Our names are Asa and Katherine Killen. We have been married for seven wonderful years and the Lord has blessed us with two precious little girls; Zoe who is five years old and Piper who is two.
My calling to adopt is rooted in my beginning. My parents had tried for years to conceive a child of their own to no avail. They were getting older and as time passed they started realize that their dream of parenthood may never come true. So, they went about life the best they could and focused most of their energy to ministering to unwed Mothers. It was not uncommon for my father to visit abortion clinics in Tennessee on the weekends; he would leave pamphlets of information and offer his council to any of the women who wanted it. But one Saturday in November he came across a young woman sitting in the corner of the waiting room nervously shaking her leg and fiddling with the clipboard of paperwork that she was suppose to be filling out. My father went and sat beside her and began to tell her about Jesus Christ and how he died for the remission of all our sins. They had been speaking for a while when the lady looked up from the clipboard and said, " I can't raise this baby. Do you know of anyone who would take it?". My father smiled and said, " Yes ma'am, you are looking at him." Needless to say, she did not abort her baby that day and five months later I was born. My birth Mother relinquished her rights at the time of my birth and I went home with my parents when I was three days old. Adoption, quite literally, SAVED my life.
I grew up proud. I knew that I was adopted and it was always celebrated and rejoiced. I realized at a very young age that Lord would someday call me to adopt as well.
About a year ago the Lord laid adoption on my heart in a way that we simply could not ignore. We had recently miscarried our third child and were still in the grieving process and yet the Lord was calling us to pursue an adoption. It was an overwhelming concept but we knew that the time had come. At the time we didn't know where we would adopt from, what kind of adoption, or even how we would even go about getting started. So, we prayed. We are young and definitely not wealthy. But the Lord said, " Do this and I WILL provide"…so we had faith.
A couple months later those prayers were answered. We were about to leave church one Sunday when we were told about a group of Ukrainian orphans who were in town with a group called Bridges of Faith. This organization brings about ten orphans to America and gives them a Christian camp experience while teaching them the word of God as well as offering some stability and love to each child. That afternoon, we decided to cancel our usual Sunday plans and go spend some time with the children. To make a long story short; they stole our hearts and we knew that the Lord had given us our answers. We were suppose to adopt from Ukraine.
That night I went home and instantly started searching the Ukrainian database for children. I prayed for each child as I clicked through the pages. At the time we truly had no intentions of getting started right away…but then I saw Aiden. I can't quite explain the feeling or what it was that made me notice him in the sea of faces; and yet I knew at that moment that he was meant to be our son. I showed my husband the picture and he wasn't really interested in the least. I felt anger rising. How could the Lord call me to this child and not my husband?! It wasn't fair. I went to bed early that night and prayed for the Lord to give my husband clarity and understanding. The next morning when I got up he had already left for work. I went about my day as usual but Aiden was constantly on my mind; and then around noon I got a text message from my husband that said, " Aiden has really been on my heart. How do we get him home?".
The next few months were a blur of home study preparations and paper chasing. In November I found Aidens picture on an adoption grant web site and was put in contact with some missionaries who actually knew him! We were thrilled to finally hear some details about our precious little boy! But as they started to tell us about Aiden we realized that he was not a typically developing child. My heart broke as they told me that our sweet boy was completely blind, non verbal, self injures, and is perpetually swimming in his own world. He is left strapped to a high chair for an upwards of eight hours a day or is confined in the group playpen. He is alone, scared, unwanted, and unloved in a country that fails to see his infinite value and worth. However, despite hearing all of these things about him our love for Aiden was left unwavering.
My human heart cannot fathom the abuse and neglect that our precious son has endured. But the Lord has ALWAYS had a bigger plan for him. We are expected to travel in a few months to see our precious boy. The road has been long but God has been holding our hands every step of the way. He has provided EVERY cent so far that we have needed to cover Aidens ransom. As of right now we are only $5,000 short of being fully funded for the second child!!! We are not sure where the money is going to come from but we do know that the Lord will provide. We are also planning to bring home another child with Aiden. A little boy who is at the same orphanage who has CP (cerebral palsy) stage 3. The little boy is 10 years old.
Thank you so much for reading our story; please keep Aiden in your prayers. Pray that he stays healthy and safe until we can get to him. We feel so very blessed to be entrusted with carrying out our Fathers will.
