1. The 1%

2. The 1%
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3. The 1%
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 Our adoption story started back in 2007 when we gathered all of our
paperwork together and then got it submitted to GLA by around
December 2007. In October of 2008 we received our referral of our boy
Steevenson. While waiting for our adoption to be complete we were
happy every month that GLA gave us monthly updates of how Steevenson
was doing. It always helped us get to the next month; knowing that we
would have another update very soon so we could see how he had grown
in the month.
 Even though it seemed like it could and should move much faster we
figured that God had a plan and the adoption would be complete when he
wanted it to be. In August of 2009 while waiting any day for our
paperwork to move to the next stage we received a call from our social
worker that Steevenson’s sister Roselaure was brought to the orphanage
and we were asked if were interested in adopting her. Of course we were
interested, we stopped our paperwork in were in the process of getting her
added to our adoption when January 12, 2010 came.

4. The 1%

 Ambur and I had just eaten dinner and then turned on the nightly news when we
saw that there was an major earthquake in Haiti. Right away we were thinking the
worst, so I went to the GLA website as quick as I could to see if there was any news;
and that is where we read that all the kids at the orphanage were safe. That was the
best news that we had that day and then our thoughts turned to the fact that our
adoption probably was going to be delayed by a good year or more.
 The next day started 8 days of extreme stress, we were doing everything that we
could do hoping that our kids could come home on humanitarian parole. I was
working during this time and also trying to consume as much information as
possible. I was trying to do as much as I could so Ambur wouldn’t have to worry
about it too much. On Wednesday January 20, 2010 I woke up like a normal day to
do what I had been doing for the past 7 days and ate my breakfast and just got sick in
my stomach, so I stayed home. Ambur got home early that day and I had known
that Dixie got the visas for the children, so I told Ambur that we should be safe and
go and buy some supplies as a just in case. That night we received a call about 8 pm
that we needed to be in Miami by the next night. We were running around booking
flights and a hotel excited as can be.

5. The 1%
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 Thursday January 21st while we were waiting in the South Bend airport for our first
flight to Atlanta we received a phone call from our adoption agency that Roselaure
was critically ill. Our mood went from excited to oh no. When we got from Atlanta
we found out she was still ill, but we didn’t know how bad. It was a long night and
we had honestly not heard any news since the second phone call so we though she
had gotten better.
 At around 7 or 8 AM the Bethany workers came rushing down to the terminal and
told us that we both needed to get to the hospital for Roselaure, the problem is one of
us had to be there to get Steevenson and we had already decided that I would be able
to find the hospital if needed and drive there with Steevenson. Ambur rushed to the
hospital with Johnny Carr and I waited for Steevenson, at one time I heard from
Ambur that Roselaure would be fine and then after my phone was almost dead I was
told I needed to call Ambur as soon as possible. I was told that she had bacterial
meningitis and it didn’t look good. I went from overjoyed to having Steevenson in
my arms and healthy to thoughts of what is going to happen to Roselaure. It
honestly was hard to see everyone so happy and my thoughts we everywhere at
those moments.

6. The 1%
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7. The 1%


When I got to the hospital and saw Roselaure my heart just dropped because as beautiful as she
was I honestly thought at that point that she was not going to make it. I had to go back to our
hotel with Steevenson and try and get him some sleep only to find out that the Mariott by the
airport didn’t have a crib. So then on the phone to my mom to call the travel agent they know out
of the Miami area. We were able to get a hotel right next to the hospital with a crib for Steevenson
to sleep. That night I was on the phone and internet until late at night talking to family and
letting them know what was going on.
 Since we had enough clothes for 2 days and we were thinking we were going to be in Miami for
the whole month she was in the hospital our moms came down with some supplies and to help us
out for a while. The day they came into town Monday the 25th Ambur was at the hospital in the
morning and we were told that Roselaure was basically going to be a vegetable for the rest of her
life and that we would not want to take her home. There would be no way we would be able to
take care of her and give Steevenson the quality of life that he needed. Ambur actually walked
back to the hotel in the pouring rain and was drenched when she got back. I would say that day
was the worst day we both had, to be told that your child basically had a 99% chance that she
was never going to be able to take care of herself she would not be like the normal go to play
soccer child. That was so hard to tell our moms when I picked them up from the airport but one
thing that did help is I was able to call the adoption agency to talk to them and let them know
what was said and they were a big help.

