Caitlin knew Justin was the “one” when he insisted they pray together. “We had just started dating, and I shared with Justin about a challenge I was facing and asked him to pray for me. I was not expecting him to say, ‘Let’s pray right now.’”
Justin was raised in church. His parents are Christians, and he was saved at age five. He credits his father for helping shape his faith. “Dad drove a Charlotte city bus and shared Jesus with the people he met. He inspires me to live my faith boldly.”
Caitlin gave her heart to Jesus when she was sixteen. She connected with a church, sang in the praise band, and thrived until she went away for college. An abusive relationship led her to despair. “I remember that I felt I had nothing and nobody cared. But I prayed knowing the Lord was near and that He still loved me.”
Caitlin ended the relationship, returned to church, and found everything she needed was waiting for her. She grew in faith and saw God do amazing things in her life. “It was a time when I truly experienced His grace and mercy.”
Caitlin’s mom and her siblings were all adopted. She saw firsthand its importance. “I always have had a heart for adoption and fostering sat on my heart. It was something I had to do.”
Caitlin was 27 when she and Justin met. She was tired of dating for the sake of dating; she wanted more. When the couple became serious about their relationship, Caitlin needed Justin to know her heart about fostering and adoption.
“I had not thought about it before,” he says. “I knew I wanted children and was open to it. I remember thinking, ‘Why not?’”
The couple were engaged at six months and married 18 months later. After trying to have a baby, they learned the disappointing news that they were unable to have children.
“It was hard, but the Lord had already prepared our hearts,” Caitlin says, remembering the foster and adopt conversation of their dating days.
In the summer of 2022, Caitlin felt God speaking to her, telling her she was called to be a mom. “We had come to the place after four years of our marriage that Justin and I would not have kids. But I wanted to have a family and Justin agreed.”
A friend was fostering, and she recommended Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH). A phone call started the process, and in a few months, the couple was fully licensed. They thought younger children would be best, and boys preferable. “I knew boys,” Justin says, “I knew nothing about girls.”
In March 2023, the couple welcomed two sisters and their younger brother into their home. The children had been in foster care for a year and a half in multiple homes. They had suffered great hardship. The trauma had been severe, and it was determined the eight-year-old brother needed special therapeutic care. The Stinsons focused on creating a home for the sisters.
The girls needed help in school. They had changed schools several times in just months, and they were unsure, often feeling like misfits. Alicia, an honor student, experienced her scores falling. With loving care, those things soon improved.
“They began to thrive,” Caitlin says. “You could see it in their faces. There was joy instead of hurt and confusion. They were sponges. They opened their hearts and learned to trust God.”
In July of this year, the couple completed the sisters’ adoption paperwork. The process was finalized on September 10. The family agreed they wanted to continue fostering. “Alicia’s eyes lit up when we discussed fostering again,” Caitlin remembers. “She was excited and wanted to help other kids like Elena and her.”
Caitlin and Justin knew they would need more living space to continue fostering. A flyer landed in their hands about BCH’s new ministry at River Hill Refuge.
River Hill Refuge near Shelby consists of three BCH-owned homes dedicated to the care of foster children: Westmoreland Family Home, Starlite Home, and Tucker Home. Starlite Home was made possible by a lead gift by Marsha and Tom Huskey of Whittier and is the second home to open. The Westmoreland Family Home’s foster family, the Biggerstaffs, were in place before the April 27th dedication this year.
“It is an answer to our prayers,” Caitlin says. “Fostering children at Starlite Home gives us the opportunity to continue to do what God has called us to do.”
To learn more about BCH’s foster care and adoption program, visit bchfamily.org/programs.
Written by Jim Edminson, Editor of Charity & Children
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