We are Rick and Crystal Rucker from Columbus, Ohio. We are approved for a 0-2 year old boy/girl that is healthy or with minor, medical, special needs. Our international adoption process is through Honduras and we are currently #21 on the wait list. Our awesome adoption agency is AWAA (awaa.org)! We have been in the adoption process for almost 2 and 1/2 years. We are hopeful that we will receive a referral in the Spring of 2014. We have 2 biological children: one girl (1st grade) and one boy (preschool). Rick is a pastor on staff at a church and I, Crystal, tutor and babysit. I just recently quit working as a part-time teacher. Once matched, our process includes 2 trips: 1 trip 5-7 days long and another 4-6 weeks long.
Rick grew up in a large family (6 sisters and 1 brother). We love being a part of a large family and we feel adoption is another way to expand our family. Adoption has been on our hearts for many years. We both have been on mission’s trips and to orphanages. In 2011, God pulled on our hearts and led us to think more seriously about adoption. I, Crystal, read Choosing to See by Steven Curtis Chapman’s wife. My eyes were opened through this book and I started reading Bible scriptures and adoption books. It was at that point we knew adoption was God’s direction for us. Still, we knew it would be a huge act of Faith to start the process. We did not (and still do not) have all of the money we need for the adoption.
There are lots of adopted children in our family. Rick’s two oldest sisters have adopted several times and another one recently adopted a boy from Ethiopia. Currently, we have two nieces and one nephew from Guatemala, one nephew from China, one nephew from Ethiopia, and one niece from Russia. We have a diverse family! It just seems like a natural part of our family to adopt. Adoption is a great way to impact a child’s life forever. To love a child unconditionally, to teach him/her about Christ and God’s love, hope, and peace, and to provide for his/her needs is an amazing concept and privilege. I love Spanish-speaking countries and went to Honduras, so we felt God was telling us that Honduras was the right country for us to pursue adoption. Recently, we led a youth mission’s trip to Honduras together and just fell more in love with and compassion for Honduras and its people. Our church has a relationship with a Children’s Home in Honduras and we plan to continue supporting it.
We have many ongoing fundraisers: selling homemade buckeye necklaces (Ohio is the buckeye state), a t-shirt fundraiser through Adoption Bug, and a coffee fundraiser through Just Love Coffee. We had a very successful, large, yard sale, too. They all have been great fundraisers!
Likewise, we have an Amazon Affiliate account and we just signed up for a Pure Charity Account. On Amazon, people buy items and a portion of the money goes into our account.
Through Pure Charity, people can donate money to us or buy off many websites (such as Walmart, Target, Shutterfly, Pottery Barn, Lowes) and a portion of the money they spend is given to our adoption. The longer we wait, the more money we need. We need $2,000 in the Spring to update our home study and apply for another I-171H immigration approval. We also plan to take our children with us on our second trip and we will need money for their airplane tickets and food. We are trusting God to provide the remaining amount of money needed.
Each Friday I’ll feature a different fundraising adoptive family. My hope is that we can support each other and also learn from each other. For submission guidelines, go here.