I am paricipating in an online group of fellow adopters from Ghana. I have mostly been lurking around and seeing what they talk about. On line groups have a culture and some unwritten rules and it's good to know what they are before you jump in with comments or questions. The craziest things can offend people. And the purpose of the board is to share and gather information, as well as for support, so I want to get it right.
So today there was a lot of activity around a the question "Why Ghana?", as in, why did you choose to adopt from Ghana?
The following stories are from the online group discussing the question “Why Ghana?”
The only editing is to protect identity, and some are excerpts to shorten the length of this post.******
So fast forward, a few months, a lot of research, discussion and contemplation. Combine this with perfect timing and what has to be divine intervention and you have our Ghana adoption.
From that night, I knew I wanted to find a way to adopt from Africa. My great uncle was a Catholic Order Priest in Ghana, Africa. He was in Ghana for over 53 years. He loved Ghana.
As I looked into adopting from Africa, I thought about my great uncle and about the people of Ghana. Memories of his words that I have heard since I was a young girl came back to me. How religious, joyful and good the people of Ghana were despite the conditions that many of them lived in. I thought for sure there would not be a way to adopt from Ghana but started looking into it.
My husband and I have had much dialog about adopting from Africa and we decided this is what we want to do. Of course, I was ready to adopt first and encouraged my husband to look into it. I thought he would take a long time to make his decision but a short time later, he told me out of the blue that evening that he wanted to adopt from Africa, from Ghana if possible. Not only did he want to adopt one child but he wanted to adopt two!!
So, prior to my husband saying he wanted to adopt, I found someone on another group and through her blog. Right about the time we decided to adopt from Africa, she shared that she had been hired by an agency
to coordinate a pilot program they were starting in Ghana. This agency is located in Washington and I happened to be going there that week- yes, me who has never gone on a trip alone was going to WA for a meeting for a home business that I do.
I called and spoke to the Director of the agency, in hopes of being able to set up a time to meet with her when I traveled to Washington. After a brief discussion, in which I shared our desire to adopt from Ghana and our reasons why, she invited us to be a part of the Ghana program!
The fact that I found these people and this agency and they happened to be starting a Ghana program right when we were ready to adopt and that we were allowed to be a part of the program when we were so early in the process has been an example of everything falling into place when so many times along the way, we could have hit a bump. We believe that all these together are not coincidences but instead is God and Father hitting us on the head along the way, letting us know we are headed in the right direction!
Initially, it really bothered me that I did not talk to my uncle about adopting from Ghana. We were not ready to start our research at that time he was here as we were still considering if we wanted more children and whether we would adopt or give birth again. I have since been praying about what is right for us to do and what he would have said to us if we asked him. After much thought and prayer, I decided that he would have said this
…“If you want to adopt from Ghana and bring children home, that is fine but it is not enough. You have to understand that while America is rich, Ghana is richer and better in many ways so don’t think that you are saving them from a bad place because you are not. Always tell them how wonderful Ghana is and that they are special because they are from Ghana. Take them back to Ghana if you can. Most importantly, while taking a child or two will help those children to have a family, remember the other children left behind and help them because they are your children’s friends and relatives and by doing that, you are honoring your children and where they come from.”-
My uncle was such an amazing human being. When he visited us last in Fall of 2006, we knew that it might be his last visit. He wish was to die in Ghana and be buried with the people he loved so deeply. The trip was getting harder for him to make. He returned to Ghana and died five days later. I miss you Father, rest in peace.
*************
I know sometimes the "religious experience" conversation freaks people out.
If it freaks you out, don't read this :)
Why Ghana?
Because the spirit spoke to us in such a loud, clear, sure voice that there was no doubt that this was what we were supposed to do.
We weren’t even planning on adopting at all. It had never been something we discussed.
We had 6 children already.
We went to my father in laws house to hear about their trip to Ghana. They said they had
pictures of the orphanage, children, etc....
We went thinking "Oh, we'll donate some money and that'll be that".
We got there, heard about their experiences and then went around the room to look at the pictures.
