Families Rejoice at Haitian Orphans' Arrival to Oklahoma City

By Charles Bassett, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A group of orphans left homeless by last week's earthquake in Haiti have arrived in Oklahoma City.

The 10 children arrived at Will Rogers Airport at 1 a.m. Thursday to applause and waiting parents.

Christi and John Barnes and Jessica and Stephen Lee came up to Oklahoma from Texas after receiving word that the children would arrive in Oklahoma City Wednesday morning. Both couples met the children while doing missionary work in Haiti.

The Barnes are adopting 3-year-old Ava who they've been trying to adopt for a year now.

"They're home; it's just a miracle," Christi Barnes said. "It's just unbelievable."

Barnes said she is relieved that Ava made it to the United States safely.

"I feel like the highs and lows of not only Ava and hearing from her since the earthquake, but our other friends and contacts that we have in Haiti, people that we love dearly," Christi Barnes said.

The Lees are adopting  two sisters they have been sponsoring.

"We're just so happy to have them here," Stephen Lee said. "It's been a long day."

Oklahoma City's Cherokee Hills Christian Church organized the effort to get the children from Haiti to Oklahoma. They were assisted by Senator Jim Inhofe and Representative Mary Fallin.

All 10 orphans have already been adopted by families from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Colorado. Six of the 10 will remain in Oklahoma.