Couple leads ministry to walk other families through the process of foster care and adoption

By Camryn Whaley

When you first meet Mike and Karen Kimbro, the first thing you notice about them are their smiles. They’re genuine, friendly, and know exactly how to make someone feel welcome. It’s evident that they have a passion for people, serving them, and doing so through Christ.

God Was at Work

Mike and Karen have always wanted to adopt children. The desire was even there long before their two biological sons were born. But they weren’t aware of what difficulties they would face to pursue that calling placed on their heart. 

From travels to Guatemala and to China, they’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows that go hand-in-hand with adoption plus everything in between. But during the hardship, God was at work. Not only did they add to their family, they would eventually start Chosen Ministry to help walk others through similar experiences.

“I think that’s why God allowed us to go through some difficult years,” Karen said. “And I’m very thankful for it.”

The Kimbros

Karen Kimbro was raised in a Christian household. At seven years old, she was baptized at Greenway Baptist Church in Boone. But as she grew up, she struggled with her faith, and even felt irredeemable in God’s eyes. Seeing older, devoted believers, she often prayed, “Lord, give me the faith like they have.” Soon, He answered her prayer.

Karen had a life-changing experience at the age of 21. She attended a Sunday school class where the teacher read from Ephesians 1:3-4 (NKJV), which would eventually give Chosen Ministry its name:

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” 

This verse spoke straight to Karen’s heart, and she realized that no matter what she had been through in her past, Jesus was her redemption, and through him all her sins were already forgiven. Since then, her faith has been unshakable.

Mike Kimbro grew up in a Christian home, and he went through the motions of being baptized at the age of nine. Despite this, he struggled to feel like he had a real relationship with God. Then, when he was 16, Mike was inspired by a counselor at Fort Caswell who took him under his wing.

“I saw people living their lives for Christ, and my life changed dramatically from that week on,” Mike said.

Chosen Ministry

Chosen Ministry began as a committee at Alliance Bible Fellowship to provide support and resources for foster and adoptive families. Since 2014, Chosen Ministry has donated funds to families going through the process of adoption, held regular support group meetings for foster and adoptive families, and pointed people to the right resources. Chosen Ministry also provides people with the crucial love and spiritual support they need to succeed in the intense journey of foster care and adoption. 

“It’s not an easy area, adoption and fostering. It’s tough on families, it’s tough on everybody concerned,” Mike said. “But it’s more than worth it.”

According to the ministry’s website, there are over 143 million orphans in the world today. “In North Carolina alone, there are 10,324 children in foster care, with 2,739 waiting to be adopted. In addition, 450 kids aged-out in 2015 without ever finding their ‘forever family.’ We, the Church, must address this crisis.”

Funding assistance is the original reason Chosen Ministry was founded.

“If somebody wants to adopt, the church should pay for it,” Mike said. “Nobody should ever go into debt.”

Mike estimated their adoption in Guatemala roughly cost $20,000. According to Adoption.org, of the non-stepparent adoptions that occurred in 2018, 26 percent were from other countries. For families who choose to adopt internationally, the financial aspect can be a significant struggle.

An Emotional Process

Mike and Karen’s first adoption from Guatemala was a difficult experience. They felt called to adopt, and once they saw a picture of a little three-month-old girl from Guatemala, they knew they were meant to bring her home. However, once you choose a child to adopt, the process can take a painstakingly long time. 

“So, it’s kind of like being pregnant, except it was only seven months, but you know there’s this child down there,” Karen said. 

Once they arrived in Guatemala, they were told they wouldn’t be able to get the necessary documents and paperwork in time before the American Embassy closed for the weekend. Karen and Mike had to prolong getting their now ten-month-old daughter as well as reuniting with their two young sons at home.

“I was an emotional wreck,” Karen said.

Their trip had to be extended three more days, but on Monday morning, they were finally able to fill out all the paperwork and take their little girl home to meet the rest of her family. 

God Provides

Since their first adoption, Mike was raring to adopt again, but Karen wasn’t ready for the emotional, physical, and financial difficulties within the process. One day nearly two years later, Karen felt a calling on her heart to adopt again while reading the Bible and praying.

At the time, they were renting a house in Boone while struggling to sell their house back in Montana. Although they were going through financial adversity, a setback made even worse by unprecedented hurricane damage, Mike and Karen agreed the time was right.

They didn’t know exactly how God would provide for them, but they knew He would.

