Esther.
I spent much of the past week urgently looking for a Chinese family to adopt Esther. Thanks be to God, this heartbreaking story had a very joyful resolution. Here’s the story.
I was sitting at my church, where I sometimes use the kitchen area as my professional “office space”. While working, I called a friend in China to talk about ministry.
He told me about Esther, a 2-year old girl who was placed outside the entrance of an orphanage. It was obvious that the person who anonymously left her there really cared about her, but could not take care of her. My friend heard about this girl’s case and her urgent need for heart surgery. After successful fundraising, he found one of the best child heart surgeons in China to heal her and save her young life.
I’m not sure exactly what caused Esther’s heart problem. But it was clear that her heart was “broken”. She cried continuously at the orphanage, except when she was asleep. And nobody was allowed to hold her or comfort her. “Because this is how children manipulate you–they are very smart”. That is the mentality–and the policy–for caretakers in many orphanages in China and in some other countries.
Then my friend explained that, at age 18, many disabled children graduate from orphanages directly into adult institutional care facilities–and sometimes directly into elderly homes. That’s when my heart broke.
I know I can’t help every orphan that needs a home, but Esther’s story was special, and I wanted to do something.
I held back my tears, and made a decision: I wanted to find adoptive parents for Esther before she returned to the orphanage.
Queen Esther before King Xerxes
I thought about Esther in the Bible, who needed favor with the king, and fasted before her important meeting. I decided to do an “Esther fast”, and eat nothing until Esther returned to the orphanage, or was matched with an adoptive family, whichever came first.
Policies required that the adoptive family be Chinese. But for legal and cultural reasons, very few Chinese people are able or willing to adopt.
So, I knew that this would be difficult, and I was actually expecting people to say things like: “Chinese people don’t adopt.” “It’s hard in this culture.” “Can foreigners adopt her?” And, that’s what happened. That’s what nearly everybody told me.
But people also prayed, and I know there were at least several couples who seriously thought and prayed about it. However, there was no match.
Then, the day before Esther was supposed to return to the orphanage, I found three couples willing to adopt her. At that point, I felt that I should end my fast, 48 hours after I’d started. I told this to another friend, who had been searching for months. She said that she had been fasting too. And she also felt it was okay to stop fasting at the same time. She felt our prayers were answered, and we were both confident that Esther would be okay.
Through an amazing series of events, Esther was able to stay with a foster family a few days longer. During that time, through a network of pro-life leaders, I found a Chinese couple who had prayed for years for a baby girl!
After the official decision was made to allow the adoption process to begin, a friend told me the news. Esther wouldn’t have to go back to the orphanage. This time, I couldn’t hold back my tears.
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