“God used the trial of infertility to lead our family through adoption. However, after we adopted our son, Abram (5), as a baby, God really opened our eyes and hearts to His heart for orphans and the fatherless and how He adopts us into His family as Abba (daddy).
We were very open to adopting internationally and He used the earthquake in Haiti (2010) to further awaken us to the multitude of orphaned and fatherless (motherless) children across the world. Although adopting from Haiti at that time was not an option for us, it was this tragic event that led us to research which countries had the most orphans and adoption programs in those countries.
Of course, it was clear that the continent of Africa had some of the highest numbers of orphaned children and we found out that the Democratic Republic of the Congo had over 4.5 million orphans out of 70 million people. This was mind-blowing (and numbing) and we quickly learned that Congo was mired in a decades long Civil War and ranked last in the world on almost every index (economic, social, political, educational, etc.). We also found out that MLJ Adoptions had just started an adoption program in Congo and that it was moving along pretty smoothly at that time in (far worse currently).
It was at this point in which we sensed the Lord leading us to adopt from Congo. It wasn’t until months later after we were encouraging others in an adoption meeting at Cornerstone to adopt from Congo, that we believed God was personally calling us to adopt three children from Congo (that same night when we got home from the meeting!). God used that night and the coming weeks to lead us and several other families to adopt children from Congo. We adopted Claire (13), Zoe (11) and Isaiah (6) from Congo in 2011. Since then, we have also adopted our son, Asher (3), through a family relationship and foster care by God’s grace.
Although adoption comes with many trials, trauma and loss for the children and us, God has given us great joy, faith, and maturity that comes as a result of obeying Him and serving our family.
James 1:27 encourages the church to care for orphans and widows, but to acknowledge the phrase ‘in their distress.’ Children who have gone through various trials and experienced the loss of their family/caregivers, have experienced more ‘stress’ and trauma than most of us can imagine. That is why God puts special emphasis on His care for these children (and widows) and why He wants His people to do the same.”
– Jason and Jen Lee