Cry of the Orphan

Family:  Jim & Gina Wilson (adopted Natalie from Philippines, and now in process for 2nd miraculous adoption)

Orphan Ministry:  Life International – www.lifeintl.org

Other Key Info:  Life International committed a $3,000 matching grant.  This proved to be a catalyst for others to give, as the folks within their church gave an additional $3,920 toward this adoption as a result of the matching grant for Natalie (first adoption).

Excerpt from Wilson’s adoption testimony in 2003 (when applying to LI for adoption grant):
“We first started talking about adoption a few years ago…and knew we probably wouldn’t have any more biological children when we knew there were so many orphans in our world.  We were also blessed by Steven Curtis Chapman’s testimony of their adoption.  We were drawn to the Philippines as we sponsor a Filipino boy through Compassion International for the last 4 years…

We believe this is the first of many adoptions for us…we believe that God will provide the finances needed for this adoption.  This is giving us an opportunity to build our faith and trust God for a miracle!...”

Excerpt from Wilson’s adoption testimony & update for a 2nd adoption in 2007:
“Thank you Life International!  It has been two years since we brought home our daughter Natalie from the Philippines.  We could not do it without the $3,000 Adoption Matching Grant we received from Life International.  Not only did we feel blessed by Life International but also the many, many financial blessings we received from our friends and family who were glad to support our adoption.  We would not have felt comfortable requesting assistance from the people around us without your encouragement and accompanying letter.   Everyone was very excited to have their donation doubled (through the matching grant) and felt like they were also a part of making this incredible miracle happen. Your prayers and encouraging phone calls were also very helpful.

Natalie has been a blessing to our family in so many ways.  Even after only a few months we could not have imagined life without her.  She is a beautiful, smart and funny child with so much personality!  She has bonded well with all of us and fits right into our family.  Our adoption experience has been such a witness to others of God’s unconditional love for us since He has adopted all of us into His family.  Our adoption has also caused a lot of people around us to consider adoption and a few of them have started on the adoption journey God has for them.

Our newest miracle from God was finding out recently that Natalie has a full biological younger brother, Mark Timothy who is at the same orphanage Natalie is from.  Apparently, the birth mom gave him up at the Children Shelter of Cebu requesting that the same family in the U.S. who adopted Natalie would adopt Mark as well so they could grow up together.   The orphanage made the request to the government who then contacted our agency.  We received the surprising phone call on February 13th, Natalie’s 3rd birthday.  We immediately felt this was God’s gift for Natalie on her birthday that she had a brother who looked just like her!  We prayed to God that if He desired for us to adopt Mark that he would have to provide ALL of the money since we were still recovering from paying for Natalie’s adoption.  Five weeks later, we received a phone call from someone [from our church] we hardly knew, who was aware of our situation.  They offered to pay for the whole adoption!  Since then, we have also been blessed by other generous people with the majority of the money needed to take our three children with us to meet our newest addition to our family, Natalie’s little brother Mark.  We will be traveling to the Philippines to adopt Mark and bring him home sometime this fall.

We now are twice as grateful to Life International because if it wasn’t for your ministry there would be two more orphans today waiting for a forever family in an orphanage in the Philippines!"

Family: David & Debbey Woodruff, adopted
Ashton from China

Orphan Ministry: Life International (www.lifeintl.org)

Testimony: My husband, David, and I have always felt we should adopt a child or two. However, because of many life circumstances, we had not been in a position to move ahead with an adoption until 2005.  Throughout the year of 2005, many of our adoption barriers were removed and David and I knew the time was right. We began to pursue a China adoption.

When we started the process our biggest barrier was finances. We didn’t have all the money upfront, but David’s business was expanding, our apartments were going well, and we were nearing the end of the process to purchase a duplex.  I thought, “I can be obedient.  I can trust God with this area.  We don’t have the money know, but I can see how it will work out. Besides, adopting from China takes at least a year anyway so we will have time to save all the money.”  I thought I was walking in faith. . .

