Who We Are

Matthew & Stephanie Bass
Alabama Associates
Email

Our biological daughter was born in 2001 and after much prayer and consideration, God made it clear that we were to add to our family. Through divine circumstances, after listening to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman’s testimony during a marriage conference in 2003, we were both convicted that God had called us to adopt a child.

We started researching different agencies and international programs and ultimately chose America World. The entire process for us at that time was about 13 months. We brought our daughter home from China in January 2005 and our lives have never been the same. Even though we could have had another biological child, we desired to care for and love a child who needed a family. God has given us a ‘real life’ picture of what our spiritual adoption in Christ is, through our daughter, and He has changed our views on family, parenting and faith, along the way.

We are humbled again, to be in the process of a second Chinese adoption; this time for an older child. We are thrilled to join Him in what He is doing through believers, as more Christians answer the call to begin the journey called the “miracle of adoption”. We anxiously await the day we can bring our daughter home, to love her as our own and to share with her the love of Jesus.

Alisa Martin
Alabama Associate
Email

Grace! I am Alisa Martin. My wonderful husband, Vince, and I have been married almost seven years. We met in Shreveport, LA but currently reside in Birmingham, AL. After a career in health care, I am now a stay-at-home mom. Vince is the Singles Pastor at a church in Hoover, AL.

God first planted the miracle of adoption in our hearts in the Hong Kong airport in 2005. As we were headed on a mission trip to southeast China, we ran into15-plus families returning home with their precious Chinese baby girls. Over the next several months to come, God began to reveal that adoption was His plan for our family as well.
After much prayer and research, we applied to AWAA in November 2006 to adopt a little girl from China (DTC 7/07), and in December 2007 we submitted our application to concurrently adopt a child from Ethiopia. We saw our son’s face for the very first time on 11/25/08—and we brought Micah Yoseph home March 2009.

Through the miracle of adoption God as taught us much about our own adoption into His family, as well as the compassion in His heart for the fatherless. I am honored to serve as an associate with the AWAA family, and we anticipate beginning the paperwork to adopt another child from Ethiopia this fall!!

Please, contact us with any questions—you will never regret serving as Christ’s hands and feet for “the least of these”!

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Pam Freeman
Arizona Associates
Email

My name is Pam Freeman and my husband is Brian. We have been married since 2002 and we live in Tucson, Arizona. Brian is an artist and I am a Children’s Pastor. God placed international adoption on my heart when I was 14 years old. After struggling with infertility, God reminded me of my desire to adopt and we began the journey.

We now have four children. Benjamin was adopted in 2006 from Russia. Libby and Abby were both adopted from Russia in 2008. Our youngest and “home made” child is Gideon and he was born in December 2009. Life with four young children is a bit crazy, but God blesses us with patience. Our children are an amazing blessing and we thank God for bringing each little miracle into our lives.

Our daughter Libby was a special needs adoption. She was born with a birth defect and now has a prosthetic that allows her to walk, run, jump, climb and any other thing a child wants to do. We had not expected to adopt a child with a limb difference, but God has provided everything we need to care for her. Seeing her take her first steps with her first prosthetic leg was beautiful.
AWAA was an incredible blessing throughout the adoption process. Adoption can be a challenging process, but the love and support we received through AWAA made it easier. They truly have a love for orphans and want to see these children placed in loving families.

Louise Nichols
Arizona Associate
Email

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
I am honored to be an Associate for America World. As a teen, I felt God’s call on my life to adopt. I remember seeing a television special in the ‘80s about the orphanages in China. It was then that I knew I would do what I could to help those girls. Years later, that calling would come to fruition in a hotel in Nanchang, China. December 27, 2004, I was united with my daughter, Kate. Because she was 4 years old and malnourished, she was on the waiting list. I have a special place in my heart for older children. When Kate was in Kindergarten she was filling out an "All About Me" poster. I asked her, "What makes you special?" After a long explanation as to what the word special means, she grabbed my arm with both hands, smiled at me and said, "I'm special because I have a mommy."

I took the journey to adopt Kate as a single woman. I married Kurt in 2005. I now have a wonderful husband and Kate has a daddy! I have been serving as an Associate since 2005. I love seeing children united with their forever family. I want more children to know that feeling of having a mommy!

Mark & Elizabeth Gividen
California Associates
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We are Mark and Elizabeth Gividen from Tehachapi, CA. We just celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary and our 1 year “Gotcha Day” anniversary with Linsey. Mark and I are both teachers and absolutely love what we do. We have 3 beautiful kids (and one on the way!): Nick (16), Amy (15) and Linsey (2). Linsey YaMei came into our family on December 27, 2004, in Hunan, China. On this glorious day we were given a glimpse of just how much our Heavenly Father must love us. It is a love that is indescribable (but we’ll sure try!)! We hope to be returning to China in the Spring of 2006 to bring home our son Luke (2) from Haikou SWI in Hainan, China.

America World has been with us every step of the way. They truly have a heart for the world’s orphans and the families that want to be a part of bringing these precious children home. We are so excited and honored to be a part of the Associates team. The miracle of adoption is truly one we want to share with anyone that will listen. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or need encouragement.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Evan & Christy Masyr
California Associates
Email

Hi! We are Evan and Christina Masyr. We live in Camarillo, CA, and have been married more than 13 years. Evan is the Vice President of Accounting & Finance for a Christian broadcast company and Christy has the best job – she is Mom to our three beautiful children – Samantha (10), Noah (8) and Faith (1). Faith entered our lives in December 2005 in Chongqing, China. We are excited to say that we have just started the process again for another mei mei!

We are amazed at how God has provided for us and we know He had a plan for Faith before she was even born. We are excited to see more of God’s plan as He reveals it to us.

Working with AWAA was and continues to be a wonderful experience. We believe there could not be a better organization. We could feel the prayers of the entire staff as we were going through the process and while we were traveling. We are honored to become part of this wonderful organization and give back in some way. Feel free to visit our adoption journal and contact us anytime. May God Bless you!

Patrick & Kacie Van Winkle
California Associates
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My name is Kacie Van Winkle and my husband's name is Pat. We live in Orange County, California with our three beautiful children. Trent is six years old, adopted from South Korea. Diana is four years old, adopted from China. Taliah is 18 months old, adopted from Ethiopia.

The Lord placed adoption on my heart at a young age. In high school I used to say that I wanted a Rainbow Family, one of every color! Pat had the desire to adopt when he was in college.

Pat and I have been involved in many medical missions trips to Nepal, China, Ethiopia, El Salvador and Cambodia. The Lord definitely placed on our hearts a burden for orphaned children. We are so thankful He did because that is how He chose to build our family.

Our children are the greatest blessing the Lord has ever given us outside of our salvation. We also think, as do all parents, that our children are the most perfect in the world and that they look just like us!

We love AWAA and the heart of the people who walked us through our adoption. AWAA definitely sees their work as ministry and not just a job. We are excited to be a part of the team.

Jamie Jo Braner
Colorado Associate
Email

I was born and raised in Branson, Missouri and I met my husband at Baylor University. We live in Durango, Colorado and we run Camp Kivu, a Christian outdoor and worldview camp. We have four children: three biological and one adopted in the Fall of 2007 from Rwanda; and we hope to continue building our family through adoption in the near future.

My heart for adoption began as a young girl. My parents had a picture of a Cambodian baby on my night stand. Together with my father and a crazy dream-turned-reality, we built the National Pediatric hospital in Cambodia. I have gotten to visit the hospital a couple of times and not only did the children of Southeast Asia steal my heart for good, but I fell in love with my best friend from college during one of those visits--I feel in love in Cambodia! My heart has always been for the less fortunate, whether it be a bird who has flown into my window or an orphan across the globe.

I have been blown away by the adoption process and my heart has been renewed with the reality that as I have fallen in love with a baby I don't know in China, God is that in love with me, His adopted daughter. God adopted me (and you) and I now understand that in an entirely new way. I am so excited to play even a small role with America World! I think every family should bring a baby into their family through adoption! Adoption is my passion and I am so excited to share your journey in some way!

Loraine Carter
Florida Associate
Email

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

My name is Loraine Carter. I was born in Chile and lived in different countries before arriving to Miami, FL, as a teenager with my sisters and parents. I met my best friend and soul mate, Clayton, and we married in 1996. I hold an A.S. in stenography. We are very blessed to have 2 wonderful children: Logan Blair, our 6-year-old son by birth, and our daughter, Lia JiLi, 2 years old, who was born in our hearts.

Adoption has always been a topic in our home. We had always wanted to adopt a child, and in 2003 the Lord led us to America World. We had our first "official meeting" with our Family Coordinator on November 17, 2003. On November 4, 2004, the three of us traveled to China to bring our daughter and Logan's little sister, Lia JiLi, home from Hubei. She officially became our child on November 8, 2004. We arrived home with Lia on our eighth wedding anniversary, November 17. Our family is now complete. Our hearts are filled with joy as we watch our children grow.

