It took Robin Nail three weeks to locate the woman who’d left 15-month-old girls at a Kenyan clinic. The malnourished twins each weighed just 10 pounds. “They’re going to die on me,” their grandmother wept. “Please take them.”
Nail, a medical missionary who’d repeatedly seen dire needs lead to desperate measures, tried to find the twins a home. When nothing materialized, she realized God was calling her to adopt them—a daunting prospect for someone with grown children. She sensed Him saying, “You can ignore this call, but you’ll miss one of the greatest blessings of your life.”
Previously, Nail had been an entrepreneur enjoying the comforts and luxuries afforded by success. But living overseas, she witnessed immense need and realized her resources could instead help others. God used her experiences to bring about “a different mindset—a complete turnaround.”
Now, Nail and the twins live in a double-wide trailer on her parents’ land in Alabama. With refocused priorities that match Christ’s—namely, widows, orphans, and the poor—she helps fund a food program for 70 children in Achuth, the twins’ hometown. Her extended family also sends In Touch devotionals and Messenger devices to Kenya, and the girls’ grandmother, who’s unable to read, is among those blessed to have an audio Bible.
She’s also “so thankful to be able to see [her granddaughters] growing up,” says Nail, who makes sure that the girls keep up with her on a regular basis. Video calls and a yearly visit help them maintain a meaningful relationship with their birth family. So, while in one way, Nail has far less than she once did, she has abundantly more than she could ever have imagined.
