Former Advisory Board member adopts Guatemalan children

Scott Dean, former Mayor of

Harlem, GA, stepped down

from the MPA Community

Advisory Board this past

year, in order to devote more

time to his rapidly expanding

family. First there were two

— now there are SEVEN

children in the Dean household!

Five are siblings

adopted from Guatemala as

a group to keep the family

from being divided.

It took three years, dozens of

plane drips and more than

$10,000 in adoption fees,

but, Scott and Renee Dean

were committed, and on

Sept. 19, the Harlem couple

flew back with five new family

members who had been

living in an orphanage in

Zacapa, Guatemala: siblings

Marlin, 15; Silda, 14; Sindy,

11’ Mimi, 6; and Byron, 4. On

a mission trip to Guatemala

four years ago, Scott met

two very special little girls,

“The spark that they had was

amazing. It just really drew

my attention,” he says. When

he went back a year later

and saw them again, he felt

led by God to bring them

home with him. But surprise,

surprise — there were three

more siblings, so the Scott

family of four became a family of

nine. However, it was not an

overnight process. It took three

maddening, roller-coaster years

of airline flights, adoption papers

and red-tape.

“I just really felt led to do this. I

just really felt a calling,” says

Scott.

Scott estimates that he spent a

total of six months in Guatemala,

including the final 31 days. He

had to lay the groundwork at the

orphanage, then camp out in

Guatemalan officials offices for

days on end. At one point he

asked an official how long a particular

piece of paperwork would

take, and was told “two weeks.”

He told the woman that he would

be in her office every single day

of that, and might even accompany

her to lunch.

Voila! The paperwork was completed

much sooner than expected!

But none too soon for the

former mayor who is now District

4 Columbia County commissioner.

Within the span of only a

few hours, the ordeal could lift his

spirits to the heights, then rules

would change and he would

crash back to reality. Bureaucrats

on both ends of the process were

amazed by Scott’s determination.

“We took it as a calling,” says

Scott. “That’s what people of faith

do — no matter what it takes , or

how long it takes.”

The Dean family received much

support from the community and

the congregation of Harlem Baptist.

Donations came from friends,

neighbors and total strangers

who were moved by the story.

Church members cleaned the

Dean’s home as a surprise during

one trip to Guatemala; and Christian

singer Steven Curtis Chapman

provided a generous grant.

Family and friends also renovated and

expanded the house to accommodate

the seven active youngsters.

“I never questioned whether we could

afford it, or whether there would be

enough love to go around, or enough

room in the house. Those things I knew

God would provide,” says Renee. “God

has his own timing, and it’s not for us to

understand. It’s just for us to pray our

way through, and take it as it comes.“

“Everybody’s home. We’re all together,

says Scott. “We’ll have bumps, we’ll

have fights, and we’ll have arguments,

but we’re all under one roof and we can

deal with each other now. We’re not

split.“

Just a few weeks after arriving in Harlem

the newest Deans were settled into

church, school (with the help of the English

as a Second Language program in

Grovetown Middle) and a new family. A

social service agency that checked on

the family was perplexed at the report of

no adoption-related problems. The truth

is, over the past few years, the Deans --

all nine of them -- had a good chance to

get to know each other.

Scott and Renee had no idea how difficult

and demanding their journey would [article ends here]