Tim and Jayme Osborn
Children: Quentin (29, married); Baylea (26); Talia (23, married); Demetrius (17); Malik (12)
(Abraham) Kai (8); Vision (5 )
Church: Forerunner Christian Fellowship, Grandview, MO
Our adoption journey began years ago when God planted a little seed in Jayme’s heart to adopt a child with straight black hair and darker skin. In all honesty this has been a very long journey. There were many times that Jayme had to lay down this dream and let the Lord carry it. She just felt like giving up and it often felt like part of her heart was dying. There were months at a time when the ache was overwhelming, but He who began this good work kept making a way in the secret places of the heart; hers and her husbands. Over the years the Lord has watered and pruned that little adoption plant and suddenly the fruit is beginning!
When our 7th biological child was born with Down Syndrome, we became aware of a world we never knew existed before. The world of the abandoned special needs child. Our hearts began to plead with God; now we have seen, what do You want us to do? We began to help others adopt children with special needs. We prayed for justice to be done on their behalf. Then one day God said it was time to pursue our own adoption. Hallelujah!
We began to watch for the breakthrough in our financial situation, but it didn’t come. We spent a year struggling, praying, seeking, and asking God to show us how to begin. We didn’t have enough income to adopt internationally, we had no money saved, we live in a small house, and yet God just kept saying to us, “RESCUE! ADOPT! RESTORE!”
We started at the only place we knew to start; we plunked down $100 and began our home study. We started to wade through the 3 inches of paperwork involved and eventually knew God was pointing us towards China. So, with God leading the way, we started pushing on doors. Would the Chinese government allow us to adopt even though our annual income was lower than they require? That was the first open door. Then came the agency fees, and God sent the money through a scholarship given by someone we didn’t know. By September God had multiplied $1300 into $10,000!
If you find yourself thinking adoption is impossible for you, we want to encourage you to believe Jesus when He said, “With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”
More than anything else we might have learned on this journey, we have learned that God IS faithful beyond all that we could ever think, ask, or imagine!
