Abandoned in Guatemala: The Failure of International Adoption Policies

I know a couple who had been trying to adopt from Guatemala right when it shut down, and they lost the chance to adopt their children. This explains some the process of international adoption. It is sad to think where things are heading now. For an interesting viewpoint on things, sit back and watch this 20 min video.

(Disclosure: the views expressed in the video do not necessarily represent my views. Please do not get angry at me if you do not agree)

What they mentioned about the Hague Treaty is essentially what happened with Burundi. They signed up, but weren't able to put things in place to complete international adoptions.

I fear something like this may happen in Uganda, or the DRC. We need to be in prayer for these countries! We need to be in prayer for these children!

Some of my Favorite Books

Well, I am long overdue for some book reviews.  I guess I have been doing a lot of reading.  I wanted to share about these books, because I am in the middle of several more and will want to review them as well.

First I want to mention this book:

Like Breath and Water: Praying with Africa by Ciona D. Rouse

The first thing that caught my eye with this book are the pictures!  If nothing else, I wanted it as a coffee table book.  But it is much more.  This book is about the journey of the author to Africa.  She and her friends visit several countries to learn about the stories of the people there and pray with them.  The author states, if you want to know more about prayer, pray with Africa, a place where prayer runs beneath it all.  She says, "Prayer, for the people I met, does not simply petition God for the latest iGadget or beg for a quick fix to a real problem.  For all of us prayer is a life force, like breath and water.  Our ability to communicate with God is one way to know that we are alive."  I think you will be touched by the stories and even more so by the beautiful photography in this book.  I plan to read it again and again, and it will be a mainstay in my home.

Next is the book,

 

Life After Violence: a People's Story of Burundi by Peter Uvin

I loved this book!  Okay, this is not like a fiction romance novel or anything, but I just couldn't put it down.  What I love about this book is that the author spent a lot of time in Burundi interviewing actual people, and how they see their lives after the civil wars that Burundi has faced.  I believe it is a very unbiased viewpoint from the different people groups in Burundi.  There are many quotes from Burundians.  The book really opened my eyes to understanding conflict in Africa (I don't mean to say that what Burundi experienced is the same as all conflicts in Africa, but there are many similarities).  It looked at the causes for violence, the effects of the violence, the economic pressures, the social pressures, the gender differences, the resiliency of the people, and more.  For me it helped answer the question, "How can thousands of people kill each other just because they are of a different 'people group'?  How does this happen?"  I also came away from the book with a deep respect, love, understanding, and compassion for the Burundian people.  I couldn't wait to go see these beautiful people in their beautiful country.  Maybe someday.  Unfortunately we cannot adopt from Burundi at this time.

I just finished reading this book

 

Fields of the Fatherless: Discover the Joy of Compassionate Living by Tom Davis

Also a great book!  This book directs your focus to those who are the most needy in our world, specifically the orphan, the widow, the poor, and the foreigner.  Not only are we commanded to care for these, but God also gives us joy in doing so.  The book reminds me of how much we have in this world, how rich we are.  There are over 143 million orphans in the world right now!  Every 5 seconds a child dies because they are hungry!  Yet, we go on living in our comfortable lifestyles and think that it will bring us the most joy and satisfaction.  What joy awaits us, if we step out in faith to protect and care for the needy!  Anyway, I don't want to write a long preachy blog on just this one book review.  It's a good book to start opening your eyes to the needs around you, and also gives some ideas of how you can be involved to help.

So, these books get my recommendations if you are looking for something new to read.  I'll just share with you what I'm in the middle of reading right now, so you can look forward to more book reviews!

I just received John Piper's new book, Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.  It's going to be good!

 

I am also starting Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa by Jason Stearns, and I am looking forward to learning more about what has gone on in the Congo, where we are adopting from.

 

I am also on my way to finishing a book I had started a while ago, Blood, Sweat, and Treason: My Story by Henry Olonga, a cricket player from Zimbabwe.  I have to say that it not a quick read, but I would like to at least offer a review when I am done.

 

At least I have something to do while I wait.  I have been checking the mail non-stop for the past week and a half hoping to receive our homestudies.  They should be here any day now!  I still haven't heard any news from Uganda, but at least I can work on getting these homestudies turned in to USCIS (United States Citizen and Immigration Services). 

I have also started on a fundraiser project, but we'll see how the first prototype turns out and if it will be a viable option to help fund raise.   I will bring more info on that later, but I just have to say that I am excited about it!  Keep praying for things to move along quickly, and for patience in the process.  Thanks!