Through prayer and subsequent circumstances, we felt we should adopt a beautiful special needs toddler girl.  We told our agency of our intent to adopt Yang Xiao Xia and we began the paperwork process.  The paperwork was processed exceedingly quickly. Every time we thought we would have a few weeks between finishing one document and proceeding to the next step, we would receive a phone call or a letter that a document was completed in record time.  We were going to bring our Yang Xiao Xia home much faster than originally intended!

With each expedition of paperwork, we rejoiced, but I secretly wondered how we would “raise” the money in the reduced timeframe. However, I would tell God, “OK, I can trust you. . .” About the time I was feeling comfortable again; that I could trust God with the new timeframe, the timing would expedite again.  And, each time, I would say, “OK, you are the Provider.  I’ll trust you.”  However, each time I surrendered, the money issues grew.  It became IMPOSSIBLE for us to earn enough funds for us to fund the adoption on our own.  NOW we must fully rely on God.  NOW we must trust. 

A friend told us about Life International (www.lifeintl.org) and we checked them out.  We encouraged our friends to prayerfully consider contributing tax-deductible dollars to help bring Yang Xiao Xia home.  Through the help of Life International, we were able to raise 100% of the funds we needed in the last month before we traveled to China! We were so thankful for them and for God’s provision through our friends!

God’s blessings did not end with providing financially.  In July of 2006, we met and brought home our precious Xiao Xia! Almost immediately the bonding began to occur.  Xiao Xia (Ashton) immediately bonded with her siblings and they bonded with her. Ashton bonded with David and I and vice versa.  She is a perfect fit in our family and everyone has adjusted beautifully – another God-thing!

Since coming home, Ashton has accepted Christ into her heart. She is our most ardent prayer warrior. In fact, when she first came home, she wanted to pray everywhere – in stores, in lines, in the bathroom, in restaurants, etc.  We’d pray 4-5 times in an hour. She was so cute when she’d say, “Thank you for to God. . ..”

God definitely blessed this adoption in a positive way. He blessed us with supportive friends and family. He blessed us with Life International’s assistance with fundraising.  He blessed us with quick and effective bonding. He blessed us with a well-adjusted little daughter whom we love very much.  We are rejoicing because we know God is faithful.

If you’d like to hear more about our journey our journals can be found at: www.myladybugjournal.com under the Woodruff family.

Family: The Sproles

Orphan Ministry: Shaohannah's Hope (www.shaohannahshope.org)

Testimony: Our adoption story is a little different than most, as our journey began in August 2005 when God first spoke to me, Mark, in a back pew at church. This was when the first mission trip to Russia was announced. I knew right then that God was asking me to go and to take my daughter Rachel. I didn’t know why and I didn’t know how I was going to pay for the trip.  I soon learned that I couldn’t pay for the trip but I knew we must go. I had been given permission for the time off of work for the trip. And as we prepared, I learned that I was going to lose my job due to a location closing. However, God provided a new job immediately two days following. This was a better job and they too gave me the time off without any questions.  And God provided the funds for us to go.

The trip was an amazing experience that I truly cannot describe in words. On December 30, 2005, at the first orphanage that we visited, we met a special young man named Michael, who we learned was 12 years old. He was so vibrant and full of life. I gave him an angel necklace that Malachi (our youngest son) made and gave me to give as a gift to someone in Russia. He didn’t know who it would be. It was this necklace that started our relationship with this boy. He asked me to sign it and for my address. I gave him our address and a photo of us. When we returned to our hotel later that night I told Rachel that God sent us here for this boy. She replied “I knew you were going to say that”.  I later called Margaret and told her about our experience and about Michael. When I told her that God wanted us to adopt him, she did not question it at all. She simply asked more questions and accepted God’s leading in my heart.

