Celebrating Noah!

July 31... Noah's 2nd Birthday! July 31 marks exactly 6 months since Noah came home. We are SO THANKFUL to GOD for HIS faithfulness to Noah and to us! As we look back and celebrate Noah's life, we give God ALL the glory!! He has done more than we could have ever asked or imagined.

This is the first picture we received of Noah on November 1, 2006.


Noah's foster mother, Sandra, to whom we will be forever grateful.


The first time we met Noah. Guatemala City, April 2007.


Noah's first Birthday in Guatemala during a visit with Grandma Dornbush and me.


Our pick-up trip to Guatemala, January 2008


Yeah! Home at last!


One of the first pictures of the "Sluiter 5"


Three precious children


Noah today: happy, healthy, thriving. How can we thank God enough for you, Noah!?


Praise God for this precious gift of Noah! He has brought us so much joy and taught us so much about trust and hope. I've attached our 'adoption story' if you're interested in reading it. This was submitted to Shaohannah's Hope, Steven Curtis Chapman's ministry that assisted us financially in our adoption.

Our Adoption Story by Brent and Amy Sluiter

For us, the decision to adopt came soon after we were married (back in 1995) following a mission trip to Guatemala and seeing the desperate poverty of a beautiful people. When we were ready to start our family, we couldn’t see past the high cost of adoption, so we decided to try for biological children first. After we were blessed with 2 beautiful daughters, we felt God calling us to pursue adoption. The cost ($35,000!) was still seemingly unattainable, but we went forward in faith, trusting God to provide.
On November 1, 2006 we received our referral of our son, Noah Edwin, born in Guatemala City on July 31, 2006. It was love at first sight! While we waited, we were continually amazed at how God provided the funding, sometimes from people or places we would have least expected it! We are thankful for organizations like Shaohannah’s Hope and Christian Advocates for Adoption that helped us raise some of the necessary funds to make the adoption possible.
But it turns out that finances were not the biggest hurdle in our adoption process. A couple months after we received Noah’s referral we were told that he had some developmental delays. We were not too concerned because we figured with a loving home and lots of attention, he would easily catch up. However, doctors in Guatemala began doing tests and x-rays and were able to rule some things out (such as fetal alcohol syndrome), but were unable to come up with any diagnosis other than “skeletal abnormalities” or “genetic anomaly.” One of the possibilities the doctor gave was a rare genetic disorder called “MPS” or Mucopolysacharidosis. Upon some internet searching, we learned that MPS is a degenerative disorder with no cure and usually a short life span. We were then asked to make the agonizing decision of whether or not to proceed with the adoption.
This was truly the most difficult part of the journey for us, or the most difficult thing we’ve encountered in our entire lives, probably. To proceed with the adoption could mean a life revolving around caring for a very ill child, hospital visits, medical bills, and emotional turmoil. To end the adoption would leave us wondering whatever happened to sweet Noah and knowing that we could have made a difference in his life but chose not to. In the end, after much prayer and searching scripture, we felt God clearing telling us to proceed with the adoption. Even though we still didn’t have definitive answers regarding Noah’s health, we were blessed with complete agreement and perfect peace with our decision. We knew God was simply calling us to trust Him, so that’s what we did.
During our wait, we were able to take a visit trip to meet Noah and his foster mom. Although it was next-to-impossible to say goodbye, we were grateful for this opportunity to see our son. After a long wait of going through all the government hoops & documents, we were able to travel again to Guatemala to go get Noah to take him home. He arrived home on January 31, 2008, at exactly 18 months old.
Noah’s been adjusting to his new family extremely well and we refer to him as our miracle son. We had him tested for MPS right away, and the results came back normal! We praise God who blessed us with more than we could have asked or imagined. He showed us that He is always faithful if we simply trust in Him. Noah is happy and healthy and we are blessed to be a part of the miracle of adoption!