"We were told by multiple people he had been blessed,” said Jason Michel about his new son, Isaac. “He had been saved."

Isaac’s life could’ve had a very different outcome. His mother in Ethiopia died shortly after childbirth. He was several weeks premature. And his father couldn't take care of him. It would've been a terrible time for any family.

However, it was a saving grace for Jason and his wife, Laura.

"He was born in our hearts and not in her tummy,” Jason says about her “paper pregnancy”. “We were kind of scared before going over, but we had trust that something was going to work out, and it did."

The Michels got an emergency visa and picked up Isaac. The same little boy who was confined to tube after tube—and near death—is now a bright-eyed, healthy little baby.

And the Michels are not the only ones making that trip. There is a growing number of families in the Ozarks adopting from Ethiopia. Often, it is the fastest growing program in any international adoption agency.

"It's a fast moving program,” says Crystal White with Adoption for Families. “Children come home very young."

White says often, babies from Ethiopia are anywhere from three to six months old. As other countries like China and Russia can take more than two years and cost up to $ 50-thousand, Ethiopia is becoming a popular country for international adoption.

In fact, several families in the Ozarks, who adopted from Ethiopia, are still getting together back home as a support network. It's something the Michels are getting used to and are very thankful for this holiday.

“I think he's got a purpose to have survived and be here," says Jason.