By Paul Garrod
12/12/2011
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The two were officially welcomed to the family Nov. 28, by their sister, Abigail, 5, who was adopted last year from Uganda, and brother Nolan 8, after paperwork was completed and signed by Van Buren County Judge Art Clarke.
Through funds the Osborns received from an adoption credit, they plan to use some of that money to help a school in Uganda.
"In receiving this adoption credit it of course helps our family to get a portion of the enormous load it financially took from us back, but part of this is going back to a school in Uganda that feeds 1,600 orphans and educates 400 a day," said Jason, a fifth grade teacher at Mattawan Later Elementary, and also a 1992 MHS graduate.
Heather said, "This adoption credit ensures a month-long mission trip I will be taking next year to help teach at the school and gather video and pictorial documentation to continue our fundraising efforts for this school. This means the world to us that we can continue to help the orphans in Uganda in their distress and provide them with hope for the future."
The couple met on a Internet dating site, and in the initial meeting, Heather asked Jason if he was willing to adopt a child from Africa, because that was a requirement for her.
The couple have been married for three years and will mark their fourth wedding anniversary Dec. 22.
Heather is the youngest of three, and her older siblings were both adopted before she was born. When she was younger, they would tease her about not being adopted in a reversal of the classic sibling joke.
She recalled playing with a dark skinned Barbie doll and thought, "I'm going to have kids like that. God planted the seed back then. I'm very passionate about it."
The couple recalled attending their first service at Third Reformed Church in Oshtemo in 2009, and mentioned their dream of adopting from Africa to the pastor.
He gave them the name and phone number of a parishioner from Uganda and it turned out that she had a connection to a child to be adopted.
The couple adopted Abigail in June of 2010.
Last November, the couple began the process to adopt Rebekah and Elijah. "That initial process got the kids out of the garbage pits - the slums," said Heather. The siblings' mother was deceased and the father had abandoned them.
Heather recalled the area that Rebekah and Elijah came from.
"There were streams of pee and poop. Raw sewage was running everywhere. You can't believe that human beings have to live in there (the slums)."
The two were unaware of running water or electricity.
Heather estimated that Rebekah and Elijah had been living on the streets for 18 months.
"They would dig through garbage piles for food. At times, they went days without food."
Abigail grew up in a village.
Heather recalled the second trip was "stressful."
The country had just gone through a presidential election and rioting had taken to the streets.
Heather and Rebekah and Elijah, who stayed in a guest house heard screaming and the then gun fire - first rubber bullets, then live ammunition.
"That was crazy," said Heather.
It was also during that second trip that Heather contracted malaria.
She left the country alone, without the two siblings on a Friday and was contacted that following Monday that a court date would be held that coming Friday.
Jason made the return trip to Uganda.
"Heather did motherly instincts in preparing for the siblings' adoption process," said Jason.
"Jason was able to take care of a few things in the court process that I don't think I could have handled," said Heather.
"She has grown tremendously as a person, woman and mother," said Jason.
"Going from a family of one to four kids in a year, it's been busy," said Heather, as the expanded family prepares for the upcoming Christmas holiday.
They'll celebrate Christmas at their Mattawan home, then fly to North Dakota, where Heather's family live. Some of Heather's family members have not seen the children.
"That day will be special." said Jason.
"We've grown as a couple through this," said Jason. "Both times it was a leap of faith. All on faith."
"The kids they genuinely love each other," said Heather, who gave up her job as an accountant at Stryker to be with the children, who are home-schooled.
"They thought I was crazy giving up the job," said Heather.
Jason noted, "Nolan is an important piece in this family. He was the only child for six years. Now he wants to help, love, share and give.
"The things Heather and I helped instill in him, he's passing it on to them."
"It's been an unbelievable amount of people that have been so supportive," said Jason.
What does the future hold for the Osborn family? Are they considering another adoption?
For right now, the couple plans to take a few years off before considering another adoption.
"We'd do it again. Don't know when or where," said Heather. "I look at the table and I just don't think we're all around the dinner table yet."
©Courier Leader 2011
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