Since our return home I have felt the need to serve the orphans we could not also bring home. My desire is to help educate people on the amazing journey of adoption, and to bring families together through the Spirit of Adoption. This is why I am very excited to be a part of the America World team. I am grateful to be given an opportunity to serve God and the orphans of the world.

"Do not be afraid for I am with you. I will bring your children from the East and gather you from the West". Isaiah 43:5

Bill & Rachel Esler
Florida Associates
Email

Bill and I live in Orlando Fl. I am a part time insurance arbitrator and a stay-at-home mom. Bill is in sales with an air conditioning manufacturer. We have a 17 year old daughter that is a senior in high school.

At age 5, I had my first experience with orphans. In 1975, a Chinese orphan girl’s choir came to sing at my church. After my mother explained that they did not have parents, I was concerned for them and began praying for the orphans nightly. Twenty five years later my husband and I expressed we would like to give a child a home that would otherwise never experience the love and security of a family. We attended an America World seminar in January of 2004. Bill and I were very excited to start the adoption process.

In May of 2005 I returned home from Ukraine with our soon-to-be 7 year old son. He has adapted very well to his new family and home! I’m grateful God honored us with the opportunity to obey his word, James 1:27 (Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…).

I’m grateful for our son and that God saved him from what would most likely have been a life filled with hopelessness and desperation. The most exciting outcome of all is that our son has made a decision to follow Christ and this is the outcome we had initially hoped for when we ventured to bring a child home from Ukraine.

Drew & Robin Ireland
Florida Associates
Email

Hello, we are Drew and Robin Ireland from Winter Haven, FL. When first asked to submit our biographies to America World I was quite nervous about it. I wondered, what can I possibly write about the two us that will help convey the miracle of adoption message to interested families? We aren’t special; we are an ordinary couple, living in a small ordinary town, experiencing the same life as millions of others throughout America. I prayed for the words and God answered, clearly. He told me not to worry about what to write because it was not about us, it was about Him. What a relief!

It started with a simple “yes” to God’s voice in our hearts. We had no idea how, where, or when...we just agreed and let Him handle the details; He did. Praise God! We were nervous, anxious, excited, happy, sad, and even frightened at times; but we stayed willing. God brought us through not once, but twice, and today we have been blessed with two beautiful girls from China. Emmie arrived home in July of 2002, and Ellie arrived home in June of 2004.

Through a simple one word response, “Yes”, the Lord continues to bless Robin and myself. We have two beautiful daughters. We have an awesome extended family through America World. We continually have opportunities to share what God has done for us with people who may be struggling with infertility or other adoption issues. But the greatest blessing of all is how God continues to draw us closer to Him through our adoption experience.

If you are reading this, it is not by chance. If God has placed adoption on your heart I encourage you to continue praying and be open to His Word. Our family has been extremely blessed and is extremely grateful for His miracle of adoption.

Hank & Cheryl Miller
Florida Associates
Email

We are Hank and Cheryl Miller from Orlando, Florida. We passionately love Jesus, each other and our family. We have four children...three by birth and one through the blessing of adoption. Kelsey, our oldest daughter is 19; Torey is in the hands of our Heavenly Father; Kennan, our son is 15; and, our precious Kylie Grace is 3 ½.

Have you ever thought that some of the chapters of the story of your life were complete? A few years ago, we would have both told you that our “family chapter” had been written. Little did we know of the incredible blessing that was in store...God still had a little editing to do! Now as we have the benefit of looking back, we can see some of the ways that the Lord was starting to “plant the seed” of adoption in our hearts. Although we have grown up and lived our entire lives in Florida, God has put a love of other cultures and lands in our hearts. In the fall of 2006, we felt that God was asking us to travel to Mongolia and be part of an outreach team. In fact, it was through that journey, literally to the “ends of the earth”, that God revealed his plans to grow our family. We truly had the opportunity to see the face of Jesus in the children at the orphanage. He was challenging each of us with “What Now? What will you do with what you have seen?” We watched Kelsey and Kennan get down on the floor and play with the children. God caused a place in my heart to open up that had not been there before...it was a place that was full of love just waiting to give to a child…our child. He told me that this child might not be what I would have expected...what exactly did that mean? Hank couldn’t get off his mind that although they had decent living conditions and food, that at the end of the day they didn’t have a mommy and daddy to love them. There had been so much to take in and we were constantly on the go, falling into our beds in the evening. This didn’t leave much time for us to talk with each other about the deep things that were stirring in our hearts...but, I believe there was purpose in that waiting. So, as we left the land of gers and yaks, we traveled to China for a bit of exploring. God continued to plant seeds. As we returned home and began to de-brief from all that we had seen and experienced, we began to realize just how God had placed the same dream in our hearts. He wanted us to grow our family through adoption...we knew that without a doubt.

So, that began the journey to our daughter that was directed every step by our Heavenly Father! We first applied to AWAA for the China Healthy Child Program in the fall of 2007. Very quickly, our hearts were intrigued by the Special Needs/Waiting Child Program...we were drawn to it although we didn’t know much about it. We just had a feeling that we would receive our child through this program. So, this was what God meant when he told me our child might not be what I would have expected. He caused an excitement in our hearts to grow for a child that was a bit older...that had some special needs!

And now for the best part, in December of 2008, we all traveled to China to welcome Kylie Grace into the Miller Family! A few words to describe our experience...humbled, grateful, joyful, blessed, inspired and loved. Our lives have been forever changed in a wonderful way. We have been blessed beyond what we could have ever asked or imagined!

Stephanie Sanders
Florida Associate
Email

I am Stephanie Sanders, and my husband’s name is Tom. We have been married for ten years and live in Central Florida with our little angel. Savannah became a part of our forever family at fourteen months, and is now two and a half years of age.

God placed a desire within me to adopt specifically from China prior to marriage, although I assumed biological children would come first. Ready to expand our family after four years of marriage, Tom and I began a three year journey full of tests, more tests, and frustration. When the doctor suggested that I would be a good candidate for the typical regimen of infertility procedures, we felt that enough was enough. I immediately had such a longing to pursue adoption without regard for genetic similarities, but God still needed to work on Tom’s heart. Within the next year and without spousal pressure (only persistent prayer), Tom approached me about researching international adoption agencies. God really knows how to "work things together for good!" I had America World information ready and waiting.

We cringe at the thought of our family without Savannah in it. She is an amazing, precious gift destined to be a blessing in God’s kingdom. We feel so incredibly honored that God would choose us to be a part of Savannah’s life. I am excited to be on America World’s team and hope to bless other families desiring to embark on this wonderful adoption journey.

Fred & Sandy Brennan
Georgia Associates
Email

Sandy and I live in Bloomington, MN (a suburb of the Twin Cities). We both grew up in Indiana and met while I was in graduate school at Purdue University. I have worked as a meteorologist for Northwest Airlines for 26 years and Sandy is a wonderful stay-home mom. We have four children ages 23, 19, 15 and 3. Zoe, our youngest came home from China in February, 2004.

An unfortunate miscarriage left Sandy still longing to nurture a child but she kept her feelings hidden for nearly two years. When she finally approached me about adopting, I was initially hesitant (i.e., selfish). However, God had other plans and He changed my heart. We began the adoption process with AWAA a month later. What a blessing this journey is! Zoe makes us laugh and keeps us young (which, with me at age 50, is a very good thing)!

The process of working with AWAA on our adoption, interacting with other AWAA families and seeing how God works through adoption has really given us a heart for adoption. We are thrilled to continue our relationship with AWAA as Associates!

Tom & Amy English
Georgia Associates
Email

Tom and I have been married for almost 15 years now. We tried to have our own family early on in our marriage and struggled with infertility. We then decided to become foster parents in hopes to foster to adopt a child. In March of 2004, we became foster parents to 2 beautiful girls. We had created our own little family. Little did we know that this was not Gods plan. In December of 2004, the court system sent them to be with their birth parents, and we were devastated. But we still longed for our own family.
We have followed Steven Curtis Chapman’s story for years as he adopted Shaohannah Hope, Stevey Joy, and Maria Sue. We went to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in April, 2005. America World Adoption Association (AWAA) was there and I told Tom that I was going to go and ask them a few questions. Normally, I would have expected Tom to say something like, "why", or "what are going to ask" or something, but he said "OK". (I should have known God was working on this at that point) So I went to ask some general questions and they answered them and gave me a flier for an AWAA seminar in Atlanta in a few weeks. I slipped the flier in my purse and went back to the concert. A few days later, I noticed the flier in my purse and asked Tom if he would like to go. He said "Yes" (again God was at work here). So on May 14th, 2005, we went to the AWAA seminar. We left with a packet of information. On the way home I told Tom that I was interested in doing this, but I was not going to push him. I wanted to make sure we made the decision together. He needed to let me know if he wanted to do this and I let it go into God’s hands. Later that evening as I was watching some TV, I went into the kitchen to find Tom sitting at the table filling out the application. I said, "Are we going to do this?". He said "YES". We were so excited. We called all of our family and friends and advised them we were adopting a little girl from China. We realized that this was not a secondary plan to have a family. We realized that this was God’s plan for our family. It just took us 12 years to figure it out.
We started the paper process and were logged into the China system on 11/22/05. After a long wait, on September 4, 2007, we received the referral of our precious daughter. We left for China on October 23, 2007 and on October 29, 2007 our lives changed forever as our daughter was placed in our arms. Our dreams come true. She has been a blessing and I know God picked this child to be ours. She is perfect for our family and a true gift from God.
We are so excited to be a part of the America World Family. We have such a passion for adoption and helping the worlds orphans come home to their forever families.
My adoption life verses:
Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Ephesians 1:11
"In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Amy and Tom English
DTC 11/04/05
LID 11/22/05
Group 239
DOR 09/04/07
DOT 10/23/07
a.10/29/07
Home with Emily Grace Kai English 11/07/07
Emily's Adventure

