The story begins in August of 2006, a year after our second son Delton was born. Knowing we wanted more children and also knowing biological was an option, Dixie was inspired to fan a lifelong spark planted within her heart to research the process of adoption. Through prayer and a sustained vision, my wife was able to prepare the way for the work that God was about to do in our hearts. By early 2009, we were accepted into the Ethiopia program with Children's Hope International (CHI). After completing a home study and dossier, we became a waiting family in the fall of '09. In Dixie's daily routine of reviewing CHI's website, she became aware of a 3 year old with special needs. She was recovering from malaria and needed a forever family as soon as possible. Dixie knew immediately that God was calling us to pursue this beautiful little girl.
Within the process of reviewing her information, we arrived at a point early on where our faith was being tested by what appeared to be a major obstacle. We prayed, learned about pure trust in God, and then did what many learn to do when listening to God...we waited! After a brief time of waiting, God answered our prayer through what we know to be a miracle. He suddenly removed the road block. This alone will always be a standing stone in our lives for how God takes the seemingly impossible, asks for some trust and eventually says "done". On February 19th, 2010 we accepted this wonderful 3 year old as our referral, passed court in April, traveled in June and now kiss our daughter Nyah each night before bed.
So much has happened in our lives since returning home with our daughter. At times it seems that this has all been a dream. When I look back, I hardly recognize the man I was prior to bringing Nyah into our family. A man unsure about how my family would change, wrestling with anxiety over attaching to a daughter born over 8,000 miles from my front door. This is not to mention the fact that I rarely leave Northwest Missouri, let alone adventuring to Africa! Today, I am a changed man. The process has opened my eyes and therefore opened my heart to how God works in and through caring for the oppressed. I feel this is only just the beginning.
In returning back to our comfortable Northwest Missouri life, we quickly shared our new daughter with the world around us. Telling our story became second nature. The community embraced our journey and my Ethiopian daughter became quite popular in our little town of under 13,000. We are thankful for how this all has transpired. It has been a blessing to see our community embrace, love and befriend our daughter.
Perhaps our biggest surprise in all of this has been the overwhelming realization that God is calling us to something more as it relates to orphan care ministry. For several months leading up to and following our adoption travels, we have recognized that God is changing our hearts and preparing us for something new. It's always an awesome feeling when this occurs (it can also be quite frightening...). Early on in the adoption process we began wondering, who is doing a good job caring for the orphan? How is the church adapting to the needs of the oppressed and how can we learn more about this? So many want to adopt, but they simply cannot afford it. Is anyone doing anything about this? We had questions, many of them! The good news is, we found a community of believers just like us. A community focused on finding answers and collaborating thought around James 1:27 and Isaiah 1:17. The community, or "tribe" as they like to refer to themselves, had gathered for Idea Camp Orphan Care in Northwest Arkansas. Thanks to a tip from one of our closest friends, we were there and we immediately felt right at home. What we learned there was timely and valuable to our journey.
We learned that:
ü ...a strong community of thought leaders exists that focuses solely on caring for the widow, the orphan and the oppressed. Networking and capturing contacts was worth the trip alone.
ü ...something special is happening in Northwest Arkansas, something we want to learn more about. This may potentially be a place for us to spend some time learning how their model is working and how we can reproduce it.
ü ...less than 3% of professing Christians are doing something to help the orphan. 7% of the secular world is helping. Christians must do more.
ü ...we must act justly when we see an issue, practice vulnerability and find like minded people and partner with them.
ü ...the Church needs to be the primary one leading the orphan movement.
ü ...there is a significant movement underway to focus on orphan prevention. Various in-country efforts are underway that caught our attention. The Church as a whole needs to be educated on this ASAP.
ü ...we as orphan care advocates are not speaking with a unified voice. We need to partner and bring the media along with us. We need to reach across the aisle and increase the size of our tents.
ü ...Kidmia is doing some awesome work with a concept called "Seed Adoption". We want to keep our eyes on this and look for opportunities to help educate and be ambassadors.
ü ...child trafficking must be addressed.
ü ...we are much better at doing mercy than justice. Justice is difficult.
ü ...Mana Nutrition is awesome. Mark Moore is working on amazing things and we need to support his company.
ü ...when you run to the broken, you find God there. We must never forget this.
ü ...caring for orphans is a mandate, adoption is a calling.
ü ...the CEO of Wal-Mart is humble and advocates with his wife on behalf of children. (I also learned that I feel better now about 1/2 my income going to Wal-Mart!!!)
ü ...we need to move people from writing checks and acting on feelings to sustained action.
ü ...when I say "God, I can't do this", He says "Thank You"!
ü ...all healthy Churches should have an Orphan Care and Adoption Ministry.
ü ...the normative view of family, as it relates to adoption, needs to change.
ü ...there are resources available for the Church to equip people for action in these areas.
ü ...pay, pray and stay away is often the approach of people in the Church. That must change. Some are finding creative ways to change it.
ü ...the calling is "Me"
ü Most of all, we learned that compassion, justice, sustainability, preservation, prevention, running to the broken, being vulnerable, asking WHAT CAN WE DO NEXT, and saying "yes" now come to mind when we think about orphan care.
Needless to say, adoption has been life changing for us. We have experienced the love of Christ in the very heart of this process. When you run to the broken, you truly do find God there. Understanding this can transform the church and foster a society that practices compassion, embraces the teachings of Christ and seeks justice for a hurting world. God is calling us to be a part of this movement in one way or another. Idea Camp Orphan Care was yet another confirmation to take action. Committed to exploring new ways to live out Isaiah 1:17, we are launching an initiative called "the WOW fund". At this point, it's simply a concept...an idea...a possible catalyst for action. We now need to share and collaborate as it evolves to the next phase. Click on the pages above (starting with "what is the WOW fund"), take a look at some of our ideas and join the conversation. We would love to hear your response to the things God is currently placing on our hearts related to Isaiah 1:17 ministry.
