Why China?

Our choice to pursue an adoption from China came more out of the needs of the child, and less out of a connection to the country. While our decision to adopt from Uganda was rooted in our love for the country and our mission work there, we really have no current ties to China. However, since gaining a better understanding of the adoption statistics around the world, we knew China had a large number of special needs children waiting to be placed with a family. We also knew that we didn't want to wait for a "healthy" child match as that would take upwards of 2-3 years from most countries. Because we saw the need firsthand while living in Uganda, we knew that going the special needs route is what we were being called to. 

After we settled on the idea of another adoption, we had narrowed down our search to countries that were conducting ethical adoptions. From there we narrowed down which agencies we felt we could work with, and then submitted our information to their waiting child lists. Every week, for many months, Bettina was getting children sent to her e-mail as possible matches for our family. Each week she looked through and prayed...and despite all the children in need of a home, we still didn't feel like any of them were ours.

However, just after Christmas, the same e-mail she got every week, once again showed up in Bettina's inbox. We looked through the list, and for the first time we felt a strong tug in our hearts for one the of girls listed from China. We requested her file and as we read her story, we only felt a stronger connection to her. We also saw that she was born while we were in Uganda picking up our boys, which only reaffirmed our attachment to her. 

As we continued to move forward, we asked God continually for tangible signs that this was our daughter; and in true God fashion He gave us 3 very clear signs that we should continue to pursue her. On the flip side, in true human fashion, we requested the file of 4 other children, just to be sure we weren't being biased (ha!). However, over and over again we were drawn to her story...her picture...her life...and we knew she was ours. On January 18, we officially said YES to our sweet girl, and YES to an adoption from China. 

We are excited to be able to give our daughter a family, and humbled that God chose us to shepherd her in this life. In a perfect world, there would be no reason for adoption, and yet here we are, hands open and hearts broken, asking God to somehow redeem, restore and heal the broken pieces. We've said yes to opening our home in order to let God's glory be seen through her life, and we can't wait to pour worth, love and value into her.