Adoption of a Different Kind

Dave and Jan DeKlavon

With increasing awareness about the worldwide orphan crisis, many individuals, churches and organizations are rising to care for those who are lonely, in need, or without a family to call their own. When I consider the word adoption, however, I think of care and concern beyond a mere legal declaration. The English major in me decided to analyze the root meaning of the word, and I found the dictionary definition interesting: "to take by choice into a relationship." Synonyms include embrace and espouse. And orphan is defined as one deprived of some protection or advantage.

Accordingly, Dave and Jan DeKlavon, who have no children to call their own, have adopted hundreds of individuals through the years. Dave (or Dr. DeKlavon to many students) is the Associate Dean for Boyce College, which is part of the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY. But rather than viewing his role at Southern/Boyce as merely a 9-5 job that pays the bills, Dave and Jan have chosen to invest their very lives in the young people who walk onto the Boyce Campus every year. Not a month goes by when they aren't hosting one group of students or another in their home - feeding hungry college tummies with food, and developing souls with nourishment of a spiritual sort.

But it isn't simply that the DeKlavons hospitably open their home; it is much deeper and more profound than teaching and entertaining college students. Realizing many of these students are away from home for the first time and navigating their way in the "real" world, Dave and Jan make an intentional effort to take by choice into relationship so many of these young people, who benefit from the love, wisdom and commitment of two people who have not lost the art of connecting with others in a meaningful way.

During a recent ice storm in the Louisville area, seminary and Boyce housing had no power, leaving hundreds of students stranded. Rather then offering a perfunctory "We'll be praying for you," Dave and Jan converted their entire home into a makeshift dorm, housing dozens of young ladies until all power had been restored one week later. Jan spent seven days feeding girls, listening to their dreams, their hopes, their heartaches, and serving as an adoptive mom of sorts!

While Dave (known to my 5-year-old as Peeplavon, for his obsessive love of marshmallow Peeps!) is a highly educated, brilliant man with so much to offer, I have always been impressed by his humility and gentleness of spirit. Both he and Jan could be justified in sporting large egos, but instead, have chosen to quietly serve and love others under the radar, without drawing attention to themselves or openly bragging about their education, credentials, who they know, or what they do to impact young people. They simply show others Christ's love in their daily lives by enacting Romans 12:13, "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

I am grateful for mentors and leaders like Ms. Jan and Peeplavon!

Never Too Old

CHRIS AND SARAH PADBURY

I first met Sarah Padbury during my newlywed days, while living in Colorado Springs. We became acquainted through a mutual friend who worked with both Sarah and myself at Focus on the Family. We did not know each other well during that time, and lost contact after Scott and I moved to the Louisville area shortly thereafter. Years later, however, we reconnected via our mutual friend, who realized that God had drawn both of our families toward adoption and mobilizing the church to engage in orphan care and adoption advocacy.

We often hear heartwarming stories about children who have been abandoned or orphaned, finding families to call their own. But considering the staggering UNICEF report of 143 million orphans globally, the truth is that far too many children grow up without ever experiencing the fundamental love, safety and security of their very own family. It is a difficult fact to consider; imagine being an adult with nowhere to go for holidays, no one to call for advice, no mother to teach you how to be a mother yourself, no father to model manhood to you. Honestly, it is a sobering thought to consider being alone in this harsh world.

While those involved in the adoption community realize that children who are not adopted eventually grow up, the stark reality of orphaned children transitioning into adulthood without a sense of belonging anywhere is a concept rarely presented in tangible fashion. My friend Sarah, however, and her husband Chris, came face to face with a young lady whom the world might otherwise label a statistic. Sarah first met Carmelita in 2007, while serving on Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's Task Force for Foster Care and Permanence. Carmelita was one of many young adults who had aged out of foster care and were invited to speak to the task force about changes they felt would improve foster care. "I was drawn to her," Sarah remembers, "and we exchanged numbers."

The simple act of connecting during a meeting led to many meaningful interactions between Carmelita and the Padbury family, which had been built exclusively through adoption. Chris and Sarah first adopted 3-week-old Mariah, and then four months later, a baby boy named Ethan; both were domestic adoptions. Ten months later, the Padburys traveled to China to adopt 11-month-old Hannah. "In 14 months we went from no children to 3 babies ages 10, 11 and 14 months old!" Sarah exclaims. "When our triplets were six years old, we returned to China to adopt Jacob, a three-year-old who was born with a cleft lip and palate." Next came Jalaya, a six-year-old who was in foster care and had been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, ADHD, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Home for two years now, Sarah enthusiastically declares, "The world says, 'hopeless,' but God says, 'Precious with Purpose!' "

The Padbury family, however, was not yet complete. As their relationship with Carmelita grew, Chris and Sarah realized that while she is now an adult, Carmelita's childhood dream of having parents to claim as her own had gone unfulfilled. Six months after meeting, Carmelita and her two young children, ages two and three, moved into the Padbury home. "On Father's Day 2008," Sarah explains, "we - all 7 members of the family - officially asked Carmelita to join our family. She said yes and we all cheered and cried over the dinner table." Chris and Sarah began the process to legally adopt 24-year-old Carmelita, whose adoption was final in September of 2008. The family celebrated with a big party that was officiated by their pastor. Chris and Sarah became instant grandparents, and are now the proud mom and dad of six children, ages 24, 11, 11, 11, 8 and 8.

