The Mygatt Family Love Story

MacKenzie: I feel that there have been many affirmations in my life that has brought me to adoption. The Lord has planted this deep desire in my heart to directly place my life in the middle of the orphan crisis, to love them as He does and to serve them well. After I made the decision to follow the Lord in middle school, He started fanning this small flame. I went on my first international missions trip to Jamaica between my junior and senior year high school with a group of people I didn’t know. One of the last places my team visited in my 2 weeks there was a small hospital. We were split up into different wards where we could visit with the patients, love on them, and pray for them. I was excited to be in the small group going to the children’s ward. We walked in to see a few children in small hospital beds in one big open room. We spoke with nurses and they gave us a tour of the ward. As we reached the back of the ward, I noticed three tiny cribs in the corner, alone, separate from the rest of the children. The nurse stated that these were “our babies”. She went on to explain that the mother’s of these babies had left them at the hospital, never to been seen again. These gorgeous babies had obvious deformities and disabilities. We were able to hold them and love them during our time there. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do, to walk away from Sean, Monique, and Aldene and not know if the Lord would call someone to bring them home. It was that experience that the Lord really used to speak into my heart and affirm the callings of loving the orphan and directly affected my decision to become a nurse, although I was not entirely sure where this calling and deep longing would take me. I have always clung to the verse Habakkuk 1:5 through this calling where the Lord says, “Look at  the nations and watch – be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

Jake: I specifically remember the first time that I felt a pull to adoption and orphan care and knew that it would be a part of my life. I went to Peru with a small team from my church when I was 16 years old. I met hundreds of kids, and literally I fell in love with all of them. There was one girl specifically who stole my heart from the first day. Her name was Doris. She was 9 at the time, and was absolutely beautiful, sweet, caring, funny, and full of life. She attached herself to me and would not let me get more than an arm’s reach away for the whole trip. We played together, tried to break the language barrier through me trying to mumble my way through broken Spanish and her the same with broken English. We enjoyed our time together and the last night that we were there, we presented a Gospel based movie and gave an altar call at the end. Literally hundreds of people came forward to accept Jesus, which was incredible. Then, Doris tugged at my sleeve and pointed to her heart and said, “Jesus” in Spanish. I knew what she meant and I walked her down front and was able to lead her to Jesus through conversation between myself and one of our interpreters. I promised Doris that I would never forget her and that I would come back the next chance that I got.

The following year, I went back in January again with a small team. The second day, we went to the village, and I had one thing on my mind: Doris. I looked everywhere, thinking maybe she looked different or wouldn’t recognize me or something. I asked around and talked to her best friend from the previous year, Marta. When I asked Marta about Doris, Marta just shook her head and kept mumbling something in Spanish. I brought over an interpreter and we realized that she was telling me to go to the market and find Doris’ mother. The interpreter took my down to the open air market and we found Doris’ mother and spoke with her. I explained who I was and she said that she had remembered me from the previous year. I asked about Doris, and tears filled her eyes. She went on to tell me that Doris was HIV positive, and was sick. She was unable to get her to the proper medical care that she needed, which was hours away in the city. Doris got worse and worse, and eventually passed away. I was crushed. Not only for my own sake and the fact that I couldn’t say goodbye, but also for her mom. I was destroyed by the way that this had broken her mom. I hugged her and she asked me to make sure that I never forgot Doris and that I would do whatever I had to in order to remember to pray for her every day. I remember being somber for the remainder of the trip and even weeks after coming home. I was absolutely wrecked, not only by the larger orphan crisis but by the fact that Doris died because she lacked the basic needs in life, food, water, medical care, and the ability to get to good doctors. I wanted to make sure that from that point forward, if I could bring one “Doris” home and provide for him/her, that I would do whatever it took to make that happen. That was only the beginning of the Lord literally etching the cause of the orphan onto my heart and soul.

I wanted to make sure that I didn’t ever forget Doris and her mother and the fact that I promised her that I would remember them and pray for them. I went to a local tattoo shop and had “Doris Reautegi Acosta” tattooed onto my right inner forearm. Now, every day, when I see her name, I remember to pray for her younger siblings and her mother, and also remember what the Lord taught me about the calling upon my life to adopt.

