Mary's Love - Our Adoption Journey

Hello Friends.  We are the Collins Family - a large, unique blended family.  For years we have fostered and ultimately adopted three children from the U.S.  In addition to three sons of our own, we have been richly blessed and privileged to raise three beautiful girls.

Last summer we were part of an orphan host program, Open Hearts and Homes, and hosted a delightful boy from outside the U.S.  Our whole family fell in love with this sweet boy and we were deeply touched by his delight in being a part of a family, something of which he had never experienced before having grown up in an orphanage.  He is a wonderful fit for our family.  He loves soccer.  He is tall and thin with a size 11-1/2 shoe, reminding me of a gangly colt.  I treasure the memory of his first visit with us when we sent him off to bed and he skipped down the hall, tripping over man-sized feet in a boy's body. 
(Our boy and his soccer coach brother)

We are deeply saddened at the prospects of his future if he is not adopted.  When he turns 16 (he is 15 now), he will be released from his orphanage with nothing but a little pocket money and a bus ticket.  He will be completely on his own.  Having spent his life in an orphanage he is behind both emotionally and intellectually.  We estimate he is more like a 12-year-old boy instead of 15. He is in no way ready to be on his own in the world.  His prospects for a future are grim without a family.  Most orphans from his country die before they reach the age of 25, victims of suicide, drug addiction, alcohol abuse and murder.  Sex trafficers are waiting outside the orphanage door. He does not have the life skills to survive in his world.
We want to help him develop these skills so that he has prospects for a good future.  But more importantly, we want to give him something he has never had, something every child needs and should have - a family.
We already love him and he loves us.  We just need to get him here.

Will you help us Friends?  We must raise $30,000 dollars as soon as possible to make this happen.  I know it is a huge amount of money but we are trusting God to lay it on the hearts of His children to contribute towards bringing our sweet boy home.  The money raised is for our home study for an international adoption, our adoption agency fees, the fees for all the paperwork and court costs,.  But this is just the beginning.  There will also be travel fees for two, possibly three overseas trips for the adoption process and to bring him home.  Inclusive with this will be the airplane tickets, lodging while we are oversees, travel exenses back and forth from court and his orphanage, translation and interpreter fees and other international adoption-related costs.

We are so grateful to those of you who have already helped us bring him over with the host program twice last year.  Our church family has been amazing in sharing their love and investing their time in our boy while he has been here.  Our extended family has welcomed and loved him as well.  We are all excited to have this young boy home.  We would love for you to be a part of our adoption story.
(Here's our boy at a church youth group function)

Follow our page for pictures and posts as this story unfolds.  Learn about why we have titled
our campaign Mary's Love.  Learn about us.  Why we have adopted and continue to do so.  Learn about love.  Love so amazing, unfailing, so graceful and so true.  God's love.  He has a special love for the orphan.  Because of His great love, so do we.  Please help us and know that you have helped make a dream come true - a young boy's dream for a family.  

We know God will bless you for what you are able to give.  If you are unable to give, please pray.  Pray for God's will.  Pray our goal will be met. Pray for travel mercy.  Pray for our boy as he waits in his orphanage for his family to come get him and bring him home.