Aaron & Elizabeth Shakal

are adopting 3 children from Bulgaria

They’re waiting!

Our adoption process led us to a group of 3 siblings in Bulgaria needing a forever home. A girl 11 years old, another girl 9 years old, and a boy 6 years old, they were taken out of a bad situation and need to be adopted. After talking about it, we put in an application to adopt all three. We want them to be able to stay together in a safe place.

Help us bring them home. The cost is far more than when we were looking at adopting one child, and still so worth it. The cost to adopt three is now $52,000. We are trying to raise at least $30,000 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to help with the fees and the travel to bring them home. The sooner we can raise the fees, the sooner we will be able to set a date to travel.

When we met with our case worker and she introduced us to three waiting children, siblings that need a home, it was not something we were expecting. We thought we were just going to talk about the next piece of paper we needed to fill out. There’s so much paperwork. Instead we saw pictures and heard a part of their story. So, we asked for their information so we could talk and pray.

There are always things you envision when preparing to adopt - how young you are looking for, how many you are planning for, boy or girl, etc. But when we started reading their story, all that faded into the background. We want to love them, care for them, protect them, and be with them. We want to enjoy music with them, or play board games with them. We want to give them a place where they can stay together, and where they can also connect with parents who will love them and protect them. We want to talk about princesses or super heroes, and read them stories. We want to share their interests, and introduce them to our interests and fun. We want to do it together. We want to serve together, learn together, and grow together.

We want to show a patient love that will give these a safe place and a warm place to grow. We wish they were already here and with us in their forever home.

Please pray for us as we go through the process to adopt these three. Please donate to help us bring them home. Please help us share as much as you can to get the word out to everyone. They are waiting. Let’s shorten how long they must wait as much as we can, and give them a home together with us.

Adoption Status

Matched

Adoption Agency

Hand In Hand International

Updates

  • Update 14

    Time to go get them!

    May 1, 2026

    We have a date to go over to get our children. Flights are arranged. Our Verbo has been chosen. We are heading over. We do not know how long it will take. Bulgaria had an emergency election that has messed with the timing of our final document. We will be waiting in Sofia until that document is finalized. Then, we pick the kids up and spend one last week with them in Sofia before flying home. We can't wait to get over there. We are even more excited to pick the kids up.

    We are excited to spend some time just us as a family after we get back. Their rooms are ready for them here at home. Our church family is excited to meet them. Our family is excited to meet them.

    Pray the final document does not take long to finish. Pray as they learn English. Pray as they settle in to their forever home.

  • Update 13

    The Court Date is Set!

    April 2, 2026

    The last big step before we can travel over to bring our three home is the court session. We just got our court date! It is finally getting closer. As soon as court happens, they make their decision/decree official and finalize one last form. Then, we get our travel date. We are praying for a date that is soon. Then, we can go bring them home to their forever home.

  • Update 12

    All Our Papers Are Done!!!

    March 15, 2026

    We received our i800 approvals, Visa Center Letters, and filled out our final forms. Everything has been submitted to the Bulgarian government. We are done on our end. Now, we are waiting for the Bulgarian government to give their final approval and send it to the courts to finalize. Once they are done and the court decree comes through, we get our travel date to go bring our children home.
    Now we just pray that it goes through the final Bulgarian steps quickly. We are both ready to bring them home. Our children are ready and asking when we are coming to bring them home. It is almost here.

  • Update 11

    Wonderful Trip! Never Wanted to Leave!

    January 27, 2026

    A couple weeks ago we traveled to Bulgaria and spent a week with our three children. We were ready to bring them home right then. The hardest thing we've ever done was leave them.
    We came home and immediately began plowing through the new pile of paperwork. We are hoping to get through it as fast as possible. We need to get back to our three and bring them home.
    We did get to start weekly video calls with them. So, we get to talk while the forms are processed and we are stuck waiting. Even so, this will be the longest couple of months ever. We are praying every form gets processed quickly and the Bulgarian court date gets set faster than ever.

  • Update 10

    We got our Travel Date!

    December 19, 2025

    Lots has happened in the last few days. We get to zoom call with our three on Monday morning and talk with them for the very first time. But more than that, we also got our travel date to go over to Bulgaria to spend our first week with them. In just a few weeks we fly over and spend 7 wonderful days with our three.

    Then, we only have a few more months to wait until we go over to bring them home with us. Their rooms are coming together. Soon they will be sleeping in their beds in their forever home.

$13,365 raised of $30,000 goal
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Matching Donors

  • Sharon Compton matched $500

Donations 37

  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount
  • Sharon Compton gave $500
  • Loretta Ragsdale gave an undisclosed amount
    Praying, praying, praying! Can't wait to meet my future cousins!
  • Linda Maloney gave $30
    I go to church with senior Shakals in PA. Praying all goes well for you!
  • Anonymous gave $50
  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount
  • Temperature Control Systems gave $300
  • Liliana Karapetyan gave an undisclosed amount
    I pray that God helps you with this process!
  • Carl Shakal gave $100
  • Ronnie gave $40

    Matched by Sharon Compton