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Founder/President, Proverbs 31 Ministry, a non-profit organization that brings God’s peace, perspective and purpose to today’s busy woman Wife to husband, Art; Mother of 5: Hope, 9; Ashley, 8; Brook, 4; Jackson, 18; and Mark, 17 |
Four years ago, Lysa and her family heard the Liberian Boys Choir sing in their church. The choir was touring in America to raise money for their orphanage. While they were here, their orphanage was attacked by rebels and burned down. Now the boys were not only orphans, but they were homeless. Lysa felt the Lord tell her that two of the boys were hers. With three biological girls of their own, Lysa and Art had never considered adoption.
Lysa recalls the feelings of abandonment because her biological father was not active in her life. “I watched other little girls with their daddies and wondered what was so wrong with me that my daddy didn’t adore me the way theirs did,” says Lysa. She struggled with a sense of self-worth and defined herself as unwanted and a throwaway. When Lysa’s mom remarried, the man who was her stepfather adopted her as his own. Lysa says often a girl’s self-image is based on her father’s love. And her opinion of God is often based on her opinion of her earthly father. “Both of those were skewed for me,” says Lysa.
FINDING LOVE AND ACCEPTANCEMany years later, Lysa says she came to see a different picture of God. “He wooed me to a place where I finally surrendered my heart to Him. Then a miracle happened, He redefined my identity,” say Lysa. No longer feeling like a throwaway, Lysa felt the love and acceptance she had been looking for. As a result of feeling that sense of abandonment, Lysa always felt a tender spot in her heart towards orphans.
When Lysa told her husband about adopting the boys from the choir, he thought she had lost her mind. Even her four friends were shocked, but Lysa simply invited them to hear the boys sing. Then they all had a change of heart. Lysa’s friends fell in love with the boys and adopted them and others from the orphanage. A total of 31 kids were adopted by 14 families in their town.
The adjustment to new additions to the family was not without challenges. Lysa said there was a little culture shock for the boys to adjust to an American lifestyle. Once Lysa bought groceries and came home to put them away. Their son, Mark, put a frozen pizza and pork tenderloin under his bed!
“This is not just a story about adoption,” says Lysa. She says not everyone is called to adopt a child from a different culture. Lysa says she mentions that when she shares their story around the country. “It goes beyond that,” she says. Their story, she believes, is about faith. “It’s one thing to say you walk in faith. It’s another thing to have your children watch you walk it out,” she says. Lysa says they have not lived without their share of challenges. “God has stretched us emotionally, physically, mentally and financially,” she says. The fundamental lesson is total dependence on God. How can we call ourselves people of faith, if we don’t allow a situation in our lives that calls us to live by faith?”
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