Nathan here. Just spent the last couple of days learning the ways of blog design. Hope it works for everyone. So here goes...
As I said in our "About Me" section, the purpose of our blog is to update friends and family about the adoption process we have just begun. It is a humbling goal, and one which we do not accept lightly. Because we have not had the opportunity to sit down with many of you personally, I would like to take this moment to share with you what led us to this decision to adopt.
If you know Kimberly or me at all, you know that we have been involved in missions for many years now. Each of us have served on several short-term mission trips over the past few years, and we, individually and together, have considered a longer commitment to serving the nations. (After all, it is Christ's Great Commission.) We started the paperwork with the International Mission Board a few years ago, only to feel that it was not time to sell it all and move overseas yet. So that brings us to the title of our blog: Bringing the Nations Home. I think that sometimes we as Americans feel that to "make disciples of all nations (ethne)...," we have to go to them. Sometimes, this is true, because not everyone will have the ability or opportunity (or even the desire) to get here. But isn't sharing your faith with the Haitian woman at the grocery store the same thing? It is still reaching the nations (ethnic groups). Furthermore, why can't we tackle this issue of unwanted orphans (domestic and international) head-on and pour out our God-given mercy and love on them, raising them up in the precepts of God? I'm not saying every American couple should apply for adoption tomorrow, but I am saying that even the poorest of us have more resources and capabilities than most of the world does.
So why Korea? You know... sometimes, God just puts something on your heart that you just can't shake. And when someone else has that same thing on their heart, it only reinforces what you think He's already showing you. Neither Kimberly nor I have ever felt drawn to serve specifically to Asian people before. I can pinpoint specific moments in my life when God opened my eyes and my heart to various geographical and ethnic groups--first Africa, then South America, then Europe, etc.--but I have never felt that same passion toward people of Eastern Asia. Not that their lostness doesn't bother me, but that I never really saw myself spending my life with them in their countries. So in some ways, it's curious that we both desire to adopt and disciple a Korean child over other countries we could have chosen, but I like to think that this is just one more sanctifying step in this process of our hearts breaking for the nations.
All that being said, I don't want you to think that this adoption is all about the hoped salvation of a young Korean boy, although that is part of it. Any of you reading this that have children of your own know the incomparable joy that a son or daughter brings to your life. This is a joy that we have come to know personally over the last 3 years, and it is something that we both want to experience in an even greater way by choosing to love a child that has no biological connection to us, a child that we shouldn't necessarily be expected to love, but that we do anyway, even now. And I think it will also enhance our understanding of what God did for us by delivering us from a world of being unwanted and shameful, and giving us a home overflowing with security and belonging.
We are so thankful for your support as our brothers and sisters, and we desire your prayers and encouragement throughout this entire ordeal. Please partner with us in bringing a child to this part of the world and discipling him (or her) in the ways of the one true God.
In Christ,
Nathan, Kimberly, and Caitlyn Neely
