One Adoptee's Miracle Story

Over the past three weeks, we’ve taken a close look at God’s heart for the orphan, our responsibility to care for them, and ways in which one can get involved.  So to close out this wonderful series on adoption and orphan care, I would like to share my testimony of God’s faithfulness and bear witness to the power adoption has to transform the life of an orphaned child.

My story began before I was even born, when about thirty-five years ago in the ancient land of China, one man decided to implement nation-wide population control.  This decision was brought into effect through the One Child policy, and though this law has recently been repealed, it has forever impacted a generation.

The One Child policy limited Chinese families, who ordinarily raised many children, to one, single child.  And in Chinese culture each family wanted at least one son, for it was the son who would care for the parents in their old age, not the daughter.  Therefore, when the One Child policy was enacted most couples wanted their single child to be a healthy boy.  So when expectant mothers discovered that their unborn child was a girl or might have some handicap, they were strongly advised to abort the pregnancy and many did.  However, there were some who loved their child so much that they were willing to risk disgrace, deliver their baby in secret, and then break the law by placing it in a public area to be found by government officials and taken to an orphanage.

It was into this complex world that I was born, which is a miracle in and of itself.  I do not know anything about my birth mother, but this I know:  she loved me.  So much so that she chose life for her little baby girl, and while I don’t know the opposition she may have faced because of this decision, she counted me, her unborn child, worthy of the cost.  And after successfully bringing me into this world, she bravely placed me in a market square, early in the morning, knowing that I would soon be found, and praying that I would live a better and full life.

Meanwhile, halfway around the world, a child-less, Christian couple felt God knocking on the door of their hearts and calling them to adopt from the country of China.  They followed their heavenly Father’s calling, and started the long paperwork process to bring home a fatherless child.  After many long months, this American couple’s paperwork was sent to the desk of government officials in the People’s Republic of China who then matched their file with that of a little girl from Nanning in Guangxi Province.   And eventually, these American soon-to-be parents traveled across the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean and, on November 23rd eighteen years ago, received their long awaited, greatly prayed for little girl.  And that little girl was me.

Many times we don’t know how or why certain things happen in our lives, however, we can be sure of this:  God is in control.  Many could read my story and think "Poor child; she was born in the wrong time and place, abandoned at a young age, and left orphaned."  However, God had a plan.  He wanted me to live here, in America not in China, and to grow up knowing about Him.  And God used my parents to carry out His plan, two people who were willing to follow the call of God and step into the unknown, welcoming into their home not just one daughter from the People’s Republic of China, but eventually three.  God also worked through other people to bring about His will, from the unbelieving Chinese officials whose job is to match prospective parents’ files with those of waiting children, to the generous individuals who became part of my story by giving monetary gifts to help cover the high costs encountered through international adoption.  All these people are integral characters in my story because they all actively participated in removing one number off the orphan statistics and changing the world for this child.

I often times wish there was a way to tell my birth mother my story, and that because of her bravery and unconditional love, her hopes, dreams, and prayers for me were answered.  For I have been miraculously transplanted from a seemingly hopeless situation as an orphan to America, the land of plenty and abundance, with a loving family of my own, who has shown me the path to eternal life and the One who’s in control of all things.  Nothing in this world happens by chance; everything has a divine purpose.  And as I look back over my life’s story, I can see God’s fingerprints over everything.

So as we close this series, I pray that you have been moved to seriously consider the plight of the orphan and how you can either change a child’s world or participate in changing their world.  My life have been completely altered and transformed by the miracle of adoption, and not only that, but through it I have acquired a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thus, I have now been adopted twice; once by my earthly parents, and once by my heavenly Father.  And all this was made possible because two Christian adults followed God’s call and welcomed an orphaned child with open arms and hearts.

So will you follow God’s call?  For remember that we, as Christ’s Body, are responsible for the plight of the orphan and have been divinely mandated to care for them and continue God’s ministry of adoption.  Therefore, join the movement to father the fatherless, provide for the needs of the least of these in Jesus’ name, and change the world of a child so that they are orphans no more!

“Religion [worship] 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

Author’s Note  ~

I would like to thank my parents for following God’s call all those years ago and for teaching me about my heavenly Father.  I would also like to thank all the people who helped, supported, prayed, and gave financially to my parents as they walked the journey of international adoption.  You have been faithful followers of God and have practiced pure and undefiled religion or worship that is beautiful and wholly acceptable to our holy God.  So thank you for making my story possible, and may God richly bless you!