Soon after Andrew and Ashley Brill married nine years ago, they knew that their shared passion for children and missions would lead them into a deeper understanding of God's love for the world. What they didn't know was just how beautiful the story would be. 

Andrew and Ashley, who both grew up in Fayetteville, dated in high school and throughout college, marrying as soon as Andrew graduated from college. The couple spent the next summer traveling across Africa, where they visited four countries in six months. “I was just 21 and I wanted to see where else God existed other than Fayetteville, Arkansas,” said Ashley. “It was pretty life-changing for us. We saw God as much bigger than we'd ever seen him before. We knew we wanted to be involved in missions, orphan care, and what God was doing outside of our little square miles.”

After returning to the states and spending time in Boston for graduate school, the Brills moved back to Fayetteville and welcomed their first child, Madeline, into the world. “Having Madeline brought us so much joy,” said Ashley. “Becoming parents opened our eyes up even more to God’s character and His love for us, His children.”

At the same time, Andrew began a career with Lightbearers Ministries International. The organization, which uses residential discipleship to connect resources to specific mission projects, focuses on work in the 10/40 Window of Asia, the Middle East, and Northern and Saharan Africa. “We had prayed about what Andrew loves to do,” said Ashley. “He wanted to be involved in missions, teaching, and discipleship, and this had all three.” 

Andrew's work with Lightbearers, paired with the couple's passion for children and missions, soon prompted the Brills to pray about the expansion of their little family. “We always knew we wanted to adopt, even before we were married,” said Ashley. “We had both been involved in missions with orphans, and we had always believed that God had a son for us who wasn't biological. We prayed that God would lead us and that we'd be obedient to the next step. We decided after Madeline was born that this was the time we would intentionally seek him out,” said Ashley. 

The Brills spent a month praying over different adoption agencies and countries, filling out paperwork and applications and seeking God's will for their family. “I didn't care about the details,” said Ashley, “because our son is our son. We just wanted a little boy under 12-months-old.” After finishing up applications, the Brills planned for a typical wait of at least ten months. Five months later, Ashley she received a call. “I was at Target with my sister, and told the woman to call back Monday when I wasn't so busy,” said Ashley, assuming the call was related to paperwork. “When she called back Monday, she said, 'I have a little boy for you.'”

Excited and a bit surprised by the speedy response, the Brills began sorting through information. They quickly learned that the little boy from Ethiopia, only 12 months old, had a undiagnosed condition that had caused his spleen to grow to four times its normal size. “No one knew what was wrong,” said Ashley. “Because he was already twelve months old and had unknown medical problems, his chances of being adopted greatly decreased. We talked to local specialists and they said we wouldn't know the severity of the condition unless we brought him here. It could be nothing, or it could be cancer of the spleen. There was no way to know.” 

After talking with family, friends, and medical professionals, the Brills were faced with a decision. “We asked God to show us if this was our son,” said Ashley. “We let go of the medical side and said is this our son or not. It took us about five minutes to realize yes, he's our son. God brought him to us. We'd been praying for him for so long, even before we knew him.” On September 24th, 2010, Ashley and Andrew received Simeon's official referral. 

As they prepared for a trip to Ethiopia, set for late December, the Brills were presented with another unexpected blessing. “We found out I was pregnant,” said Ashley. “It was a total surprise, but God's timing is perfect. If we had gotten pregnant before we received the referral, we could not have adopted Simeon.” So two months later and twelve weeks pregnant,  Ashley and Andrew flew to Africa to pick up their son. “I felt like a kid on Christmas,” said Ashley. “My stomach was in knots and I was super excited.”

“They brought him to us and he went right to Andrew and laid his head on Andrew's shoulders like it was the safest place for him to be,” said Ashley. “And we gave him Cheerios, which we found out was the way to his heart.” The new family spent the week of Christmas getting to know each other in the guest house provided by the orphanage. “We showed him cards our family had sent with us, and pictures of Madeline,” said Ashley. “It was wonderful.”

On December 28th, the Brills arrived back in Arkansas with their son, and within weeks his spleen decreased to half the size it had been in Ethiopia. Six weeks later, the family took a trip down to Little Rock to make sure things were still progressing well. “We went to a specialist in Little Rock who had adopted a child in Ethiopia,” said Ashley. “He specialized in international diseases, specifically those in Ethiopia. The doctor examined Simeon and to all our amazement, Simeon's spleen had returned to normal size.” 

Over the next few months the Brills acclimated to life together, and in July they welcomed the arrival of their second daughter, Anna Elise. Quickly, Simeon took on the role of big brother. “He just went with it like it was totally natural,” said Ashley. We prayed that they would all be good friends and love each other, and that's another area where God answered our prayers.”

“We all have a place in our family,” said Ashley, “and God is the one who creates each of us and prepares us for who He wants us to be. I explain to Simeon that God brought our family together in different ways. God brought Madeline in mommy's tummy, and God brought Simeon from Ethiopia. But God put Simeon in mommy's heart, and our family wouldn't be the same without him.”

Ashley realizes that someday, Simeon will ask some very hard questions about his life in Ethiopia. “There's a lot of sadness and difficulty in Simeon's story of adoption,” said Ashley. “One of the things we really try and pray for our family is that we'll always be pointing to Christ. We want to focus on how we can walk Simeon down this road so that he becomes more like Christ.”

“I 100% believe that God is the father of the fatherless,” said Ashley. “I'm not the redeemer in the situation, but I'm the means by which God is taking care of Simeon. These are God's children, and ultimately God is the one caring for them.”

Recently, Andrew had an opportunity to travel to Ethiopia with Lightbearers. “He had wanted to travel to Simeon's birth town, and we couldn't when we came to take Simeon home,” said Ashley. “It was really good for Andrew to be able to connect that way with Simeon, to say 'this is where you were born and daddy's been there.' It was really sweet experience because we just wanted to know our son better through walking where he was born.”

“I know there are so many hard things that come with adoption,” said Ashley, “but I think God just knew how He designed our family. Simeon just fit perfectly with us. It's pretty unbelievable to look back on.”

For more information about Lightbearers Ministries International, click here

For more information about Ethiopian adoption and orphan care check out KidMia and Gladney Center for Adoption

For more information about the Brills, click here