There is a student that is
different than most at Avila University. His main language isn’t English like
the others. He has only been in the United States for a little over two years.
His name is Yhonny Sterling and he has a pretty impressive life.
He has lived in Pacasmayo, Perú for
most of his life. He has four other siblings that have been with him through
out his entire life. When he was young, both his mother and father died of
tuberculosis. Him and his family were then found by a missionary in the mountains
and brought to the orphanage in town. It wasn’t anything that he wanted to do,
but felt that the orphanage would be the best place for him and his family to
survive. He took over the role as the father figure because his siblings didn’t
have anyone anymore. He had been praying for most of the time he was there that
someone would give him a family. He was longing for someone else to be the
parents and for him to be able to live his life. A missionary from the United States came down
to the orphanage and invested in the lives of the kids down there. Yhonny
became really close with him and they were able to talk about things that
Yhonny wanted. He told this missionary that he wanted someone to adopt them and
to help him accomplish this. The missionary quickly sent out an email to
friends and family from home with pictures of this family and asked if anyone
was willing to be their mom and their dad. Adopting five kids was a big
responsibility for people and he didn’t think anyone would really take on the
challenge. “I was up for the challenge, I knew that we would be a huge family
and that all things would work for the better.” Said Scott Sterling, the new dad
of all the siblings.
A couple of weeks later the email
that was sent got a reply. A couple from Blue Springs, MO said that they would
like to be the parents of this sibling set. The process was able to begin and
it was long and hard. “We didn’t know what would happen, we just knew that we
wanted them and wanted them to have a better life. “ said Lauren Sterling, the
new mother of the siblings. Yhonny didn’t know how long this was going to take
or who these people were that wanted them. The unknown seemed frightening to
him and he wasn’t sure what to expect. All that he knew was that he wanted to
take care of his siblings and do what was best and this seemed like the best opportunity
for them.
Two years pass and there is still
no real improvement in the adoption process. Yhonny began to think that they
weren’t coming and that it was just a joke. But as soon as he began thinking
this way, something amazing had happened. He was playing outside and all of a
sudden, an American couple walk into the orphanage. It was his new family.
There was a
rush of emotions as he began to think about. Would he like it in the United
States? Would leaving what he knew as home be okay? There were many others that
he chooses not to go back to.
He was
starting his new life. It was his first time on an airplane. It was the first
time he had been out in other areas of Perú. He remembers being excited for the
opportunity to be a new him. He was able to just relax and let someone else be
there for his siblings while he got to be a kid again.
Yhonny and
his family were here in the United States for just a little over two months
when something amazing happened. A show in New York, called The View, wanted
him and his whole family to come there to talk about adoption. They flew them
all out there and had them on the show. While on the show, the president of
Avila University presented him and all his siblings a $500,000 scholarship to
share between them all. He explained that this was one of the coolest
experiences and biggest blessings that had happened.
He didn’t realize
all that would happen since moving to the US. One of his brothers had an
ailment where he couldn’t walk or run well. At night, he could barely move his
body. Yhonny’s brother had been living with this since he was six years old. After
a few appointments, a doctor found the solution that changed everything. “I
never thought that I would change, I just thought this was my life and I would
deal with it as best as I could.” Said Yhonny’s brother Gerson. His brother just
has to take a pill a couple of times a day and now he can do anything he wants
to. He now gets to play soccer and do things he always wished he could.
Yhonny says
that there is many more blessings that have happened since moving but that he
just gave us a few of them. He’s thankflul for all that he has been given and
can’t wait for what is to come.
There was a video done about Yhonny Sterling's family. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/lEeAylXm3xA
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