Joyce Daugherty, a member of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, traveled to an orphanage in Donetsk, Ukraine, and it was there that she saw 2-year-old Kristen. Her beautiful blue eyes framed the edges of a facial tumor, a hemangioma, but even that could not hide the baby's impish grin.
"Kristen's eyes were so alert that I just kept watching her," said Daugherty. "There was something special that tumor could not hide. I could have taken any of the children I saw home with me. At the same time, I knew if I adopted Kristen, she'd have more than a new start—she'd have a new life."
"These children are throw-aways in Ukraine," says Nancy Stanbery who has helped facilitate more than 130 adoptions in Ukraine. "Most Ukrainian families are afraid of a child with any kind of disability. Mothers take them to an orphanage or abandon them in a public place, walk away and never look back."
Daugherty chose Kristen. In November 2004, a Louisville surgeon removed the hemangioma. Thin scars are healing and everything about Kristen has changed dramatically. She chatters constantly—saying, "I love you" over and over again to her momma.
In a similar way, while we were still unlovely, our heavenly Father chose us, adopted us, and gave us new life in his Son. And we love him—because he first loved us.
