Speaker 1: Even as a young child, Remy could feel she was
no longer safe in a country where families were limited
to one child and sons were prized above daughters. Her
mother had wanted a boy. When Remy's baby brother was born,
Remy was sent away and life with her mother ended altogether.
This is the Miracle Files. I'm Emily Jones.
Speaker 2: And I'm Holly Worthington. We're two sisters who love a
captivating true story, but we're also seeking more light in
our lives.
Speaker 1: So we're on a mission to find and share unforgettable,
uplifting stories of God's miracles. We hope you'll join us
on this journey.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Miracle Files. Emily and I live
in different states, as a lot of you know, but
we just had the best weekend together with our mom
and our sister Julie, and our sister and Lama.
Speaker 1: It was just so great. Yeah, it was so fun.
And we just want to give a quick shout out
to the amazing women in our lives because we love
you guys so much. We do, all right, So today's
story is so fascinating, and before we jump in, we
just want to clarify something You're going to be hearing
about a young girl named Remy, and Remy was not
actually the name she was given at birth. She was
given a different Chinese name at birth, but today she
goes by Remy, So that's what we're going to be
calling her in this story.
Speaker 2: Yes, and we have so much to discuss afterwards, so
make sure you stay to the end. We'll have some
interesting information to share. But for now, let's get to
the story.
Speaker 1: Let's go for a time, Remy's world was small, peaceful,
and safe. Remy lived the first few years of her
life in China with her grandparents. Her grandmother cared for
her in a way that made life feel predictable and secure,
and in those early years, Remy had no question where
she belonged. But that stability didn't last. When her grandfather died,
everything changed. She and her grandmother could no longer stay
where they'd been living, and the only place left to
go was to Remy's mother's home. Remy's mother hadn't wanted
Remy to begin with. In a country where families were
limited to one child and sons were prized above daughters,
her mother had wanted a boy. Remy simply by being
a girl was not the child her mother had hoped for.
When Remy's baby brother was born, Remy was sent away.
Having Remy back met her mother was in violation of
China's one child policy at the time. This could lead
to hefty fines known as social maintenance fees, and even
job loss. Even as a young child, Remy could feel
she was no longer safe. Her mother and unsympathetic, would
place Remy on the top bunk of the bed with
no rails, high enough that even small movements felt dangerous.
Remy would lie awake, afraid to close her eyes. When
the fear became too much, she would quietly make her
way to her grandmother's bed, trying to find the same
sense of security she'd once known. But those moments were
long gone. Her mother would come in angry and force
her back to the top bunk, and there were other
times moments that felt like daggers in Remy's heart. Often
in the middle of the night, while she slept, her
mother would lift her from her bed, carry her outside,
and leave her alone down the street. Then five year
old Remy would wake in the darkness on the cold ground,
realizing she had been abandoned and have to find her
way back to her mother's high rise apartment on her own.
Around that same time, Remy remembers finding a couple of
baby pictures in the apartment and asking her mother who
the baby was. Remy knew the pictures weren't of her
or her brother, but her mother's answers were inconsistent and
didn't make much sense. Perhaps there had been another baby
her mother hadn't wanted. If her mother could get rid
of one child, would she also get rid of Remy.
Any feelings of self worth that Remy once had shattered
like jade thrown to the ground, but it would only
get worse. Not long after her fears became reality, and
life with her mother ended altogether, Remy's mother sent her
to live in an orphanage. Even her grandmother could do
nothing to help her. The pain was almost unimaginable, and
Remy felt so alone. Eventually, Remy was placed in a
foster home, but if she was hoping for kindness, she
wouldn't find it there. Her The foster mother nicknamed Remy,
the Chinese word for dog feces. Remy was never given
enough to eat and was often very sick. When she
got sick, her foster father would claim it was Remy's
own fault because she was bad luck. It was a tough,
unrelenting life for a child that had already endured so much.
But in time, there was one bright spot in Remy's life. Abby.
She was a girl Remy had met in the orphanage.
She was just a year older than Remy, and the
two girls were placed in foster homes next door to
each other. Neither girl felt safe or loved. Abby's home
was even crueler than Remy's. Abby's foster mother would pinch
her cheeks so hard that it left scars. But Remy
and Abby had each other, and the two girls bonded
over their shared experiences. Before long, they became best friends.
They walked to school together every day, both navigating a
world where they didn't quite belong, and as the years passed,
neither of them had any idea of what was quietly
beginning to unfold on the other side of the world.
Sandra Allen, who lived in Indianapolis, Indiana, was not looking
for another child. She and her husband had already adopted
multiple children and had reached a point where she felt
her family was complete. She also understood all the adoption
required the time, the financial commitment, and the emotional adjustment
that came every time a new child joined the family.