Petrie Montgomery
Georgia Associate
Email

I am Petrie Montgomery and I live in southwestern Georgia in the Albany/Leesburg area. My husband Jay and I have been married for 22 years and we have three children from China, ages 7, 6, and 3. We began our relationship with AWAA in 2003 when we applied to the China program for the first time.
In 2004 we travelled to China to bring home our beautiful 14-month old daughter. In 2005 we again applied to the China program, but this time we chose to adopt a child from the Waiting Children list. While we were preparing our dossier, we received a referral for a 16-month old boy, and within months we were again in China to bring home our son.
In 2007 we felt our hearts moved once again to adopt. We applied to the non-special needs program and sent in our dossier in record time, but after several months we knew God wanted us to consider another child with medical needs. We applied to the Waiting Child program once again, updated our home study to reflect the changes, and waited. After eight months, we received a call regarding a child with several very serious heart defects. We knew the severity of the defects meant that she might not be able to survive, even if she was able to have surgery. But we stepped out in faith and knew that God had us where he wanted us. We brought her home in January 2009 and have been blessed with the most precious gift of deepened faith than we ever expected! God has gone on before us and prepared the way throughout her surgery, difficult recovery, and continued life with heart disease.
We know that she will never be cured, but God has given us a greater trust in Him. We cherish every day we have with her as she laughs, plays, swims, dances, and sings as if God alone were her audience. We cannot imagine life without her, and we are so thankful God gave us the strength to say “yes” when saying “no” would have been so much easier.
We can honestly say we understand the verse “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I advocate for special needs adoptions, especially heart babies, and would love to encourage and help anyone who is considering opening his or her heart and home to these children, “the least of these.”

Kim Scheil
Georgia Associate
Email

My husband, Mark, and I discussed adoption before we were married when we talked about what our family might be. We wanted a large family and I did not want to do any fertility treatment if there were to be difficulty conceiving. As it was we did not have difficulty and Mary was born on Christmas day 2003. Stress and owning a business kept us from getting pregnant again when we were ready. We began researching adoption and felt drawn to China and America World. We filled out the special needs application before we received the acceptance form AWAA and then forgot about it. We believed we were paperchasing a healthy child and had prepared our hearts for a long wait. Just three months from our log in date (Jan 2007) we received our referral for RuZhuo. She had an hemangioma on her face but was otherwise healthy. Another three months, (July 2007) and I was traveling with my sister and daughter to get Ru. Ru had had three surgeries, which we were unaware of, while in China and was essentially past the majority of her treatment for the hemangioma. Our plastic surgeon suggests that she may need cosmetic surgery later in life to clean up the scar but otherwise he is very happy with her progress. Our third child Sarah was born on July 4th, 2008 and we are now pursuing a second adoption.

Saiman & Amy Kusin
Idaho Associates
Email

God stirred our hearts over several years toward adoption. It started in 2004 when our oldest was about 4 months old. We attended a Steven Curtis Chapman Concert where he shared God’s heart for adoption. It was so moving, yet Saiman felt that having our own child, why adopt? Over the course of 2 years God continued to show us His heart for adoption. After our second son was born we had a couple of encounters that put us on the path to adopt. The first was a change of heart for Saiman. We saw again Chapman’s story about adoption. We felt that we were not done growing our family. God simple asked Saiman, “Would you let me chose?” Meaning would you let me chose how your next child came to you. We then went to an adoption informational meeting. Walking way we knew that our next child would come to us through adoption.

We began searching the different international adoption agencies for one that shared our heart for adoption and found America World. We felt led to pursue adopting from China. Through a two year process of paper work, home studies, and waiting we brought our daughter Yei Hue home. There were so many ways that God made himself evident through the process. One of the most significant was that our daughter was born 9 months after Saiman said yes to God. We knew that He had handpicked her to be in our family. She is such a blessing. Like our boys, we cannot remember life without her.

Chet & Ann Evans
Illinois Associates
Email

Our journey of adoption began after a rough road of infertility treatments. As devoted Christians actively serving God, we were praying fervently for God’s will. Should we remain childless and devote our energy to serving God? Our home and marriage was a happy one. Our hearts overflowed with love that we wanted to bestow on a little child.

The Lord led us to foreign adoption-especially children with special physical needs. How could a child be denied a home because of a physical need? After all “we are fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139). God had created that little one just the way he was.

We adopted our first son “Matthew” from China in December 2008. We named him “Matthew” because it means “gift of God”. He is truly a precious gift. He had a cleft lip and palate.

We brought our second son “Luke Davis” home from China in August 2010. He too has a cleft lip and palate. His middle name means, “hearts child”. He truly is the child of our hearts. It is our desire to continue adopting these precious “special needs” children from China. We are truly blessed to be called to adoption. It has been one of the greatest joys of our lives! We love telling our story to try to encourage everyone to consider the great blessing God may have for your family through adoption.

Jay & Amy Langfelder
Illinois Associates
Email

Hello. We are Jay and Amy Langfelder and have one daughter, Mya Elizabeth. Jay and I celebrated our tenth anniversary as we were en route to pick up our daughter from Hubei, China during March, 2005.

Our journey for Mya began in the midst of infertility treatments. As we were going through an infertility cycle we had comfort knowing God had special plans for our future but what we didn’t know is His plans for us included a special blessing that was left by a bridge in Hubei, China.

Currently, Mya will be two years old on January 7, 2006, and the insurmountable love we have for her is the love that we receive from our Heavenly Father. We are so thankful that he chose us to be her parents. Through our thankful hearts, we are being led to pursue adoption ministry. We do not know what lies ahead of us in this ministry but we know God has special plans for us in this area. We hope we can be an inspiration to others as others have been toward us during this amazing journey for Mya Elizabeth.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11

Shawn & Pam Beadle
Iowa Associates
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Shawn and Pam have been married for 10 years. The Lord has blessed us with a biological daughter, Taylor, who is all of six years old going on sixteen. We have experienced many ups and downs through infertility and the loss of a child, so we know what it is like to long for a child and ask the same questions of "why". In 2002, the Lord spoke to us separately about adoption and used what we have learned from our experiences to more readily recognize the hurts and needs of others. We attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in November and knew that the Lord had truly been unraveling His plans right before our eyes. It was there that we learned about America World, which was an answer to our prayer to find an agency that was right for us. We received our beautiful daughter, Kaylin Joy, on March 8, 2004, with open arms and blessed hearts.
The Lord has opened many doors for ministry for us through adoption and has given us an understanding of His love for us like no other experience in our lives. The joys of adoption have truly been a blessing and one that we encourage others to participate in. We have since signed on as Associates for America World to help others through the adoption process, answer as many questions as we can, and most importantly to pray for the orphans and the families currently going through the process.

Christin Grant
Iowa Associate
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We are the Grant Family from Iowa. My name is Christin Grant, and my husband is Jim. We were both born and raised in Iowa where the corn grows tall. My husband and I have two biological sons, Andrew (16) and Chas (12). We also have two adopted daughters, Peiton (8) and Meilin (5). After being blessed with two wonderful children, my husband and I answered our calling to adopt. We were first blessed with the adoption of Peiton from China in 2002. Instantly, we knew we would return to China to adopt again. Meilin was adopted in 2005. Our hands are very full raising a family of four, yet we still feel the need to help spread the word on adoption. I feel the need to educate people of the joy of adoption. We are very happy to join the AWAA team!

David & Gretchen Haugh
Kansas Associates
Email

Blessings! We are David and Gretchen Haugh from Olathe, Kansas. We are the proud parents of 5 fabulous children. Our three older children; Arthur, Austin, and Lillie are biological, and our younger two; Grace and Faith were adopted from China.

