When we decided to begin enlarging our family, our plan was to have biological children first (before we got any older) and then later adopt children from another country. However, when several months passed with no sign of pregnancy, we began to feel God calling us to pursue international adoption now rather than later in our lives. We would love to have biological children someday (as well as to adopt more children), but we believe that adoption is God’s plan for our family right now. In the past couple of years, He has really opened our eyes to the millions of orphans around the world and opened our hearts to the miracle of adoption as a beautiful way to build a family.
We recently read Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. It is an excellent book that encourages Christians to take seriously our God-given responsibility to love and care for the needy around the world and illustrates the beauty of adoption. We’ve pasted part of the book description below.
The gospel of Jesus Christ – the good news that through Jesus we have been adopted as sons and daughters into God's family – means that Christians ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans in North America and around the world. Russell D. Moore does not shy away from this call…He shows that adoption is not just about couples who want children-or who want more children. It is about an entire culture within Christianity, a culture that sees adoption as part of the Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself.
We recommend this book to everyone, whether you are planning to adopt or not. It will definitely give you a better understanding of adoption, and who knows – it might even encourage you to pursue adoption yourself! :)
We are working with Lifelink International Adoption. They have an excellent program in South Korea, working with Eastern Social Welfare Society in Seoul. Eastern is a Christian agency that cares for those in South Korea who are considered the “unwanted” of society.
We have submitted the initial application to Lifelink, and we are officially on the waiting list for a baby of either gender. Since there are more boys available than girls, we will almost certainly be referred a boy. Lifelink estimates a wait of 12 months for a referral, and then we will travel to South Korea 3-6 months after that to bring our child home. He/she will probably be around 9-12 months old at that time. Of course, adoption can be very unpredictable, so these timeframes are estimates.
We are incredibly excited about adoption, and we would be more than happy to answer your questions or give you more information.
Please pray for us as we embark on this exciting journey that God has for us. If everything goes smoothly, we will welcome our first child into our family around the beginning of 2011.
LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN!!!
