Dillon International
The Bacak (Botch-awk) family grew when Ella came home. Not just the mathematical kind of growth that comes from adding a new family member, but the God-kind of growth that enlarges territories and blesses lives.
The soil
Adoption was already a common thread woven throughout the fabric of Jennifer Bacak?s family. Her mother worked for a Houston-area adoption ministry and numerous family members have adopted.
?Adoption was an integral part of my life. It was something Rusty and I talked about since the beginning of our marriage,? she said.
And so, when their birth children Emma, now 12, and Jaxson, 10, were preschoolers, Rusty and Jennifer added to their family through domestic adoption. Two little boys joined their family as infants: Justus in 2004 and Treston in 2006.
Those experiences taught the Bacaks a truth that has carried them through many challenges: ?Adoption can be hard and messy, but we?re convinced it is God?s plan for our lives,? Jennifer said.
Still feeling their family was not quite complete, the couple?s adoption plans took on a global view.
The seeds
Adopting from Africa seemed a logical choice: Two of their sons were African American and Jennifer had a niece and nephew who were adopted through the Buckner Ethiopia program.
The Bacaks started the paperwork to adopt from Ethiopia, but felt as though they were muddling through. They didn?t understand why at the time but realized after it was God?s timing.
Feeling weary on their present course, the couple began to look at other adoption choices and decided to investigate the Ghana program offered by Dillon International, a ministry of Buckner International.
?When we talked to the Ghana program director, one of the first questions we asked her was, ?What are some of the common special needs of children in Ghana?? She said ?deafness.? We knew we were in the right place,? Jennifer said.
Because of Jennifer?s background as a deaf education teacher and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, the couple had long-considered the possibility of adopting a deaf child.
?We never focused on the specifics of how that might happen, though,? Jennifer said. ?We just decided if God wants us to adopt a deaf child, He?s going to give us a deaf child. ?
The struggle
Certain they had found the path God planned for them, the Bacaks became Dillon?s pioneer family to enter the newly-established Ghana adoption program.
?I don?t think we really quite grasped that we were the first family in the program,? Jennifer said with a laugh. ?That was an adventure to walk the roads no one had walked yet.?
She said a Scripture made the bumpy roads easier to navigate: ?Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world? (James 1:27).
?We focused on it every step of the way,? Jennifer said. ?It reminded us that God?s heart is for the orphan. It is His work; we?re just invited to join in it.?
Time both crept and flew, as it has a way of doing during the adoption process, and about a year after filing their formal application to adopt, the couple traveled to Ghana in September 2011 to bring home Ella, who was 7 years old and deaf.
Many more changes were in store as Ella?a bubbly, animated girl her mother describes as both entertaining and exhausting?arrived home and completely transformed the culture of the hearing, American family.
In a typical family formed by intercountry adoption, the adoptee is challenged with learning a new language. But in the Bacak household, ?I had to teach everyone ASL and teach them to use it all the time,? Jennifer explained.
Language was only one piece of the puzzle, however. ?The first year has been really hard,? Jennifer said. ?Ella really lost everything she ever knew and we were challenged to help her recover from the hardships she endured.?
Ella?s arrival meant big adjustments for the Bacak?s other children, too, as her age placed her right in the middle of the birth order. ?Everyone has made a lot of progress and I feel very encouraged,? Jennifer said. ?But I wouldn?t say we?re done.?
The fruit
Families who are considering adopting an older child or a child with special needs should keep a realistic perspective. ?I want people to realize that adoption is a beautiful thing. But I also don?t want them to take it lightly. It is the most difficult thing you will ever do,? Jennifer advised.
It is also the most rewarding. ?I am amazed at Ella?s progress. It is so wonderful to see her ?survival instincts? soften, to see her relax and start bonding and forming friendships with her siblings and to see her learn to express her grief rather than freaking out,? Jennifer added.
Yes, it?s been a ?growing? year for the Bacak family. ?We?ve all had to learn to love sacrificially. It has been a time of stretching,? Jennifer reflected. ?It is my hope that we are a little more like Christ this year.?
To learn more about the international adoption programs offered by Dillon International and Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services, please visit dillonadopt.com or beafamily.org.
Source: http://stories.beafamily.org/index.php/2013/01/the-growing-year/
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