Below is an article that appeared in the Maryville Daily Times newspaper on Christmas day.  I was sure how long the paper would keep the article on line so I thought I would post it here as well.  It tells the short version of our adoption story and some of the amazing things that God has done in our lives.  Read and Enjoy!

Article published Dec 25, 2006

Family grows through faith

By Melanie Tucker

of The Daily Times Staff

The Vaughn family of Friendsville stretched across the oceans, tapped on the shoulders of three abandoned children and led the way home.

A family of four who had enough love left over for three small strangers.

A family who did what they did because they said God tapped them on the shoulder first. Barry and Georgia Vaughn believe God led them to the Sparrow's Nest Orphanage in Latvia.

They are now the proud parents of three Latvian children — Anna, 7, David, 6, and Bennett, 3, siblings who were neglected and abandoned by their natural parents in this former Soviet Union republic.

The trio has been welcomed by two new sisters — Stephanie, 16, and Courtney, 11 — who are second moms, playmates, tutors and soul mates.A journey to remember

Sitting in their living room one evening this week, the Vaughns traced their steps over the past six years that ultimately resulted in this expanded family.

"I guess we seriously started thinking about adoption four or five years ago," Barry Vaughn said. "We have been involved in the youth ministry at church for years and have always had a heart for youth."

The Vaughns have also sponsored children overseas for a long time.

Prayer, the Vaughns explained, was the first step. Barry said they earnestly prayed that God would show them which children were meant for them.

As members of Fairview United Methodist Church, the Vaughns became familiar with Latvia because of a relationship with a United Methodist Church in the European country. Church members traveled there for mission work and would often come back and make reports to the congregation.

In 2000 Barry and Georgia became part of a team that was led to plant a new church — The Sycamore Tree United Methodist Church in Maryville.

"The whole adoption thing kept coming up," Barry said. Then one day at church, a group that had just returned from Latvia told about a women's prison in the capital of Riga where young children were housed there with their mothers.

Barry said it was a defining moment.

"It hit Georgia and me like a ton of bricks," he said. "I described it like God tapped us both on the shoulder at the same time and said, 'That is where I want you to get your kids.'"

Meanwhile in a Latvian orphanage, Anna had been doing her part. The Vaughns said this little girl, who served as mom and protector for her two younger brothers, had been praying for two years that God would send an American family to adopt them. Daily devotions from a believer in the power of prayer.Adding on

Georgia said they had initially decided to adopt two boys between the ages of 3 and 10. They wanted to adopt older children because most everyone else was looking to adopt babies. And the Vaughns were certain they didn't want to break up any siblings.

Taking on raising boys when she had only raised girls. Dealing with a foreign government and culture and language barriers. Georgia said those things definitely crept into her thinking during this process.

"I am too old to have more kids," Georgia said she kept telling herself. "The house is too small. We already have kids. All those reasons. But God said, 'Too bad.'"

Two people in Latvia were key in this successful union. Apolonija Berzina became the Vaughns' attorney, and Gita Mednis, pastor of Riga First United Methodist Church, helped them with translation and transportation.

Anna was already pretty fluent in English, but David and Bennett were not. The two oldest attended private school while living in the orphanage. They called it home for three years.

The family began filing the necessary paperwork for U.S. government approval to adopt, in November 2004. In November 2005, they turned in the completed paperwork from the U.S. government to the Latvian government and were approved to adopt three children up to the age of 10.

Barry, who works for Hewlett Packard, had a business trip planned to England right after that and decided to make a side visit to Riga, Latvia. He spent a week there, getting to know those responsible for their case.

Sparrow's Nest Orphanage is located in Jelgava, near Riga, and is American-owned. It provides care for orphaned, abandoned and neglected children in the former Soviet Union.

In Latvia, families don't get to choose the children they adopt. The government ministry chooses or offers the children, Barry said. The Vaughns were simply trusting God to make the connection.

After hearing from Berzina that three siblings were available for adoption, the Vaughns — all of them — boarded a flight to Latvia last March and spent two weeks living there and interacting with the children.

"It was the dead of winter," Georgia recalled. Barry's parents, Wayne and Rita Vaughn, made the trip as well.

Barry would make four trips in all.

Anna, David and Bennett had been left to fend for themselves by their natural parents. The Latvian government tried working with them but ultimately severed their rights. Georgia and Barry are now the only recorded parents for the children by Latvian law.Welcome home

The adoption was officially approved in November 2005 and the children came home on the most appropriate of days — July 4 of this year.

Their plane landed in Washington, D.C., as fireworks lit up the night sky. Barry said by Latvian law, the children became U.S. citizens once they stepped onto U.S. soil.

Anna and David are students at Friendsville Elementary. Bennett attends preschool. Stephanie is a junior at William Blount High and Courtney is in sixth grade at William Blount Middle.

"I will have one starting kindergarten and one starting college," Georgia said.

Barry and Georgia are overjoyed at how their two daughters have accepted and nurtured their new siblings. There have been adjustments on their part, ones they make willingly. Courtney said she still finds time to herself. "I can get my homework done after they go to bed," she said.

Stephanie plays the guitar and wrote a song about this adoption journey. It's called "From the Other Side of the World." It talks about the strong faith Anna had as she prayed for a new family.

The noise level has increased in this Friendsville home. The Vaughns have made their first trip ever to the emergency room (Bennett knocked out his front tooth) and the old family car has been traded in for a roomier Suburban. McDonald's is now a favorite destination, at least of some members of the family.

There were so many pieces of the puzzle that came together for the Vaughns: their church family's support; the help from Latvian student Kristine Vainovska who came to Maryville College and who lived with the family for a week after Anna, David and Bennett arrived; Berzina the lawyer; Mednis the translator; Barry's parents, and Georgia's parents — J.L. and Martha Goins.

"This was all orchestrated by God," Barry wrote in an e-mail. "We want to show others what He can do and that there is hope even with all the bad things that go on in our world. I always tell people that our story didn't end when we brought the children home and that it's just beginning and that God has a purpose in all that He's done in our family. I can't wait to see what else He has in store."