costs that were required to build our family in this way. We both still felt called to raise another child. We both still felt a love for adoption. What we lacked were the funds we would need to bring another child into our home. After a few months of pray- ing and considering our options, we decided to move forward in faith, knowing that if this was the path the Lord had for our family, we wanted to start walking in it, even if it took us a long time to save up enough to get where He wanted us to go. Thankfully, as Lisa reminded us,


there are plenty of people in Christ’s church who have a heart for seeing children raised in Christian families. We had people in our church who had surrounded us with support and care as they walked with us through our losses who were now excited to walk with us through this new adventure.


One family organized


a yard sale to help us raise money. Many other families donated items to the sale. Plenty of people simply donated money. We applied for and received several grants from differ- ent Christian organizations, and one of our largest grants came from the ARP Adoption Fund.


The fund is


administered by the Board of Trust- ees of William H. Dunlap Orphan- age, Inc. This is an ARP agency that was established to provide care, sup- port, maintenance, and education of orphaned or fatherless or helpless or needy children. If you are considering adoption but worried about the cost, there are plenty of people in the church who also want to be faithful to God’s com- mand to care for the fatherless, but are unable to personally adopt them


into their families. We were amazed at how God provided through His people for this adoption. And if you are one of those people who wants to    - sider giving to the ARP Adoption Assistance Fund (AAF). The AAF is a great resource for ARP families hoping to adopt, so you know that your money will go directly to sup- port Christian families as God re- deems their sorrows and turns them to joy by bringing a family together.


So where are we now? After months of training, fundrais- ing, and waiting, we received a call that a woman had chosen our fam- ily to adopt the baby she was carry- ing. We got the call on a Wednesday in February, met her that Friday with Lisa by our side, and our daughter was born Saturday evening. We brought her home from the hospital that next Monday.


It was a whirlwind!


- ary, and shortly afterward, we let Lisa know that we wanted to adopt again. We are currently approved for an- other ARP Adoption Fund Grant. It is an amazing encouragement to know that our denomination takes seriously the call to care for the fatherless and actively supports the adoption of chil- dren whose biological parents are un- able or unwilling to care for them the way all children deserve. We still don’t know all the reasons why the Lord led us through the pain of losing three children, and welcom- ing more children into our family through adoption isn’t a means of re- placing the ones we lost. But the Lord has been so gracious to us in wel- coming us into His family, based on nothing we have done or would do for Him, but solely on His love. And He has showered us with even more grace in giving us the opportunity to love our own children - all three of them - with the love with which He has loved us.


If you wonder whether the Lord might be leading your family to adopt, I encourage you to pray about it and ask others around you about it. Kat and I would be glad to tell you more about our own story. And if you de- cide to go for it, don’t forget to give


8 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian


The


others the opportunity to partner with you and share in the joy of welcom- ing your child. After our daughter’s      threw her a big party, and we felt so loved. One of the best things about the party, though, was that they weren’t - ebrating with us, because they were a part of bringing Anna into our family, and they were excited, too.


Jonathan Kuciemba is the Associ- ate Pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in Grove City, PA. For information about the ARP Adop- tion Fund, contact Steve Nichols, snichols@arpsynod.org, check out the article on page 23, or the back page of this issue.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32