Plan A

Daphne Duncan
Daphne Duncan Estero, Florida

Adoption has always been part of our “Plan A”.  During our engagement, we would talk about our vision for our family and we both expressed the desire for biological and adopted children. We were married in March of 2014 and immediately felt led to grow our family.  After a couple years, we found out that the other part of our “Plan A” was no longer an option.  However, God gave us hearts for the orphans before we knew this. Adoption is in our identity and written in our stories as God’s children. It is an amazing picture of God’s radical love for us (John 14:18).  So in January 2017, we began the process of adopting from India.

Not too long ago we were blessed with the match of a little boy named Krishna (7).  We were praying God would bless us with siblings but when we prayed about Krishna, the Lord kept nudging us with a “why not?” (James 1:27). A few days later our case worker called with some news.  She said Krishna was not by himself and he has been living at the orphanage with his two younger sisters Nema (6) and Seema (5)!  Three’s a crowd so we prayed (Psalm 82:3)… then we said yes to adopting all three!

Yes, there are lots of challenges to face including the financial burden of adopting.  We considered less expensive ways to adopt, but God closed many doors until we walked through the open one leading to India.  We yearned to be obedient to the Lord and His calling while were unsure of how the funding would play out. So far the prayer for provision for our adoption has been a “yes” and “amen”!  We consider God’s Word in Philippians 4, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit… And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (v.17-19).  That being said, we have been awarded a $3000 matching grant from We Care for Orphans Adoption Fund, administered by Lifesong for Orphans! As we receive donations they will match them up to $3000 which is a  huge blessing and answer to prayer! In addition, we have applied and been gifted by other grants, are having a yard sale, and selling our clothes on an app to continue to raise funds.

As the Lord is divinely orchestrating our journey, He has also carefully knitted our hearts together to be more for Him in the waiting.  God has revealed more about His character to us in the waiting and has challenged us to cast our gaze on the cross rather than on any other hope… including the hope of being parents.  Our hope lies in Jesus and whenever God blesses us with the day we can be united with our little arrows, we hope to raise them up to be disciples who go out and make disciples.  May all praise and glory be to God for it is He “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Thank you for even reading our story and allowing us to share our lives with you.  God bless!


STRIPE charges an online processing fee (2.2% +.30 USD per transaction). Your donations will be decreased by this amount. You may also send a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo line please write “Family Name ####”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744.

Lifesong has been blessed with partners who underwrite all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.

  • In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong for Orphans. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.
  • Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Individual donations of $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.
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Raised to date by 34 people
 of  $15,000
Campaign Ended

My Story

Adoption has always been part of our “Plan A”.  During our engagement, we would talk about our vision for our family and we both expressed the desire for biological and adopted children. We were married in March of 2014 and immediately felt led to grow our family.  After a couple years, we found out that the other part of our “Plan A” was no longer an option.  However, God gave us hearts for the orphans before we knew this. Adoption is in our identity and written in our stories as God’s children. It is an amazing picture of God’s radical love for us (John 14:18).  So in January 2017, we began the process of adopting from India.

Not too long ago we were blessed with the match of a little boy named Krishna (7).  We were praying God would bless us with siblings but when we prayed about Krishna, the Lord kept nudging us with a “why not?” (James 1:27). A few days later our case worker called with some news.  She said Krishna was not by himself and he has been living at the orphanage with his two younger sisters Nema (6) and Seema (5)!  Three’s a crowd so we prayed (Psalm 82:3)… then we said yes to adopting all three!

Yes, there are lots of challenges to face including the financial burden of adopting.  We considered less expensive ways to adopt, but God closed many doors until we walked through the open one leading to India.  We yearned to be obedient to the Lord and His calling while were unsure of how the funding would play out. So far the prayer for provision for our adoption has been a “yes” and “amen”!  We consider God’s Word in Philippians 4, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit… And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (v.17-19).  That being said, we have been awarded a $3000 matching grant from We Care for Orphans Adoption Fund, administered by Lifesong for Orphans! As we receive donations they will match them up to $3000 which is a  huge blessing and answer to prayer! In addition, we have applied and been gifted by other grants, are having a yard sale, and selling our clothes on an app to continue to raise funds.

As the Lord is divinely orchestrating our journey, He has also carefully knitted our hearts together to be more for Him in the waiting.  God has revealed more about His character to us in the waiting and has challenged us to cast our gaze on the cross rather than on any other hope… including the hope of being parents.  Our hope lies in Jesus and whenever God blesses us with the day we can be united with our little arrows, we hope to raise them up to be disciples who go out and make disciples.  May all praise and glory be to God for it is He “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Thank you for even reading our story and allowing us to share our lives with you.  God bless!


