The Miracle of Anne Pearce

I have known all my life that I wanted to adopt a baby. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that it was God’s plan for me. As soon as Andrew and I started dating I broached the subject with him. He didn’t feel the call immediately, but he knew it was his mission also as he prayed about it.
I almost died 2 years ago on the day before Good Friday. As I was being rushed to the hospital I prayed to be able to live to raise my children. Even through periods of unconsciousness, I prayed this prayer. I didn’t really know at the time that God would allow me to raise not only my two sons, but Anne Pearce as well.
We thought that we would do this in OUR time. We would pay off all of our debt and save all the money. Our sons wanted their baby sister immediately, but we explained to them that it would be a few years; we would get her when we were ready. That was a great plan, but God had something else in store for us. Beginning early last spring I was experiencing a sense of restlessness and almost an obsessive feeling that it was time to start the process. I knew we weren’t ready financially, but God didn’t care about that. He was telling us that it was time for us to go. I called Pat Lee at Children of the World, and she said, “Lou, I knew you were going to call”. Andrew and I started on the initial paperwork and had the first interviews. The cost for a Guatemalan adoption is 30K plus travel. That is a huge amount of money, but we knew that God would provide. Some people thought we were crazy! “Where are you going to get $30,000? How can you afford that?” Every time our reply was the same, “God will send it”. We prayed about the money, and we asked God to tell us what we needed to do. His answer was swift and certain. He said, “Make crosses for Anne Pearce.” Now, Andrew and I have never done any clay or pottery work in our lives. Through my sister we met a woman who ordered the clay. She gave us a few pointers, and off we went! Talk about operating on faith! Our first batch took the longest. We know we could have help with this process, but Andrew and I both feel very strongly that the two of us need to form each and every cross. We feel that it’s an important part of bringing our daughter home. Our friends and family helped us paint them, but we formed them ourselves. Each time I had to pierce the cross at the top for the hole, I thought of Christ and the holes that were punctured in His hands as his sacrifice for us. God is the reason we are pursing this adoption, and we have to keep Him at the center.
So many things have happened along the way reminding us that this is God’s work.:
I spoke at a waiting families meeting and received an anonymous donation of $5000.
We gave our testimony at Grace Bible Church and was given over $1000.
The day we found out that Anne Pearce had been born a good friend of ours sent a check for $6500!
A college student who works two jobs tithed 10% of her check for months.
I received news that I had $2000 coming from an insurance settlement from 5 years ago.
A special needs student from my former school gave me a card with $5.00 enclosed for “When you adopt that baby.”
A co-worker sent me $25 to pay for the first clay.
One of my best friends stuck $98 in a card to pay for our fingerprints.
John and Liz Rezner fired our first crosses for free.
All in all we raised all of the money except for $9000, and we got a loan from the credit union for that. God took care of EVERYTHING.

These are the money miracles only! I will write about all the other miracles on a future post……

We tell this story of God’s plan everywhere we go, and I can tell how it touches people. Bringing Anne Pearce home is not just my family’s goal. Our friends and co-workers are just as dedicated and committed to bringing her home. Anne Pearce is not just our baby. She belongs to everyone who has given their time, money, and prayers to bring her home. She represents the love and power of our Lord. She represents the power of prayer and faith in our lives. It’s very exciting to think about bringing her home, that first moment we see her. What excites me the most is the vision I have of giving her back to God in our church surrounded by family and friends. It will be a full circle moment for us and one that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. We will forever give Anne Pearce’s story to anyone who will listen. Hopefully our testimony will lead others to do what we’re doing, following God’s plan for us. This is the biggest leap of faith we have ever taken, but we are not afraid or worried. Anne Pearce is God’s child, and He will bring her home.
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me….” Mark 9:37