As every child is, the birth of our girls was miraculous, made extra special for us because our children came to us through adoption.  Adoption was always important to us, as Bill was adopted as a young boy, and we were so excited to bring children into our family the same way. 

We were so excited about everything that the Lord had done in our lives we wanted to share it with everyone.  So many people that we came across on a daily basis didn’t understand adoption, and didn’t want to.  So our heart became sharing with others about adoption, and encouraging them to make it a part of their lives. 

As we prayed about this the Lord started working in our hearts the need of orphans around the world.  We thought this was great and were excited to someday teach our girls about this by visiting orphanages with them.  One day we talked about why we were waiting, surely we could do this now while they were babies.  We started contacting agencies and charities.  The response was the same from all, please send money.  This wasn’t what we felt the Lord was asking of us. 

Almost 2 months after writing Shaohannah’s Hope, they responded with a note for us to contact Hope Healing Home.  That same day Hope responded with an answer, yes they needed us, but only if we could commit to one year.  Our hearts heavy, we prayed about this.  This is not what we wanted.  We decided to apply for passports anyway.  Our youngest still didn’t have a birth certificate so we were not sure if it would be approved, and the passport administration called us and apologized but with no birth certificate, and no way to get it, we couldn’t get a passport for her.  We knew this was a huge door for the Lord to close and was the answer we needed.  10 minutes later they called back and said that they had decided to approve her for a passport this time. 

For us this was scary and exciting at the same time.  We put our house on the market, most houses were selling within just a couple of weeks, so we hoped to be in China in about a month.  We were disappointed as we waited for the house to sell, but the Lords timing is perfect.  After no one looking at the house for a whole month a buyer came in and wanted to close in a few weeks.  This gave us time to pack, buy tickets and not much more. 

And so with tears in our eyes we said our goodbyes in America, and with tears we said our hello’s in China.  And what seemed so impossible at one time, so foreign and so different, became home in a small village an hour outside of Beijing. 

 

Who we are

Committed to seeing the body of Christ caring for and adopting the fatherless

Hearts for the Fatherless