During the last ten years, members of the International Churches of Christ, mainly in the American churches, have adopted over 500 orphans. Adoption in Eurasia, however, is still a rare event. But the first steps have been already made, and we have recently witnessed the first couple of disciples from Eurasia, Michail and Eka Matitashvili, adopting a child.

Mikhail and Eka work as administrators of the Churches of Christ in the Central Asian republics. When they found out that they were not capable of having children, their dreams seemed to collapse. Would they never have anyone who would imitate them, who would call them Mom and Dad? But they believed that God would care of their needs.

They sought God's will for their life through the Bible and a lot of advice. One day Eka found a Scripture that talks about God's care for the orphans. Thinking about it, she concluded that only disciples could perfectly fulfill God's will. Having lived all her life without mother (she died when Eka was one year old), Eka remembered her childhood dream to adopt a child. After many prayers and a lot of advice, they decided to act.

At that moment, Mikhail and Eka lived and worked in Almata, Kazakstan. Since both of them were Georgian, Mikhail and Eka wanted to adopt a Georgian child. In addition, they prayed that he would resemble Mikhail and have a cheerful character. 

At the end of November 2001, they went to Tbilisi, Georgian Republic. After all formalities were met, they went to the orphanage. There were only three babies available for adoption. One of them started smiling when he saw Mikhail and Eka. They took him in their arms and did not want to leave him anymore. His name was Luke, and he was five months old. He was like Mikhail and was very cheerful. Since that day they visited Luke every day, dreaming to adopt him as soon as possible.

Mikhail and Eka kept praying and taking advice. They fell in love with the kid. But due to some document problems it was not clear if they could ever adopt him. The Department of Education transferred the case to the courts. Long weeks of expectation dragged on. In addition, Mikhail and Eka had some worries about the kid's health, because the child did not move well enough for his age. Mikhail and Eka prayed a lot, pouring out their worries to God. After medical survey, doctors said that the child was healthy, and his lack of agility could be removed by physical exercises. "God's answers to our prayers made it clear to us that we are on the right path," Mikhail says.

They continued to visit Luke every day and train him to move. Every time Mikhail and Eka went there, they specifically prayed for the changes in the child's behavior. Some time later, he started to recognize them. Soon he learnt to turn over. Weeks passed away, but the situation was still not resolved in the court. "We needed a lot of patience and perseverance," Mikhail and Eka recall. They hoped to adopt the child before the New Year. Unfortunately, it did not happen that soon. They were upset, but not in despair. On the 31st of December, they went to the orphanage to spent this special time with their future son. And after three more weeks Mikhail and Eka were officially allowed to adopt the kid. Finally, their dream to give all their warmth and love to the one, for whom they forever became loving parents, became a reality.