BAD NEWS, but NEWS THAT GOD HAS ORDAINED

Yes, it is BAD NEWS.

My heart has been ripped open this weekend as we were told by our agency that we will NOT be able to adopt from Burundi.  We were told that what they discovered when they were in Africa a few weeks ago, was that Burundi does not have the system in place to process adoptions according to regulations of the Hague Treaty that they signed.  They are simply not at the point to process anything right now.  And adoptions from Burundi at this point are NOT A VIABLE OPTION.

I feel that we have suffered a terrible loss.  Our hopes, our dreams, our prayers for our little child from Burundi have been cut off.  We will not get to see them come to fruition, at least not at this time.  I can not describe how painful it has been to deal with this loss, as well as wrestle with questioning what God is doing with our lives.  Let's just say I have cried every day that we found out, multiple times a day.

I did not want to share this info with anyone.  I did not want to be exposed.  I felt so raw.  But, God was working hard on my heart.  He has shown me a lot in these past couple of days.  I have been faced with my desire to control everything in life.  I have been faced with my own pride.  I have been faced with my lack of faith.  I have been pushed placed at the bottom.  But this is exactly where I need to be.  Completely dependent on the Lord, not on myself.

It is here at the bottom that I have a choice to offer worship to My God as a sacrifice of praise, when I don't feel like trusting Him.  My feelings do not change the fact of who God is.  They do not change the fact that I must trust Him, and give Him thanks in all circumstances.

I simply DO NOT UNDERSTAND what God is doing.  I want to know WHY?  Why did this happen?  Why did we spend our time, energy, and resources on a baby that will never come to be with our family?  But I do not have to know why.  I do not have to understand.  That is what faith is about!  What I must know, is what God says to be true in His Word,

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." ~Romans 8:28

God is working this loss for good in my life.  I may not see the good now, or maybe not ever (Oh, I hope I do!), but He is working.

Well, where does that leave us now?  We have been praying for wisdom on what to do next.  

I will be honest with you on how things are shaking out.  Our current agency has given us the option to go with their Uganda program.  Typically, the children that are available are an older age than we were originally hoping to find.  However, they may have a child for us.  I cannot give you details.  Besides, there is a lot of work to do in order to get to the point where we could adopt this certain child.  But we have told them that we are open to the possibility.

In addition, we are considering joining another agency to pursue a concurrent adoption from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  This program may work out well for our family.  We will see where it leads us, as we are just beginning to be open to new possibilities.

So, this means that our lives are about to change a bit.  

-Concurrent adoptions means that we may need more finances than we expected (on top of the fact that we may have lost all the money that we put into our old agency).

-We need a LOT of prayer for this journey.

-I haven't mentioned it yet, but Mark will also be heading off on an "all-expense paid vacation to the middle east" during this time as well, which may complicate things.

-We will have to start over with some of the paperwork.

But as crazy as our lives are going to be in 2011, God is in it!  He is working something that we can't understand.  And it is really amazing that He has even given me the strength and hope to write this blog and to continue on this process after our devastating loss.  I am not confident that I won't cry tomorrow, or even for the next whole week.  But what else can I do but move ahead in God's grace?

So our Bad News was really bad, but my perspective is one that must change to the fact that it was News That Was Ordained By God for us.  It was His way of telling us that He had a different plan for us.  It was His way of moving us onto His path, in His perfect timing.

Not my will, but Your will be done, Lord!

Feels Like the Clouds are Breaking!

I needed to get out an update, but we have been on vacation for the last week.  


Things are really looking up!  One of the directors and founders of our new agency is going to be in Burundi in a few weeks!  This is HUGE!  We are not only getting more information, but we actually seeing someone go there to figure things out.  Please be in prayer for her as she left today for a conference on her way out.  She will be going to Uganda first, since they have a program there, and then on to Burundi.  She and another agency employee will be in Burundi on April 18-20, so this is a crucial time for your prayers!


We have received several emails from her already, and she has said about the trip that she is "hopeful that [she] can obtain information on current children that are available for adoption."  That may be info on OUR child!  But they are really going to try to figure out why there has been such a delay in the process, and she said, "I am very hopeful that we can figure this out. I am also hopeful that we will get the information that we want."  This is so great!


Maybe it's strange to be so ecstatic about an email, but you have to understand where we have come from.  We have had virtually no communication from our old agency for the past three or four months.  Yes, I knew they were busy, there was nothing to share, and they were moving offices, etc.  But seriously... no communication?  Our new agency has said that they will try to be in contact with us at least once a month.  That is a big improvement.


