The driving force behind Project HOPEFUL has been a series of miracles and a decision to follow His heart for the most vulnerable children in the world.
If we have learned anything from this journey, it’s that we serve a God with a plan! My husband Kiel and I realize now that the response to adopt our first 3 children, Rachel, Samuel, and Seth, was only the beginning. (July 2007) Saying “YES” to their adoption led to working to change the immigration process for the rest of the children that would follow.
During our first adoption there was a whole array of miracles woven throughout our journey. While we were in Ethiopia picking up our first three adopted children, I met Selah. She “just so happened” to be brought into the orphanage for little children because the one she should have gone to was full. I witnessed young Selah experience more than any child should have to bear. As I sat there watching, and then interacting with this beautiful heartbroken girl little did I know a year later she would become our daughter.
In July, 2008, I returned to Ethiopia to find a very sick Selah literally clinging to life. At 10-11 years old she weighed a mere 32lbs. In Ethiopia her days were numbered. One thing led to another, Selah desperately needed a blood transfusion. Because of the circumstances in ET and the lack of healthy blood, I was required to give my own and pray that it would be a match. She would not be allowed to fly due to her blood counts. We were assured she could not have survived the long flight. The Dr. was informing me of the hopelessness in her situation but he didn’t know what I knew. Sure enough, my blood was a match! Selah received the blood transfusion. Little did I know the changes in immigration God directed Project HOPEFUL to work toward more than a year prior would literally save our Selah’s life. The reform and my own blood were the tools God used. Without either of these things Selah could not have survived. HE IS IN EVERY DETAIL.
Our first adoption brought focus to the reality of the number of siblings that are often separated because one of them has HIV. Our second adoption of Selah drove that point home when we realized that her teenaged brother and sister were living on their own in Addis Ababa, ET. We recognized the tragedy and degree of loss that our daughter and her siblings had already suffered as a result of HIV/AIDS. At that point we committed to finding a way to make them part of our family as well. The process to adopt this time took two years. One week before our son Andarge would have turned 18 and been unable to immigrate into the US we finally crossed the finish line! May of 2010, all our children were reunited at O’hare Airport. There was a degree of joy that was unexplainable, the last time Andarge and Sarah saw their sister Selah she was days from death. The looks on their faces when they saw her healthy and whole was priceless.
In April 2011 God tapped our family on the shoulder once again inviting us into yet another adventure. This time Kiel and I were being asked to make room in our hearts for a precious newborn girl blessed with an extra chromosome. After educating ourselves about Down Syndrome Kiel and I jumped head first in love with sweet baby Sofia. Sofia has stolen the hearts of her brothers and sisters, regularly enjoying th
e lime light in our home.
Through this process we have witnessed God build our fmaily through the most extraordinary means. Our home is blessed with unspeakable joy. Adoption brings with it eye opening experiences impossible to turn from. We are forever wrecked for the children that wait, all over the world.
Through Project HOPEFUL we will never stop working toward change, nor will we stop educating people about the needs of orphans with HIV/AIDS and other special needs. We believe in giving our ALL, even if it’s for just ONE. Because each and every child matters!
ALL for ONE,
Kiel and Carolyn Twietmeyer,
Cofounder and Founder/Executive Director
