When he was brought to Dad at the hotel, David was wheezing and having trouble breathing. On top of that he was very scared. Everything was new to him, and my dad was a complete stranger. When he slept, he slept with his eyes half opened and if Dad moved, David was immediately wide awake and screaming. With the help of his facilitator, my dad found a doctor at a nearby medical station there in Hanoi, Vietnam, who gave David some medicine to help him with his lung infection. They thought he probably just had a bad cold. Now all we needed was to get Dad and David home. But it wasn’t that simple. David needed a visa to leave the country, and we needed adoption approval from the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) in America. My dad had taken a step of faith and left for Vietnam before we had complete approval for adoption.

I wrote in my journal one day,

Wednesday, November 20, 2002
…Dad is right now in Vietnam and he might be able to bring David home this trip. Everything has gone so fast so far. We have been rushing everything because he [David] has a hole in his heart and might need surgery. We have only one picture of our David and his hair is shadowed, so it is very hard to tell how much hair he has. I say “Our David,” but although he is ours in our hearts already, we have still not been approved for adoption by the INS, and we are praying very hard that they will approve us—today. Because even though it is only Wednesday over here (USA), it is Thursday over in Vietnam, and if we don’t get approved tomorrow morning—at the very latest—then Dad will have to come home on Friday (in Vietnam)—which would be tomorrow evening—without our baby. But if we do get approved then Dad will probably stay for 2 more weeks so he can bring David home to us. God will do His will. James 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

...I remember very clearly the day I wrote that. Mama had been talking on the phone to lots of different people involved with this adoption. The only thing we could do was wait and pray. I remember seeing Mama cry that day. An older sister in the Lord was comforting her and giving her encouragement while I wrote the entry in my journal. I wanted to cry, too. I knew the Lord had a plan and that He was going to cause it all to work together for good, but things were starting to look hopeless. My dad had been across the world for a week and a half already. David was sick and Mama wasn’t doing very well either, especially with morning sickness. We had heard that Mrs. W.—the lady at INS who was supposed to give us our approval—was not very kind. She had already given us some trouble, and we didn’t want to do anything wrong, for fear that she might make something go wrong for our adoption of David. Mama told all of us to not only pray for the approval, but to also pray for Mrs. W..

She took a big risk and did something most people would not do—which was to call Mrs. W. personally and beg her to approve us. She explained David’s medical condition and his need to come home as soon as possible. She also had to tell her that my dad was already in Vietnam (without INS approval). God amazed us all by changing Mrs. W.’s cold heart. First she asked Mama, “Are you ASKING me to give you approval over the phone?”

Mama very sweetly, but boldly said, “Yes, Ma’am, I am… I am begging you.”

Mrs. W. paused and said, “When do you need it by?”

Mama smiled and replied, “Today.”

Mrs. W. said “This isn’t something I would normally do, and you are asking a lot of me. But I will do what I can to have it done by 5:00 pm.”

We needed to fax her three papers, then she would approve us and fax the paperwork to Vietnam within a couple of hours! That was the exact day that we needed approval!

That day I wrote this scripture in my journal: “Psalm 77:14- You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples.”

It was amazing how Mrs. W. was very pleasant to Mama. We had prayed that God would change her heart, because this woman had it in her power to tell us we were not capable of adopting David, especially a “special needs child” going to a large family. But God had a plan, and He worked it out.

Many other problems arose after that for Dad in Vietnam. It seems that Satan really does not want these children out of their miserable lives. One of the most significant things that happened was that Dad’s facilitator in Ho Chi Minh City, the last stop before leaving for home, told him that his paper work was inconsistent and that he would not be approved by the US Consulate to take David home with him because he had not visited the health station (hospital) where David was born. When told he would have to lie about this situation when interviewed by the US Consulate, Dad told the facilitator that he would not lie and that they should begin working on another plan for getting David’s adoption approved. The facilitator decided that the only option left was for Dad and David to fly from Ho Chi Minh City (in the South) back to Hanoi (in the North) and then to travel six hours by car to David’s province so that Dad could see the health station for himself. However, even doing this was no guarantee that David would be approved, since this was supposed to have taken place prior to Dad receiving David. The US Consulate, who gave the final approval before leaving the country, was extremely strict on every detail with every adoption.

So arrangements were made for Dad and David to fly back to Hanoi and travel to the health station where David was born. This whole process took an extra three days; however, the Lord showed Himself faithful to encourage Dad even in this turn of events. It turns out that a missionary family from the Philippines and their children from the states were on the same flight out of Ho Chi Minh City, and Dad got to know them on the flight. The next day, Sunday, my dad found out that the father of this same family was preaching at the church Dad was attending in Hanoi. This meeting has turned into a new friendship for my family, but… that is another story.

Upon completing their trip to David’s province, Dad and David returned to Ho Chi Minh City. At this point Dad was completely exhausted and was just ready to get home. However, Satan was not ready to give up so easily. Vietnam was closing its doors to American adoptions and the wait for getting a visa had gone from the normal three days to an estimated six weeks or more! Dad found this out from the lady who rode next to him on the bus to the American Consulate to apply for David’s visa. Dad said that as this lady spoke constantly about how long the delay was going to be, he kept thinking in his mind, “Get behind me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan!” Dad simply prayed for a miracle. He had a plan, but only God could pull it off.

