A Bond of Two Hearts Becomes Four

The meaningful connection that inspired one family to sponsor a child through Holt. 

Jeff and Lindsay Babcock arrived home from Korea with their son, Ari, in April 2014, joining sister, Zion, and brother, Judah.

Our sponsorship story began while waiting for the right time to move forward with adopting a child. Although our family was not yet ready to adopt, my daughter and I began praying for children on Holt’s waiting child photolisting. We called ourselves their “praying family.”

There were two children in particular who we could not stop thinking about. They were both at Holt’s Ilsan Center in South Korea, which provides ongoing care for residents with special needs. As the months progressed, God did an absolutely amazing thing and one of those two children we were praying for found his forever family!

While in care at the Ilsan Center in Korea, Ari grew close to Ji Yun — the little girl the Babcock family now supports through sponsorship.

To my greatest joy, he found his forever family in our family and he became our son.

When God gives you the opportunity to answer your own prayer, words cannot express how awe-inspiring it is. Yet throughout the entire process of bringing our son home, I felt a hint of guilt for little Ji Yun, the other child who we had prayed for and longed to see with a family. Because of her circumstances, beautiful Ji Yun is not eligible to join a family through international adoption. Unlike our son, no mom or dad came for her.

When we finally traveled to Ilsan to meet our son, we were overcome with emotion when he took our hand to show us his sweet friends. We instantly recognized the little one laying in our son’s crib napping. It was sweet Ji Yun. This little angel we had felt so connected to was right there, sleeping peacefully in the same place our son had slept every night. We realized that the connection we felt towards her was because God was bonding our hearts to someone our son’s heart was bonded to!

We watched as our son did little errands to take care of her. He wiped her face and got blankets for her and helped her caretaker wrap her up on her back. It was so moving to watch his love and commitment to her.

Ari embraces his siblings, Zion and Judah.

As a family, we all felt a strong desire to stay connected with Ji Yun. I mentioned to Holt’s sponsorship team that we were interested in sponsoring a certain child at Ilsan and asked if they could find her. Within no time, I received a picture of sweet Ji Yun. Our hearts jumped when we saw her! We decided that for Christmas, sponsoring Ji Yun would be one of our gifts to our son.

The day we got our sponsorship information, we explained to him what sponsorship meant. The look on his face was priceless! Our sponsorship of Ji Yun opened up a part of our son’s heart that was conflicted, and it gives him the freedom to love the important people in his life before us, and to know that we truly love them too!

Lindsay Babcock | Omaha, Nebraska