A Washington, D.C. couple was beginning to enjoy life as empty nesters when they learned of a family crisis. Five siblings, all ages 10 and under, needed a home.
Tyrone and Karen Mack prayed, “Lord, what can we do?” and then agreed to adopt them all, Live Action News reports.
Now, the 55-year-olds are parents to young children once again. The five siblings plus the couple’s six grown children make the Macks parents of 11.
“… we decided to take all the kids and keep them together. I guess that’s what God wanted us to do,” Karen told the Washington Post.
On Nov. 18, 10-year-old Heaven, 7-year-old Chanel, 6-year-old Hakeem, 5-year-old Hayden and 2-year-old Jeremiah officially became members of the Mack family, according to the report.
They are the biological children of Tyrone’s niece, who has drug abuse and mental health problems and could no longer care for them. Tyrone said their biological fathers have not been around to take care of them either.
Initially, the Macks brought the girls and Jeremiah into their home, while the other boys were placed in separate foster homes, according to the report. But the Christian couple said they did not want the siblings to be separated.
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“It was important that we kept them together,” Tyrone told the Washington Post. “So many people sit back and don’t give their all to kids that are not theirs. But if we didn’t step and take our place in their life, they wouldn’t be society ready. And these children need it more so now because they are our future. They are our Congress. They are our president.”
Raising five young children comes with many challenges, but the Macks are committed. A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the family buy a van.
Many pro-life and Christian families are stepping up and adopting children in need. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 437,500 children in foster care in the U.S. in 2016, an increase in 2015. Many children in foster care return to their homes, so that total is not the number of children who need forever homes. However, HHS reported that, in that same period, adoptions from foster care increased from 54,000 to 57,000.
