Rescued By Love: NASCAR Chaplain Welcomes Home New Daughter

Nick & Amy Terry with their children.
Photos courtesy of the Terry family.  

Father’s Day has greater meaning for one NASCAR dad and his family this year. Nick Terry, a chaplain with Motor Racing Outreach, is adding another child to his family, hopefully in the next few weeks. But instead of a trip to the hospital for a birth, Terry traveled across the globe for his little daughter.

Sitting at a café table in the Dover media center, Terry glances at his phone every so often, anticipating its ring at any moment. He’s expecting a call from his wife, Amy, who is overseas wrapping up details for their adoption of Sharon, a 4-year-old orphan from Uganda.

“The Bible talks a lot about adoption and how God has adopted us as His own and made us His children, His heirs,” Terry said. “That’s why we wanted to adopt.”

Praying through the process of adoption was about a 3-year process for them, and they felt like God spoke to them on a special day.

“It was actually the day my biological daughter was born,” Terry said, smiling. “We were sitting in the hospital, and that was the day we decided — of all days — to adopt.”

The couple felt drawn to Uganda after Amy read the book Kisses from Katie, written by Katie Davis, an American girl who ministered to orphans there. They looked into Uganda’s history and the plight of orphans there and felt God moving on their hearts.

So in March of this year, the couple and their kids, Sam, 6, and Arabella, 4, traveled to Uganda to meet Sharon and begin the adoption. They spent a month together, getting to know Sharon, then Terry and the kids came home, while Amy stayed to finish the process of becoming legal guardians and obtaining a passport for the child.


Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans
and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  (James 1:27)  

Sam and Arabella are excited for Sharon to come home, especially Arabella, who will share a room and bunk beds with her new sister. Terry described Sharon as outgoing and loving, a kid who loves to play and sing and have fun.

“She likes basketball and playing with Sam and she’s also into girly stuff with Arabella, so it’s a nice balance.”

Being from the city, Sharon knows what a car is, but racing and NASCAR aren’t even on her radar. But she’ll learn. Terry takes his family along for five or six races a year, so Sharon will get to experience life in the infield and spend time in the MRO Community Center with children from other NASCAR families.

In scripture, God calls us to care for orphans and widows, so that’s one reason adoption felt right for Terry and his wife. Plus, he feels taking Sharon into his family models the gospel of Jesus better than anything else.

“If you look at her situation — helpless and hopeless, can’t do anything for herself — and she’s gonna be completely rescued by love,” he said. “So that’s the gospel — that we were utterly helpless and Christ came and rescued us.”

In the next few weeks, little Sharon will leave her life in the orphanage, get on an airplane and fly across the ocean to her new home. She’ll be adopted into the Terry family. She’ll be rescued by love.

“She is very happy to have a mom and a dad. She’ll tell you that,” Terry said. “She told us, ‘Thank you for coming to get me and being my daddy.’”