Some new information came out in our new agency's email sent out recently.  It's amazing how much can change in a year!  I remember the end of 2009 calling up our old agency, and hearing all about their Burundi program.  They seemed excited about it, confident about it, ready to plug us in.  By the end of 2010, they were trying to figure out a way to get out of the "business."  And when I talked to them in December, and early January, absolutely nothing was mentioned about this big change!  Apparently, many other families were feeling the same way, wondering why were weren't getting much communication.  Our new agency has hinted that they have sensed a general dissatisfaction with the way things were going, and they want to "turn things around."  It kind of amazes me that we were not alone in what we were experiencing.


One of the feelings I have is that we made a "mistake."  We were the one who chose the "wrong" agency.  If we had only researched more!  But I can not keep thinking "if only" statements.  The truth that I must dwell on (Phil 4:8) is that we felt led to this agency.  We felt led to the Burundi program.  Does God make mistakes?  NO!  He knows exactly what He is doing.  He led us to the place that we are at.  He had a plan all along for us to start our process with one agency, and continue with another... even though we didn't know it, and would not have chosen it that way.  What is great to remember is that God is in control!  One agency's failure to complete our adoption did not change God's plan for us.


Thank you all for your prayers.  
-Pray for safe travel for our agency's workers in Africa.  
-Pray that they can get all the necessary information to sustain an adoption program in Burundi.  
-Pray that they can even get information on new children and lots of pictures. 
-Pray for our hearts as we wait for their return to hear how things went.


I will update more when I can!

Major Changes

News Update: We have just received an email from our agency saying that they are "retiring from the field and moving on."  I can't say that I am super surprised.  In the last couple of months we have received very little communication from our agency, and recently heard that they were "moving" offices.  What little communication we have had has not been directed to us, but has been a mass email or message sent to a lot of families.  So, I guess I kind of felt like something like this was going to happen.

I imagined something worse, that they would shut down the program, skip town, and all our money and progress would be lost.  But thankfully, that is not the case.  Instead, all the families will be transferred over to another agency, called Agape Adoptions.  I do not know very much about this agency, but they are supposed to contact us within the next two weeks.  They will be taking on our family, and the Burundi program.

One good thing mentioned in the email was that Agape will be traveling to Burundi next month!  They are going there to work with the adoption contact in the country to try to get these Burundi adoptions started.  This is exciting news for us, since we have felt little progress was being made in Burundi for the last several months.  It feels like progress!

Prayer: I have no idea how our family will mesh with the new agency.  I pray that they will be able to guide us wisely, and communicate with us often.  I pray that they will know how to deal with a family in our situation, ie. living overseas and such.  Please pray with us as we transition to something new!

My thoughts: It has been tempting to look at blogs of many other adopting families, see their quick progress, and become frustrated and jealous.  There are even thoughts like: Should we change programs?  Should we have gone with a different agency?  Should we switch to domestic adoption?  Should we have not pursued this after all?  But I have honestly felt that we have a child waiting for us in Burundi.  So I am glad that we stuck with our program.  Even considering that the few families ahead of us in the program have all dropped out and gone with another country.  I don't know where the families following us stand now, but we are set to be the first to adopt from Burundi, and that is exciting!  It is also scary, since there is no procedure in place to predict how things will go.

One thing is for sure, by pursuing an adoption from Burundi, it has opened my eyes to a lot of things.  God has been using several books and passages of scripture recently to build in me a heart for the orphan, for the poor, for the distressed, for the widow, for Africa.  Let me just share a few things.

Radical, by David Platt

This book is kind of earth shaking!  It caused me to look at my life through Jesus' eyes, and in comparison to the rest of the world.  I am richer than 99% of the world!  My "latest toy" could feed an entire family year, maybe!  Going along nicely is this book:

Interrupted, by Jen Hatmaker

  

This book, written more like a diary, again calls to mind the disparity of what we have compared to the rest of the world.  Crazy stats like, someone dies of hunger every 16 seconds!  That means someone has just died from hunger, which is totally preventable, by the time you finish reading these last couple of lines!  And in the last hour, 66 children under the age of 15 were infected with HIV!

Then, one of the first books (not websites) I read about Burundi is this one:

This Voice in My Heart, by Gilbert Tuhabonye

This is a true story of a man from Burundi who survived the civil war/genocide conflict in Burundi in the 1990's and went on to become a world class runner.  His story is so inspiring, and I learned a lot about Burundi culture through the book as well.