After having our biological children, we were done being “fruitful and multiplying”. God had other plans for us, and began to whisper ‘adoption’ into our hearts. After much prayer, we took the leap of faith and started the adoption process with America World. We prayed that we would bring happiness, hope, and joy to our new daughter, but God chose to answer our prayers much differently, and better than we had ever imagined. When we received Grace, in the spring of 2005, she lavished US with smiles, hugs, and laughter. God’s plan was for this amazing little girl to bring US happiness, hope, and immeasurable joy!

Shortly after Grace’s adoption, we heard God whisper ‘adoption’ into our hearts once again. This time, our hearts were drawn to the Waiting Children in China. As we prayed through this adoption, God led us to scripture that we held onto and prayed over.

Isaiah 45:2-3
"I will go before you and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness,
Riches stored in secret places,
So that you may know I am the Lord,
God of Israel, who summons you by name.

We trusted that God, who had summoned us to adoption, would go before us and prepare the way. We also trusted that He would give us the treasures of darkness, which were stored in secret places. As we waited and prayed for the referral of our daughter, we referred to our daughter as our ‘treasure’. In the spring of 2007, we received our precious daughter, Faith. We knew she had been perfectly planned and chosen for us when we learned that her Chinese name meant: “Precious Treasure”. God is great!

We are thrilled to be part of the America World team and would love to visit with you about the miracle of adoption.

Our Adoption WEBSITE.

Doug & Natalie Freeman
Kansas Associates
Email

In February 2005 we had been married for 16 years and had four biological children; our family was complete….

Apparently God had other plans….

Doug’s parents treated us to a weekend away for Valentine’s Day. In addition to some fun time as a couple, we had a short list of items to discuss. Our agenda included such mundane topics as household organization and a discipline plan for the kids. Adoption was definitely not on our agenda. We had casually discussed the idea of adoption a few times in our marriage, but we never really considered it for our family. One of us tossed out the possibility of adopting a child, and miraculously we were both enthralled with the idea. It was completely a “God thing.”

After much research, reading, prayer, and huge amounts of excitement, we decided to proceed. In February 2007, twelve-month-old Marisa Mei-Lian from Guangdong Province, China came home to Overland Park, Kansas. She fits so perfectly with her brothers and sister that she was clearly created by God to be a Freeman.

Our hearts have been forever changed for the orphaned children of the world. We are excited about being AWAA Associates and we are looking forward to serving others as they experience the joy and blessing of adoption.

Chad & Karen Bowman
Kentucky Associates
Email

Ever since we married in 2002, we had always been open to the idea of adoption. Feeling that the Lord gave us a heart for Africa and the needs of children around the world, when the time came to expand our family, we felt led to adopt internationally. Our daughter Natalie was placed in our arms in March 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We've never been the same! We have been blessed to be a part of the America World family and hope to be lifelong advocates for adoption and orphan care.

Zack & Rebecca Caldwell
Kentucky Associates
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Hello! We are Zack and Rebecca Caldwell and are so excited to be Associates for AWAA and to share with others the great miracle of adoption. We have been married for a little over 5 years and currently make our home in London, Kentucky. Zack works as an educator for a non-profit community agency and I currently stay home at home with our precious son, Caleb.

God began working in our hearts toward adoption about three years into our marriage. As an adopted child, I always knew I wanted to experience adoption as a parent and Zack had been given many ministry opportunities in his life that placed him in orphanages throughout the world. We also believed adoption to be a wonderful and Biblical way to show God's love and to grow a family. We began praying about adoption and God led us to AWAA, which we are so grateful for. In July of 2007, we applied to AWAA's Ethiopia program, and a year later we saw our son's picture for the first time! We were blessed to spend Christmas that year meeting our son in Ethiopia. It was definitely a Christmas we will never forget! He is such a blessing to our family and brings indescribable joy to our lives.

Mike & Tonya Davis
Maine Associates
Email

Greetings from the beautiful state of Maine! We are Mike and Tonya Davis and have been married for 14 years. We have two daughters. Robin is 13 and is our daughter by birth. Noelle, our 1 year old, was born of our hearts. Mike is a steel detailer and works from his home office and I am blessed to be a stay at home mom. Robin attends our church's school and will be entering the 9th grade this fall.

I had wanted to adopt for many years but it wasn't until May 2006 that the Lord totally changed Mike's heart. Through a series of short America World videos shown at our church and a consequent Spirit of Adoption seminar God began to soften Mike's heart towards adoption. After a few weeks of seeking the Lord's direction we were confident that the Lord was calling us to adopt a child from China.

The thoughts of an international adoption seemed daunting to us as we didn't know anyone with experience in this area plus we had never traveled overseas. One night after we were approved and welcomed into the China program it hit us, how humbling it was to be called to adopt a child from the other side of the world. What had we gotten ourselves into? How do ordinary people like us with little money adopt a child overseas? We learned early on that with God all things are possible!

It was such a blessing to work with America World because of their foundation in Jesus Christ! It gave us peace knowing that we had people continuing in prayer for us and our new daughter. They were wonderful throughout the entire process from helping us prepare our dossier to planning our amazing trip to China!

Finally on January 21, 2008 we were united with our 16 month old baby girl Noelle. Until now she had been well cared for at the Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi Province. She is such a blessing to us and we are honored that the Lord chose us to be her parents. We are anxious to start the process again just as soon as we can....January, 2009!

We are thrilled to be a part of the America World family and to serve as associates here in Maine. The Lord has put a passion in us for international adoptions and orphans around the world. We are very excited to help families in any way that we possibly can.

“....I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things....” Isaiah 25:1

If you feel the Lord pulling on your hearts to adopt but are fearful in any way, just take one step at a time and trust the Lord. He’s not going to call you to adopt and then not provide everything you need. Where God guides God provides!

" ... Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act ..." -- Proverbs 24:12

Bill & Toni Benton
Maryland Associates
Email

Bill and I married in 1995 and started thinking about adoption in 1999. For more than a year, we sat on that application - only God knows why. Finally, in June 2000, we filled it out and wrote our first check. In March 2002 we adopted the lovely Theresa Lin (born March 2001). As soon as we could, we started working on our next adoption and received the beautiful Abigail Grace in February 2004 (born January 2003). I met the amazing Faith Elizabeth (born June 1993) on an AWAA mission trip in July 2004 and God moved many, many mountains to bring her home in January 2006.

When we started all this, we just wanted a baby. We'd had enough of the infertility roller coaster and just wanted our baby. A friend recommended AWAA (then ACAA) and here we are. But since then, it's more than just wanting a baby. We want them ALL home and are excited about the many opportunities to help spread "The Spirit of Adoption" with America World. We can't adopt them all, but we can tell, encourage, and help others experience the miracle of adoption. And who knows, perhaps God has more for the Benton family too.

We live in Southern Maryland and we also have a fantastic son Johnny, who has run off to college in Colorado.

How can we help you along the wonderful, amazing, God-ordained journey called adoption?

John & Donna Cole
Maryland Associates
Email

We are John and Donna Cole, and we live in the Baltimore County, MD area. Donna is a part time math tutor at the community college and full time mom. John is a regional manager for a wireless provider. We are both very active in our local church. We are also in the process of adopting our second daughter from China. We adopted our first daughter, Grace Xiao Ying, 6/21/2000 from the Guangdong province of China. She was 11 months old then. She is home schooled. She loves karate, playing piano & reading. We have worked with AWAA through both adoption processes.

For years we have had a love in our heart for the Chinese people. After years of infertility we have learned that adoption from China truly is God’s “plan A” for our family. We enjoy helping other families travel the adoption journey as we travel ours.

Bonnie Wesselhoff
Maryland Associate
Email

I am the mom in a six-person family. We include one dad, one mom, two boys, and two girls. Our youngest was adopted through AWAA in 2003, and what fun she has brought to an already wild crew!

My husband and I started an infertility support group after two years of treatments. Two years later we were blessed by our first child through medical intervention. Our family was not complete until we brought our youngest home from China almost 10 years later. Our adoption has had a profound impact on my life; it has given me great insight into what it means to be adopted by our Heavenly Father.

Currently I work as a substitute teacher and serve in our church as the "Child Dedication Lady." I am also helping to develop and adoption/orphans ministry with the grand dream of making a difference locally and globally.

Dawn Roberts
Maryland Associate
Email

Hello! My name is Dawn, and my husband, Patrick, and I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We have been truly blessed with 2 daughters, the youngest of which is from Guangxi Province in China. We returned home from China with her in June of 2004. We have been amazed at God’s blessings through the process of adoption and I hope that He will use our experience to encourage and bless other families. I appreciate America World and their work and am grateful for the opportunity to participate as an Associate.

Jeff & Shannon Walker
Michigan Associates
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We were married 2/7/87, and have 5 children: Joshua 16, Robby 15, Bryan 12, Aaron 10, and Brooke 4. Jeff is a Police Officer with the City of Auburn Hills in Michigan since 12/15/86. Graduated from Oakland Community College in 1988 with a degree in Criminal Justice. Currently, attending Rochester College (a Christian College) hoping to graduate in 2006 with a Bachelors in Business Management. Shannon currently works part-time at Auburn Animal Hospital and part-time at Beaumont Hospital as unit secretary. We were both saved at an early age, and currently attend First Missionary Church of Clarkston.

