Reunited

14 years ago, two young children were adopted from Haiti.

Their mother had died and their father was unable to provide for all four of his children. His youngest daughter was only 9 months old and he soon realized that her only hope of survival was giving her up. The first orphanage he took her to was full but a friend recommended a second one and that's where he brought his precious little girl. He visited her every week and although he missed her dearly, was happy to see she was alive and well. 6 months later, when his second youngest, a three year old son, became sick and weak, he sadly brought him as well.

At the orphanage, he agreed to allow them both to be adopted together, but it still took months before the adoption process was complete. During this time he traveled every week to the orphanage to visit his two precious children.

One day he came to visit and found them both gone. All that was left was a photo of a very special family that had come from Canada to adopt his children. He treasured this picture and then slowly made his way back home. Would he ever see them again?

The adoptive mother kept his memory alive by taking the only photo she had of him, enlarging it and hanging it in the children's rooms. She looked at it often and always wished that she and her husband had had a chance to meet him. A chance to tell him they would love his children, treat them like their own and raise them in a Christian home.

14 years later the adoptive father and mother took their Haitian son and daughter and together flew back to their country of origin. Haiti.



Prior to their arrival they spent much time and effort trying to locate the biological father of their children. They sent inquiries to his last known address and paid for daily radio ads asking if anyone knew any information about him, but it was all to no avail.

It wasn't till the day after they arrived in Haiti that we received a phone call. God's perfect timing. It was the children's half brother. He was very happy to hear from them and immediately contacted their father. We soon learned that since the earthquake, the children's father had moved back to his grandparent's land near Jacmel because he had lost both his home in Port au Prince and his livelihood. The earthquake had caused the house he had rented to crumble, and all his animals had died in a landslide. There was nothing left for him to do but move back to a piece of land his grandparents owned far away in the mountains.

Now 54, he was old, but at the news of his childrens' visit he hiked 12 hours from his home up in the mountains to the nearest road, where he could take a tap tap to Port au Prince.

The day of the meeting began early and he dressed in his best clothes. Was this real? Would he really get to see his children again after fourteen years?

Suddenly they were there, standing in front of him. His son looked just like his deceased wife, while his daughter looked more like himself. He held their hands and smiled and smiled. "I'm so happy to see you!" He kept telling them, tears in his eyes.

There were other people with his children, talking and asking questions, but he had eyes only for them. Were they happy? Had he made the right decision so many years ago?

The adoptive mother had brought photo albums of his children for him to keep and as he looked through them at his children's smiling faces and watched them interact with their adoptive parents, he knew he had made the right choice.



Of the four children, his oldest daughter had died 5 years ago in childbirth, but his other son was still alive.

We drove to where he was living with an aunt and uncle and the reunion was sweet. "I pray for you everyday," the brother who was only fifteen months older, said to his younger brother and sister. "I'm so happy to see you!"

He bore a striking resemblance to both his younger brother and sister and they were full of questions.


When asked what he hoped to do for work when he finished school he explained he had always dreamed of being an auto mechanic. "But that's what I want to be too!" said his younger brother amazed.

I was translating for them, and finally asked the older brother if he had any questions for his younger siblings. He looked at them for a moment and then said to me. " I just want to know if they know Jesus." I struggled to hide my tears. For all the questions he could have asked, he asked the most important one.



With promises to stay in touch the two families hugged. Watching them I decided that this day was one of my best days ever.

Jesus said "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10b

In the midst of the day to day difficulties and challenges of living in the third world Jesus has given us a life more abundant then I could ever have dreamed or imagined. A life centered on Him.