We started dating in high school. We never really wanted kids but always talked about adopting if we did decide for kids.We were married for 18 years and finally felt like time was pushing us into a corner. We decided to take foster care classes, with the intention of adopting one infant locally. But we figured out quickly that the system is broken and challenging to navigate.
One night at dinner Amanda saw a random post on Facebook from Lifeline Adoption agency about a group of kids in Columbia. We called Lifeline the next day, and ended up signing up for Columbia, looking for a sibling set of 2. Lifeline called us a couple of weeks later asking if we'd be open to Brazil, and told us about our 4 kids.
They sent the kids' profile over and we instantly knew they were meant for us. We started the process in February of 2018 which usually takes at least 18 months. Our goal was to get done in a year.
Lifeline called Monday Nov. 5th 2018 to tell us things would not be done until well after the holidays. They called back two days later, Wednesday the 7th, Lifeline said the Brazilian government was willing to let us come over and they HOPED the paperwork could be completed while we were in the country (we were required to be there for 6 weeks). They said if we wanted to go with this option we'd have to leave on Monday the 12th, in five days.
I rented a car the next day (8th), drove to the Brazilian embassy in Houston, slept in the parking lot, went to a 9am appt on the 9th to get final approval on all the paperwork (didn't have time to do it by mail), and drove straight back home to pack. We hopped on a plane on Monday the 12th - took 27 hours to get there. Crashed in our AirBNB the night of the 13th, and went and met our kids on the morning of the 14th! Just one week from the initial phone call.
When we met our kids they didn't speak any English and we didn't know any Portuguese. We had to take a flight to Rio De Janero in the middle of our stay over there - about 500 miles away - to help expedite the medical paperwork. To make a very long story short, we got everything done and returned home at 11:30pm on December 23, 2018.
Through it all we've seen God work in so many different ways. Just from the timing of everything and some big picture stuff, to little details like the neighbor at the AirBNB being fluent in English & Portuguese, there were so many things that helped us along the way. God's given us the confidence to take 4 small kids that we couldn't even talk to, on a plane, into Rio - a city of 12 million - downtown in a taxi, using only Google Translate and Uber to get around. That may not sound like much, but it's pretty intimidating.
We truly believe our kids are set apart for something special, and although they may not have had the typical upbringing, we tell them all the time that God has them exactly where He wants them, and they have an opportunity to have an amazing story someday!
Nathan and Aaron (the other Kanga Kreators) were super supportive during all of this and helped with different things along the way - writing letters of recommendation, watching our dogs while we were out of the country, donating money for the adoption, buying bicycles for the kids...Just a few years later Nathan and his wife began the adoption process. Now Aaron and his family are beginning to walk through it. It's been great to be able to return the favor and support and pray for them.
Through it all we've developed a heart not only for kids needing a home, but for the families going through the process. It's long, hard, intrusive, and very expensive. That's why a portion of Kanga sales go to help ease the financial burden of adoption. Your purchase of one Kanga helps more than you know.
Thank you.