God Remains Faithful: The Ober Family’s Adoption Story

We are so honored when a family chooses to adopt with us, and we are absolutely delighted when they come back again and again. Jeffrey and Shivali Ober have adopted two boys from our India program. Jachin Akash is currently eleven yrs old, and Ephraim Praveen is five years old.

When asked why they have continued to return to our India program, Shivali writes, “America World’s values closely align with ours. It was easy to choose them again because they are very organized. Our second adoption was so much easier with the paperwork. They also stay well connected with what is going on in India, so we don’t feel like we are in the dark.”

On that note, we’d love to share their adoption story with you. Read below!

Our Adoption Story

By Shivali Ober

We knew God’s call for us to adopt very early on in our marriage. We didn’t necessarily know when, how, or from where, but we knew it was something He wanted us to do. We chose India because my family is from India, and we felt that this heritage would help the children maintain their cultural background.

Our first adoption took almost five years, from initially starting the paperwork to bringing our son home. When we started, we thought we knew exactly from which orphanage we would adopt. However, after we finished the home study process, India paused adoptions to change all their procedures. All we could do was wait.

At that time, our son was born, but we didn’t know. We finally received his referral when he was 1.5 years old, and it was from a completely different place than we thought. We still had to wait almost another 1.5 years until we met him and brought him home. During that time, we just happened to be in contact with another family traveling to the same orphanage. They took videos and pictures of him so we could see how much he had grown. In that amount of time, we learned a lot of patience and developed a love for him even when he wasn’t with us yet. When he did come home, it was so awesome! There was a new light in his eyes, and we knew this was a miracle from God.

A few years later, we started our second adoption from India. This time everything seemed like a well-oiled machine. It only took less than three years, which seemed so fast! It really didn’t even feel like we were waiting. Our second son came from the same major city as our first son. Since we were going back to the same area, we decided to take our older son on our trip so he could visit his orphanage and see his caretakers. We had stayed in contact with them, and they remembered him very much. It was a blessing for them to see the fruit of their service.

We’re in the process of our third adoption, and it has so far been different from the other two. We, like many others, thought it would be like a walk in the park now that we seemed “experienced.” But each adoption has its own timing and circumstances. There are a lot of unknowns, but we know in the process, God will undertake and guide us because this is who He is. He remains faithful to His purpose.

I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,

And I will say to those who were not My people,

‘You are My people!’

And they will say, ‘You are my God!’” (Hosea 2:23)

These words of the Lord through the prophet capture the spirit of adoption. God, in His great compassion and mercy, has taken those who are not His and made them His. He has taken those who are not of His nature, and by faith in the sacrificial life of the Messiah, has given them an inheritance to share with His only begotten. He has “sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6)

We can adopt these little ones into our family because God has adopted us into His. Praise God for His kind intentions!

Is God Calling YOU to Adopt?

Thank you so much to the Ober family for sharing their story! If you’re interested in adoption, please check out our adoption programs or request information about adoption.