Speaker 3: So I had no plans to adopt at the time.
And I have a friend named Robin, and she was
wanting to adopt from China. And Madison Adoption Associates in
Delaware had started a new program with China to try
and find homes for older kids because the fort was
mostly just like base, these are small kids. But they
decided to try to get some homes for older orphans
and they had about thirty older kids and they had
the kids standing all of a room with a microphone
and through a translator answer questions. So Robin, you asked
me to look at these kids because she was wanting
to adopt. So I was like, okay, I'll look at
the kids. Which it's hard to look at kids if
you're not like one on adopting, because you do feel
sorry for the kids. But anyways, I was like, okay,
I'll to be supportive of Robin.
Speaker 1: Sandra and Robin watched a video of the kids. One
by one, they stood in front of a microphone, answering
questions through a translator, doing their best to present themselves
to families they might never meet. It was difficult for
Sandra to watch. And then she saw Remy, a shy
ten year old girl, and.
Speaker 3: I did feel sorry for her because she just looked
so scared and timid and like she was trying really
hard to do a good job, but yet you could
tell she wanted to cry.
Speaker 1: A couple of days later, Robin, Sandra's friend, said something simple,
you should adopt her. I'm going to adopt her best friend.
Under normal circumstances, that kind of suggestion would have led
to a long conversation, careful consideration, and probably hesitation. Sandra
had always been intentional in her decisions, especially when it
came to adoption, but this time her response came immediately.
Speaker 3: I know it was God because I said okay. That's
all I said, was okay, And it was like, so
not me.
Speaker 1: When Sandra's husband, Mike came home from work that night,
Sandra brought it up to him, expecting a long, difficult discussion. Instead,
his response was as unexpected as her own had been.
Speaker 3: And he goes, I'd ask, he goes, nobody else will
do it, And they turn that we're out of the room,
and I was like, wow, I think that was a yes.
Like I was shocked and that was it.
Speaker 1: The next day, Sandra called the agency and committed to
adopting Remy. At almost the exact same time other decisions
were being made. Sandra's friend Robin had changed her mind.
After praying about it, Robin felt a clear answer come.
Abby was meant to go somewhere else. Robin was not
going to adopt her after all. Sandra's friend Robin had
changed her mind. Abby was meant to go somewhere else.
Robin was not going to adopt her after all. This
news stunned Sandra, and she wondered if she should still
go through with her own adoption, but she felt she'd
received an answer from God that Remy was meant to
come to her home, even if Robin wasn't going to
adop adopt Abby. At that point, Remy and Abbey's paths
were set to diverge. The two girls who had been
so close, who had loved each other when no one
else would knew the time was coming when they would
be forced to say goodbye to one another. The agency
facilitating the adoptions was in Delaware. Children from that program
were placed with families all over the United States, and
there was no reason to think Remy's and Abbey's lives
would ever intersect again. Time passed and the day grew
closer to when Remy and Abby would be adopted. And
then one day, Sandra got thinking about the daughter who
was soon coming to be a part of their family.
A question lingered in her mind. Sandra decided to join
the adoption agency's private Yahoo group to see if she
could find out who was going to adopt Remy's best
friend Abby. She typed the question on the screen. The
response came quickly. A woman named Jan said she was
adopting Abby.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, okay, I'm in Indiana. Where are you?
Speaker 1: Sandra wasn't even sure why she asked it. She knew
Remy's best friend would likely live hundreds of miles away,
but something compelled her to do so, and the response
stunned her. Jan wrote back, she was in Indiana too,
What were the chances?
Speaker 3: And I go We're in Plainfield, which of course is
the suburbs of Indianapolis, And she goes, well, you're gonna
love this. I'm in Monrovia. Monrovia is like twenty minutes
from Plainville.
Speaker 1: Both women sat at their computers, shocked to discover that
they only lived twenty minutes apart. Remy and Abby, the
two best friends who were coming from the other side
of the world, had been placed unbelievably close, and it
felt like more than coincidence. Jan brought Abby home first.
About two weeks later, Sandra returned with Remy. When Remy
arrived at the airport, Abby and her family were there
to meet her. Grateful to see a familiar face, she
was also exhausted, overwhelmed, and trying to process everything that
had just changed in her life. Sandra brought Remy home
and introduced her to her new family, and in an instant,
Remy was dropped into an entirely different world, new culture,
new school, even a new language, and while she was
grateful to be treated kindly and to go to bed
with a full belly, it was still a lot to
adjust to. At the same time, Abby was adjusting to
her new family as well. Nearly a year passed without
much interaction between the two girls. Being placed so close
to each other began to feel more and more like
just a coincidence, and then one night, thousands of people
had gathered for a fourth of July fireworks display in Plainville,
Sandra and her family found a spot and settled in
for the evening. One of Sandra's other daughters pointed out
that Abby's family was there too, not across the park,
not on the other side of the crowd, right behind them.
