We’ve been talking about the need for some sort of adoption care ministry here in Nicaragua. I asked our friend, Laura, to write about her family’s experience adopting a child from Nicaragua last year. The rest of this post is from Laura:

Our family recently finalized the adoption of our now 10 month old son.  It was truly an amazing experience to see God orchestrate all the amazing details surrounding the entire process and the miracle of uniting us with our precious son.

In Nicaragua when a family adopts a child, the government adoption organization called Mi Familia requires a minimum 4-month in-country fostering period.  This time period can be a time of immense trial for adoptive families because although there is a sequence of events and timeline laid out at the beginning of the process, it isn’t always very accurate.  In fact our family was cautioned in advance by another friend who adopted, that the one thing families can be certain of is that the adoption will not go according to plan.  And, in our case, she was right.

Thankfully, even though our process was different than foretold, God provided for us in miraculous ways.  And one of those ways was through meeting the Willards and other families who really cared for us and came along side us.  In Nicaragua the housing situation that we thought we were going to have didn’t work out. Through a Providential series of events we ended up living in a neighborhood called Colonia Becklin where a number of U.S. missionary families live.  Our next door neighbors just happened to be the Willards.

We are actually missionaries ourselves.  We work for a global sports ministry organization with our home base outside of Cleveland.  So imagine our surprise when Wendy showed up at our door the day after moving in asking if she could help us in anyway.  She explained that while in Nicaragua they wanted to serve and assist missionary families in any way they could.

This was pivotal for us for a number of reasons.  We were advised not to drive while in country, our two daughters needed friends to play with, we needed fellowship and prayer, and two months into the fostering process our son began to have seizures.  The Willards and other missionary families helped us immensely in all of these areas coming along side us in extremely practical ways including giving us rides to the grocery store, to doctor appointments, to the hospital when our 4-month old baby had an MRI and the list goes on.

These could have been crushing, defeating moments for us, but instead each trial provided a very tangible means for God to show us how deeply he cared for and loved our family.  He showed his love to us tangibly by sending friends to care for us every step of the way.  Because of that, our 4 1/2 month stay in Nicaragua has turned out to be an experience that our family will forever cherish, an experience that has strengthened our entire family’s faith, and an has become an amazing testimony of God’s greatness.

I hope every adoptive family has an experience as wonderful as ours came to be. What incredible stories we now have to share with our son!  But the truth is, I have met and heard of some families who have not had similar experiences.  Some struggled through each and every day just pleading with God that the process would soon come to an end so they could hop on a plane and get home.  

Wendy recently shared with me the vision God has given their family to come alongside adoptive families.  She asked me if I thought it would be helpful to others.  My answer was an immediate yes!  It would be more than helpful.  I honestly think it would be life changing for some families.  The process of waiting for an adoption to be finalized can be extremely taxing emotionally.  It can even feel like a struggle to survive because, without knowing the language, tasks as simple as buying bottles of clean water from a local store are huge challenges. Translators can be hired at times to help with the legalities of the adoption, but they can’t stick around everyday for four (or more!) months to assist families.

With a ministry network established, like the one being proposed, I think the likelihood of a family thriving, enjoying their experience, and most importantly bonding with their newly adopted child or children during their stay, increases tremendously.  Please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry.  You will be helping “the least of these” to be welcomed into the arms of loving families who, God willing, can then explain that they can also be welcomed into the arms of a Loving Savior.

Learn more about Laura and her love of traveling by visiting her blog at MommyMaleta.com.

Note: This was originally posted on my personal blog in April of 2013. Additional comments may be found there.