Today, guest columnist Leigh Stevens joins us. She shares how she is experiencing God's call to adopt internationally. As she and her husband await the right timing, they are providing financial assistance to other families who are adopting.
By Leigh Stevens
Guest Columnist
My family will tell you I was always inviting anyone in need to come live with us. In high school, a foreign exchange student was having problems with her sponsor family. I offered my parents' home to her and she became part of our family for that school year, so I guess the concept of “my home is your home” has always been there.
In January 1999, I went on a medical mission trip to India, 10 months before I met my husband. There, I went to a real orphanage for the first time. I remember thinking, I am going to adopt one day. On that particular visit, a little boy we’d seen in the clinic earlier in the day for a cold was running a high fever. He was curled up in the corner of a bunk bed all alone. I crawled in that bunk bed and picked him up, held him, and kissed him. I cried and cried. This precious child needed a mommy to hold and kiss him through his illness. This simple act that so many take for granted would never been known to this little child.
After my husband and I were married in 2001, we were driving back to Alabama from Massachusetts to start our married life. In the car ride, I was listening to Focus on the Family. They did a segment on adoption with Steven Curtis Chapman. He talked about adopting his daughter from China and all the fears that they had. As I listened, I knew that God was confirming in my heart that a child was waiting for me in another country.
As time passed we settled into our careers (I am a nurse anesthetist and my husband is an accountant) and married life. Little did we realize we would face infertility. After six years of marriage, we were unable to conceive a child. The sadness of infertility hit us—the whys, “this makes no sense,” the bitterness, the anger. The Lord reminded me about that child who goes to sleep every night wanting a mom and dad. That’s when I knew infertility treatment was not an option for us. I asked myself, “How can I pay all this money and waste time on something that may not work, when there are millions of beautiful children waiting for a home? We decided to adopt.
During this process I joined forces with KenyaRelief.org, an organization that started an orphanage in Kenya. We have expanded into opening a medical clinic for orphanages and the community, offering state-of-the-art medical care and medicine year round.
I joined their adopt-a-child program and my (sponsored) child is Kevin Chacha. I love this program! When I travel to Kenya, I get to stay on the same site as the orphanage so I have developed a relationship with him personally!
During my work with kenyarelief.org, God called me to go back to school to become a doctor so that I can do more for orphans. Currently, I am in my second year of medical school. Due to my medical training, it will be at least another 2-3 years before I can actually proceed with an adoption.
During our research on adoption, we realized a common theme that broke our hearts: financial hurdles that stop or prolong many adoptions. I asked Ray, “How can we bring home one or two children and leave millions behind? We have to do something now—not later—to offer hope for those left behind. That's why we founded Our Creator's Hope.
This Christian not-for profit organization offers grants to families needing financial assistance for domestic and international adoptions. In fact, we’re just awarded our first $1,000 grant, to the Asperger family. This family is adopting two brothers from Ethiopia. Their blog is Faith for the Journey.
I hope this organization will also be used to help churches worldwide develop resources and education tools to start orphan/adoption ministries for pre-adoption, during, and post-adoption families (just like we have woman, men, youth ministries in most churches). Our Creator's Hope would also educate and encourage Churches to develop grants/loans to their membership seeking adoption.
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and 
This morning while I was working out on my treadmill, I watched a couple of episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show," Season 1, on DVD. 
