Meet our August '25 Featured Family: The Ealy Family
1. Tell us more about your family.
Our story is one of faith and adventure. We first met during a mission trip to Colombia in the summer of 2017. That summer changed our lives — not only did it lead to our marriage in 2020, but it also deepened our love for global missions and our desire to serve the impoverished around the world. Since then, we’ve returned to Colombia ten times and continue to support local churches and outreach efforts there. We were both born and raised in Florida and still live close to our families. Our church community has been a constant in our lives for over ten years, and we feel incredibly blessed by the love and support surrounding us — especially now, as we step into adoption and parenthood. Our Christian faith is foundational, and our missions experiences have instilled in us a deep love for the nations and a passion to serve the underprivileged.
2. Tell us more about your heart for adoption.
Early in our relationship, we talked openly about our willingness to adopt if we ever felt led to do so. After two years of unexpected hardship we felt God’s peace and leading in the decision to adopt, even though we had no close connections to anyone who had adopted. Our hearts were especially drawn to international adoption, given our connection to Colombia and Cathy’s Brazilian heritage. For years we have loved serving impoverished communities, so we knew we wanted to adopt a child from a hard place — like those that have touched our hearts throughout our lives.
3. Tell us more about your adoption journey so far.
Before submitting our agency application, a friend surprised us with a $1,000 donation — an affirmation that we were on the right path. After learning more about our hopes for a child, our agency referred us to the Hungarian program as our best fit. About two weeks after being accepted by our agency, Cathy received a call from our caseworker. She said, “We think we have the perfect little girl for your family.” The more we learned about J and the more we prayed, the more we felt peace and confidence about pursuing her. We have been soft-matched with her since November 2024. Since then, the process has been both challenging and deeply rewarding. We've raised over $20,000, completed our home study, and received United States Citizenship and Immigration Services approval. We sent our dossier to Hungary recently and hope to travel in October.
4. Tell us more about the child you are adopting.
J is a happy 5 year-old. She is very friendly and loves to play. She loves animals, dolls and puzzles.
Prayer Request:
Pray for strength and encouragement for the adoption process. Pray that God would prepare our hearts, home, and marriage in every way needed so that we will be ready to receive J. Pray that our adoption of J would inspire others to adopt and that many would know and understand the Gospel because of her adoption.
We will be donating $1 from every bag of coffee sold this month to the Ealy's Connected Hearts Ministry fund and we'd love for YOU to partner with this family to adopt their precious child! You can donate directly to them through their Connected Hearts Ministry link, where 100% of the donation will be used for adoption-related expenses: https://give.connectedheartsministry.org/campaign/ealy-family-adoption-fund/c701903
