We have BIG news - we are adopting again! And what's more, we are adopting a sibling group of 4 (!) beautiful children from the country of Colombia. There are three boys and one girl, ages 5, 7, 7 and 9. That's right - there are twins and… a girl!!!!
As many of you know, when we first adopted we were living in the Dominican Republic as missionaries. At that time, it was our desire to adopt a sibling group because we felt a deep sense of empathy for children who lost not only their parents, but might be forced to lose the relationship with their siblings as well. We pursued our first adoption with siblings in mind, but through a series of events God made it clear to us that we were meant to adopt Isaac. Isaac has now been our son for 4 years now, his heart is surgically repaired, and he has brought countless blessings to our family. Furthermore, he has also helped pave the way for the greater challenge of adopting a sibling group.
There are a number of ways that God has prepared our family to love and nurture these kids. First, we spent 4 years living in a Latino culture so we value the cultural heritage of these kids. We also understand the sense of loss that comes from moving away from one’s home culture, from one’s home country, from all that you have grown up with. During our time in the DR we also became proficient in the Spanish language, so we will be able to communicate and support our new children immediately when we first welcome them into our family. The language barrier that inhibits bonding early on in so many international adoptions will not be a large factor when our time comes.These experiences have created a family that is strong, resilient, and ready for the challenge of welcoming so many new members into our family.
We know that our future children have also experienced hard times. They have been in foster care and orphanages for about 5 years now, almost the entire lifespan of the youngest child. It is difficult to find families willing to take on 4 new children at one time, and this is why the central authority in Colombia was preparing to break up the siblings in order to find them homes. For this reason, we felt compelled to step in and take action. We feel that we have the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual capacity to welcome these children into our family and nurture them, but we need some help with the financial resources to do so.
You may be surprised to learn that adopting internationally is very expensive, and to adopt four at once creates an even greater financial burden. Our adoption agency has estimated the total cost of this adoption as $53,000, and that is why we are looking for others who are willing to help us bring these four children into our family. Thank you for your consideration as you decide whether to partner with us in this journey.
For a video about our family and our story go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bml2tW-p9vU
