Hudgins Family

After 14 years of marriage and no intentions of having children, John and I were impressed by different events, on the same day, that God was telling us we should check into international adoption.  In a very short time, we were working with Christian World Adoption’s Peru program.  

We started that journey in September 2000 in Hendersonville, NC.   Bob Harding, our Case Manager told us all about the wonderful attorneys that they worked with in Peru.  We joined the WebBoard and “met” new friends who were at various stages of the waiting process.  We were not asking for infants so everyone thought our case would move quickly.  We were asking for two children at once and we preferred a sibling unit – hopefully girls.  Unknown to us, in Arequipa, Peru, two sisters were being placed in an orphanage in September 2000.  The oldest child was four and half years old, and the baby only three months old.

We completed our paperwork rather fast and submitted it in December 2000. God worked several miracles for us during the “paperchase” as we named it. He used a very fast I-600 approval to answer my prayer for a sign that this really was His will.  

The waiting is the hard part.  Everything is out of your control at that point.  God was still in control but it was harder to see that now that we “just waiting”.  Things slowed down drastically with Peruvian adoptions after we submitted our paperwork.  There was turmoil, corruption, and turnover in the government. Each government change meant changes in the way they were handling adoptions and more waiting.  By the summer of 2001 our faith was weak and we considered changing countries and even went so far as to get a video of a brother and sister from Russia.  We sent their medical information to a doctor in Atlanta and he advised us not to accept the referral.  We took that as a reminder that God was still in control and waited once more for Peru.  

I got very nervous as my birthday approached in August, afraid that we were going to “age out” for a younger child in the sibling group.  Bob and Alfonso kept answering my frantic emails with patience and advising us to keep trusting God that He was in control.  

Then September 11, 2001, hit the world.  I was sure that we would never be able to travel to Peru.  John had more faith at that point and we kept praying that if it was God’s will for us to adopt that He would open the doors.  In October 2001, Bob called my office and asked if I would like to come see a picture of my daughters.  I rushed out of the door yelling over my shoulder to the receptionist and calling John on my cell phone all at the same time.  Those two fuzzy photographs were of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen.  The girls had a sparkle about them that just lit up their faces.  Over the next few weeks as we received more information on Lucia and Dana we learned that they had been placed in the orphanage in September 2000.  Peru does not allow the abandonment paperwork to be processed until the children have been abandoned at least one year.  

It all started making sense then as to why we had to wait “so long”.  God had prepared our hearts to parent these children at the very moment they were being placed in the orphanage even though they would not be ready to leave Peru for 14 months.  We took Lucia and Dana out of the orphanage forever in November 2001 and returned home with them in December.  It was like a two month Christmas that year!  Everything was a celebration of God’s love to His children.

We are approaching our 5th family day in a few months.  As I reflect back on how God meant for us to be a family and how He has been there for us through the adjustments, the laughter, and the tears, I am humbled by His blessings.  Lucia and Dana are delightful children.  They are kind and considerate.  They are sweet and funny.  They are giggle boxes and drama queens.  But most of all they love Jesus with all their hearts and for that I thank Him every day.  I thank God that he placed Bob, Alfonso, and the whole CWA team in our lives to bring our forever family together.  

We would tell anyone considering adopting an older child that with God all things are possible.  Lucia had just turned 6 and Dana was 17 months old when we were given the girls.  We have had many conversations where John and I have had to acknowledge their losses from the past with the answer of, “I don’t know but God does”.  It is very touching to hear your child pray that God will help her birthmother learn about Jesus and be ready to go to heaven when He comes.  We know that with God’s help, we have been blessed with two precious children thanks to the Peruvian adoption system, the attorneys in Peru, and CWA.

Kim Baker-Hudgins and John D. Hudgins, Jr.