Our beautiful daughter was brought home to be a part of our family November of 2001. We spent months researching and looked at many different agencies before finding our home here with AWAA.

Bryan & Heather MacPhail-Fausey
Michigan Associates
Email

Hello, we are Bryan and Heather MacPhail-Fausey, AWAA Associates for southeastern Michigan. We have four children: Xavier, 16; Alex, 14; Ian, 8; and Rebekah, 7. God first placed the thought of adoption on our hearts about 10 years before He brought it to completion. From the early thoughts of adoption, God carried our family to west Tennessee, where our third child Ian was born. Due to complications during birth, we were advised against having any more children. Not long after, we moved again to east Tennessee, and just as we were getting settled, God took us to Germany for three years. As we approached the end of our time oversees, God continued to grow in our hearts the thought of adoption. ithin a few months of returning to the US, adoption just started laying itself before us. By the end of 2004 we were seriously investigating and by March, when we began the paper chase, it was simple obedience to what God had laid on our hearts. We knew that God wanted us to adopt a young girl between the ages of 3 and 10.

We first met our Rebekah Ling on January 15, 2006 in Fuzhou, the capital of the Fujian Province of China. She had been living in Xiamen, which is a coastal city very close to the island of Taiwan. All of our children have been a blessing, and sometimes a challenge, to us and the addition of Rebekah has strengthened our family. We are thankful to God for this blessing and the things that we learn from Rebekah even as she learns from us.

Kevin & Kelly Blackwell
Missouri Associates
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We are Kevin and Kelly Blackwell. We are both teachers and reside in Branson, Missouri with our three children. When we began talking about building our family in our first stages of marriage, we knew that adoption would be a fantastic solution if we couldn’t have children biologically. We indeed did have two children biologically, but were not able to shake the idea of adoption. So after much prayer, we adopted our third child from Ethiopia. God overwhelmed our family with incredible blessings from start to finish during our journey to get our daughter. Adoption is truly a privilege and we hope to adopt again in the future.

Joe & Julie Wilson
Missouri Associates
Email

Hello! We are Joe and Julie Wilson from Lebanon, Missouri. We have three children, Karlee 13, Kassidy 9, and Klaire 16 months. We adopted Klaire from the Guangdong Province on September 4, 2006. She was born on October 21 in the city of Xuwen. We traveled to China with both of our biological daughters and had the trip of a lifetime! The America World Staff were extraordinary and we are thrilled to be a part of their team.
I am currently pastoring the First Church of Lebanon and Julie is a kindergarten teacher. We have been extremely blessed by Jesus with three wonderful daughters and He has forever changed our lives through the Spirit of Adoption. We are excited about sharing our heart for adoption with everyone.

Guy & Christine Pinkman
Nebraska Associates
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We are Guy and Christine Pinkman from Lincoln, Nebraska. We have been married for 17 years and have been blessed with four wonderful children: Tahner (12), Hayden (10), Alexa (7), and Isabel (1). Guy is a captain with the Lincoln Fire Department, as well as having a construction company. I am a home school mom and chauffeur.
We brought our little China doll, Isabel, home from Jiangxi, China, on October 2, 2005. It is our privilege to partner with America World and to share how God has changed our lives through the miracle of adoption.

Matt & Heather Selinger
Nebraska Associates
Email

We are Heather and Matt Selinger from Omaha, Nebraska. We have been married thirteen years and have two boys (ages 11 & 5) and two girls (ages 9 & 1). We returned from China with our youngest daughter, Claire, in February 2006.

We are excited to be able to share our story of adoption and offer encouragement to anyone considering adoption. Our story is one of a husband and wife who did not agree on adoption. Heather has always had a desire in her heart to adopt and I never had an interest – in fact I felt strongly that we shouldn’t because we were able to have children by birth. I have come to realize that the plan for growing families includes adoption no matter if you can have children by birth or not. I can’t image our lives without Claire in our family. Neither can Heather or our three older kids. I am so thankful that I was educated about adoption (what does God say about adoption?).

Our experiences could be of help to you if:
• You and your spouse disagree on adoption
• You are just not sure adoption is something you should do
• You are not sure adoption is something you can do

During our journey the Lord placed Hebrews 11:1 in front of us over and over again – "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." This verse summarized our greatest need to trust God.

We are thankful to have worked with America World and are excited to have the opportunity to partner with them now to share how God has blessed us through the miracle of adoption.

Duane & Andrea Tweeten
Nebraska Associates
Email

We are Duane and Andrea Tweeten, and we live in Stromsburg, Nebraska. We have 5 children: Micah, 16, Caleb, 14, Jadyn,10, Kendall, 5, and Zoe, 2. Adoption has always been close to our hearts. Duane felt God tugging at his heart over 20 years ago to adopt a little girl from China. We have talked about adopting since before we even got married.

In the summer of 2004, we felt God telling us this was His timing for us to begin the adoption process. On September 19th, 2005, Kendall Rene Pan Tweeten was placed in our arms. We chose AWAA as our agency because it was a Christian agency, and we wanted an agency that supported our Biblical view of adoption.

In 2007 we felt God leading us to adopt again, and through many steps of faith, we were led to Taiwan, to adopt our daughter Zoe, through an independent adoption. We saw God clearly work through both girls adoptions, and we felt our family was complete.

God began working in our hearts again in early 2010, and we felt God calling us to adopt a young girl from China who would age out of the system soon, and no longer be available for adoption. We clearly saw God work miracles as He opened doors we did not think could be opened, and we were allowed to move forward with the adoption of our daughter Hannah. She will be 13 next month, and we can’t wait to bring her home!

We are so excited to be AWAA Associates and assist AWAA and families down the most amazing journey of their lives. We have learned so much about God’s love for us, His faithfulness to us, and His adoption of us into His family, and are excited to share that with other families.

Heather Koby
New Jersey Associate
Email

My husband Eric and I have come to a place in our lives where we desire to serve God where His heart is. He has called us according to James 1:27 to look after Orphans and Widows. This has become my life verse. I have been so fortunate to be able to spend my days serving Him in this way.

Our daughter Julianna is 4 years old and is from Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Our journey bringing her home in 2006 was an amazing one and AWAA was with us every step of the way. We recently came home with our newest son, Elias James from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is now 15 months and the happiest little boy i have ever known. Go has blessed our family greatly with this precious gift. Next for us is our journey for our little girl from China. We know God will reveal even more of His plan and glory in our lives with this next adoption. During my days as a mother I enjoy serving the Lord through our church, with a nursing home ministry that I run where we visit and build relationships with the elderly who are at a point in their lives where often they have no one to give them hope. I enjoy sharing with them the hope of Christ. I also spend time in high schools speaking on adoption where I can tell young people of the miracle that has become our destiny in hopes to plant a seed in their hearts for the future.

I am excited to become a part of the AWAA staff family. Serving families looking to adopt is a wonderful gift. It is an honor to be part of such a mission.

Walt & Marilyn Pieschke
New York Associates
Email

Greetings from Walt & Marilyn Pieschke! We are the proud parents of five beautiful daughters and seven wonderful grandchildren. God is still in the miracle business as HE has blessed our family with Anna Min, our newly adopted daughter from Chaoyang, China. Anna Min became part of our family in November of 2005, and has just turned three years old. It is our heart's desire to help other Christian families start their journey through the adoption process. From our own adoption experience we know that “where God guides, HE provides.”

Have you ever wondered how GOD could ever love anyone of us as adopted sons and daughters as much as HE loves Jesus, His own Son? We now understand in a new way that this is possible, as from the first moment we held Anna Min in our arms there was the same love for her that we always had for our other children. The Lord is always present as we go through the challenges life will present; we have discovered that HE will be with those who HE directs to adopt some of HIS cherished children.

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” -Isaiah 43:2

Christina Keegan
North Carolina Associate
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"He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance to His pleasure and will." Ephesians 1:5

Hello my name is Christina Keegan and I am originally from Nashville, TN. My husband Tim and I have lived in Wilmington, NC for the past nine years. We have been married for ten years and have 5 biological children and on June 20, 2005 we were united with our awaiting daughter “Miata LuoZiEr Keegan” who is from the Guangdong Province of China.

As Christians we know and have experienced the powerful and deep love that God has showered upon us through the gift of His son Jesus Christ. We feel so very blessed that He chose us to also share this kind of love through adoption. We have been amazed at how we have seen God’s hand at work throughout our entire adoption journey and continuing still, with our return from China bringing home with us our wonderful daughter. Upon accepting the call to adoption, my husband and I immediately knew that we wanted a special needs child and have been blessed far beyond what we could have ever imagined with our daughter, whom we know God had chosen to be part of our family, even before the heavens and earth.

