The story below is of two children. Unrelated by birth, woven together by love. Once scarred by pain, now all that remains is an etching of hope in the Father’s hands. This is one family’s story of healing.
by Lauren Black
He’s a cheeky little fellow, our Gideon. Always dancing, laughing, passionate about life. He gives joy without reserve, with every skip of his dancing feet.
His spirit is vibrant, yet as Gideon tells his story, his smile is quieted by a knowing understanding of the scars he bears. He looks up at you with his endlessly deep brown eyes, and indicates marks on his stomach, memories of multiple surgeries. He tells you, it could only be Jesus who healed him.
Neglected, malnourished, and abandoned, Gideon was hospitalized, when a doctor compassionately stepped in, performing life-saving surgery. His wounds could mend, but who would take a chance on a child who wasn’t expected to live?
Sweet Bethany is our most enchanting little miss; our beloved princess in every sense. Seeing her smile, with grace and sincerity of heart, it’s difficult to comprehend the horrible circumstances surrounding her early life.
Bethany’s birth home was incredibly unstable. Her birth mother became ill as a result of her own difficult life, and passed away several years after Bethany’s birth. Bethany endured complete neglect, malnourishment, and abandonment. Hospitalized, days became months of waiting. As potential adoptive parents passed her by, it was tragically apparent that her Roma-African ethnicity, though beautiful to us, was met with prejudice.
A mother with an earnest longing reached out to Corina—“I’ve had such a vivid dream; I can’t shake it. I keep dreaming about a little dark-skinned girl who is crying and in trouble. It seems like I am supposed to help her. Tell me: do you know of a little girl like this who needs a family?”
And so love found a home. Held safe within a haven of hope, healing began.
Gideon and Bethany were welcomed into the same loving family. Without his forever parents pursuing an intestinal transplant in Italy, Gideon would not have survived. He likely would have passed away in hospital, alone and unloved, at just age 5. Without the vision to see Bethany’s radiant, intrinsic value, enhanced, not hindered, by her unique background, she would have been institutionalized, captive to a broken system.
In the early part of their foster care, Gideon and Bethany’s mother said, though a long, arduous process, “I know it will come to a good end.” It has, and these children have been loved every step of the way. Gideon and Bethany’s adoptions were completed this year. They are absolutely thriving in a family constantly opening their arms with grace—3 adult biological children, 3 adopted through RR—Nina (18), Bethany (6), & Gideon (6), and 3 being fostered through RR. Alongside their parents' devotion, tender care, and steadfast faith—all medical and emotional recovery, and complete funding of their adoptions was possible because of those who chose to give. Because of each of you who chose to love.