What I recently finished is this book:

Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder

Wow!  A great book about another man who survived the genocide, and made his way to New York.  He tells his story of trying to be a medical student, and then becoming a bottom-rung immigrant in New York.  The book, written by a friend of the Burundian man, describes Burundi in so much detail!  I find that this book was even a little more fair to both sides of the conflict than the first book.  I don't know if you know anything about Burundi's history, but it mirrors Rwanda's history to some degree.  Burundi is made up of mostly the Hutu people group, and then some Tutsi peoples, and a small few of the original inhabitants, the Twa people.  The "Voice in My heart" book was written by a Tutsi and came from his perspective.  But this book brings a little more of the Hutu and Tutsi perspective, and even explains where they came up with those names in the first place.  But, the book also explains some of the poor conditions that some Burundians live in.

In 2010, Burundi was ranked the poorest, the bottom country, in Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.  It consistently ranks in the bottom 10% of countries economically.  Honestly, what frustrates me right now is that it is not receiving much attention.  Maybe I am a little biased because we are adopting from there, but I think most of the attention is going toward Rwanda.  Yes, they experienced horrible tragedy in the past as well, and yes, they are very poor too.  Many programs already exist in Rwanda.  Adoptions are happening in Rwanda.  People are taking missions trips to Rwanda.  Who is going to Burundi?  Not many.  Who is helping the poor in Burundi?  (Please, no offense to anyone adopting from, or involved in Rwanda)

Well, since I am reading through the Bible in a year, I have recently come across a passage in Deuteronomy.  It is where the people of Israel are getting instructions for how they are to live when they go in and settle in the land promised to them by God.  Read through Deut. 15:7-11.  But, I'll just write out one verse that I really like: 

"For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'" -Deut. 15:11

How are we "freely opening" our hands?  How are we giving generously?  How are we taking care of the poor?  How am I doing these things?  These are a lot of the questions I am dealing with and going through right now. 

So, I just wanted to share what has been going on.  We continue to trust that God knows what He is doing with our adoption, and with the Burundi program as it transitions to new hands.  (But we know all along that it is in God's hands).  We are excited to see what happens next.  I will keep you informed.  Thanks for stopping by!

Nothing new

Sorry for the lack of updates, but unfortunately there is nothing to tell.  We are in the same place as we were a month ago... waiting.  We have heard that our agency is still trying to get information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Burundi, but it isn't happening very quickly.  So, we continue to wait with our eyes on the Lord, and trusting in His timing for everything.

It has been easy to not think about the wait for the last month, because we were in the process of moving to a new house!  With being so busy with that, I haven't been worrying about updating anything.  We hope to hear something soon.  So please pray that things will move along in the Burundi government, and that there would be clear communication with everyone involved.

All Dossier Documents Compiled!

We have finished our psychological evaluation, and how have completed all our paperwork for our dossier!  The "Dossier" is the full report of paperwork that gets sent to Burundi for them to review and hopefully accept our request for adoption.

We are so thankful that this step is complete.  However, right now we can not proceed with the process because our agency is still asking us to wait.  Things still haven't been cleared in Burundi.  So, we are waiting for our agency to hear back from Burundi and let us know that we are OK to continue.

What our timeline looks like now:
Our next step is to get everything authenticated.  Basically government officials have to set their seal of approval on our documents, including the Burundi Embassy.  Then we will get our documents translated, and ready to be sent off.  This final authentication process will hopefully not take more than a month.

Once our documents arrive in Burundi, if everything has been worked out and according to our agency, we should be traveling to Burundi 2-4 months later.

BUT.... we are delayed indefinitely, so we cannot predict when these last steps will happen.  Please pray that Burundi okays our agency's paperwork as soon as possible, and that the last steps go smoothly.

I found a really good video that talks about life in Burundi, and at an orphanage there.  It is associated with Youth for Christ, I think.  I don't know these people, their orphanage, or am promoting them, but it makes me think about the child that God has picked for us in Burundi.

We are Sane!

We had our first appointment for an adoption-required psychological evaluation on Thursday.  Yeah!  We are almost done with this.  We have another appointment this coming week, and then he said he would have the paperwork ready for us by this coming Friday!

The answer to prayer is that the appointment went really smoothly.  It was actually really great!  First, because we got to talk about ourselves! (j/k).  But really, the doctor (psychologist, psychiatrist, whatever he is!) asked us all sort of questions about our relationship, our marriage, how we handle conflict, why we wanted to adopt, etc.  And since he was our captive audience, we were able to share a lot about our faith and how that plays a big role in who we are and in our decision to adopt.  So, it was really great to be able to be honest and open about it all. 