I am so grateful for America World and their love and devotion to orphans! I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to help people discover the wonderful gift God gives us through adoption and in helping families be united with their awaiting child, whom God has also predestined to be adopted, even before the heavens and earth.

Susan Matthews
North Carolina Associate
Email

I am married to Randall and we live in Greensboro, NC. I work as a RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit of our hospital. After giving birth to two wonderful sons (Grant, Derek), I faced surgery that removed our ability to conceive more children. I had always had a heart for little girls in China but my husband was quite happy with two. So imagine my surprise when my husband suggested adopting from another country! God had been working on his heart and when I suggested China, he was ready to go! We adopted Grace in June 2002 from Jiangsu Province and then welcomed her sister, Hannah, from Hunan province in June 2004. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to help other families realize the miracle of adoption and we are thankful to AWAA for giving it to us.

John Raymer
North Carolina Associate
Email

My name is John Raymer, I'm a pastor, a husband to my beautiful wife Dottie, and a father of 4. Even before my wife and I married over 10 years ago now she told me that she wanted to adopt. I was not really against the idea but was not really that interested either. After about nine years of marriage, raising 2 children, and many years of ministry God finally broke my heart for the joy of adoption. It was as if all of the sudden I knew that there were 2 children in this world that we were to adopt. I did not know who they were, where they were, or how we would get them home but I knew they were ours and we would get them.

We began looking into adoption and soon came to the conclusion that our children were in Ethiopia. It was always amazing to see how at every turn of the adoption God was working. It took nearly a year of paperwork and waiting but in the end we were truly blessed to go to Ethiopia to get 2 boys ages 5 and 6. Words can not really express the feeling that one has when picking up their child and instantly knowing that they are yours and nothing will change that. In all my years of ministry and theological study, I do not believe I ever have learned as much about God's love as I have going through this adoption. I know of the sacrafices we made (time, finances, emotions) and yet they compel in comparison to God's sacrafice for us. I also know of the tremendous joy of bringing these children home and I now believe I have some understanding of what God feels when one of His children come home.

It is my heart's desire to give the gift of adoption to as many others as I can. I want to do all I can to encourage others to take this journey. It is one of the greatest journeys you will ever experience. May the grace of the Lord be with you.

Candy Tennant
North Carolina Associate
Email

I've been married to my husband Rob since 2003. We currently live in North Carolina where my husband serves as Pastor of our church and I stay at home with our children. When we were dating we discussed adoption and both agreed it was something we would do. After attending the AWAA seminar in November, 2003, we knew the Lord was leading us to adopt from Russia. In 2005, we brought home our son Igor. In 2008, we adopted Henry from Ethiopia. We are looking forward to adding another child through adoption! God has brought us great joy through our children and the miracle of adoption.
Adoption is an amazing journey filled with every emotion possible. The greatest joy is to see our children as God sees us when we become His.
We look forward to sharing the adoption journey with others by being AWAA Associates.

Tim & Jennifer Gampp
Ohio Associates
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Tim is a librarian at the public library and also works as the youth minister at our church, where we met and got married. I am a stay at home mom and babysit part-time in our home.

We began the adoption process for our daughter, Zoe, in the Fall of 2004 and brought her home December 2007. This was the greatest thing Tim and I had ever been involved in together!

I have a passion for finding mommies and daddies for the orphans of the world and look forward to sharing the Spirit of Adoption with people seeking out God's plan A!

Kevin & Karen Krantz
Ohio Associates
Email

Kevin and I were married on May 26, 1995. We have 3 biological children. Rachael and Ryan are 13 and Nathan is 10. We attend Grace Christian & Missioanary Church in Middleburg Heights. We are very active in the church and our children's activities. We felt led to adopt from China after seeing a Steven Curtis Chapman concert on April 16, 2005. After waiting over 3 1/2 years for our precious daughter we felt the Lord calling us to consider adopting a special needs child. We prayed and decided that we could accept a child in our home with either repaired or unrepaired cleft lip and palate. Three weeks later we got the photo and we knew immediately that this was our baby! We traveled to China over the Christmas season of 2008 with our entire family which was a special blessing. We met Lillian Faith on December 22 in Nanjing of the Jiangsu province and our hearts just melted with love when we held her for the first time. We have been home for a joyous, busy and wonderful 8 months now. It has been such a priviledge to have this special daughter and to see how she has blessed so many others with her joyful and charming spirit.

Steven & Melonie Smith
Ohio Associates
Email

Our names are Steven and Melonie Smith and we live in Grove City, Ohio. Our magical journey to adopt our daughter began 15 years ago when my husband made a fleeting comment that he had a place in his heart for the little girls in China (God planting the seed). We had just met then and soon after became college sweethearts. After a 10 year courtship we became engaged, then married in May 2001. We spent the next few years getting our nest ready for a family. When we had decided that it was time to start having children, I made the comment that perhaps we should adopt a baby from China instead of trying to have a biological child. My husband’s immediate response was, “YES!”

Our beautiful, independent, spirited daughter officially became a part of our family in December 2005. She was more than we could have ever wished for. We know that God intended for her to be ours from the moment she was conceived, she is a miracle! We were lucky enough to have my sister-in-law and father-in-law travel to China with us. We just fell in love with China...it’s a trip of a lifetime. Within the next year, we plan to begin the process again. After seeing the number of beautiful children in China that need a family to love them, we feel that we are meant to expand our family through adoption.
My husband works in hospital administration and I work part-time as a buyer and designer for a local boutique. Our daughter Tapie Eloise Yu Han Smith works hard at learning something new each day and will turn 2 years old in January, 2007. There are not words to describe how blessed we feel to have met the wonderful people at America World. We feel that they are truly doing God’s work!

Paul & Beth Lyman
Oregon Associates
Email

Hello from southern Oregon! Beth and I have been married for 23 years and have been blessed with 4 children, from 21 years old to 14 years old ( three boys and one girl), and one daughter in-law. Through association with crazy friends and a series of God-orchestrated events, we were linked up in December, 2004, with AWAA and followed God’s lead, culminating with an exhilarating trip to travel to Wuhan, (Hubei Province), China to meet our new daughter, Sophie Ann Fuqing, in March of 2006. We are happy and blessed with the opportunity to serve alongside of AWAA as Associates, and look forward to helping other families experience the same gift God has given us through serving Him in the adventure of adoption.

Jerry & Diana Stitzel
Oregon Associates
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We're Jerry and Diana Stitzel and we live in Troutdale, OR the Gateway to the beautiful Columbia River Gorge! We were married in 1984 and we have two beautiful daughters, Sarah Faith 14, and Gracie Li Hope 2 1/2 years.
We have been the lead pastors at Columbia Life Church since 1998. Gracie Li Hope became our forever daughter on October 26, 2009 in Guangxi, China through the AWAA waiting children program. She is such a joy and we marvel at how God has blessed us with such a wonderful little girl who has long eyelashes just like her big sister!
It was through an AWAA Spirit of Adoption Seminar that God really touched our hearts and convinced us that adoption was not only possible, but actually His plan for us. It has been a pleasure to work with AWAA through the adoption process and we are excited to be working with them as associates to share the blessing of adoption with others.
We invite you to take a look at our adoption journey blog at: Adoption Blog

Jennifer Mehosky
Pennsylvania Associate
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Our names are Mike and Jenny Mehosky. We have been together for 21 years now 15 of which we have been married. Mike’s dad worked for the government while my dad was in the military/army. We both had similar childhoods since we were both moving around all the time. We met in high school in Wiesbaden, Germany our freshman year. Both our dads received orders to go to Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD at the same time. We started dating the summer we returned from Germany which was before our junior year in high school. We had always talked about adoption even in high school as a way to build our family. After having three boys we continued the talk. But, when it finally came down to it, Mike was pretty unwilling to move forward. I felt certain it was God calling me to do it. And I have to say without God intervening it might never have happened. I bugged Mike enough to get permission to look into it. I watched a homecoming video of a family adopting a baby girl from China. The song in the background was “Draw Me Close.” We sang the song all weekend long. Thinking he would watch the video and be ready to jump in with both feet I pushed him to the point where he threw up his arms and said “You have to stop talking about adoption! You’re driving me crazy and you’re pushing me further and further away from wanting to do it! You’ve got to stop!!!!” So….I very calmly said “Fine, if they play that song tomorrow at church then you’ll have to submit to the idea that we’re going to get our little girl.” I didn’t mean to say it – I didn’t even think about it – it just came out. Sure enough, as we slid into the row of chairs at church the next morning Mike found the song “Draw Me Close” typed on the bulletin. As if that wasn’t enough, Pastor Kris Ann talked about going to other nations and adopting children into God’s family. She used the word adoption several times that morning. Needless to say, we were dumbfounded. We walked out of church, Mike looked up to God and said “I hear You loud and clear.” We got home that day and while he was working in the yard he came in and said “I think this isn’t just about us, I think it’s about leading others to adopt.” Amazing how God can change your heart from one extreme to the next in just a split second. We were blessed enough to have God speak to us two other times during our wait to get Emma. One that lead us to special needs and another to calm our fears. Very powerful moments that neither of us will ever forget.

