Aloha! We are Chris and Lallie Russell. We have been married for 18 years and live in Hawaii with our four biological children ages 14, 11, 9, & 6. We love Jesus with all our hearts, and try to follow His lead. We have considered adoption for many years, but in April 2015 on our first trip to Africa, God started speaking to us about now being the time. We met a 4 year old little girl, "D" who captured our hearts with her deep eyes and longing hugs. "D" will be six years old this February. She has been living in an orphanage in Africa since she was abandoned in a garden with her vaccination record in hand at age 18 months. She has sickle cell disease and suffered a stroke when she was a baby, rendering the right side of her body paralyzed. For the past 4 years, she has watched all the other healthy babies in the orphanage be chosen for adoption; while longing for someone to choose her. We remember saying goodbye to her the first time, she held on tight and wouldn't let go. We had to pry her little hands from around our necks, and through the tears, pray and trust that Jesus would hold her while we couldn't. Because of her special needs, we initially felt overwhelmed with the idea of bringing her into our family. However, God grew her in our hearts, and when we saw her again on our second trip to Africa in June 2016, we quickly realized His call to permanently open our arms to her. The Lord spoke clearly and strongly that she is our daughter and He will provide the way and the means to bring her into our family. Again, with heavy hearts, we had to leave her. But this time, we knew it wasn't a "goodbye," rather "see you again soon"! We are well into the adoption process, having completed our home study and almost our Dossier and we have seen God's hand at work in mighty ways, making it all possible. We are hoping to return to Africa in April, this time, bringing our sweet girl home with us. We can't wait to give "D" our unconditional love, care, medical attention, and a forever family. We know God has a bright hope and future for her, and we are so honored to become her mommy and daddy. Now, we invite YOU to join us on this journey. Jesus left the 99 to go after the 1. We cannot change the whole world, but we can change the world of this one. Can YOU help us? We invite you to join us in bringing our sweet girl home, and thank you in advance for your generosity, prayers, and support. Love, The Russell Family
