Read the stories of families who've been changed forever by your giving

The Eveleth Family

Today our seven year old son said to me in passing, “I’m so glad Eden is a part of our family. I am really glad we adopted.” We couldn’t say it better or more clearly than our son. Our hearts have been forever changed by the love we have for our daughter.

The decision to bring another child into our family through adoption was a decision we made through a lot of prayer and discussion with our boys. Our youngest son wasn’t old enough to comprehend what was happening, but our older two boys were very aware and showed a lot of excitement at the thought of having another child in our family. Of course one of the big decisions in international adoption is what country to pursue. Through a series of very vivid dreams, we felt like God was leading us to Ethiopia. We fell in love with the country as we started researching the possibilities and quickly found an agency that was super accommodating. We began our paperwork in earnest in July of 2007, submitted our dossier in the beginning of November and received our referral call on January 9, 2008. As a result of the process moving along quicker than we anticipated our youngest two children are 10 months apart!

We have had some very busy and mind numbing days since coming home. We feel incredibly blessed to have been entrusted with the life of this precious little girl! Everyday as I watch her play with her brothers, taking her first steps, throwing her first fit and the way she lights up when her daddy comes home, I am reminded of the goodness of God. Our daughter was on the heart of our Father, who put her in our hearts so she would no longer be an orphan. She has added an amazing dynamic to our family! We want to say thank you to Shaohannah’s Hope and to those of you reading this who have supported us and families like us. We know that we will never regret the decision to bring Eden home, but we would have regretted not walking this out. -- Mark & Becky Eveleth

The McIntyre Family

Our adoption journey began in December 2006. My wife Julia and I had talked about adopting for a year or so prior. I was never convinced that this is what I wanted to do. Early in December of 2006 I was out for my daily walk not thinking about anything in particular when I clearly heard God tell me that now was the time to adopt. Julia was very excited, as was I, about the thought of starting a family. It was so wonderful to see our church family get behind us. We knew the cost was going to be rather significant, and it was going to take some time, but we believed that this is what God called us to do and He would be faithful to provide. Our support grew slowly at first, and then application after application for grants kept coming back with refusals.We were getting very discouraged.

It was when we got a call from Shaohannah’s Hope asking us if we would be willing to share some of our adoption testimony on stage at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert being held in Syracuse. We were blown away when Steven presented us with a check for $4000 toward our adoption. Within a month of receiving this grant from Shaohannah’s Hope, 75% of what we needed came in through gifts from family and friends. When we got the call on January 18th about Michelle we were still $2000 short. A call went out from our church and within 24 hours every penny we needed was there by the time we went to pick up our beautiful new daughter. One of the most amazing things for me was to see how God instantly bonded our hearts together, it was as if she was always meant to be with us. We are so grateful to God for His faithfulness, and to Shaohannah’s Hope for being there for us from the beginning and seeing our dreams fulfilled. With Much Love, Rick & Julia McIntyre (and Michelle)

The Buursma Family

Hello everyone! We are back with our new son!! Our time in the Philippines was incredible. We spent a few days in Davao where we were able to spend some time seeing his orphanage and meeting his friends and the people who have been loving and taking care of him since he arrived at Palm Haven at three months of age. We were so glad to see that he has been well loved and taken care of by some very special people. We can tell that he misses them very much, but the fact that he has built strong bonds with the people in his life has paved the way for him forming good bonds with us. We fell in love with him the minute our social worker put his picture in our hands, and we have been loving (finally!) having the chance to get to know him and his personality.

We were also able to spend a few precious days in Payo with Bob's brother and family. It was so good to see them as we miss them so much!! And it was neat to have them meet Jake and have him spend some time with his "Tito" Tom and "Tita" Kristin and some of his cousins. Then it was off to a very snowy MI! Our family met us at the airport with welcome signs and winter clothes! The past few days have been a blur of activity as we help Jake adjust to his new family and us to having a 6th member. I'm way behind on correspondence, but thought I'd quick send out a group "Hi" to all of you. Love, Carissa (and Bob, Mady, Nikki, David and Jake!)