STRIPE charges an online processing fee (2.2% +.30 USD per transaction). Your donations will be decreased by this amount. You may also send a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo line please write “Family Name ####”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744.

Lifesong has been blessed with partners who underwrite all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.

  • In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong for Orphans. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.
  • Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Individual donations of $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.
Read more

Verbal Approval on First Hearing!

December 17, 2019

WE PASSED COURT!!!!  This journey has had God’s hands all over it so I just have to share His goodness:

 
This morning we walked into the court room and sat with the children on the bench before the judge. She was having some harsh Hindi words with the couple ahead of us. When she was done with them she motioned for us still looking displeased. We thought God only You can do this right now. Our translator, Jyoti, was present and started to plead with the judge in Hindi. She asked some questions and our translator translated while the lawyer just stood there (I don’t think we would have passed without her there honestly and later she shared that the lawyers are afraid of the judge!). 5 minutes later we are walking out the door and Jyoti shared that we passed! But we still needed written approval from her (this was only verbal)…. we need writtens to proceed with custody and birth certificates, etc. which usually take 2 weeks and the courts are closing in 4 days. Later we discovered she asked Jyoti why an American couple would want to take a sibling group? And she said because we wanted the siblings to be together and want a big family and have no way of reproducing.  And then she began to say this is urgent because we keep getting sick because of the food here!! And if she didn’t grant custody we’d have to leave…Not true by the way and we had no idea she’d say that haha. And yes there’s another miracle!  She asked the judge for the official writtens before winter break and she said she’d try for tomorrow! Which means our forever day is lookinng like it will be my birthday!!! (Wednesday) Jyoti said she’s never seen anything like it and has been doing this 15 years. She said she told the orphanage it’s my birthday so everyone is pushing for the kids to go to us that day and throwing a ceremony!!  BUT GOD rich in mercy and grace! Way Maker! Chain Breaker! Our children have a forever family and home. To God be the glory forever 
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Written Approval!

December 17, 2019

WE HAVE OFFICIAL WRITTEN ORDER!!! Steven and I will go to the orphanage tomorrow and be united as a family forever with our kiddos!!! Woo wooo! Yay God!  We hear the judge may be attending!

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Flying to India for Christmas!

December 7, 2019

We will be in India for our court date December 16th. It has been an answer to prayer to be with our kids for Christmas. Now we are praying for favor from the judge so we can bring our three littles home. 

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Reuniting our Sibling Group

October 9, 2019

We found out that our final paperwork (the paperwork that was lost) reached Seema’s orphanage yesterday! Praise God!  Now our next goal is to get the kids reunited. We hope to get the kids reunited for several reasons. Once the kids are together we can begin to connect with them through video chat which will make the transition of adoption a little smoother for them. Secondly, it is important that the siblings reconnect and begin to bond again since they have been separated for a long while now. Lastly, we would like to hire an English tutor to come teach the children while we are waiting on the courts.  God has His hand all over this! We continue to pray His will be done! That He have the glory!

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Waiting on Article 5

May 16, 2019

These days we have been waiting on 3 Article 5s (one for each child) which we must obtain from USCIS.  We are also currently waiting on a court date from India which will give us more of a timeline.  A timeline!? We have not had the luxury of knowing when anything will happen throughout our adoption.  It has been 2.5 years of unknown and waiting.  This will be the first known date in the process.  Knowing when we might be united with our kiddos is so exciting! 

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God. Is. So. Good!

April 29, 2019

Praise God! We have raised 10% of our total funds needed!!! Prasing Him all the day long.  We have had an overwhelming amount of support and love.  We had a big scare lately with the paperwork process.  Yet, the Lord was faithful.  He showed us we are not in control (even though we have a lot to do to prepare)… that He’s got this.  Our imigration paperwork expired the other day and we still had no word about our updated paperwork we sent a month ago.  I called Homeland Security only to discover they have NO RECORD of us! Are you kidding me?! I sent a fat check, all the documents filled out perfectly, and some blood, sweat, and tears just in case.  Anyway no record.  I cried if this was step 15 of the adoption process we were back at step 5 with these papers expiring.  I went to Steven’s work (poor man) and wept.  He hugged me and after praying He suggested I get a starbucks… it was a pity Starbucks but I’ll take it.  Later that day I began checking the mail praying for a miracle and saying “I trust You, Lord” (eventhough I was checking the mailbox like a mad woman).  Oh boy I am a work in progess you guys… then I realized no mail again today and my heart sunk back into the pit of my stomach.  Then!  Steven came in the door with mail in hand!  No way I checked 300 times.  I saw several envelopes with the Homeland Security stamp!  I tore them opening knowing God was good and he wanted to show me in this moment.  The answer to prayer was YES and AMEN!!! We were approved for our childrens’ three visas and update for immigration!  ARE YOU SERIOUS GOD?!  God has our babies, He has our process, and He has us in His BIG GIANT hands… cant wait to see His next move.  I think I’ll let go of my kungfoo grip on our adoption.  I’ll try to be like Steven who is so calm an cool and makes it all look so cool and carefree.  God is so friggin good!

