Our Story
Andy and I are high school sweethearts. We met during youth group and got married shortly after college. We were excited and looking forward to a new life together. Our plan was one thing, to have fun and enjoy each other’s company. So we decided to hold off on starting a family for at least five years. However, that was short lived when we found out that we were expecting a honeymoon baby. Nevertheless, we were excited and later thankful for an easy pregnancy without any hiccups.
Andy Ban-Suk Jr. came into this world with full of surprises. We had no reason to expect anything but a healthy baby boy but to our shock, we were told we were the new parents to a child with Down Syndrome. The life we anticipated was no more.
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The first year of AJ’s life is a blur. All I remember is shutting the world out and feeling the life that we were so familiar was no more. It was filled with fear, confusion and unanswered
questions. We had to figure out how we were going to fit into the new and scary world of raising a child with special needs. It was dark and a lonely place. However, once AJ turned one, we began to see hope and a future for our family, especially for our son. God allowed us to see less of Downs Syndrome and more of his promise, love and provisions. We slowly accepted and adjusted to our new life. We had many lows but far more highs while raising AJ. Through each experience and miracle, we learned little more about life and God’s heart for us. I will be the first one to admit that being AJ’s mom continues be tough at times, but I will also be the first one to say that being his mom has been most rewarding. AJ has taught us what it truly means to be blessed.
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AJ is very blessed to be living in America. He has access to the best education, teachers, and the coolest friends. Sadly, I have seen firsthand how different things can be in other countries. I have been to Korea where kids with special needs are locked up in an institution and are shut out from their society. When I saw this firsthand, my heart broke into million pieces and I could not stop crying for the children. I will never forget the unfamiliar and confused feeling I felt when I was there. I was sad and devastated that they were treated so badly but at the same time thankful for the life my son had back in America. There I asked God “Why them and not my son?” Why are we so blessed to live in America where my son is accepted and treated with respect?
Raising a child with special needs can be very lonely. Acceptance and respect from the society sometime cannot prevent one from getting hurt when your child never gets invited to a birthday party or gets to play sports in the same team as others. It is a daily fight to not get weighed down by what AJ is missing out on. God blessed AJ with two wonderful brothers that will never miss his birthday parties. They may annoy each other at times but in the end they cannot live without each other. Because of them, AJ will never truly be alone.​
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Through Ban-Suk Foundation (BSF) we hope to bless others with special needs because He has first blessed us. We hope that our stories of once fear and confusion turning into acceptance, comfort and miracles will encourage those currently in need. We pray that through whatever means, we can help those who cannot enjoy the provisions of our great country. We believe we can make a difference to those who feel alone or left out.
I look back when AJ was born and there were so much sadness rather than celebration. God has taught us to see every day as a celebration and that miracle ​
can be found in every one of them. With every outreach, donation and event, BSF wants it to be like a party because life is a celebration.​