Lana’s Adoption

“Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.

They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.

It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms.

But once you do, everything changes.”

David Platt, Radical

Help our family adopt Lana! from Sara Brinton on Vimeo.

Our Story.My name is Sara. My husband’s name is Mark. We have been married for about eleven years. We have three sons: Asher, Micah and Zephaniah. After Zephaniah was born, we began to pray and learn about adoption. We learned about the needs of orphans around the world. Our hearts were broken. We realized we had been adopted into God’s family. We understood that we had received so much love from God the Father – and that as his children, we were called to love as we’ve been loved. God called us to adopt.

Over the last two years, God has given us a heart for the fatherless and in the process he has transformed our understanding of his love for us. Two years ago when we began the process to adopt from Africa, we knew that we wanted a daughter and that we could not have any more children biologically. We learned there was an overwhelming need for Christians to follow the call of the Bible to care for orphans and widows. We knew that as a family, we could give a child the most precious of gifts: the love of a family and hope for a bright future. And so we began the process to adopt and eventually brought home our daughter Gabrielle from Uganda.

When we started the process to adopt, we believed that we had been adopted by God and this was one reason why we felt called to adopt. Through our adoption journey, God opened our eyes to a deeper understanding of his mercy and the incredible lengths to which he went to bring us into his family. Our first adoption process was challenging and expensive. But having Gabrielle in our family is a daily reminder of how deeply God loves us. Our desire for you is that by participating in God’s work for caring for the fatherless, you would grasp that you were once fatherless and that you who know Jesus have been adopted into the family of God – and that you would enjoy in a new way the love and mercy of the Father. God does not need us to care for orphans, but he invites us to join him in this work so that we can know his heart.

Over the last two years, God has given our family a burden for children who are affected by HIV and AIDS. The AIDS epidemic has left 18 million children orphaned and millions more families vulnerable to poverty and exploitation. In our first adoption process, we were matched with two little girls who were HIV positive. One of these little girls died before we could bring her home. The second child remains stuck in an orphanage due to circumstances beyond our control. Losing these girls deepened our commitment to advocate for orphans affected by HIV and other special needs.

Most children waiting for families – whether in the United States or around the world – are not healthy babies. These children wait because they they are not wanted. This should not be. As Christians, we’re called to love the least of these because we were the least of these. As a family considering adoption, you do have to decide what you can say yes to – but as our pediatrician says “not all special needs are that special.”

In February, we were contacted about a little girl who needs a family. Lana is 2 years old and lives in Eastern Europe. Lana was abandoned in the hospital at birth by her mother. When we first heard about Lana, we felt God move in our hearts, calling us to be her family. We have completed our adoption paperwork. We’re so close to bringing Lana home! We’re hoping to travel in the next few weeks! 

For several years, we have had a dream of moving to London to live with gospel intentionality in an influential city where few know Jesus. God has opened the door. Mark was accepted into graduate school and we moved as a family to London. We’re still figuring out life here. I write about our adventure in London at From Mom to Mum.

We are so thankful.We needed your help to bring Lana home. We wanted you to join us in following God’s heart for the fatherless. We were hopeful you would consider carrying this burden with us. We wanted you to share in our joy.

We’ve saved. You’ve given. Together we have have raised everything we need to bring Lana home.

We are so thankful and humbled by the generosity and support of our friends, family and strangers. Even though she’s still waiting in an orphanage – even though she has no idea yet – she is surrounded by a community of people all over the world who love her. God has a beautiful, good plan for this little girl. And we just cannot wait to have her home. Thank you so much to everyone who has given to play a part in bringing Lana home.

The fine print: All donations through the Project Hopeful FIG Fund are tax deductable. Donations can only be used for Lana’s adoption costs and we cannot use them for our personal expenses – this accountability means that if for some reason we cannot adopt Lana, the funds are still available for her. If you work for Microsoft or another company that offers charitable gift matching, your donation may be matched. Ask us how.