The Next Chapter… 

MacKenzie: A huge moment in our adoption story happened years later, when we were able to venture to Lesotho, Africa, in 2014. This started out as a vision trip to determine if this was where the Lord was leading us. Many doors opened for us to go and we were so thankful for the opportunity. This trip was the first time that our hearts were brought together emotionally, spiritually and physically as we tangibly served at the Beautiful Gate Orphanage. We came back to the U.S. thinking that we would be heading back to Lesotho soon. God closed many doors as we came back, leaving us feeling discouraged and confused. He told us, “Not yet.”  We continued to be active in our House Church and church community where the orphan crisis was spoken of often, and we were seeking ways to be directly involved together to help put an end to the orphan crisis. One of the pastors there often talked about every Christian being called to care for orphans and widows, and how it just looked different for each individual.  We knew that adoption was going to be part of our story we just didn’t know it was now. This is our first plan because we want to be obedient. It has been the hardest and best decision we have ever made, and we are thankful that the experiences we have had separately have us brought together here, now, in this place where can help give a home to one of the 153 million orphans of the world.

Jake: Both Kenz and myself point to the same time in Lesotho as our “aha moment.” I remember arriving at the baby home the first morning and being overwhelmed for many reasons. Overwhelmed at the beauty of these children, overwhelmed at their situation, and overwhelmed at the fact that I was able to be their “daddy” for a few weeks. I remember after a few days of us being there, 2 new little girls (sisters) were brought to the orphanage. They were placed in the baby home that Kenz and I were working in. The younger of the 2, whose name I will not mention for her protection, was drawn to me very quickly. You could easily see that she was terrified of the new situation and living conditions that she was in, and she didn’t talk for days when she first arrived. Every time that she saw me, she would run to me, and jump up for me to pick her up. I would hold her, let her sit on my lap, feed her, get her ready, all of the things that a dad would do. I remember after about 3 or 4 days, we were sitting on the couch together, just playing, and I was pretending to be asleep and then would scare her when she poked at my face. She would show a little smirk, but not make any noise or say anything. Finally, at one point, I pretended to eat her finger, and she let out the cutest and most soft giggle that I have ever heard. She was surprised and actually seemed a little embarrassed that she had made noise. I smiled and my heart just melted to know that I was the one who made her laugh. The love that I had shown her over the previous few days had somehow shown her that she was in a safe place, a place where she would be loved well, and a place where she could be comfortable enough to laugh and giggle out loud. This was the moment for me. I remember going to our room that night, laying there in the dark and listening to the sounds of the African streets out the window. The only thing on my mind was that I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure that no child that I came across would feel so scared that he or she could not be themselves. I knew at that moment, that if I could bring 1 child home, one child who needed that type of love, and be their forever daddy, that I was making a difference. I already knew that adoption was going to be a part of my life someday, but now I knew that the time was now. I knew that there was a baby out there, somewhere, who was waiting for me to bring him or her home.

What Happens Now?  

Our community plays a huge role in our adoption journey. We have a large family, and in saying that, I mean not only our immediate and biological family, but also our friends and our church family as well. My family (Jake) knew that I wanted to adopt some day, even when I was still a teen. I had been on numerous international and stateside mission’s trips, and for the most part, all of those were working with children/orphans. There was such a strong calling upon my life for orphan care, and I knew that it meant adoption some day. My family prayed for me, prayed for my heart, prayed for affirmation in this HUGE calling upon my life. They never stopped praying and have not stopped praying for me to this day. As far as our House Church family back home (we were a part of this family for almost 3 years), they were unbelievably instrumental in this process from the beginning. This body prayed for us, financially supported us, and sent us out to Lesotho in 2014 where we experienced our “light bulb” moment that solidified our desire to adopt. Had our house church family not come along side of us and prayed over us and for us and financially supported us, that trip would not have happened, at least not when it did. Even now, in the process of raising funds to bring our baby home, we still have members from our House Church back in Ohio who have continued to bless us financially.

Now, we’re taking the next step in our adoption story, and we recognize that we need our community, both old and new, more than ever. Will you join our story?