Reached from Outside Their Walls
Every truth, promise, and commission from God’s Word applies to each member of His Church.
So it comes as no surprise that, even when they don’t know each other, believers across the world support one another for God’s cause.
When Chad and Mandy knew they were called to adopt, they had no idea how they would pay the fees. But a short distance away sat a church who had a similar heart for adoption. And they provided funding for Chad and Mandy to adopt. The following letter was written by adoptive dad, Chad, to that church.
To our dear family in Christ,
Our family wishes to express our deepest thanks for your generosity in funding our adoption grant. God has used your sacrifice to answer our family’s prayers for provision to bring our little girl, Leila Jing, home.
My wife and I serve as public school teachers in our small hometown in Virginia. I’m also a bi-vocational pastor of a small local church. We planted our church in 2007, and God has built a wonderful family of faith among us. We adopted all three of our children from China. My wife, Mandy, and I did not decide to adopt as a result of fertility issues–we just knew God had called us to build our family that way.
In 2012, we brought home our oldest son, Micah Jin, who is now eight years old. About a year later, we began the process again. Our second adoption was met with challenges when Mandy was diagnosed with cancer soon after we started our home study. Surgeries and cancer treatment delayed the process for over a year. But finally, in 2016, we brought home our middle son, Asher Xia. Then, we experienced the miracle of adoption again when we met our daughter, Leila Jing, for the first time.
Bringing Home Leila
During Leila’s adoption, one of the biggest challenges has been a financial one. As public school teachers, international adoption is far beyond our financial means. Our Church does not have any paid staff. The vast majority of funds given to our church go directly to our international ministry partners in Tanzania and Guatemala.
As we were preparing to travel to China to finalize Leila’s adoption, it seemed as though the costs for travel and the adoption program fee were out of reach for us. We maxed out our home equity line of credit, sold our only decent car, and still needed more. We knew that God would make a way for His will to be done, but our enemy was trying to rob us of the joy of following God. Of course, God used the generosity of His people to make provision for our family. Just as the bills were due, someone would step up and make a sacrifice for Leila’s adoption.
Help From Outside Their Walls
That’s where our brothers and sisters at your church enter the story. I received notification of your generous grant while we were still in China. I knew that we had loans to repay and fresh medical expenses waiting for us when we returned home. Your generosity was confirmation from our Heavenly Father that He can always be trusted.
The lesson God has been teaching me through this adoption is to fully trust in Him. I always pray for God to meet our family’s needs but then continue to worry and be robbed of joy because I’m not confident that everything will be okay. I have absolutely no reason to doubt that God will provide for us, but my trust in Him is still often so weak.
God is inviting all of His children to live a life of joy as we trust in Him to be who He says He is.
I want to truly take that leap. Your sacrifice for His Kingdom has helped to give our whole family the confidence to do just that.
Leila is doing great. She is full of joy and personality. She is quickly attaching to her new family, and we are all experiencing the joy of the Lord together. Thank you for making a sacrifice for adoption. Of all the ways our relationship with God is described in the scriptures, adoption is one of the most powerful for me. In Romans 8, we are reminded that we are adopted to sonship in the family of God. He is our Abba, Father. We are adopted together as brothers and sisters. You have blessed us so much.
YOUR CHURCH CAN HELP MORE FAMIIES ADOPT.
When Lifesong doesn’t have the means to meet a family’s need, we turn to our Outside the Walls church fund partners. These churches have chosen to financially support adopting families–regardless of their geographical location or church affiliation–from their own fund, just like Mt. Ararat Baptist Church did for Leila’s adoption.