"I actually took my shoes off because I felt I was on holy ground." Kara Higgins did not know why she did it. She was standing in an unregistered orphanage at the top of a twenty minute climb in Rwanda, with a hundred children packed into one small space, and something in her knew the Holy Spirit was there.

In this episode of Barefoot Conversations, I sit down with Kara Higgins, a midwife, a mom by birth, adoption, and foster care, and the founder of Imana Kids, which means Children of God. Kara and her husband Ryan adopted two sons from Rwanda, and years later a team they led to that orphanage changed the course of their whole family.

What happened next is one of the most intense stories ever told in this chair. Kara took a Polaroid and a bag of Tootsie Roll Pops and made sure every child had a name, a photo, and a profile. Then a teenage girl told her, hours before Kara's flight home, what those children were being forced to do just to eat. For seven months Kara emailed, called, and wrote letters to every office she could find, and heard nothing. She got four girls out at midnight. And on the last day, walking down that mountain with the children crying behind her, she turned around to find a row of SUVs and a group of people in suits. One of them asked if she was Kara. "I just got your email today."

We talk about the perfectionism God stripped out of her in one decision, why she is the lucky one, what those children taught her about joy as a form of resistance, and the one thing that does not change no matter how many hats she wears. She is just God's daughter.

If God has planted something in your heart and you are afraid to say yes, pull up a chair. Kara has a word for you.

A gentle note before you listen: this conversation includes the trafficking and exploitation of children. Kara speaks about it with care and without graphic detail, and it ends in rescue. Please take good care of your heart.

IN THIS EPISODE

- Why biology had very little to do with how her family was built

- Going to Rwanda on their own terms, and refusing to show up as colonizers

- The orphanage at the top of the mountain, and taking off her shoes before she knew why

- Seven months of emails, a midnight escape, and the day help finally came

- What it means for a child to be seen and known by name

- The perfectionism God stripped away in a single decision

- Why resilience is sacred, and why she is just God's daughter

ABOUT KARA HIGGINS

Kara Higgins is a midwife, a mom through birth, adoption, and foster care, and the founder of Imana Kids, an educational sponsorship ministry for street kids and orphans in Kigali, Rwanda. Imana Kids matches American families with children by name, and the connection between them is the whole point. Kara also coaches families and caregivers in trauma informed parenting. Find Imana Kids at www.imanakids.org.

CONNECT

Kara: www.imanakids.org | Instagram: [confirm Kara's Wholehearted Space handle]

Rachel: www.racheldfox.com | rachel@racheldfox.com

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