“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” - Proverbs 3:5-6
“Adoption has always been something Cameron and I wanted to do. We had it all figured out. We would have two biological children and then adopt a third child to complete our family of five. Little did we know, God had other plans. It all began on a Saturday night with a movie called Lion. For those of you who are not familiar with the film, it is about a little boy adopted from India and his journey to finding himself and where he came from. As we watched, the number of orphans in India (and all over the world) in need of love became a reality that we couldn’t ignore. Needless to say, it sparked a fire in our hearts to do something about it. Cameron looked at me as the credits rolled and said, Well, are you ready to adopt? and I said yes. From there God took over. He transformed our hearts in a way that I can’t easily put into words.”- Brooke Amigo
The Amigos moved forward with adoption, but like most families, they quickly got discouraged when they found out how expensive adoption can be. (An average adoption from India is around $15,000-$20,000+.) Cameron said, “When we were deciding to adopt we were very excited; however, as soon as we realized the costs our dream kinda died. My wife said to me, "Cameron, what little faith we have if that is the reason we give up so soon?" The Amigos decided to trust God for the funds, and they continued to move forward in the process.
In 2018, on Good Friday, the Amigos received a file that would change their life forever. It was of a beautiful 2 ½ year old boy named Samuel, who has a severe heart defect. Cameron said, “We had a plan to take this (adoption) slow, knowing that the longer we wait the more financially better off we'll be. What we didn't plan on was falling in love with a child with a heart condition that gets worse as time goes on.”
Needing funding quickly, the Amigos applied for Connected Hearts’ Family Sponsorship program. Connected Hearts immediately began working with the Amigos to raise the remaining funds needed to bring Samuel home. Thanks to the love and support of generous donors like you, Connected Hearts was able to help the Amigos raise the remaining funds needed to complete their adoption. Cameron said, “Connected Hearts was instrumental in our adoption process. Their platform for financial support is terrific - beside the donations it also opened the door for conversations with family and friends about adoption. The exposure it provided through social media created an incredible response of support…”
Samuel arrived home early this year, and has transitioned seamlessly into the Amigo family. Despite having a complex medical condition, Samuel is just like most toddlers. He is a fun-loving little boy who loves playing hide and go seek, and being part of the Amigo family. Thank you to everyone who prayed for and supported the Amigos. We are thrilled that Samuel is now home with his family, and receiving the lifesaving medical treatment he needs.
If you want to help more children like Samuel come home to loving families, we encourage you to download our free Bible study and share it with others. The study will provide you with discussion questions, scriptures and statistics that pertain to orphan care, and a way that your group can take action to care for vulnerable children around the world.
