{"id":65259,"date":"2015-06-24T16:36:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T20:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=65259"},"modified":"2015-06-24T16:43:37","modified_gmt":"2015-06-24T20:43:37","slug":"baby-found-trash-bag-pure-joy-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/baby-found-trash-bag-pure-joy-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby with Down syndrome, found in a trash bag, is a joy to his adoptive family"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dmocXJ5Fn3A&w=560&h=315]<\/p>\n

\u201cMama, where is you?\u201d calls Eddie. He\u2019s looking for his mother who is being interviewed for a documentary<\/a> about how Eddie came to be in her life. It\u2019s a beautiful story, but one that begins with tragedy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Eddie was born in Ecuador, but he was abandoned, and discarded with the trash. A carpenter, who had walked out of his shop, noticed that a garbage bag next to the dumpster was moving. Inside was a baby boy with Down syndrome. A policeman, also named Eddie, brought the baby to a local orphanage for children with special needs. Eddie was named after him.<\/p>\n

A few months later, Rachel and Jim Van Eerden, and the two eldest of their 10\u00a0children, traveled to Ecuador on a mission trip. On their last night, they took a tour of the\u00a0orphanage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we were on the tour, my eyes met this little baby,\u201d said Rachel Van Eerden in the documentary. \u201cIt was just love at first sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0family\u00a0decided to adopt him. As they told the News and Record<\/a>, the adoption took years and was full of challenges, but the family was sure of their decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur faith played a huge role,\u201d Rachel Van Eerden told the News and Record. \u201cThat kept us strong through the whole process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many well-meaning friends wondered what the family was thinking\u2014 parents to 10\u00a0children, spending years trying to adopt a child with special needs from a foreign country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what people, their perception probably is: that we, we have a lot of children. And our hands are full,\u201d said Rachel Van Eerden. \u201cWhy would we want to take in a child with special needs? Of course, there are sacrifices. But what Eddie pours into us far outweighs any sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Van Eerden recalls one such moment when Eddie showed his true gift of love, and why he earned the title \u201cambassador of love\u201d from his family:<\/p>\n

“We were at church and in a crowd of people he made a beeline to somebody just so that he could hug this person. And at the end of that hug, the person started weeping. And something none of us had discerned. This person\u2019s heart was broken and Eddie had discerned that.”<\/p>\n

Eddie, now 10\u00a0years old, is pure joy, sharing hugs and smiles, and making friends wherever he goes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe points us to Christ,\u201d says Rachel Van Eerden through tears. \u201cI want to be a worthy mom of Edison Mateo Van Eerden\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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It\u2019s a beautiful story, but one that begins with tragedy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":65334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[3836,3837],"yoast_head":"\nBaby with Down syndrome, found in a trash bag, is a joy to his adoptive family - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/baby-found-trash-bag-pure-joy-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Baby with Down syndrome, found in a trash bag, is a joy to his adoptive family - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dmocXJ5Fn3A&w=560&h=315] \u201cMama, where is you?\u201d calls Eddie. 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