From Empty Arms to Full Hearts

Phillip Congelliere and his wife, Alex, felt devastated and emotionally broken down. After years of infertility and intense desire to build a family, their situation seemed impossible.

Prior to launching Saddleback Aliso Viejo as the campus pastor, Phillip served at Saddleback Rancho Capistrano. On Mother’s Day, he handed out flowers from the stage to honor moms attending the service. But between services, Phillip recalled, “I remember being down in my hands just crying that I couldn’t give Alex the family we dreamed of starting.”

During the second service, he was supposed to be near the baptismal, but noticed a family on the patio and walked over to greet them. He found out it was their first time at Saddleback and looked at each one of them and said, “Do you know how much you’re loved?”

After quick hugs, they moved on. James, the Rancho campus pastor, called Phillip into the green room. “Shut the door,” he said as they sat down. James held out a prayer request card that was handed in that morning. “My daughter is pregnant. She’s looking for a family to adopt her baby girl,” Phillip read. With tears in his eyes, he looked up. “Oh, and by the way,” James said, “it was the family you just hugged out on the patio.”

It wasn’t long until Phillip and Alex were told the news. The birth family wanted them to be the parents. Phillip and Alex’s daughter, Kinsley Grace, was born soon after that very special Mother’s Day.

Every family that walks down the road to adoption has a unique story. Often, the journey leading to adoption is filled with tears, doubt, and frustration — much like Phillip and Alex experienced. Saddleback’s Orphan Care Initiative works to empower people to care for orphans by bringing them into loving, lifelong families of their own.

“This is a one-of-a-kind story, but it brings the message that God is at work. There are children of all ages needing families, and he never forgets the need of the orphan,” says Max McGhee of Saddleback’s Orphan Care Initiative.

Click HERE if you'd like to learn more about Saddleback's Orphan Care Initiative.