Chris and Sarah, along with social worker Brian Felker and pastor Robert Gelinas, started Project 1.27 as a ministry outreach of Colorado Community Church. It has now moved beyond the church doors to include 18 church partners, and its adoptive families represent more than 100 churches! Learn more about the work God is doing through this vital ministry by visiting the Project 1.27 website and watching this video.

As the Padbury family has modeled, there is no age limit on the impact of giving the gift of family to a child. Truly, a person is never too old to need the love of a mom and dad!

Forget Me Not

RACHEL ROSS

From the tender of age of 13, Rachel Ross prayed for the opportunity to spread the message of God's love in Romania. Never did she realize how fully God would answer her prayers! She first visited Romania as a teenager, in the summer of 1999. During her time in this impoverished country, Rachel worked in local children's hospitals and orphanages, returning every summer until 2003, when she served a 6 month-internship in the country.

It was during this period that Rachel's heart was captured by an abandoned baby girl named Zorica Izabela. Rachel fell instantly in love with little Iza and knew that she could not leave her alone in this world. Because of a moratorium on Romanian adoptions, Rachel would be unable to adopt Iza through the traditional process typical of international adoption. The only possibility of becoming Iza's mother would require extreme sacrifice - an indefinite move to Romania so that Rachel could fulfill new Romanian adoption criteria.

And so, with the blessing and support of her parents, Rachel moved in 2004 to Oradea, Romania, where she spends her days and nights steadfastly caring for abandoned and seemingly overlooked babies and children, while pursuing formal adoption proceedings to become Iza's forever mother. Though the adoption is not yet finalized, each day brings them one step closer.

While working in a a Romanian children's hospital with 5 floors of abandoned babies, Rachel's heart was so burdened for orphans that she started Forget Me Not Ministries, an organization whose mission is to improve the lives of the Romanian children whom God has NOT forgotten! FMN Ministries now has a large house and land in Tinca, Romania (the gypsy village from where so many of the abandoned babies came), where they plan to expand and build a 25,000 sq. ft. daycare able to house 200 babies, children, and at-risk youth.

Watch a video highlighting the work of Rachel and FMN Ministries, and read more about the organization at the official website. Again, a box of Kleenex is a must have before viewing the video!

Rachel praises God for each little life with whom she is able to come in contact; even in the face of heartwrenching circumstances and children barely surviving, she rejoices in the comfort of knowing that God hears each child’s cry, knows their pains and has a plan and a future for their precious lives.

Never underestimate the amazing ability of God to work through a young woman whose heart is sold out to Him!

Paying It Forward

JENNIFER KELLER

I first met Jennifer Keller at the age of 16, when my family moved to Kansas. In typical teenage fashion, I resented my parents dragging me halfway across the country, and I was not happy about entering a new high school during my junior year. Jenni, as we affectionately called her two decades ago, was friendly, bubbly and the life of any party. Her warmth made me feel comfortable and welcome from the outset. We were typical teen girls...interested in boys, our social calendar, and boys! I never knew in those days that Jennifer's parents had adopted her out of the foster care system at the tender age of 4 months old. Adoption and how families are formed simply were not average adolescent conversation starters!

It was only after we reconnected recently via the internet that I discovered what similar interests and passions we both share as adults - namely, our faith in Christ and heart for the orphans of this world. When Jennifer married her husband, he adopted her biological daughter, who is now a teenager. They wanted to expand their family, but encountered fertility challenges that God used to re-direct their path.

The couple completed foster-to-adopt training in November of 2003, and in July of 2004, were chosen to parent a 3 and 5-year-old sibling group who had been prenatally exposed to drugs. Four months later, Jennifer received a call from their social worker, informing them that the children's birthmother was pregnant again and to obtain their foster license in the event the baby would enter the system. They began corresponding with the birthmother and planning for a voluntary placement. In the meantime, Jennifer and her husband also welcomed a one-day-old methamphetamine-addicted baby into their home. Several months later, another day-old meth positive baby was placed into their care. Next, Jennifer learned that the older children's birthmother had been incarcerated; her baby was born in prison, and then immediately welcomed into the Keller household.

Finally, they received a call from one of the other children's birthmother, who was still meth-addicted, pregnant, and due in 3 months. She asked if the Kellers were ready for child #7. "We prayed and pined over this," Jennifer shares on her family blog, "and decided there was NO WAY we would want them to grow up without one another."

The Keller children are now ages 17, 9, 7, 3, 2, 2, and 1. Jennifer homeschools and serves as an advocate for The Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, speaking at many national conferences. She and her husband have also been instrumental in initiating Kansas House Bill 2602, making illegal drug use during pregnancy a crime.

Watch an interview with the Kellers and meet their children!

As an adoptive mom, I am acutely aware of the many unique challenges inherent in parenting children who have been abandoned and neglected. When I ponder the profound impact Jennifer is having on seven precious children - 6 of them drug exposed and separated from their birthfamilies - I am reminded of God's own love for us: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God." ~ 1 John 3:1

Don't ever think that you are powerless to change the world! Jennifer Keller is doing it one child at a time. Be sure to visit the Keller family blog to read more about their inspirational story.