Out of a crowd of seventeen thousand people, the two
families had ended up sitting within a few feet of
each other. They all moved their blankets closer, spent the
evening together, and watched the fireworks side by side.
Speaker 3: I ended up taking a bunch of pictures that night
of Ramy and Abbey together once again.
Speaker 1: The situation itself was hard for Sandra to ignore. Two
girls who had known each other in China, who had
shared a difficult childhood in the same place, had somehow
both been adopted into families close enough to run into
each other at a local event without planning it. It
felt remarkable, but it wasn't until later that night, when
the house quieted down and Sandra began looking through the
picture she had taken, that everything came into focus. As
Sandra clicked through the images one by one, something about
the girls sitting next to each other stood out more
than it ever had In the moment, it wasn't just
that they looked familiar and friendly with each other. It
was something more. The realization rushed into Sandra's mind and
heart as a cascade of emotions washed over her.
Speaker 3: I download the pictures and it was just like Claire'sabel.
Remy was upstairs. I call her down. I go Remykmara,
I said, Remy, Abby is your sister.
Speaker 1: The four simple words echoed across the room like a cannon.
Remy looked at the pictures, quiet and unreadable. At first,
she didn't respond. Instead, she turned and started back up
the stairs, as if the statement hadn't fully landed. But
a few steps up she stopped. She turned back, looking again,
and something in her expression shifted. When she spoke, her
voice was soft but steady.
Speaker 3: And she turned back around and she goes, that's the baby.
She had this really soft voice with an absent still
she goes, that's the baby.
Speaker 1: The room went quiet in a different way after that.
For Sandra, the resemblance had already been enough to convince her,
but Remy's response brought something else into it, something that
reached further back than anything Sandra had known. Remy began
to explain slowly, in a way someone does when they
are often pulling together a memory that suddenly makes sense.
She talked about the pictures she had found when she
was younger, the ones she had asked her biological mother
about the answers that had never lined up.
Speaker 3: When she told me the story, she said, I find
picture she's talking about they'll living with a refman. I
find picture. I say, who's this baby? My mom say
that's you and Remy say, I know, not me, And
she said she had on like a blue bunny outfit.
She goes, I find another picture later she's like of
a baby in a yellow bunny outfit and I say,
this me, who's the And then her mom said that's
the neighbor. So Remy had these memories. So when I said,
that's your sister, that's why she said, that's the baby.
Speaker 1: Details that had once felt small and confusing now seemed
to have a place. Could it really be true that
Remy and Abby were sisters? Sandra believed it completely, but
it took time before Abby's family was ready to pursue testing.
Life continued, with the girls growing into their new environments,
building strong relationships with their adoptive families while this possibility
remained in the background, but it also didn't go away.
Speaker 3: So after that, I just started telling everybody, like their sisters,
I know their sisters. And I was telling Abby mom.
I kept saying for like it was late two years.
I kept saying their sisters, their sisters. But Abbie's mom
Jan did not want to get them tested, like she
never would go for it. And so after two years,
three year, we were at a Chinese New York party
for Chinese adopted kids, and I was sitting next to
Abby's dad, Greg, so I'd tell him this whole story.
I'm like, I know their sisters. So we went home
that night. Jane called me and she says Greg said
to have him tested.
Speaker 1: Sandra and Remy waited anxiously for the results, and then
they came back there. It was undeniable the results. Their
hearts had already confirmed.
Speaker 3: And then we tested them and they're like hundred per
sisters and they're full sisters. And when you look the pictures,
you know their full sisters.
Speaker 1: The miracle of it all wasn't lost on Remy, Abby
or their families. Two girls born in China, separated early,
raised without knowing the truth of their connection and placed
into a system where that relationship could have disappeared entirely,
but it didn't. Instead, they find each other anyway, not
as sisters, but as friends. They build a bond without
knowing why. It feels natural. Then they're separated again, sent
across the world through an adoption process that could have
taken them anywhere, anywhere, and instead they end up twenty
minutes apart, close enough to find each other again, close
enough for the long lost truth to finally come to light.
They're bond unbreakable sisters. For Sandra. There isn't a version
of this story that feels like coincidence.
Speaker 3: And nobody knew they were sisters. There was no reason
to keep them together because nobody knew they were sisters,
so they could have went anywhere, and then they're twenty
minutes apart. I mean, I wouldn't even know how to
do the math on that. But there's like to go
from Guan Joe, nobody knowing their sisters, be given to
an agency in Delaware, and then they end up in
the suburbs of Nianapolis. I mean, it's just it was
God doing it.
