Andrew and Carissa's story

Our journey toward international adoption began back in 2008, when Carissa went on a mission trip to Uganda to serve at a school through Children’s Heritage Foundation. When she returned from Uganda, she began to sponsor a four-year-old girl named Rinah through the same organization.

Carissa and I married in 2009 and just a year later, we got the news that Rinah’s mom, Annette, was very sick with AIDS. When she got sick, her husband (Rinah’s dad) abandoned them, leaving Rinah, their only child, responsible for their household. She left school in order to bear the load of cooking, cleaning, laundry, and caring for her mom. In May 2010, Rinah’s mom died. Rinah was 6 years old. She returned to school as a boarding student, living with 400 or so other children.

In July 2010, we had the opportunity to go to Uganda to make a video for Children’s Heritage Foundation. There we were able to meet Rinah for the first time. God used this trip, and many conversations with people in Uganda who know and love Rinah, to confirm the call we were sensing to adopt her. We spent the next month or so praying and getting counsel from our families and church. It was a time of much vulnerability as God continued to build our faith.

In September 2010, we started the process of adopting Rinah from Uganda. We were immediately surrounded by the people at Redeemer—and that has continued to this day. Through every high and every low, we were upheld by prayer, care, and even financial support. Looking back, we truly feel like we couldn’t have done this with so much grace if were it not for our church family. Their love never ceased.

A year later, in October 2011, we spent seven long weeks in Uganda finalizing the adoption and experiencing obstacle after obstacle. This was a time we could have easily felt quite alone, and instead we felt almost as much care and community as if we were still in the neighborhood. A day didn’t pass that our church family wasn’t praying for us, encouraging us, or helping us in very practical ways. We felt blessedly upheld.

We came home, as a family of three, to a house more clean than it has every looked, a fridge full of food, and feeling of such welcome from those around us. It was such a sweet to gift to be able to tell our daughter things such as, “This person helped pay for your plane ticket home,” or “This person prayed for you every day,”

Our family is grateful for the community we have at Redeemer. What we have learned from both individuals and the community as a whole will last with us always. We look forward to observing all the ways this continues to bless and affect our lives in years to come, as we raise our little girl.