition that is uncommon, he or she is considered to have evil spirits and is rejected by the tribe.  Fortunately, in Samuel’s case, the human rights division of the UN referred the child to an orphanage and airlifted him there.

Samuel had a shunt placed in his body in December of 2012, but needs further treatment not available in Liberia.  Samuel is very responsive and is fully aware of his world around him.  He appears to have normal intelligence and enjoys playing with objects.  He loves music and to be held.  

So in the last two weeks we have gathered and emailed all the paperwork requested by the orphanage.  Samuel has already been approved for adoption and this could all move very very quickly.

 We’re excited, and hopeful that it will all work out. God is a God of love, and a God of miracles. We trust this will happen. We believe it will happen soon. We appreciate your prayers for little Samuel, and for the entire opportunity.

The orphanage gave us permission to post pictures of the little man, so here he is! 

We will keep you all updated as this progresses!  Thank you all for your love and support!!