Fast forward to 2015, we were scheduled to pick up G for custody on our
15th wedding anniversary. We traveled to Korea to meet with a judge and then flew home for two
weeks waiting for visas and approvals. On that first trip, some close family friends who regularly
did business in Seoul told us we *had* to have dinner with a family they attended church with.

Little did we know the weight—massive weight—Jesus had placed on this friendship that
formed instantly. We’ll call them the Kims. A family of five children with a huge heart for adoption.
They understood the intricate layers of Korean adoption, and we were thrilled to meet such kindred
spirits.

When we returned from our first trip, Bobby was reading a blog by Sung-Ho, a Korean adoptee
working with lawmakers and the heads of adoption agencies to bring change to troubling practices—
specifically the institutionalization of unadopted children. Bobby wondered if Sung-Ho had met our
friends, the Kims, and introduced them online. We had no idea that five years later, their partnership
would flip the world of institutionalized children in South Korea upside-down.

Part of the reason babies are raised in institutions in South Korea is the deep cultural
conflict surrounding how to categorize abandoned children. Lineage is everything—knowing how many
generations your name goes back determines respect and social standing. When a baby is abandoned,
their lineage is unknown, making them “unadoptable” by the government, and they’re institutionalized.

What happens when these babies grow up without a family name? At age 18, they’re released
to the streets—with no support, no education, no housing. It’s unfathomable. But don’t linger there,
because Jesus sees every single life and has come to set the captives free! Over the past five years,
Sung-Ho and Mr. Kim have kicked down enormous doors, bringing real change.

One day, I saw a photo in the news of Mr. Kim holding the very first baby who was *not*
sent to an institution. Mr. Kim and his family became the first foster parents allowed to care for
baby Young-Soo until adoption. Even now, there is no formal foster system for abandoned babies, but
the Kims are breaking barrier after barrier so that children can grow up in families instead of
institutions. Bobby and I FaceTimed them immediately—we laughed, cried, and praised Jesus for the
miracle He allowed.

Bobby and I are not special people—yet God allowed us a front-row seat to this miracle,
and now He has my full attention. I’m eagerly watching for the next two big waves of change.

There is a major effort underway to establish a foster care system for abandoned babies.
Even more incredible, a third hero—Kyong, a close friend of the Kims and Sung-Ho—is working to place
the 200,000 institutionalized children in South Korea into families. Imagine the impact when these
children someday sit with their own kids and share how their lives were rescued and restored. Imagine
the thousands of families like ours waiting for the child Jesus will bring home.

If prayer is your jam, please join us in asking the Lord to continue setting captives
free. Make this your battle cry! In one generation, the culture and value surrounding these babies’
lives can be radically transformed by the hand of God.