Jesus Babies or "Family Sees Divinity in Pending Adoption"

Story available at http://billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/06/22/news/local/35-adoption.txt

Published on Friday, June 22, 2007.
Last modified on 6/22/2007 at 1:55 am
Family sees divinity in pending adoption

By DIANE COCHRAN
Of The Gazette Staff
Jenny and Todd Moore weren't surprised to feel a higher power nudging them into action, but the direction the nudge sent them was a bit startling.

Later this year, the Moores plan to adopt two children from an orphanage in Jinja, Uganda. They have three biological children - Jaden, 6; Kellen, 4; and Sage, 2.

"We would never in a million years think we'd be adopting a child, let alone two children, from Africa," Jenny Moore said.

The decision to expand their family came after Jenny Moore's mother visited Africa on a mission. The trip was spurred by a book, "The Purpose Driven Life."

Where some people might see chance, the Moores see God's hand.

"Sometimes people look at us like we're doing this amazing thing," Jenny Moore said. "But to us, it's just part of our life. We just feel like we obeyed what God put in our hearts to do. If we had chosen not to, that would have been disobedient."

Africa wasn't even on the Billings family's radar until Jenny's mother came home from the country with stories about its orphanages.

The Moores felt a connection to the African children in her stories, and Jenny got the idea to give one of them a home.

"I told the kids about it, and they were excited," she said. "Todd was all for it."

Still, they weren't sure adopting an African child was realistic. That changed when Jaden, who was 4 at the time, experienced what the Moores describe as a religious vision.

Jaden told his parents that Jesus appeared to him and told him his family was meant to adopt a boy and a girl from Africa. He repeated the story to his parents word-for-word four times, convincing the Moores that it wasn't a dream.

"What would that do to a 4-year-old's faith if we told him, 'You're only 4. We don't believe you'?" Jenny asked.

Certain they were on their chosen path, the Moores researched African adoptions and found the Amani Baby Cottage, an orphanage in Jinja that places children in Christian homes.

Workers there were moved by the story about Jaden's vision and promised to find the family's "Jesus babies" among their residents, Jenny Moore said.

In March, the orphanage identified two babies, now 11 months old, as the ones meant to become part of the Moore family. The children's names are Christopher and Priscilla Christine, but the Moores plan to rename the baby girl Katie.

"They are Jesus babies because both have 'Christ' in their names," Jenny said.

Todd Moore hopes to travel to Uganda this fall for a court proceeding that will solidify the adoption.

The family held a garage sale fundraiser last weekend that raised about $7,000 to cover travel expenses and a donation to Amani Baby Cottage.

The orphanage sent photos of the children to the Moores, but they are eager to meet them in person.

"It's kind of like being pregnant. There's all this anticipation building up to the moment of delivery," Todd Moore said.

Todd, a self-employed finish carpenter, and Jenny, a stay-at-home mom, said they aren't worried about having five children younger than 7.

"We're not the first family to have five kids," Todd said. "You add a little more chaos to what's going on, but there's also a greater amount of love to share."