Speaker 1: Even the first part of the story would have been
enough two best friends from China reunited in America, living
minutes apart. That would have been extraordinary. That wasn't the
whole story. The deeper truth was something no one had
been looking for, something hidden inside a childhood memory that
didn't make sense until one July night. Remy and Abby
had found each other again and again. And for Sandra,
the house and whys may not make a lot of sense,
but one thing she knows for sure, it's a miracle
from God.
Speaker 2: Wow, what an amazing story. That still gives me chills
when I think about these sisters who had gone over
seven thousand miles away and found each other.
Speaker 1: I know at some point it stops feeling like coincidence
and you just know there's something more. Yeah, and Remy
and Abby they're still best friends today. You may be
wondering why we didn't have Remy on the show, and
it was actually Remy's mom who reached out to us,
and Remy's very shy, she didn't feel comfortable coming on
a podcast, but she was happy to have her mom
share this story. And she also gave us a statement
about what her relationship with Abby means to her. And so, Holly,
will you read that sure.
Speaker 2: She has always been a sister and a close friend
to me, even before we found out we are biological sisters.
God is amazing and has kept us close even halfway
across the world. I don't think our relationship has changed
much since finding out we are biological sisters, since we
have always felt that way.
Speaker 1: About each other. Isn't that so sweet? My gosh? I
love that.
Speaker 2: It's like they always knew and it's kind of like,
as we know, Emily, there is just something about that
sister bond.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I love that they were friends first.
It's like you and I. We are sisters, but we
are genuinely friends, and we have so much in common.
You know, we eat the same foods and we do
we have the same sense of humor. We're both diet
coke addicts, both have ADHD. Sorry y'all, it is true,
but it makes it like, Honestly, I'm like, if you
didn't know we were sisters and we happened to meet
on the street, would we figure it out?
Speaker 2: I think we would?
Speaker 1: Actually, Like how could we not? I don't know.
Speaker 2: But what I think makes this story even more miraculous
than that they found each other is how they found
each other and that they had been part of each
other's lives all along.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I just think that it's such a sweet mercy from God.
Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, something that I was thinking about is
that Sandra's friend Robin, she was the first one to
have this feeling like she was going to adopt Abby. Yeah,
and then she didn't end up adopting Abby, And I'm like, well,
why did she have that feeling? But I really truly
believe she had that feeling about Abby so that she
could bring Sandra to Remy. And then I also believed
that Abby ended up with the family ultimately that she
was supposed to be with.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Sandra, I think just needed to have that little
nudge and initially to adopt Remy.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then Jan who ended up adopting Abby, had a
powerful experience helping her know she was supposed to adopt her.
And initially Abby's name in the orphanage was Misty. So
here's what Jan said happened.
Speaker 3: She said she was in the shower and she prayed, God,
if I'm supposed to get Misty, show me a miss
And nobody knew she had prayed that. Jane said her
son came running in the bathroom and said, mom, Mom,
you got to come out and see the sky. And
she said she went outside and saw the weirdest miss
in the sky she'd ever saw, and that's why she
got Missy Abby.
Speaker 1: It's amazing. I mean, both of these girls went through
so much and I'm just grateful that they both have
such amazing families.
Speaker 2: I'm so grateful too, and they did. They experienced so
many hard times as orphans in China. And here's something
that's just is heartbreaking that Sandra shared with us about
the perception of orphans in China.
Speaker 3: In China, you're looked down at as an orphan. You're
looked down on, like even the teachers think they're bad luck.
Speaker 4: There's parents that don't want their child to sit next
to an orphan in class because they think they're bad luck.
So Abby and Remy in China, being both orphans, you know,
they had that. Remy told us that one time she
got the best grade in the class one day and
it made the teacher so mad because she was an orphan.
He twisted her ear tilt blood.
Speaker 1: So heartbreaking. I mean, imagine being told you're not even
allowed to succeed and that you're unlucky. Yeah, it would
be so hard been told you're bad luck.
Speaker 2: But it's so beautiful that both Remy and Abby are
doing well now and they are successful and are well adjusted.
And I'm just so grateful that their mothers listen to
God so that these two girls can be together again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. All right, Well, thank you everyone for
joining us today. If you have a sister, pick up
your phone, center text, give her hugs, end our message,
share this episode.
Speaker 5: Well, and brothers too. We love our brothers too. They're
cool too. Brothers too. Yes, we love our brothers too.
And make sure you guys subscribe so you never miss
an episode. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. If you have a miracle
to share, contact us at the Miracle files dot com
or find us on social media. We release new episodes
each Monday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so don't forget Miracle mondays. Subscribe on your favorite
podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content as well.
Speaker 2: Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles,
and don't forget to look for his light in your
own lives