We’ve had Emma almost 9 months now and it’s just amazing how she fits into our family. She is a treasure, a blessing, a sweetheart and we thank God every day for leading us to her.

Stephen & BettyAnn Barrett
South Carolina Associates
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Hey Y’all! We are Stephen and BettyAnn Barrett from Columbia, South Carolina. We are a blended family of his, mine, and ours! Stephen’s son, Christopher is married to a wonderful young lady, Carrie, with three beautiful little boys. My son Jordan is an outgoing 13 ½ year old, and together we have a sweet, almost 5 year old girl, whom we adopted from Russia in the Krasnoyarsk region. Our adoption was completed in November, 2008. Meeting our precious daughter has been one of the most meaningful moments in our lives. To know that God has moved our hearts to open our lives and home to take in one of His precious children in the most awesome of responsibilities as parents is just incredible to us.

Steve and I began our journey in October of 2005 when I attended an America World Seminar. While I sat listening to the families, and the Spirit of Adoption DVD, I felt a peace come over me and fill me; a peace that this indeed, was what God wanted for us. I was so excited and could not wait for Stephen to sit down and watch the DVD that was included in our packet. Over the next couple months we discussed adoption, the impact it would have on our family and lives and prayed for God’s guidance. In January of 2006, we began the process of putting our dossier together and working on our Home Study. We completed our dossier in July and began the wait during the re-accreditation period. We built our dossier a second time in July of 2007, and again for the third and final time last summer, in July of 2008…. It was not always easy, and there were times of frustration and questioning, but always God's words came back to us from Jeremiah 29:11, "for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not harm you, Plan's to give you hope and a future". Our lives will be forever changed by Sophie-Grace and the blessing she has been to each of us in our family.

We believe in America World's Mission to build Christian Families according to God's design of Adoption. We are excited to be an Associate for AWAA and look forward to serving others as they embark on their adoption journey.

Quint & Debbie Elkins
Tennessee Associates
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Our names are Quint and Debbie Elkins and we were married on May 7, 1988. Like many couples we developed a time line for our family. God however, had different more perfect plans. By 1997, we had suffered through five years of infertility and finally turned our family plans over to God. We researched adoption and decided whatever path God chose for us to start a family was up to him. We were then blessed with two biological sons when Gehrig was born in 1998 and Graham followed in 2001. Our family was complete or so we thought! God had other plans and stirred our hearts leading up to 2005 when we answered his call on our lives to both adopt and become advocates for the “Miracle of Adoption”. On December 17, 2007 we received an early Christmas gift when an 11 month old bundle of joy named Sophia was placed in our thankful arms in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China. After spending the greatest Christmas ever half way around the world, we returned home understanding clearly that God’s plan is always perfect for our lives.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - James 1:27

Brandon & Sarah Battle
Texas Associates
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We met at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, TX. I [Brandon] say I fell in love with Sarah the moment I saw her, and prayed that someday she would be my wife. That prayer was answered. We have been happily married for over eight years. Those years of marriage were not without their challenges though. In 2001, after years of praying that we would someday be blessed with children, we were diagnosed with infertility. That night we went home from the doctor and wept in prayer together before the Lord. Was this the end of our dreams of a family? No way, only the beginning! God had a definite plan in the works! He led us to pursue adoption! In 2004, after we both reached the age of 30, the minimum age for international adoption, we pursued adoption of a child from China through America World. Less than a week later, unbeknownst to us, a beautiful little girl was born in Hubei, China named Li Jia Yi. After a year full of paperwork and patience, Li Jia Yi turned one year old, and two days later in Wuhan, Hubei, China, she was forever united with her new parents! Our prayers for a family were answered beyond anything we could ask or even think! Our life is a testimony now to what God can do: take a seeming unplanned tragedy and reveal to all what it really was: a planned triumph! Rebecca (“Becca”) Catherine Jiayi Battle is now a happy & healthy toddler and has been with her new mommy and daddy, since March of 2005!
We enjoy being Associate Pastors at The Lord's Glory Church in Humble, TX, founded in 1995 by my Mom and Dad, Tom & Schar Battle, who are today the Senior Pastors of the church and the proud grandparents of Rebecca Catherine Jiayi Battle. Becca’s other proud grandparents, Harry and Jean Mattson, reside in Aquilla, TX. We also enjoy spreading the word about the joys of international adoption as Associates for America World.
To find out more about our journey to China to adopt Becca, go to our adoption site.

Michael & Becky Burk
Texas Associates
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We are Michael and Becky Lee Burk, originally from Louisiana but now living just outside of Fort Worth, TX. Becky is a graduate of LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and practices small animal and exotic animal medicine. Michael is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and is a former Air Force pilot and now flies for the Navy Reserves. In December 2008 we were extremely blessed with bringing home our son Ezra from Ethiopia.

When Michael and I first met we bonded over a shared desire to adopt. When we married we always planned to have biological children and then adopt, but as time passed we both felt the Lord really calling us toward adoption. While we were stationed in Oklahoma, a coworker of mine heard me speaking to someone about our desire to adopt someday and she immediately got really excited because she herself is adopted. She went home and told her mother about our desire and her mother told her about AWAA’s upcoming seminar on international adoption. She came to work the next day and told me all of the information that her mother has passed along.

I was super excited about the seminar and I could hardly wait the two weeks until the event. Before the meeting I had done some research on domestic and international adoption and though we were both drawn to the idea of adopting a child of African descent it all was still just “up in the air”, we had no real commitment to adoption. However, after the meeting we stopped at a restaurant where we were to meet up with some of Michael’s pilot friends and I brought in the AWAA application with me and began filling out the forms while we were waiting for our food!

When we heard that AWAA offered Ethiopian adoption and we saw the inspirational video by the Lewis’ we were overcome, and we immediately feel in love with the Ethiopian child now growing in our hearts. Nineteen months later we brought home our baby boy and words cannot express what it is to wake up every day and know that he is ours.

After our trip to Ethiopia our eyes and hearts were opened to the real situation surrounding orphans and we feel certain that the Lord has called us to build our family through adoption alone and can’t wait to begin our next adoption journey.

Darren & Holly Sapp
Texas Associates
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With great anticipation, my wife, three kids, and I anxiously stood in a hotel conference room in Nanchang, China, in May 2005 with twelve other families, eager to meet the precious blessing and great responsibility of our new child. After almost a year of paperwork, waiting, and praying, “gotcha day” had finally arrived. Brought into the room by her nanny, our little 11-month-old was instantly recognized by my wife. We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl that God uniquely formed and entrusted to us. Through this experience, we have developed a deep passion for orphans and for the miracle of adoption. In March 2009, we experienced the thrill of bringing home our six-year-old girl from Ethiopia.
We live in Texas in the Dallas area. I graduated from Southwestern Assemblies of God University and Dallas Theological Seminary, and am currently pursuing a Masters of History. I work with a home health agency as the billing administrator. Holly graduated from Texas A&M University Commerce and taught the second and fourth grades before becoming a stay-at-home mom. She now spends her days homeschooling our five children as well as managing our very busy household.
We pray that our family will always exist to serve our great God and Savior and glorify Him through our thoughts, words, and actions. We pray that God will work through us in a powerful way to bless orphans throughout the world. We pray that America World will continue to grow and prosper as not only an adoption agency, but as a mission-sending organization as well. Read more about our story on our blog at: Blog

Doug & Cristie Martine
Senior Texas Associates
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Our journey began with a very soft whisper from the Lord. I was pregnant with our second child, a baby girl we would soon name Dakota Michele. Doug and I were new to San Antonio, Texas and attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert. During the concert, both Doug and I were captivated by the beautiful almond eyed little girl on the big screen named, Shaohannah. That perhaps was the first time that what seemed the impossible … adopting a child from half way around the world was made possible. We were taken back by the story he told of their family journey and we held on to that idea in our hearts from that day forward.
Over the next two years the seed the Lord planted began to grow and the Lord watered and nurtured that seed with many circumstances and people. The Lord knows that I have a hard time hearing “whispers” and used many people, including a newly made friend and her beautiful adopted little girl from the Hunan province to show me his plan.
In October of 2004, Doug and I came to a fork in the road when we were trying to decide if we would conceive a child of our own or move forward into the unknown world of international adoption. While the first route seemed more sensible in every aspect, the Lord continued to show Doug and I that he had a beautiful child waiting for us in China. On November 10th of 2004 we took a leap of faith and applied to AWAA to begin the process of adopting a baby girl.
Today we are blessed to have added to our family Maliah Jade Xu Martine. She was placed into our arms on September 4, 2006 but she grew in our hearts from the moment the Lord birthed that first seed. Our journey to adoption was full of many lessons from the Lord and he has continued to show us even now that the spirit of adoption is not just about the blessing of a child, but the blessing of walking in obedience with Him. We have truly never seen the face of the Lord so clearly as we did during the two year journey to Maliah.
We still call San Antonio home and are proud parents of a son, Canyon (6/23/00), a daughter, Dakota (5/20/02), and Maliah Jade Xu Martine 11/03/05. On July 26, 2010, we began the adoption process again for of a son we will name Levi from Ethiopia. We are excited to once again see what the Lord has in store.
We are proud to serve in the capacity as Texas Associates for the San Antonio area and we pray that the Lord will use us as a vessel to spread the spirit of adoption to any family who is being called. We'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us to know more and if you live in the area, we'd love to meet you and introduce you to San Antonio's amazing adoption community!
Journey To Maliah
Lead Us To Levi

