Florah's Story
In 2003, while working with another pastor, the Ingrams were asked to assist with a 10-year-old child whose mother had just passed away from AIDS. The child was a cousin of the pastor. The family was passing her from home to home and her schooling was sporadic, at best.
In November of 2004, a year after hearing about Florah, Todd went on a trip out to the bush with the pastor. Todd was introduced to the family and saw Florah for the first time. She was caring for the livestock and doing chores around the huts. She was not enrolled in school at the time. Todd noticed many of the young men already starting to eye her.
If she remained where she was, Florah likely would have been sold to an older man as a second wife, probably as early as age 14. (Florah's mother was just 15 years old when she gave birth to Florah.) She would remain uneducated and would be at high risk of contracting AIDS because of the high level of sexual promiscuity and a culture of multiple wives in Kenya.
Todd and Michele agreed to take Florah into their home. Florah’s family sent her to the Ingrams on Christmas Eve 2004. What a special Christmas present!
When Florah came she was eleven years old. She had not completed the second grade. She could not read and wrote very little. She spoke no English. Five months later, the Ingrams met with her family and asked to adopt Florah. Her grandmother and aunts granted permission at that time.
Michele says, "Florah has become part of us. You would never know she was the same little girl that came to our home in 2004. She has caught her schoolwork up to the sixth grade and speaks wonderful English. She is a beautiful, confident young woman with dreams and goals." Praise God!