8. The 1%
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 We had a long stressful month because we needed to come home with
Steevenson and leave Roselaure down in Miami. Even though that was
hard to do being so far away from her we wouldn’t have left her if we
didn’t know that she was in such great hands. The staff and doctors at
Baptist Children’s Hospital took such great care of Roselaure like she was
their own child. After the month she turned out to be just fine and since
has grown so much. One of the hard things to think about with the
earthquake is while so many people lost their lives in Haiti it took the
earthquake to save Roselaure’s life, if there was no earthquake Roselaure
would not have made it out of Haiti in time to survive.
 Steevenson and Roselaure our the most loving brother and sister and have
grown so much since we received them on January 22, 2010. Steevenson
has been attending a preschool 2 days a week and has been learning a lot.
Roselaure has beaten the odds and has been learning just as much as
Steevenson.

9. The 1%
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10. A Miracle Sat On My Lap

 Tom here – I’ve taken the liberty of reposting what I wrote a year and a
half ago that tells part of RoseLaure’s story. Enjoy…..
A Miracle Sat On My Lap Tonight….
Okay, I can’t say that very often, but I can definitely say that tonight…..
Let me tell the story……
There’s a little girl who was born in Haiti about 9 months ago. On January 12,
she was living at God’s Littlest Angels orphanage when the earthquake struck.
And people prayed for the children.
Shortly after that, she got sick. Quite sick. And people prayed.

11. A Miracle Sat On My Lap

The following Tuesday, my wife got down to GLA and immediately got busy helping
take care of the kids. At the same time, Dixie, Laurie, Stephanie, Melanie, well, everyone
there was working on the paperwork to try to get the kids home. And people prayed.
Jump forward to Thursday of that week, and the entire GLA staff is getting the American
kids ready to go to the airport. And this little girl is really not doing very well. Dixie
tells Cheryl and Laurie and a few others that they need to take her down to a hospital in
Port Au Prince to be seen by an American doctor to make sure she can handle the trip to
Miami. As in, make sure she doesn’t die on the plane. Yeah, that sick. And there were
people praying.
The ride down to the hospital is quite an experience. Anyone who has been there knows
that it can be a 1 to 2 hour traffic jam down to Port Au Prince. Laurie is driving and
when they needed to “merge” into traffic, her friend Junior (someone who I have never
met but want to) who was riding shotgun would get out, jump in front of traffic, bang on
other cars and get them to stop and let them in.
They made the drive in 31 minutes. No, that’s not a misprint. Obviously, there were
people praying.

12. A Miracle Sat On My Lap

Now jump forward to midnight that night. The plane lands in Miami. The first two
people off the plane are my wife carrying this little girl. The Miami airport has an
ambulance waiting and they take the two of them immediately to the Baptist Children’s
Hospital in Miami. I talk to my wife about 6:30 Friday morning and after having been
up for 24 hours, she says, through tears, “The parents need to get here to the
hospital, she’s not doing very well.” (I’m paraphrasing her). So, I get in touch with
Johnny Carr from Bethany who is down in Miami at the airport trying to be of assistance
and he brings this girl’s new mother to the hospital. This little girl is very sick and the
medical personnel believe at that point that she’s got bacterial meningitis. Now I’m not a
medical person (though I’ve been married to one for almost 25 years) and I know that is
not a good thing to have.
Friday night, this little girl ends up having emergency brain surgery. And there were
people praying.
On Monday, her parents are told that there is a 99% chance that she will end up in a
vegetative state and need to be institutionalized. But people kept praying.

13. A Miracle Sat On My Lap

Like I said before, a miracle sat on my lap tonight.
I’d like to introduce to you RoseLaure Horne. She’s 9 months
old, crawls, can see, can hear, is learning to walk and her mother
said that they took her for testing to see if she needed any sort of
developmental therapy. She doesn’t.
She’s developing completely on target for her age.
Did I mention that there have been people praying?
A miracle sat on my lap tonight and it made everything
worthwhile……

14. The 1%

“A Miracle Sat On My Lap” was
originally posted at
http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/
2010/05/a-miracle-sat-on-my-lap-
tonight/

15. If you’d like to talk about helping God’s Littlest Angels, please contact
Laurie Bickel at 719-638-4348 or lorlor@glahaiti.org or Tom Vanderwell
at (616) 884-8901 or tom@glahaiti.org. Thank you!