Mike sent out an email to let friends and family know they planned on adopting again and asked for help if anyone felt like they could give at the time. A good friend of Mike’s had told him in the past, “If you ever need money for adoption, just let me know.” Miraculously, within two hours, his friend replied to the email and the Kimbros had a $15,000 contribution toward their next adoption. 

More and more blessings came swiftly after. Within two weeks, Mike’s place of work, Mountain States Health Alliance, announced they would offer a benefit of up to $5,000 to employees who adopted. Following this, even more of their friends and family donated. The Kimbros were blessed with plenty to pursue their next adoption adventure. 

After being told they would have to wait at least a year to adopt a little girl from China, Mike and Karen were prepared to keep waiting until the time was right. Their adoption agency, Dillon International, regularly sent out emails with the names and faces of children waiting to be adopted. Mike and Karen saw the face of their son, and they both knew he was meant to be part of their family. 

Miraculously, they were able to go to China and adopt him within four months instead of waiting an entire year. Their adopted son is now 16 years old and currently enjoying double enrollment in high school and community college.

Serving the Community

Serving their community through faith is a matter very close to the Kimbro’s hearts, partly because their community has served them as well. Their church and homeschool communities have surrounded them with support and love in raising their children. So, when they had the opportunity to give back, they were excited to step up.

After being frustrated at the lack of support and guidance while going through their own adoptions, the Kimbros felt called to start a group to help steer others through the experience. But starting Chosen Ministry wasn’t easy. At first, they found themselves with a large interested crowd, but unforeseen circumstances considerably shrunk that crowd. 

“We had this great meeting and things were going to happen, and then nothing happened,” Karen said. 

Mike and Karen found the brunt of the administrative work falling on themselves, and eventually, they decided to take on leadership of the group and took the reins of Chosen Ministry.

From Hardships to Blessings

The Kimbros have faced many hardships through their adoption and ministry journeys. But it’s clear to them the blessings have far outweighed their trials. Mike and Karen insist they wouldn’t change anything.

“It’s easier now, looking back from this side of things,” Mike Kimbro said. 

Their two biological children agree. They said they wouldn’t give up the experience of having adopted siblings for anything.

Although adoption can be an incredibly challenging experience, it’s also undoubtedly a beautiful and rewarding one. 

“The positive is when you see a prayer bring a child home. There is nothing like that,” Karen said with tears in her eyes.

Adoption and fostering aren’t only for small children and babies. There are numerous older children who need homes too. Once the Kimbros got their license to become foster parents, they began fostering a 16-year-old girl. Over the next few years, she grew in her faith with the love and support of the Kimbros and was baptized. 

Karen said she remembered the conversation she had with her husband on Christmas Eve in 2018, where she told him she knew they needed to make her a part of her family. Less than a year later in July of 2019, the Kimbros adopted her at the age of 20.

The Church’s Responsibility

Unfortunately, Mike said, far too much of the responsibility for adoption and fostering is often overlooked by the church, but many organizations are working to bridge the gap.

One of the organizations he admires is Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), which holds adoption and foster events at large churches. Through this organization, a massive list of children in need of fostering can be matched with families in a single day. This is a vital way the church needs to fulfill its duty to the community and the many children in need of families. Whether it’s donating money to the families who need financial help or being those families themselves, Mike firmly believes the church needs to play a much larger role.

Support and interest are growing for Chosen Ministry, but it still urgently needs the support of its community. Even if families are unable to adopt or foster themselves, there is much they can do to help.

“If you can’t foster or adopt, you can support families,” Karen said. 

People can sign up for the ministry’s volunteer list on Alliance Bible Fellowship’s website, where they’ll be notified whenever a family has a need, such as food items, baby supplies, school supplies, daycare, and more. People can also donate to the Chosen Closet, located at Perkinsville Baptist Church, which provides clothing and other essential items to foster and adoptive families.

Increasingly, they’ve been sought out by other churches and members of the community who have adoption, fostering, or simply volunteering on their hearts. The Kimbros’ strong faith in God has acted as an unshakable foundation through all of the years and the challenges that they’ve faced together. 

Karen and Mike truly have servants’ hearts, and although they’ve been instrumental in forming and leading an incredibly important ministry, they’re very clear about where credit is due. 

“It’s for His glory,” Karen said. “None of this that we’ve done, or what’s happened to us—it’s not about us. It’s about God’s glory, and that’s what I want Chosen to be about. It’s about Him.”

This article was originally written for the Winter 2019 Edition of The Journey magazine.