While in Russia we met Raya and many others who became our friends who helped us to communicate with Michael. As I look back I can see God working and putting the parts of the puzzle into place. Each piece precisely placed to create a masterpiece only he could oversee.
When we returned from our mission trip we began the process of adoption. We contact Dana Marra, of Adoption Options World Wide, in Michigan, to be our adoption facilitator and Jenny Berstch of Gateway Woods Apostolic Christian Children's Home located in Leo, Indiana to prepare our homestudy. We began preparing our home and praying for the funds that we learned would total approximately $30,000, which was equivalent to our annual salary. We felt overwhelmed knowing that money and bureaucracy was all that stood between us and our soon to be son. We knew that we had to give these burdens to the Lord and trust that He would provide for the work that he had set into motion.

Things started moving very quickly at this point. Our homestudy was completed on June 16,, 2006. FBI fingerprinting was July 11, 2006. Our 171-H form arrived on July 29, 2006. Our first trip was August 11 – 19, 2007.

My daughter and I traveled together for the first visit. We had been keeping in touch with Michael during this process through a very dear friend, Raya, which we met on the mission trip. We would email her letters and she would translate them, take them to Michael and give us updates and news on him.  We refrained from mentioning our desire to adopt him so not to raise his hopes and anticipation.

Unexpectedly, we were able to have Michael in our hotel room for two days. When he was brought to our room he jumped into my arms while he shouted my name, “Mark!”. It was during this trip that he learned that we wanted to adopt him and he said that he “knew we would return for him”. We spent this time learning more about Michael and he learned more about the family that he would someday join. We returned home from this trip and we continued our preparation of what seamed to be endless piles of paperwork with notaries, apostilles and last minute new requirements and changed documents.

Even though God had provided thousands of dollars through personal finances, donations, fundraisers, and bake sales, we were still several thousands short. While we were trying hard to fully trust God and follow his leading, because of our human weakness we could not help but feel discouraged. We had no reason to be, as God did provide all the monies needed to bring Michael home. As I, Mark, was driving home one day from work, I cried out to God and asked him to give me a sign that everything would be provided for. I looked towards our home as I was driving and there was a double rainbow stretching out across the sky over our house! This was my answer. The next morning we received a phone call stating that a large donation was being made to assist with the adoption and that, combined with a grant from Shaohannah’s Hope the last remaining funds were delivered at precisely the right time. Our final trip was November 22, 2006 and the court date was on November 28th. Margaret met Michael for the first time during this trip and it was as though he had always been her son. At the court proceedings the Judge was concerned that Margaret may change her mind, since she had only met him on this trip. She assured the judge that she loved Michael and would never change her mind. The judge still insisted that she spend more time with him and postponed her judgment for two days. We took Michael to our hotel and these two days were absolutely wonderful. The memories we made are priceless and Margaret’s love grew even deeper for her son. Michael’s adoption became final on November 30, 2006 when the judge was satisfied when she saw the love between us all in the courtroom.  With God’s help we were able to overcome all of the road blocks that were put in our way and we left the court with our new son, Michael Sproles.

Margaret had to leave Russia early and return to our other children, Rachel, Shawn and Malachi. Mark had to remain in Russia for an additional week while waiting for Michael’s passport, visa and other documents. God used this time for Michael to be able to visit his mother’s grave to pay his respects. We were able to visit with Michael’s older brother, Victor (19), who wanted to meet Mark. Victor’s only concern was for his brother to have a family to love and care for him. We continue to keep in contact with Victor often. These extra days were filled with many amazing memories as well, both in Ivanovo and in Moscow.

We returned home on December 13, 2006 and were greeted by friends and family. Michael was immediately accepted and fit into our family like a glove. Of course, we have experienced normal family growing pains, which further supports that he is a Sproles at heart. Michael celebrated his 13th birthday (December 19th) and his first Christmas with his new family and friends soon after his arrival. On February 2, 2007 Michael was able to meet with Steven Curtis Chapman and tell him “Thank you for helping me to have a family.” We give all glory to God for this miraculous experience and our new son.

The two most important things we learned through this experience are to listen when God speaks and to allow God to work.. When he asks you to do something and you say “yes” he will provide the means to accomplish the task he has given to you.  He truly is faithful when you trust and obey.