Whatever has brought you to this point, thank you for being willing to explore options and consider the future for you and your child. Thank you for choosing life. Any option probably feels overwhelming and incredibly scary right now. As you weigh all of this, please know that we are praying for you and your child. We may not know your name, but God sees you right where you are. You are precious to Him!

Anna grew up in a small town in Wyoming. She loves being outside, gardening, and reading. Her favorite childhood memory is playing games with her family and building little people kingdoms with her big sister. At an early age, Anna felt a calling to go overseas and chose nursing as a career that would be portable. In her mid-twenties, she moved to overseas to work with a non-profit group and teach English. That experience encouraged Anna to go back to school and pursue a career in nursing education.

Acky was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He was raised primarily by his dad and stepmom in a large, blended family. However, he remains close to his mother and was able to visit her when growing up. He received a scholarship to attend medical school in China. Once there, he was heavily involved in the international community learning guitar, leading worship, and overseeing on-campus Bible Study groups.

One night while Ackrion was playing guitar, he noticed a new girl (Anna) staring at him. He began offering to help Anna navigate the new city and language. Though we grew up across the ocean we discovered we shared a common interest in several things: ministry, music, and medicine. Three years later we were married in the same international church surrounded by friends and family. Our married life has continued to be an adventure as we’ve lived in three countries.

We currently live in Northeast Oklahoma about a mile from Anna’s sister and family. Family is incredibly important to both of us, and we frequently communicate with our family overseas and within the USA. We love exploring new places and trying new foods, but sometimes it is just nice to stay home, watch movies, and hang out on the back porch.

During Anna’s bridal shower, friends and family drew pictures of what they thought our future life may look like, and most predicted we would have a large family! That has been our desire for many years, but both natural means and medical interventions to have a family have not been successful. Adoption is something our family embraces and celebrates as five of our nieces and nephews were adopted. We have talked about adoption for a while but had to work through immigration and COVID-19. We used those years to get into a more stable place financially and in our careers. We recently bought a home with a large, fenced backyard in a good school district and have more family-friendly jobs.

Welcoming a child into our home would bring many changes – joy, noise, tears, and laughter! It will mean adjusting to the needs of the child. We are planning to take some time off work to be home when the child first arrives. A long-term goal of Anna’s is to be able to teach online and work from home. Until then would need to utilize one of the daycares close to our work. We will have the flexibility to be home if a child is sick and once, they are school-aged to be home in the afternoons with them and have summer and holidays off.

We believe all children are precious in God’s sight. Being a biracial and cross-cultural couple, we would like to adopt a biracial child. We have lived the dynamics of being different for many years and celebrate our uniqueness.  We have also learned to navigate some of the challenges, questions, and looks.

We are open to having a relationship with you depending on what you feel most comfortable with. We are comfortable with emails, pictures, and updates. We are open to starting with 1-2 visits a year and growing this as our relationship continues. We also want to be transparent with you that while we live in the USA and have no plans to move, there is a potential we may need to return overseas in the future. We would want to maintain open communication and virtual visits with you if that happened.

Over the years, there have been many words and verses of encouragement we have clung to so we do not lose hope. However, recently, we have both been listening to the song “In Jesus Name (God of Possible)” by Katy Nichole on repeat. We pray these words would bring you as much hope as they have us.

Blessings,

Acky & Anna