Joshua’s Story: “I Was More Right Than I Knew”
God is at work today, impacting lives in both seen and unseen ways. The evidence of His hand at work is too real, powerful, and inspiring to keep to ourselves. He alone deserves all of the honor and glory for the lives impacted through the ministry of America World.
You may remember a recent post highlighting Josiah, who joined his forever family earlier this summer. God is in the details of his story and we are humbled to have played a small part in seeing Josiah’s longing for a family fulfilled. God is at work and we have a front row seat as the details unfold.
Today we were again reminded of God’s attention to the details. Each child is known fully by Him and seeing lives changed is more of an honor than we can often adequately express. We’ll let the Schaefer’s story speak for itself.
This story begins in the fall of 2016 when a One Orphan mission team traveled to China to provide training, medical assessments, and activities for children at several orphanages. During their time, one boy had a significant impact on one of the team members; she remembers his smile and the way he would light up a room. She came home and began to advocate for him as he was close to aging out of China’s adoption program. She shared in a blog post,
“This young man has the potential to conquer the world, he just needs the support and love of a forever family. Will you pray for him? Pray his family sees this post? Please share!”
We called him McArter on our Waiting Child site and were thrilled when a family came forward for his adoption.
Fast forward nearly 2 years later, August 2018, and McArter (now Joshua) celebrates the one- year anniversary of his Gotcha Day. He has officially been a part of a family, a cherished son, and a brother for one year. He shared with his mother what it is like being a part of a family, giving us a glimpse into the past year from his viewpoint.
“I am very happy in my family. My mother is very good. My father is funny. I like my brothers and my sister. They are nice to me. My sister helps me and she is very nice. I like to watch my brother play video games and he is very funny to me in the car.
I went to a wheelchair camp in July. Wheelchair camping was very cool. I play basketball, tennis. I went swimming and a lot of other things. I made good friends.
At home, we play card games and we talk. We watch movies. I am learning English. I play video games. I love to go to friends house and go swimming.
My life is happy and free.”
– Joshua
For a moment, we can stand in his shoes and more fully celebrate the story of redemption unfolding through even the most ordinary moments of everyday life.
After reading his words, we remembered the advocacy blog post from nearly 2 years ago and were reminded that God is moving and Joshua’s life is proof of that.
When we asked Joshua’s mother if we could share their story, she said, “Did you know I wrote the original advocacy post? I had no idea what the next 2 years would be like. I just knew he was really special. I was more right than I knew!”
Thank you for praying for Joshua and for being a part of his story. God is at work in the details. The woman who came home from China and began advocating for him became his mother!
These stories are not created through the work of human hands.
Will you join us in our mission of building families according to God’s design of adoption, while caring for vulnerable children around the world?
If your family is interested in learning more about adoption or considering adoption from China, please contact our China staff at China@awaa.org for more information. Families can view our China Adoption page for more information on children who are currently available and waiting for families.
PRE-APPLY FOR FREE to determine your eligibility or fill out our full APPLICATION now to begin your adoption process.
