God Still Performs Miracles: The Story of Our Little Guatemalan Blessing

My husband and I have always known that adoption would be a part of our family. Even before our oldest daughter was born, we knew that one day God would bring us a child from somewhere across the seas. After having three biological children (Katie, 11; Jackie, 9, and Joseph, 7), my husband and I felt God leading us to adopt a son from Guatemala. We began what seemed like the endless chore of gathering paperwork, all the while praying for our sweet blessing never knowing if he was yet born or not. My other three children would pray for their brother, understanding I think sometimes better than Barry and I that he was REAL and would be with us soon.

On April 29, 2005 I felt a strong stirring in my spirit to pray for our son. I had no idea who he was, where he was, or who he was with. All I knew was that God was urging me to pray. I wrote the prayer down, pleading for his safety, his biological mother’s safety, and Divine protection and grace for him. I closed my prayer book and the next day continued on with new devotionals, new prayers...

It was June 21, 2005 that we received the call from our adoption agency stating that we had been referred a son. I’ll never forget it. My three children and I were sitting in the car at the local pool, getting ready to go in for swim team practice when my cell phone rang. It was our Case Manager who said that there was a little boy in Guatemala City waiting for us. His name was Benjamin. My oldest son, Joseph, began to get uncontrollably excited in the back seat. He began calling out, "Joseph in the Bible had a little brother named Benjamin!!! Joseph in the Bible had a little brother named Benjamin!!!" We had planned on naming our new son John. But when we got home and did a name-meaning search, we learned that that Benjamin literally means, "son from the south". Barry and I knew then that God had already named our son for us.

After four months of waiting, it was finally time to go get Benjamin. We loaded the plane not knowing what a wonderful revelation would befall us once we held our son. When it was finally time for the foster mother and our lawyer to arrive with our son, I thought that my heart would burst for the foster mother. I had prayed for this woman ferverently for several months. In the pictures we received of Benjamin, she was always looking at him with both joy and reverence. Her love for this child was more than evident. She handed him over to us with a smile and a small necklace around his neck, tied with a shoestring. When I asked her what it meant, she replied "God’s blessings on Benjamin." She, along with our attorney and facilitator kept referring to Benjamin as "The Miracle Baby." We assumed that they talked about each child in this manner. With tears streaming down our faces, the woman who had cared for our son for six months walked out of the hotel lobby knowing that her part in Benjamin’s life had been fulfilled.

The next morning, we had our US Embassy appointment to get Benjamin’s visa. While standing in line with our facilitator, who spoke English, our revelation started. She asked us if we wanted to know why they called Benjamin the "Miracle Baby"? Somewhat surprised we replied yes. She stated that his birth mother already had five other children to care for. She had no job. She had no husband. When it was time to deliver Benjamin, she found herself in the community latrine. This latrine was nothing more than a hole in the ground. After giving birth to a tiny four pound boy, she struggled with whether to "thrown him in the hole or not". Upon learning of the delivery, several of the older ladies in the community rushed into the latrine to stop her from throwing her baby away. They told her that they knew of an attorney who would make sure that he was put into a good home and cared for. She named the tiny body she held in her arms Benjamin.

What a miracle for this child to survive! Born at only four pounds in an uncivilized latrine with no hospital, no neonatal care, no incubators, no i.v...... Only the love of a godly foster mother (barely making ends meet herself) who slept with him at nights and at nap time to keep him warm sustained this little miracle

Barry and I were in complete awe. Thanks be to the Father of Lights from whom all blessings flow, Who is father to the fatherless and sets the orphans in families. Yet, the true measure of His grace had not yet been revealed to us. We arrived home, celebrated Thanksgiving, and enjoyed having our new son near us. Sometime after that first week home, I turned to that prayer God prompted on April 29. I sat in the living room with tears streaming down my face as I realized that Benjamin was born only hours later on April 30.

Yes, we did name him Benjamin.... our son from the south. But his full first name is John Benjamin. John means "God is gracious" and our family knows from first hand experience that He still works miracles. One lives in our home

Barry and Michelle Galyean