Essen & Cathy Daley
Virginia Associates
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We are Essen and Cathy Daley. Our family lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Essen is a pastor and I stay home to home school our three children. We are presently waiting to adopt from China. We paperchased and were logged in March 2006. After a difficult twin pregnancy, we were told having another pregnancy could be hard on my health. We sensed our family wasn’t complete and began investigating adoption here in the U.S. After lots of prayer and numerous conversations with other families who had adopted internationally, we began to look into adopting that way. We looked at AWAA’s website and literature and saw the gospel throughout. We were led to China by our children’s love for anything Asian. One of our children had an Asian birthday party ending with six little girls praying for China. We had visited D.C.’s Chinatown, ate Dim-sung and always ended up in the Asian art sections of museums. We were all drawn to China. The scripture also unsettled us. Were we taking care of the orphans and widows in our world? Why would we not adopt---except for the finances. But couldn’t God supply? Hadn’t He done that for us in the past? We stepped out in faith and applied to AWAA and the very day we were accepted, a friend gave us a $2,000 check. This was just enough to get our paper pregnancy started. And over the last 19 months, all the money we have needed has been there! We even received a Shaohannah’s Hope Grant. On April 4, 2007, we were matched with a beautiful special need one year old from the Hunan province of China. Chen Chun Yi was born with a cleft palate and with Cathy's background in Speech Pathology and Audiology it was such a perfect fit for our family! We headed to China and received our precious new little one on June 4. Her cleft palate was repaired soon after we came home and we are so amazed at her beautiful and quick recovery from the surgery. We can't imagine life without our dear little Lydia Chen! We have had an incredible journey and we are so excited to be AWAA associates to share the Spirit of Adoption and encourage others in their calling to adopt.

Peter & Andrea Kidd
Virginia Associates
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We are Peter and Andrea Kidd from Leesburg, Virginia. We love living in Northern Virginia and are blessed by our 3 children, soon to be 4. When we have completed this current adoption, we will have two girls and two boys, two of them biological and two of them adopted from Ethiopia. After our second child, we knew God had more children for us, we just needed to look to Him for the where, the how, and the when. We feel so incredibly blessed to have been chosen to follow not only a path to adoption, but a path to Ethiopia, and a path to becoming passionate advocates for the orphans of this world.

After what we thought was a journey to adopt from China, God showed us indeed our next children were awaiting us in Ethiopia! After researching and learning about the orphan crises and getting some real answers as to why our soon-to-be children may end up needing a forever family, our hearts began to transform. Then we traveled to Ethiopia, and witnessed first-hand a beautiful country, with beautiful people, filled with a rich culture. At the same time, our hearts were broken for good--for the orphan.

Since that time, our consistent prayer to our Father was this, "To use us, to expand our territory, and to allow us to be His hands and feet to help the orphans and children in need." We knew our calling wasn't to adopt 10 kids, but to find a way to support others in their pursuit of adoption, as well as supporting those we feel we leave behind after we travel to Ethiopia each time. America World Adoption has been such an integral part of our story and journey and we are so blessed to be a part of the associate program, allowing us to share our story and the pure and true love that surrounds adoption. We also work very closely with Children's Hopechest and sponsor an orphanage in Ethiopia called Look Development. Pete has recently been called to begin a web site dedicated to the support of adoptive fathers. He realized through our first adoption that mom's had so many resources and blogs where they could find the support they needed, but there wasn't much addressing the fears, concerns, and needs of father's. So, he begun a web site called AdoptionFathers.com to address this need, and to prayerfully reach more dads with the message about the beauty and gift of adoption and orphan care.

Carla Lewter
Virginia Associate
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“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalms 37:4
Hi, I am Carla Lewter and my husband is Jay. We live in southeastern Virginia with our two amazing gifts from God, Ethan and Charlotte. Jay and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary on August 8, 2008 and feel blessed everyday by this wonderful journey of life. Ethan was born on February 12, 2001 and is a wonderful boy who loves baseball and his little sister. Charlotte joined her forever family on November 5, 2007 in Guangdong, China.
After several fertility treatments and a failed IVF, we realized that the child God had chosen for our family was actually waiting in China. We began the paper chase in May of 2006 and 19 months later we were on our way to bring our little angel home. Charlotte was born with a Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate on June 25, 2006. Since being home she has already had one surgery and has another scheduled for the summer of 2008. She is an amazing little girl, full of energy, spunk and very independent. We can’t wait to see how God will use our little Sha Sha in the future.
We are so excited to be Associates for America World and we pray that the Lord will use our story to touch other families considering the miracle of adoption.
We hope you will visit our adoption journey at: Journey To Charlotte

Matthew & Nikki Savage
Washington Associates
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Greetings! We are Matthew and Nikki Savage. Matthew is a pastor and Nikki is a counselor/social worker. We were married in May 2005. We knew before we were even married that we were called to adopt, and take seriously God’s call to care for widows and orphans. In 2007 we began pursuing this dream with AWAA, and in December 2008 we brought home our son, Elijah, from Ethiopia. We have been so blessed, and have experienced indescribable joys since that time.

We are excited to serve alongside AWAA, and are eager to help others who are considering the miracle of adoption. We hope to continue adding to our family through adoption for many years!

Doug & Shannon Miller
Washington Associates
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We are the Miller family! We live in southern Washington with our three children (ages 6, 5 & 3). After a few years of struggling with infertility, we realized that God had a daughter for us in China. We adopted Ravenna in 2005 from JiangXi Province (non-special needs), had our son Parker a bit later (our surprise!) and adopted our daughter Georgia Mei in 2009. Georgia is from the China Waiting Child Program and has a heart condition. She had open heart surgery as soon as we landed from China and is now our twirling, sparkly little princess!

Doug is an Electrical Engineer and Shannon stays home with the kids and is the Heart Surgery Coordinator for Love Without Boundaries. Our kids are climbing, running, giggling mud-pie making delights!

We are thrilled to be Associates with AWAA and love talking with families about adoption! It is such a joy to be a part of little ones coming home!

Anna Stager
Washington Associate
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Steve and I are originally from Spokane, Wa. After being great friends for years, we married during our college years and then both graduated from Multnomah University. We spent four years in Germany, working with Cadence International as youth pastors to military dependents. During this time of ministering to students God continued to grow our heart to be parents.

Adoption had been something we hoped we could do and we wondered when God would lead that way. In 2006, God led us back to Vancouver, WA. Steve went to school for a Master's in Divinity and began serving at our church as a young adult pastor while I served our mission agency in a stateside position. We spent time praying and seeking God's direction to grow our family. It became clear that His plan was for us to adopt internationally. Our process led us to AWAA.

God united us with our son, David, December 2008 in Ethiopia. We are incredibly blessed by David's life and God's gracious uniting of our family! God has used adoption to speak His love and care for us and for orphans. We are excited to encourage and walk with others as they follow God's call for their family to adopt!

Adoption Blog

Steve & Kristen Anklam
Wisconsin Associates
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Hello from Oshkosh, WI. We are Steve and Kristen Anklam and we are so incredibly blessed that God lead us to America World on our path to adopt our two daughters. In 2004 our hearts were opened to the idea of international adoption to form our family. We wasted no time in getting started. After a brief search of agencies it was clear that America World had the same heart that we did toward God, children and families. We forged ahead into a whole new world and our lives have been forever changed.

In 2006, we waited anxiously for our delayed plane in Beijing to take us to meet our precious first daughter. We had no other children and had no experience with international travel, but we were resting in the fact that our God knew it all in advance. When the moment came to meet our Adeline, we knew, with no uncertainties, that she was the daughter God had planned for our family all along. We were content as a family of three.

But God, who knew what lay ahead, challenged our contentment. In 2008 we completed a second dossier for another daughter, only this time we followed His lead toward the Waiting Child program in China. In less than a year we were waiting in a large civil affairs office to meet a child who would become our precious Ruby. Again, we knew in the quietest corners of our hearts that she was meant to be ours. Our journey of a family of 4 began at that moment.

And now, as a family of 4, It is with excitement and great joy that we get to share with others how God brings families together. We certainly hope that if you have questions about adoption, you would contact us. Maybe we can even meet you at one of our Adopted By Design seminars in the future.

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