Our Story

In March of 2011, we were invited to a dinner by Keith's cousin to hear about Rainbow of Hope's hosting program. At the time, we felt as if it would be an interesting evening for our family to hear about what God was doing through this program and in the lives of orphans. The information we learned there was impressive but we left feeling overwhelmed because we didn’t think we could meet all the expected requirements involved in hosting an orphan in our home.

We initially thought we would offer our home as a “back-up”opportunity in case one of the host families weren’t able to keep their child for a day here and there. But after weeks had gone by, we felt that God was really prompting us to consider this ministry for our family.

Then one Sunday morning, we unexpectedly ran into some friends at our church who had hosted an orphan the previous summer who we rarely saw because the size of our church. It was as if the Lord was saying “talk to them”! The next night we received a phone call from these friends informing us that they had designated the remaining funds from their hosting experience the previous summer to our family! A few days later a family member came forward to offer the balance of what we needed to be part of the hosting program. So God removed what we perceived as the major hurtle and we were amazed and believed that being part of the hosting program was His will for our family.

Being a host family to Roman was another amazing adventure. We had no idea what to expect. We had no idea that we would fall in love with this little boy. We didn’t realize that in the end, we were the ones who would be so deeply and forever blessed and changed. In the four weeks he was in our home he became part of us. We became a family of five and life would never be the same.

After inquiring about the adoptability of Roman, we learned he had a 17 year old brother, Igor. God showed us that He wanted us to adopt them as a sibling group. Since then, we’ve had quite an education in what’s involved in international adoption. Forms to fill out, signatures in blue ink, phone calls, notary signatures, adoption classes, medical, FBI & other clearances even for our dogs, home studies, proving the size and adequacy of our home and finger printing are just some of the steps we’ve been taking to bring our sons home.

God knows our hearts and what He has called us to do. It has been so exciting to watch as He’s brought us through this journey so far. It’s been scary and challenging but God continues to provide and bless. Thank you all for your interest and prayers.

The prayers and financial support of our family and friends has been amazing and it’s been incredible to see how God has and continues to provide. Here are a few prayer requests. Please pray for Roman and Igor as they wait, that God would prepare their hearts and would prepare our hearts as well. Also, we believe we’ll be traveling to Ukraine in June to process the paperwork. So pray that things would go smoothly while we’re there and that Kevin and Hannah would have a good time with their grandparents while we’re gone.