Orphaned kids going home â€“ to America

Editor's note: Doug Phillips currently is leading Rescue Haiti's Children, a project of Vision Forum Ministries, in quake-ravaged Haiti. The mission's goal is "to establish a distinctively Christian reporting operations in Haiti to tell stories of the present crisis and the work of Christians there; to minister to the widows, the orphans and the sick; to facilitate the rescue and delivery of orphans to Christian families in America; to identify specific families that need direct support from the people of God in America; and to provide specific relief to people in distress." Phillips will file a series of exclusive reports for WorldNetDaily from Haiti in the next several days.

Port-au-Prince, HAITI – Pat Leyndecker is a happy man.

Just days ago, he received word from the State Department that the decks had finally been cleared to go to Haiti and retrieve three children who had been matched with his family for adoption.

He gathers with his children at the Haiti Children Rescue Mission outside of Port-au-Prince and prepares them to leave the country. The children say goodbye to their fellow orphans. If all goes well the next morning at the United States Embassy, they will be on a jet for America by evening time.

It has been a long three-year journey for Pat, a journey dominated by waiting, green lights, red lights and never-ending bureaucratic red tape. Prayer and confidence in God's will has sustained his family through this unprecedented emotional roller coaster.

One of the most draconian of the Haitian adoption measures Pat has encountered during his adoption pursuit is the requirement that, because he already has biological children, the president of Haiti himself has to sign-off on the papers before the adoptive children are permitted to leave the country.

But the earthquake has changed things. Pat told me that God used the quake to shake up the system and open the door for his new children to come home. And it certainly helped that Pat had been successful in using local medial and Facebook to bring the attention of his long wait to officials in Haiti and the United States.

This week, Haiti's president signed the papers.

The moment he got word that he was cleared, Pat boarded a plane for the Dominican Republic, arrived in Santiago, then hopped in a car for the Port-au-Prince vicinity.

Looking into the eyes of his children, the wait was well worth it.

The three children are a sibling trio – Diane, age 10, Modeline, age 12, and 15-year-old Kennley. I spoke with the three children and their new father on camera.

"You are about to leave Haiti for a new country and a new family – are you ready? How do you feel?"

"God has brought this about. The Lord has done this. I am very happy," Kennley told me.

A little bit nervous, but full of anticipation – these children know they are not only being given the love of a Christian family, but the bright hope for a future that most of their friends may never know.

It is difficult for most Haitians to see any upside to the terrible earthquake of 2010. But at the Haiti Children's Rescue Mission, the victims of the great quake have been taught to give thanks to God for His many blessings and the lives that have been spared.

Each night Diana, Modeline and Kennley gather with their fellow orphans to sing songs of praise to the Lord and recite Scriptures of thanksgiving. This evening was the last time. They are finally going home to a family in America that has loved them from a distance for three years.

All this because of an earthquake.

And this is why – at least for these three orphan children – there is new meaning to the Scripture:

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.

Advertisement - story continues below

O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. (Psalm 30:11-12)

Diana, Modeline and Kennley are going home. But for the many children left behind at the Haiti Children's Rescue Mission, tomorrow is another day to learn to trust God, and to wait. As they have done for nights on end, they will hope and dream that the next American walking into the building with be their very own father.