I'm looking at the pictures and get to one that has a beautiful girl, her mother and her friend.
I can't even explain it.....it was like someone reached into my chest and grabbed and I just knew.
It freaked me out at first, because this wasn't part of OUR family plan. So I thought "maybe I'm going crazy". I stood there for a bit to see if the feeling wouldn't go away.
I asked my husband to come over and I said “Look at her".
He knew.....the spirit spoke to both of our hearts in such a way that there were no doubts, and we were on the same page.
There's more to the story, but that's how it all started, and that's why we (through the guidance of the spirit) chose Ghana.
I feel like God chose Ghana for us.
The people in Ghana are very faithful, prayerful people. They have to rely on God for all things.
We should all be that way.
Thanks for asking! I think it's good for me to remember why this all came about.
God's hand is in all things.
***********************
Thanks for writing! I can totally relate to your story as it is similar in many respects to ours. We didn't chose Ghana....Ghana was chosen for us too because that's where this amazing boy lived that I met on the internet. My husband and I initially hadn't been looking to adopt, but when I met this sweet boy we had an instant connection. I mentioned him to a friend at work who is a world traveler and she happily told me that of all the people she has met in her travels the people of Ghana and Togo were her favorites based on their hospitality, genuine friendliness and faith. While everyone around me was doubting the genuineness of this boy, my husband and I just KNEW in our hearts he was brought to us for a reason....he needed us and we needed him (though we didn't even know it). We are now happily counting down the days until we bring him home! He has already enriched our lives so much and has touched everyone he has come in contact with through this process. We all believe we were Divinely guided to find each other.
That was truly beautiful, made my eyes water... I too found our daughter in a similar way and also in a picture. ALL of the children pull at your heart strings! Sometimes though you get really lucky and are just lead to them spiritually and magically!! You just know!
Adopting a 6 yr. old angel from Ghana
************************
We feel like Ghana chose us! We were also not thinking about adopting, and then all of a sudden, John’s parents were caring for Martha who had just been orphaned. We were already headed there to visit just weeks after they took her in. We felt that this was God's master plan in action! I can see why adoptive parents would choose Ghana, as well.
I can see how that can happen with you seeing pictures and falling in love with a particular child. That was how it was when I saw the child we are adopting. I saw his eyes and they just spoke to me. I almost talked myself out of it because he is so close in age to my daughter and I did not know how that would work out but things ended up in such a way that when all was said and done, he was the child available for us. We did not have to choose between children, we were left and he was left and we are so thrilled and relieved it worked out that way. He was not the most handsome of the kids I saw, he was not the best age, but he was the one that I instantly felt a connection with. There was something about him...
Now that he has been in our adoption center for months, he is bigger, healthier and looks happier. He is truly blossoming and we are so excited to meet him and bring him home to us.I just can't say enough about how wonderful the children in Ghana are. I got to see many children, not just children in our adoption center but children in three other orphanages, children at the markets that I spoke to and groups of children that I met up with and spoke to as I walked along the beach at Cape Coast. I loved them all. They are their parents’ children and the faith, prayer and reliance on God is carried on to their children. It is a miracle how these beautiful children in spite of their poverty and tragedy in their lives are so strong and resilient. Samantha is our perfect example of that and she is an inspiration to the rest of the family. She has blessed us and our lives far more than we could ever do for her.
To be able to adopt a child from Ghana is a blessing. I feel like we are the fortunate ones that the government in Ghana is trusting us to raise their children. I only pray that I can raise her in a way to make them proud and not ever regret their decision to allow her to come to America. I am so glad that you and your husband listened to the spirit. So many others may have dismissed it and said, "we have six kids, there is enough on our plate, we can't add more." I am so glad every thing has worked out for you and you have your children home! Thank you for sharing your story...
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." Mother Teresa
******************************
Warning ... More God Stories Ahead ... :)
We, too, did not pick Ghana (or Africa), God picked us for Ghana.