With Love,
Katherine and Asa Killen
My calling to adopt is rooted in my beginning. My parents had tried for years to conceive a child of their own to no avail. They were getting older and as time passed they started realize that their dream of parenthood may never come true. So, they went about life the best they could and focused most of their energy to ministering to unwed Mothers. It was not uncommon for my father to visit abortion clinics in Tennessee on the weekends; he would leave pamphlets of information and offer his council to any of the women who wanted it. But one Saturday in November he came across a young woman sitting in the corner of the waiting room nervously shaking her leg and fiddling with the clipboard of paperwork that she was suppose to be filling out. My father went and sat beside her and began to tell her about Jesus Christ and how he died for the remission of all our sins. They had been speaking for a while when the lady looked up from the clipboard and said, " I can't raise this baby. Do you know of anyone who would take it?". My father smiled and said, " Yes ma'am, you are looking at him." Needless to say, she did not abort her baby that day and five months later I was born. My birth Mother relinquished her rights at the time of my birth and I went home with my parents when I was three days old. Adoption, quite literally, SAVED my life.
I grew up proud. I knew that I was adopted and it was always celebrated and rejoiced. I realized at a very young age that Lord would someday call me to adopt as well.
About a year ago the Lord laid adoption on my heart in a way that we simply could not ignore. We had recently miscarried our third child and were still in the grieving process and yet the Lord was calling us to pursue an adoption. It was an overwhelming concept but we knew that the time had come. At the time we didn't know where we would adopt from, what kind of adoption, or even how we would even go about getting started. So, we prayed. We are young and definitely not wealthy. But the Lord said, " Do this and I WILL provide"…so we had faith.
A couple months later those prayers were answered. We were about to leave church one Sunday when we were told about a group of Ukrainian orphans who were in town with a group called Bridges of Faith. This organization brings about ten orphans to America and gives them a Christian camp experience while teaching them the word of God as well as offering some stability and love to each child. That afternoon, we decided to cancel our usual Sunday plans and go spend some time with the children. To make a long story short; they stole our hearts and we knew that the Lord had given us our answers. We were suppose to adopt from Ukraine.
That night I went home and instantly started searching the Ukrainian database for children. I prayed for each child as I clicked through the pages. At the time we truly had no intentions of getting started right away…but then I saw Aiden. I can't quite explain the feeling or what it was that made me notice him in the sea of faces; and yet I knew at that moment that he was meant to be our son. I showed my husband the picture and he wasn't really interested in the least. I felt anger rising. How could the Lord call me to this child and not my husband?! It wasn't fair. I went to bed early that night and prayed for the Lord to give my husband clarity and understanding. The next morning when I got up he had already left for work. I went about my day as usual but Aiden was constantly on my mind; and then around noon I got a text message from my husband that said, " Aiden has really been on my heart. How do we get him home?".
The next few months were a blur of home study preparations and paper chasing. In November I found Aidens picture on an adoption grant web site and was put in contact with some missionaries who actually knew him! We were thrilled to finally hear some details about our precious little boy! But as they started to tell us about Aiden we realized that he was not a typically developing child. My heart broke as they told me that our sweet boy was completely blind, non verbal, self injures, and is perpetually swimming in his own world. He is left strapped to a high chair for an upwards of eight hours a day or is confined in the group playpen. He is alone, scared, unwanted, and unloved in a country that fails to see his infinite value and worth. However, despite hearing all of these things about him our love for Aiden was left unwavering.
My human heart cannot fathom the abuse and neglect that our precious son has endured. But the Lord has ALWAYS had a bigger plan for him. We are expected to travel in a few months to see our precious boy. The road has been long but God has been holding our hands every step of the way. He has provided EVERY cent so far that we have needed to cover Aidens ransom. As of right now we are only $5,000 short of being fully funded for the second child!!! We are not sure where the money is going to come from but we do know that the Lord will provide. We are also planning to bring home another child with Aiden. A little boy who is at the same orphanage who has CP (cerebral palsy) stage 3. The little boy is 10 years old.
Thank you so much for reading our story; please keep Aiden in your prayers. Pray that he stays healthy and safe until we can get to him. We feel so very blessed to be entrusted with carrying out our Fathers will.
With Love,
Katherine and Asa Killen
Look at Aiden's life now....
Aiden as a baby, just brought to the orphanage.....so sad
His family is waiting!
If you'd like to give to rescue these children, please send a check to
GRACE CHURCH
7060 Berry Road
Zephyrhills Fl 33540
attn: ORPHAN MINISTRY
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What a beautiful, touching story! Such a lovely testimony of God's work in their lives! Is there a blog or site we can follow their journey on?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fourfamilyhisway.blogspot.com%2F&h=HAQGWqDPJ And I'll go and post this thanks for asking
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