When Jacob and Makenzie Goble settled in their seats at the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) Send Luncheon during the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) annual meeting this past June, they had no idea they were in for an unexpected surprise.

“When they started talking about foster care and adoption in depth, I thought, ‘This is so exciting!’” Jacob said.

Months before, the Gobles had finalized the adoption of their son and daughter, Dallas and McKenzie, and were in the process of adopting a third child — a boy named Luka — all while in the throes of planting their first church, Rooted Community Church, in Lebanon, Illinois.

“Then they asked families in the process of adopting to stand up, and we’re like, ‘What’s about to happen?’” Jacob recalled. “Having a room full of your brothers and sisters from across the country pray for you and then receiving a financial gift to help fund your children’s adoption — it was all totally unexpected.”

But that wasn’t the last of unexpected surprises for Jacob and Makenzie. Just a week after being blessed with a financial gift from a generous donor at the Send Luncheon to aid in the adoption of their third child, they received a text notifying them that Luka’s biological mom had given birth again. Jacob and Makenzie returned home with Luka’s younger brother, Josiah, days later.

Speaking from his kitchen table during an interview this October, Jacob said, “I tell everyone that Josiah is an absolute miracle. He was born in a dangerous situation in a home and was exposed to drugs while in the womb.”

“But he’s a healthy little guy,” said Makenzie, holding 4-month-old Josiah in her arms. “And he’s plumping up.” She smiles and plants a kiss on one of Josiah’s smiling cheeks.

The Gobles’ heart for adoption existed from the beginning of their church-planting journey. Shortly after moving to Lebanon, Illinois, to plant Rooted Community Church two years ago, they finished the licensing process to become adoptive parents but assumed they were in for a long wait.

However, in an unexpected turn of events, Jacob and Makenzie welcomed a sibling group into their home in a matter of months — and just one week before the start of their church plant’s preview services.

“It was a whirlwind, but we were completely sustained by the Lord’s grace and the village of people that were rallying around us and the new church launch,” said Makenzie. “What’s been really sweet is that Rooted has been a part of Dallas and McKenzie’s lives since the beginning.”

Many from the Gobles’ “village” were sent out of Red Hill Church in Edwardsville, Illinois, where one of the church’s values is to “send the best.” This close-knit church family came together again when, less than a year later, the Gobles welcomed a third child into their home — Luka — with only four hours to prepare.

“We were traveling and four hours away from home, but our church family bought us a bassinet and put it together and bought us diapers, formula, clothes — everything we needed — and it was all at our house waiting on us when we got home, and Luka arrived 30 minutes later,” Makenzie said.

Rooted Community Church is known in their neighborhood for caring for the fatherless in more ways than one. From the first days of the plant, the church was moved to reach an impoverished and forgotten area of their community.

“There’s a teacher on our core team who works at the school here. Kids would tell him, ‘Nobody loves us. Nobody wants us.’ So, we committed to staying in this area of town,” said Jacob.

Not long ago, God opened the doors for Rooted to purchase an abandoned sanctuary in the area, communicating to their neighbors that Rooted Community Church is there to stay.

“There’s no analogy more tangible for the gospel than adoption,” Makenzie said. “We’re brought into God’s family when we don’t deserve it or have those rights.”

Now, as a family of six, with four children under 7 years old, Jacob and Makenzie live out that analogy every day, and they are grateful for the support network around them.

“I’ve heard over and over from Send Network, ‘We care about you, and you are a part of a family that actually knows you and loves you,’” said Jacob. “And I can say that we have seen and felt that over these last three years.