An Easter homecoming for Lillebit-Joy Serkalem

Before Lillebet-Joy Serkalem West was even born in December of 2008, God placed her in Greg and Lisa West’s hearts and minds. They had never met her. They did not know who she was. She wasn’t even born yet, but they knew they had a child in Ethiopia that God wanted them to have. She was still in the womb in February of 2008, when Greg came home from a conference at Moody Bible Institute. Christian author and speaker, Dennis Rainey was speaking.

“He asked how many of us were adopted. About 10-15 stood up,” Greg said.

Galatians 4:4-7 talks about adoption through God’s eyes. “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the  Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (NIV)

When that was read, everybody at the conference could stand. They all had been adopted.

“God grafted us into his family,” said Greg. “He is doing that right now. Joy has been grafted into our family. This is a beautiful picture of God’s love and how he has transformed us because when you come into His family, you are completely transformed. Things change in your life. That is so true for our little Joy. She is worlds away from the world that she knew and was born into and now she can start new.”

In October of 2009, Suburbanite readers first heard about Greg and Lisa’s dream to bring little Joy home. 

“We had no idea how it was going to happen,” said Greg. “We needed $25,000. People thought we were insane to go to Africa to adopt a kid that we hadn’t even met. We didn’t know where we were going to get the money, but God did. I always say, ‘When God calls you to it, He will see you through it.’”

“God really showed up after The Suburbanite article came out,” Greg said.

The couple had a fundraiser shortly after, raising $3,000.

“We had in the article that we had someone matching dollar-for-dollar so we had another $3,000 there,” he said.

Greg went to the bank to deposit the money into their West Family Adoption Fund they had set up at Charter Bank.

“I made the deposit and the teller gave me the printout,” said Greg. “I told her something was wrong. There was too much money in the account. She checked and said, ‘No.’ I asked her to print everything out and she said, ‘Somebody deposited $4,000 in your account today.’”

“I was so excited. I was dancing and laughing in the bank,” Greg laughed.

Greg and Lisa had all the money they needed to pick up their daughter.

“When Lisa and I were in the hotel, we said to each other that we couldn’t believe that we were in Africa getting ready to meet our daughter that God chose for us,” said Greg. “It was mind boggling. God wanted us to have that child and He provided a way.”

The name Lillebet comes from a movie the West’s saw before they brought her home.

“It means, a little bit of heaven,” Greg said. “She is our little bit of heaven.”

When the couple first met their daughter, it was in the orphanage she had been living in. They spent a few hours with her for a few days before they were able to take her to their hotel.

“We could actually see her start to develop a relationship with us,” Greg said. “She started giggling and laughing with us. She started saying dadada and I ran and got the camcorder. I was laughing and crying.”

At seven months, Joy was taken to the Holt orphanage by her 18-year-old mother who was in deep poverty.

“Her father is unknown,” Greg said. “She was dropped off at the orphanage in Gerome, the capital city of Ethiopia.”

There were approximately 60 children in the home and little Joy had about seven children in her room.

“The orphanage was very beautiful and clean,” Greg stated. “Everything they did was first class.”

The West family was able to visit Joy’s birthmother before they left.

“We were able to go where she was born,” Greg said. “Her birth mother was very sweet and nervous. She smiled and hung her head down low. She was a sweetheart.”

They showed recent pictures of Joy to her birthmother.

“She kissed the screen a couple times,” Greg said. “It was very hard and very sad. We hugged her and told her we would bring her up in the nurture of God. It was one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. We could tell she really loved her daughter. My wife and Joy’s birthmother hugged. They cried together.”

They plan on celebrating her culture and heritage.

“We will tell her all about her birth mom,” Greg stated.

They asked the birth mom why she named her Serkalem (Joy).

“She said that it means happiness at all times and really that is how we feel having her,” Greg said. “We are just overjoyed. We have Joy. That is what she brings us now.”

The couple have four children of their own ranging in ages from 11 to 19.

“Last night, my son, Christian, who is 17, was rocking Lillebet while she was sleeping. I thought how much God is teaching my biological kids too,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I have never been in love with God more than I am right now. Just to know that he loves us so much to send us over there and to love someone else. It is so symbolic of His love. God has adopted us into His family and the parallels there are so beautiful. I would encourage anybody to consider it.”