The Runkle Family

We had reached the point in our lives where we felt ready to have a child, but we were humbled by our unsuccessful attempts at conception. After discussing and trying different options with several doctors, the pain of infertility began to set in. We prayed for a child, but after we received some pastoral counsel, we prayed instead for the Lord’s guidance on how we should proceed.

At the time, we were studying the Biblical story of Abraham and Sarah. We knew we had to be patient while waiting for the Lord’s direction. We asked God to reveal His will to us. Also, we both asked for a similar inner-peace as we proceeded. It wasn’t long before we each received confirmation to explore the world of adoption.

We wanted to work with a Christian agency because of our common faith, and with the hope that the children’s welfare (rather than profit) would be the focus. After reviewing material from several different agencies, we decided to adopt from Russia. And we chose Christian World Adoption because they fulfilled all the criteria which were important to us:

• CWA’s experience and good relations with Russian officials
• We could adopt a child under twelve months of age
• CWA’s parent email exchange appeared (and proved to be) very informative and helpful
• The overall feeling about CWA from discussions with referral families was very positive

CWA provided us with a complete, user-friendly checklist, timeline and description of all required paperwork. Our home study took longer than we expected, and there were many delays and frustrations with the Immigration and Naturalization Services. Yet we continued praising God and accepted all the unexpected roadblocks as part of His master plan.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

After submitting our completed paperwork, we expected a referral in six to eight weeks. Two months passed with no word on a referral. This was unusual. We spoke with our Case Manager often, who always assured us they would find our child. More importantly, she prayed for us. We knew God already had our child “picked out.”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Phillipians 4:6

Waiting was the most difficult part, because we knew many other CWA families already had their referrals. However, the Lord drew us closer to Himself and reminded us that He had chosen a child for us—in His time and in His way.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

About eight months after we began our paperwork, we finally received “the call”—our referral—of a baby boy who exceeded our hopes and dreams! Though much younger than expected, he was healthy and lived in an orphanage that provided exceptional care. And, he even looked like us!

It was another month until we could visit our son, but that month was filled with much excitement and activity. We prepared the nursery and made our travel arrangements. It almost didn’t seem real—were we really going to have our own child?

We finally travelled to Russia to meet our son, just before his six-month birthday. He smiled immediately. He was just precious. We enjoyed everything about him—he even fell asleep in our arms. The orphanage director and doctor reviewed with us all that they knew about our boy. By the end of the day we felt like he was already part of our family. The hardest part was leaving. Yet we realized the Lord’s intimate involvement and pleasure in our adoption.

CWA’s personnel took outstanding care of us during our two trips to Russia. They were professional, polite and truly have the best interests of the children in mind. They seemed to understand how to make and keep Americans happy and comfortable in a foreign country. All of CWA’s foreign facilitators spoke English and translated very well. They were on time and more than willing to do whatever possible to help during our visits. It was evident that they maintain good relationships with the Russian officials, the local judges and the U.S. Embassy personnel.

About two months later we returned to Russia to pick up our son. On November 26, 2002, the day before Thanksgiving, Brody Alexander was legally our son. Needless to say, we were thankful!

We were pleased with CWA’s services. In fact, we plan to use CWA in the future if we decide to adopt a sibling for Brody. The entire ordeal (infertility and adoption) has been a great faith builder and we praise God for taking us on this journey with Him.

Christmas 2002 was especially memorable, thanks to the addition of our new son. He was certainly the best Christmas present we’ve ever received. And yet, there are still millions of children, like Brody, around the world waiting to be adopted into a family—perhaps by yours.

Bryan & Beth Runkle