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Approved Home Study!

April 12, 2019

We have received our updated home study approving us for three children! We have also received word that our documents from our kids orphanage are on the way for us to sign and notarize. Once these are returned they will schedule a court hearing for us!

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UPDATE

April 6, 2019

We are currently awaiting a home study update and filing for our children’s Visas through USCIS. Please pray God works through our process to unite us with our kiddos. 

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Comments

$220

Hidden

Feb 13, 2020

$50

Sarah

Dec 24, 2019

“Love you and am so blessed for your family”

$100

Mary

Dec 24, 2019

“So Happy for you, Steven and your new family❣️”

$50

Candice

Dec 18, 2019

“Daphne, you are pure love! Grateful to know you.”

$500

Paula and Lanny

Dec 18, 2019

“We love you guys and are so honored to get to be a small financial piece of what we hope is bringing these babies home soon!”

$100

Priscilla

Dec 17, 2019

“Reading back through your journey brought happy tears. Love you guys! ❤”

$250

Jorge

Dec 8, 2019

“Love you guys! You are both a true inspiration!!”

$50

NZ

Oct 11, 2019

“Praise God for the Duncan’s and their giving hearts!”

$500

Lanny and Paula

Oct 11, 2019

“We love you guys and are praying and hopeful!!”

$200

Melanie

Oct 10, 2019

$50

Laura

Oct 9, 2019

$50

Aaron & Laurel

Sep 11, 2019

$100

Mona

Aug 28, 2019

“May God be with your journey to get the kiddos! So proud of both of you. Love Grammy”

$500

Nancy & Rick

Jul 23, 2019

“Daphne and Steven, Our pleasure to welcome 3 new members into our extended family. Love, Nancy and Rick Norland”

$100

Ashley

Jun 11, 2019

“Dear Daphne and Steven, We wish you all the best on your parenting adventure and we could not be happier for you. Love, Ashley, Jeff, Jack, and Daisy”

$210

Bethany

May 31, 2019

“So excited to see God grow your family and for you to be parents who teach your little ones what the love of Jesus truly means. I am praying for your journey and for your family! ❤”

$100

Barbara

May 29, 2019

“🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️❤️”

$100

Savannah

May 29, 2019

“Jeff and I are over-the-moon for both of you! Your life and the lives of these children are already changed forever. We can't wait to meet them. God Bless you and your beautifully growing family!”

$100

Amanda

May 27, 2019

“We cannot wait to meet your kids. We love you so much and love them already!!!! Love, Amanda, Shawn, Reese, Berkley, and Lulu”

$100

Laura

May 25, 2019

“We are so excited for you! Praying for all of you, and for God to bless this adoption and your new family of five! ❤️”

$500

Kathleen

May 13, 2019

$25

Friend

May 12, 2019

“God is Good”

$100

Joyce

May 10, 2019

“Lots of love, Joyce and Charlie”

$100

Sophia

May 9, 2019

“So inspired by your story and reminded again that God is so, so good! Can't wait to see pictures of these three beautiful children with you.”

$300

Meagan

Apr 29, 2019

“We are so excited for you, your family and your beautiful children! We are praying for you and sending so much love!”

$250

George & Sandy

Apr 27, 2019

“Sandy and I are so excited for you two......we will keep you in our prayers. May God Bless you on your journey! 🙏 Love George & Sandy Larsen”

$50

Tom

Apr 23, 2019

“Congrats! So proud of you both!”

$1,000

Hidden

Apr 21, 2019

“Deuteronomy 31:8”

$50

Maureen

Apr 13, 2019

“Friend of Lindsay OBrien”

$300

Hidden

Apr 10, 2019

$100

Gene & Linda

Apr 9, 2019

“Heard about your new family from Don - we wish you best of luck and happiness”

$1,000

Martha and David

Apr 7, 2019

$100

Donald

Apr 6, 2019

“Let’s get that matching grant for the Duncan 5! Krishna, Nema, Seema, Daphne and Steven....”

$50

Hidden

Apr 6, 2019

“Welcome Seema, Nema, and Krishna!”