God has a funny way of making things work out. Kinley Galbierz and Ellianna Maneage were introduced to each other by their adoptive parents, who happened to be good friends from Missouri.
The two girls, who both originated from China, got along really well. But their connection actually goes deeper than that, since their parents found out that they are actually half sisters.
"It's beyond what you can comprehend. I think even us adults are a little taken back," Jim Maneage told Fox 2 News.
Jim and his wife, Staci, traveled to China in 2010 to adopt their daughter, Ellianna. "We knew she was ours right away," Staci said as she recalled their first face-to-face meeting.
The Maneage family goes to Calvary Church in St. Peters, and that is where they became friends with Steve and Paige Galbierz. The two families warmed up to each other really well because they shared the same experience of adopting from China.
The Galbierz couple adopted Kinley from an orphanage located in a different city in China. Because of this connection, the two families encouraged friendship between their two girls.
Kinley and Ellianna, who are now 7 and 10, respectively, are quite inseparable. "They go to the same school. They go to the same church. Our families are together," Paige Galbierz said.
It was actually Staci who first thought of the girls' deeper connection. Elliana's mother couldn't shake off the feeling that both girls are related by blood, so she bugged her husband to uncover the truth.
"Staci asked me one day, she said, 'I want to get the girls DNA tested,'" Jim said. "I'm like, 'What girls?' 'Ellianna and Kinley.' And I was like, 'What?' My mind immediately went to how many people there are in China."
But Staci reasoned, "It was just in my heart."
Both families eventually agreed to the DNA swab. When they received the results, they were dumbfounded. "[Staci] said, 'I just have to tell you something. I just learned. The results are in. And the girls are 99.9 percent certain they're half-siblings,'" shared Paige.
For now, they are unsure whether the girls are connected through their mother or father. But one thing is for certain — God has his handiwork all over the girls' connection.
"God is doing these extraordinary things in ordinary people. And that he chose us," Paige said. "I have faith that He's at work. And I'm grateful that we're along for the ride."
