Our Agency

Me being me, I was doing all kinds of research on the internet. Holt International was obviously a very well-respected agency with a great history as one of the first in international adoption, and we liked the fact that they were based in Oregon.


All God’s Children International (AGCI), based in Portland, was the agency that Jeff and his wife had used, and they spoke very highly of their experience.

While surfing one day, I discovered that Holt was having an informational meeting in Corvallis two days later, which happened to fall on my birthday. We decided to go.

Molly and the boys picked my up at work early and we went to Red Robin (the standard Cotter birthday dinner place) and then went to the meeting at the Corvallis library. There were two other couples there, along with a Holt social worker, and a family who had adopted from Korea. The boys were incredibly good for an hour and a half in a small room without much to do. We were impressed with Holt’s history and professionalism.

Logan had a field trip to the zoo in Portland on June 7, and I called AGCI and asked if we could come by their office afterwards. We did, and we met with Keri and Lavi, who spoke with us about adoption and gave us a tour of the AGCI office.

AGCI is a non-profit Christian orphan care and adoption agency committed to offering help and hope to orphan children around the world. Since 1991 AGCI has worked to unite families through international adoption as well as providing orphan care, and has united over 2000 children with their new families.

AGCI had a fascinating beginning chronicled in founder Jan Beazley's book, "Strength of Mercy." AGCI continues to make a difference in the lives of thousands of children who continue to live in orphanages, through programs such as Hannah's Hope, AGCI's children's home, sponsorship programs, and AGCI-sponsored mission trips.

AGCI serves orphaned children in the countries of Bulgaria, China, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Nepal, Ethiopia, and Romania.

Both of us felt that AGCI was the agency for us. We were impressed with their commitment to children and with the fact that they are very openly a Christian adoption agency.

We returned the AGCI application on June 14, 2007.

Just like that, our adoption adventure began.

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AGCI’s Mission Statement

Reaching with Compassion….to lift orphans into the embrace of waiting families.

Reaching with Commitment….to bring relief and hope to those left behind.

Reaching with Courage….across borders and boundaries to display the strength of God’s mercy around the world.

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