Adoption Story: Liberia - “Our Adoption Story”

Mike and Fawna adopt Patricia and Georgina.

When we look closely, we can see that God had been preparing us for the adoption step for years.  In 1999 God suddenly moved us to McMinnville, Oregon, next door to a friendly lady who invited us to her church, True Vine.  Once at True Vine, we began to notice more and more beautiful little black faces in our congregation.  We started asking questions, and learned that these children had been adopted from Liberia.  I began feeling a tug at my heart to adopt a child.  Our son, a high school senior, could not wait to leave the nest.  I wasn’t finished with parenting, and the idea of adoption began to come to mind more and more often.

Finally one day I talked with two of the adoptive moms in our church.  I told them what I was feeling and shared my belief that my husband, who had for so long been totally focused on retirement and free time when the nest was empty, would not even consider the idea.  Their advice was so good!  “Don’t say anything to him about it; just pray.  God often begins to stir the mother’s heart long before the father’s.  If it is not His will, these thoughts will go away, and if it is, your husband will come to the same place without you speaking a word.”  I took their advice, prayed about it, and actually didn’t think about it for a time.

About a month later some our church members spoke about their recent mission trip to Liberia.  The last speaker mentioned that there was a highly-adoptable 12 year-old girl there whose name was Georgina.  I felt God speak to my heart that we were to adopt this little girl.

Later that day my husband and I took a drive to the coast.  As we were sitting in the car watching the ocean, we began to discuss what the missions group had shared.  I felt very emotional and began to cry.  I told him that when Stephanie had mentioned the little twelve year-old girl, I felt God say we should adopt her.  Unbelievably, my husband said, “Well, I guess we’d better then!”  That really made me cry!

Over the next few days we began to feel it would be very difficult for a child that old to adjust if she came alone.  The other Liberian children we knew were all younger.  We also noticed that almost everyone who had adopted one child had later adopted another one.  We decided it would be best to adopt two girls about the same age so they would have each other for company.

With my husband’s encouragement, I talked to Stephanie.  She showed me a picture of Georgina, and she stole my heart instantly.  I mentioned we were thinking of adopting two, and she said, “There is another 12 year-old girl,” and showed me a picture of Trish.  Those eyes reached out and grabbed me, and she was my daughter from that moment on.

  PLAN walked us through the usual adoption process, and on July 28 the girls legally became our daughters in Liberia.  We talked with them on the phone for the first time about a week before that.  We could not understand a word they said, but we loved hearing them calling us Mom and Dad over and over.  They seemed very excited, too.  I was relieved because my greatest worry had been that a child that old would not want to leave her country, friends, and everything she had ever known to come here.  Since then I have learned that the children are all clamoring to be adopted and come to the United States.

Our daughters arrived in Portland on August 14.  They were so beautiful they took our breath away.  They were also much smaller than we had thought they would be.  I had to take back nearly all the clothes I had bought for them!

Over a year has passed since that day.  I look at our daughters now and marvel.  It is hard to remember a time they have not been part of our home and our hearts.  Yet, in a different way, it is like they just came to be with us yesterday.  They are learning, we are learning, and there is so much to love.  We praise God through it all and for it all!