Losing a child is the loneliest, most desolate journey a parent can take. The degree of suffering is impossible to grasp without experiencing it first hand.

Unfortunately, Cathi and Dan Johnson of Twin Cities, Minn. know that pain. They lost two of their three children ten years ago in a traffic accident.

Every grieving parent must find a way to continue to live with loss, and it’s a solitary journey. To deal with her grief, Cathi, who is a nurse, went on a mission trip to Liberia three years after the tragic accident. There she taught nursing to local residents.

While volunteering in Liberia, Cathi met Matthew. At the time he was 4-days-old and half dead. Matthew had been born with a cleft palate and a host of other health issues, ranging from deafness to stomach problems.

In this poverty stricken country, children who are seriously ill are usually left to die. But when Cathi saw Matthew something special happened.

“He just stole my heart,” Cathi said to CBS News.

Knowing that there were no resources in Liberia to deal with his health issues, Cathi brought Matthew back home with her, she explains on the GoFundMe page she set up to help pay for his medical bills.

Matthew, who’s name means “gift of God,” brought wholeness to the Johnsons. He helped them begin to heal from the pain of the loss of their other two children.

“Matthew made us love again, and that’s the gift,” Dan Johnson told CBS News. “He was born 5,000 miles away, but he’s my son. He’s part of me, ” Cathi added.

Here’s CBS News report on their incredible journey.

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