Originally posted Oct 23, 2013, Updated May 14, 2026
While serving as missionaries in Central Mexico, my wife Ana and I had been praying for a child for several years. After unsuccessfully trying to have a child of our own, we began considering adoption.
Around that time, a well-known speaker invited me to serve on his ministry team during a missionary trip to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas.
It was during that trip that everything changed. The church we were ministering at also had an orphanage. In fact one of the members of the team had recently adopted a child from that same Orphanage.
Then she said something unexpected:
“We have another little girl who needs a home.”
She explained that the baby had been abandoned on the streets of a nearby town called Arriaga. No one knew who her parents were.
Immediately, the other members of the ministry team looked at me because they knew Ana and I had been praying for a child.
I asked the orphanage director:
“What is her name?”
She replied:
“We don’t know her real name, but we call her Ana.”
I immediately responded:
“My wife’s name is Ana. I’ll take that little baby home with me.”
To everyone’s surprise, I committed to receiving that little girl as my daughter before I had even seen her.
Someone quickly asked:
“Aren’t you going to ask your wife first?”
I replied:
“No. I’ve always told my wife that God would provide the perfect baby in His timing.”
When I arrived at the orphanage and saw little Ana for the first time, I immediately fell in love with her.
Since I’m a wise man, I did eventually consult my wife.
Three days later, Ana arrived at the airport in Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
As she stepped off the plane, we received little Ana into our arms as our daughter.
She was only two or three months old and was severely malnourished.
Along with the baby, we were given one extra set of clothing and a small stuffed animal.
What she did not come with was a legal birth certificate.
It was the year 2000.
We were proud parents and deeply loved this little girl, but we had no legal adoption papers or proof of parenthood.
That began a long adoption process that required enormous amounts of time, money, effort, paperwork, and patience.
After six years of difficult legal procedures, God used the adoption process to move us from Central Mexico to Chiapas in 2006.
Although those years were filled with adversity, God opened incredible doors for ministry and gave us great favor in this new mission field.
Finally, on July 10, 2007 — seven years after beginning the legal adoption process — we were officially awarded the adoption.
Because we had chosen to do everything legally and honorably, we even received recognition from the governor’s wife in Chiapas as an example to others.
But the battle still was not over.
We still did not have a birth certificate stating that we were Ana Cristina’s legal parents.
When we brought the adoption decree to the courthouse in Arriaga, we were informed that both parents needed Mexican citizenship documents in order to receive the birth certificate.
Although Ana already had Mexican credentials, I was still only a U.S. citizen.
That meant another long process.
For the next year and a half, I worked through the requirements to and became a Mexican citizen.
Her name officially became Ana Cristina Trejo.
At last, we were able to apply for a visa so we could travel together to the United States as a family.
Unfortunately, during that time the drug cartels were causing major violence along the U.S.–Mexico border. To our surprise, the U.S. immigration process required us to travel to Ciudad Juárez — one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico at the time.
Finally, six months after applying for the visa, we crossed the border together as a family.
The major part of our adversity was finally over.
The entire process had taken nearly ten years.
During that time, we were unable to legally travel to the United States together as a family because Cristi did not yet have a visa.
The financial struggles, legal battles, delays, and uncertainty were difficult.
But the emotional battles were even harder.
Was it worth it?
Absolutely.
One day, while processing Cristi’s birth certificate, a government worker looked at us and said:
“What a lucky child to have parents like you.”
I quickly replied:
“We are the ones who have been blessed to have a child like Cristi.”
Although we faced many years of adversity after receiving our daughter, we would not trade those difficult years for anything in the world.
Looking back now, we can clearly see that God used even those hardships for His purposes.
Not only did He bless us with an incredible daughter, but He also used that journey to lead us into new ministry opportunities, ripe harvest fields, and some of the most fruitful years of ministry we have ever experienced.