There were twenty to thirty other families at the consulate when Dad arrived. So he took a number and waited. When his name was called, he approached the man, whom he had been told was very mean and never liked to be put on the spot. Again, Dad prayed for a miracle. As the man thumbed through David’s paperwork he stopped and read a letter that had been included from the cardiologist in Dallas, Texas. Peering over his glasses he asked, “What is this?” Dad explained that David had a hole in his heart and that he needed immediate medical attention. He told the man that David had an appointment with the cardiologist the following Monday morning that he really should not miss. Dad went on to explain that he and David had a scheduled flight out that night at 11:55 PM and that there were no other flights out for the rest of the week. “So,” Dad explained, “this is going to sound crazy, but I’d like to request that you please expedite our visa request and have it ready by today at 5:00 PM.”

The man lowered his glasses. “You can’t be serious,” he said. Dad explained that he was serious and that he had been told by a consulate representative earlier that day that this decision rested entirely in this man’s hands. The man blushed a little and explained that the decision was not entirely his, but that Dad should please be seated and he’d get back with him after speaking to the remaining families. Dad sat down with David to wait and pray. Quite a while later, the man called Dad back up and told him that he would do the best he could to meet Dad’s request, but that the chances were very slim that he could actually get it done since there were many other people he would have to coordinate with, and he wasn’t even sure if they were in that day. He asked Dad to return to his hotel room and wait for a phone call. He never even asked about the details regarding where David was born and the timing of Dad’s visit there. It simply never came up—yet another miracle.

So Dad returned to the hotel room, gave David a bottle, and put him down for a nap. Next, he contacted us on the Instant Messenger to let us know what was going on. He said he couldn’t stay online long because he was waiting for a call, but that we should pray hard that everything would work out. Then he was gone, promising to let us know when he knew more.

Dad said that, although he was hungry, he was determined to fast and pray until David’s visa process was approved. So he knelt by the bed to pray, but within just a minute or two he couldn’t pray any longer. He felt the Lord say, “It is finished.” Dad says he told the Lord, “No Lord, I’m not that weak. I’m going to continue to pray.” So he continued, but again the Lord was impressing on him, “It is finished.” Again Dad protested and continued praying. Yet a third time, all within minutes of starting to pray, the Lord impressed Dad that his prayers were in vain because the work had already been completed. So being fully convinced that it was indeed the Lord and not his stomach, Dad rose up to get a bite to eat and wait. He reached for a soda and just as he popped the lid the phone rang. It was the consulate. They were calling to let him know that David’s visa had been approved and that Dad could pick it up at 5:00 PM that evening! What a miracle!

At the same time, only in the middle of the night here, we (Mama, my brother, sister, grandmother, and I) were all praying near the computer, when we heard the familiar chime of an Instant Message from Dad. The message said,

“PRAISE GOD! It is finished! …We are approved!!!!!

And coming home in a few hours.”

We all yelled and laughed and cried. Once we finished our conversation with Dad, we went back to our praying and thanked the Lord for this huge miracle. One thing we were sure of—God had created David to be a part of our family, and whatever happened it was part of His plan for David’s life story.

Finally, two days later, we went to meet Dad and David at the airport. None of us could control our excitement and we couldn’t stop talking about it. We got there early with our balloons and “welcome home” banner and waited with our grandparents, aunt, cousins, and some friends, for the plane to come in. The excitement built as we heard that the plane had landed and we watched the gate for Dad to come out. “There he is!” someone cried. He came through the gate with David in a front pack and a bag in his hand. We let Mama greet him first, and she ran to him and cried. David was a little overwhelmed at the sight of so many people, and he began to cry, too. After everyone got a chance to greet Dad and meet David, and after finding out that Dad’s luggage had all been lost somewhere in Los Angeles, we decided it was finally time to load the van and drive two hours home. (The luggage was later returned to us. :-)

The day after David came home, we took him to the emergency room at a local hospital because his wheezing was a lot worse, and he could hardly breathe. He was released from the hospital a few days later, just in time to get to his cardiologist appointment.The doctor examined him and then told my parents that the smaller hole in David’s heart had already closed up on its own and the larger whole was healing up as well. “We have nothing to worry about with this little boy’s heart. I’ll see you in one year from now,” she told them with a smile.

So the heart problem was no longer an issue, but David was in and out of a hospital in Dallas all of 2003 and had some stays in 2004 with more breathing problems. Praise the Lord, though, he has not been to the hospital at all in 2005 and has really done a lot better. We are praying that He will continue to improve this year. The doctors all seem to agree that he has asthma, and he had a couple other problems with swallowing that he has now grown out of. Because of his many medical problems and lack of medical help he would have received, we do not believe David would not have lived much longer in Vietnam. But the Lord kept him alive until we were able to give him the medical attention he needs, and the Lord continues to keep him alive.

The Lord showed Himself faithful in many other ways, as well. Although Dad lost his job two days before he went to pick up David, the Lord provided all the finances for the adoption, first class airfare for Dad and David’s travel, and over $47,000 to cover David’s medical bills. WOW!!! Never doubt that the Lord will provide you with all you need when you take Him up on His command to take care of the widows and the orphans.

David is now three years old and still does not talk. Mama has been trained to do daily therapy with him, and we are already seeing improvements! He is very smart and communicates very well with some words he has learned, sign language we’ve taught him, and a few hand motions he made up himself! He is such a blessing to our family and to everyone who knows him. The Lord has used David’s life and testimony to work in all of our lives and draw us closer to Him. Isaiah David’s life has been full of miracles, and the love of God has been seen by everyone who knows his story. We can hardly wait to see what the Lord has planned for his life. Isaiah 58:3-12 was very instrumental in our lives when we were going through this adoption. It is also one reason my parents named him Isaiah.

In the Bible it says David was a man after God’s own heart. Our David had a weak physical heart and the verse that we call his is Psalm 30:2-3: “O Lord my God I cried out to You and You healed me. O Lord You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive."