Read all the way through this one – it includes a giveaway at the end!
Imagine this: a couple goes to a faraway land; they don’t speak the language or fully understand the culture. They are lied to and the woman is accosted. This isn’t the adoption experience you might dream of, is it? Several children are brought before them; they are told time and again “this one is healthy…oh yes, very healthy” and then it becomes clear that something isn’t quite right. They call out the adoption workers and get the truth. They were indeed lied to multiple times. Perhaps because they have been found out, they finally bring the couple a young boy that is able to be adopted. However, this couple has “caused trouble” and now there are certain low-level government authorities who wish to make an example of them. Their ability to adopt this child is put into question in the midst of a corrupt legal system that they are no match for. They are encouraged to give up and go home. But they have traveled halfway around the world for this precious little one. And while an ordinary American couple is no match for a corrupt foreign legal system, a corrupt foreign legal system just may be no match for a mother’s heart. Their family and church community raised money to help them, but after a time, the husband had to travel home again to continue working so that the family could stay afloat. His wife, however, stayed behind. The child had become her child, and she could not abandon him.
Eventually, their adoption agency abandons them – drops their case. Now, before you go railing against the adoption agency, please understand that at this point the legality of this woman’s presence in country is significantly in question. Reputable adoption agencies following international adoption regulations set by the Hague. Pursuing a case illegally puts their ability to operate at all in jeopardy. I believe in balance, and while it initially makes me heartsick that the agency left this dear woman on her own, I want only to encourage us to view as many facets as we can before deciding what’s right and okay.
The woman went into hiding, quite literally, with her child. She was utterly dependent on a handful of specific people who were working on her behalf against the system. She was culture shocked, alone, and tremendously vulnerable in this land where ties between organized crime and the legal system are secret but most certainly present.
Eventually, after a year, she and her son escaped from the country, barely and by a miracle of God, and rest assured, she did not steal a child. Her son’s adoption is indeed legal. She returned home, again culture shocked, on adrenal overload, utterly exhausted, and with post-traumatic stress. She also returned home with a story to tell. You see, during all those days in hiding, through all those months of fighting, she spent her nights in prayer, and her months looking to the only familiar thing she had: her Lord and His Word. God protected her and her family. He taught her and grew her spiritually in a way no other experience could have. She wanted to undo the orphan status of one child. She desired to change his status from orphan to son. For one of the fatherless, she sought to enfold him into her world and give him mother, father, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, classmates, a church family, and a community where his feet would be rooted and where he could grow in stability and love and grace and have well more than his basic needs.
I’ve often said that adopting isn’t about getting a child that we so desire. It’s about doing something very close to the heart of God. He has much to say about the fatherless. He has strong words of warning to those who don’t care for them. This woman’s story illustrates my point perfectly. She went on a mission to care for the fatherless. And the Father cared for her. His protection and provision, moment by moment, day by day, week after blessed week cannot be denied in her story. He had a plan for that little boy and a plan for his family also.
You can read this story it all its gripping detail; it’s recorded it a book. The woman is my friend, Kim de Blecourt. Her little son goes to the same school that my son attends and because he is just one grade behind my son I have been on field trips with this child. I see in his eyes all the things that should fill the eyes of a little boy: energy, curiosity, laughter, and just the right dose of mischief. These delightful things have replaced the quiet guardedness, desperate hope, or sometimes defeated resignation that may often be found in the eyes of an orphan. He knows that he is safe.
As for my friend Kim…well, God has “set her feet on a wide place” (Psalm 31:7-8; Psalm 119:40-45) where she can breathe deeply and without fear, be passionate, and speak widely on behalf of children near and far in need of a family to grow in. Her story…really God’s story…has been published. She is now on staff with Food for Orphans and is beginning to speak around the world. And on snow days, she can be found at home snuggling in pajama bottoms with a delightful little boy that is most certainly the son of her heart. If a story of protection and blessing like that isn’t an illustration of God at work, then I surely don’t know what is.
Would you like to win a copy of Kim’s book? I have one to giveaway! Here’s what you need to do:
- Comment here, beneath this blog post. What has impacted you about this short snippet of Kim’s story?
- Go to the Life In Color Facebook page and “Like” us. After you do, post a comment beneath the status update that points to this blog post. How has adoption affected you in a positive way?
We’ll select a winner by the end of February and contact that person for a ship-to address…and, I might even be able to get the book autographed for the winner!
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