After we had 10 bio. kids, my husband and I both thought we were "done" ... our family was "complete". Then, a few years later, my heart started stirring. Over the course of 6 months, not only was I convinced that we were to adopt, but that we were to adopt a large sibling group (3-5 kids) and that they were going to be black. I perused many U.S. adoption websites, looking at pictures, and was ALWAYS, ONLY drawn to the pictures of black children that were a part of a sibling group of 3-5. NOTHING else interest ed me in the least.
Next problem ... my husband was NOT at all convinced that we were suppose to have ANY more children, much less 3-5 more children. He wouldn't even discuss it.
On a Friday night in June '07, we were at a party and I was discussing my heart pull with a friend (who is an adoptive mom) when Jim walked by and said, "NO! We are NOT adopting any children." End of discussion.
The very next day, I was out of town for the day when Jim decided to check my email. He NEVER checks our family email account. But, this day, there was an email ... with pictures of 3 beautiful children. The moment he saw the picture, he felt God telling him, "Those are your children." By the time I got home, he had printed off the picture, put it up on the refrigerator, and introduced the new brother and sisters to all of the children that were at home. Done deal!
We brought the children home in March '08, when they were 6, 9, 12. And, it "just so happens" that our 3 youngest bio. children were 6, 8, 11.
Oh yes ... the email was from a lady that was attending our church. I had met her a couple of times, and she knew that I was praying about adoption. She was in Ghana to bring home 2 little girls, met these 3 precious children, and God kept putting our name on her heart. So, she contacted a mutual friend to get my email address, sent off the pictures with an "I don't know if you're interested ..." note, and the rest ... is history.
God is AMAZING!
***************************
Well even though we are not adopting from Ghana at the moment, we had planned to, and Liberia is just a ways off.......
I grew up with missionary friends who grew up in West Africa, mostly Mali, what was Upper Volta, Guinea, Ghana, Cote D'Ivore, but I loved West Africa from the photos of the people and the country I'd grown up with, as well as the stories from my MK (missionary kid) friends and their parents. From the time I was a very young child I felt God calling me to adopt from around the world, but especially SE Asia and West Africa. I'll admit I didn't know much about Liberia, not nearly as much as I did about its neighbors. (I had MK friend s from India, Mongolia, Philippines, many from Vietnam and Cambodia and other places, but my heart was not drawn to most of those places, so it was not "just what I had been exposed to"....With WEST AFRICA in general in my heart, we examined which countries had or didn't have adoption programs, and as most of you know with the recent frown upon large families and the start of interim adoption orders by the government, we sensed this being a closing door for us to Ghana itself, even as God led us to Liberia.
I had planned a trip to Ghana in April of 2007...so sure was I that I'd meet the children of my dreams, and start a process...................but God closed that door very surely. Our youngest daughter got sick suddenly, like, after I'd gotten my malaria vaccine, AND my expedited multi-entry visa. Naomi got pneumonia in both lungs and one lung collapsed. My sweet sick 5 year old was in the hospital for a week: "my Ghana" week, so I had a hint of closed Ghana doors even then, but the strong desire for West Africa never abated. IT was so deeply in my heart. And my daughter is absolutely fine now . She didn't even have a cold when that came on: it was very unexpected. She had a high fever for 4 days with no other symptoms. (??!!)
In all that I saw God leading us toward Liberia, as I'd been talking to an agency with a Liberia program. Within 48 hours of sensing that Ghana was not the West African country God had for us, the agency director of the Liberia program made us aware of a 6 year old girl and 9 year old boy who had just become completely totally PAPER READY if we wanted to pray over an d consider them for our children. In the two years of praying and seeking, and thinking about our next children, no one knew of a sib pair with this gender/age arrangement and this was who we felt would be the best blend for the children at home and the to- be -adopted as well as with the bedroom spacing.
I believe that God put the call to Africa in my heart decades before the opportunity and THE children ever manifested, and has guided us ever since. Our children are waiting for us in Liberia, and not Ghana. We didn't really "pick" either country, but God picked us, for West Africa.