The other great thing is that we just loved getting to share what we like about the other person.  It was fun to talk about all the things we like to do together and how we enjoy hanging out together.  It was just a good refresher for us personally.  I don't think he was intending it to be like that, he was just asking questions.  But the cool part was that at the end of the session he said, "It is obvious to me that you two have a strong marriage.  It's actually quite refreshing, compared to most of the people I see come to my office.  In fact, compared to nonclinical couples, you have quite an amazing marriage."  Wow!  How cool to hear that.  Of course we thought so, but now even a professional thinks so too!

We are thankful that we are almost done with most of the paperwork on our end.  We are still praying for things to smooth out in Burundi, and that we would be able to continue on in the process as soon as we are ready to.  We do not welcome a delay, but we know that any delay is for a reason.  We will be busy over the next month, as we are intending on moving houses.  So a shift in focus might be a good thing for us, as we wait for the delay to be cleared.

Thanks for all your encouragement and keep praying!

What is REALLY going on in Burundi right now...

Update: I talked to our agency last night.  There is not much to tell.  They said that they are getting frustrated because it seems the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Burundi is putting up roadblocks.  They said it seems like someone in the office doesn’t want these adoptions to go through.  After waiting for a while (roadblock), they have come back to our agency and asked them to submit a detailed plan of what they want to do in Burundi (roadblock).  Our agency has resubmitted the information, and now the Ministry wants time to review it (roadblock) with no indication that they are being agreeable.  So based on the timing of things so far, it could take 1-2 months to get it all sorted out.

We had been waiting to hear whether or not there is going to be a delay in processing adoptions.  What I need to tell myself now is:

Face it.  There is a delay. 

We will not be submitting our paperwork to Burundi this week.  Not that we are ready, but we couldn’t even if we were ready.  Maybe it will take us the exact amount of time to get everything ready to submit as it takes them to sort everything out.  We hope our psychological evaluation should be done very soon (Praise the Lord, we made an appointment!).  As soon as we have that back, we will be at the authentication phase, and we will thus need a name of a child to continue.  But our agency can’t give us, and won’t give us, any info until they have sorted everything out with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  If it will be two months down the road, then the fact is, we will be delayed.

What I believe may be happening, not only in my thoughts, but also in Burundi is Spiritual Warfare. 

Spiritual Warfare can be defined as: “the cosmic war of good versus evil: its battles are fought daily between God and Satan; between the Christian Church and the world system ruled by our spiritual enemy; and between the Holy Spirit and the lusts of the carnal flesh within every human soul. The clear meanings of good and evil, as defined by God rather than man, are revealed within the verses of the Holy Bible and the life of Jesus Christ.”

I am not talking about going on a holy crusade or a physical war.  I am talking about supernatural battles.  Satan is Real.  God is Real.  They are directly opposed to each other.  God desires that orphans find homes.  Satan does not.  God wants children to join a family where they can hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Satan does not.  God wants those children to come to believe in Him.  Satan does NOT.  God vs. Satan, plain and simple.

The good news is that Satan has already lost.  Though he may try his best to take glory away from God while here on earth, he will not have the ultimate victory.  Because the battle is still real, there are still children suffering, and we need to pray.

I could wring my hands with worry over the delays.

Or

Everyone I know could be praying to break down the walls that are preventing adoptions from occurring in Burundi. 

Everyone can be praying to place someone in charge in Burundi who has a heart for orphans. 

Praying to open the eyes of the officials to see that it is not a bad thing for the country. 

Praying to let Christ have the victory over the spiritual battle that is being waged. 

Praying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will look at the paperwork and decide that everything is in order, and will declare our agency free to continue on to process adoptions. 

Praying that no other order of business gets in the way of them deciding on this matter. 

Praying that they will have to look at the paperwork, that their eyes would be directed to it, that their minds will not stop thinking about it, that they will even have dreams that they must clear this paperwork for good. 

Praying they have to look into the eyes of an orphan on their way to work, and praying they stop and think about what will happen to that child.

We need your prayers!  Lots and lots of children in Burundi need your prayers!

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” –Ephesians 6:10-13

What has been going on in my thoughts:

We had a little bit of a scare recently.  We found out a few days ago that Mark would have to go on an “all-expense paid trip” to the middle east in June… for 6+ months, without me of course.   Hmm, Lord how is that going to work with our adoption plans?  All of the sudden, I am faced with a huge struggle to trust God and His plans.  In my rational human mind I can’t see how this is going to work.  God, are you sure you know what you are doing?  I am faced with my own ugliness of sin.  What do I want most?  A child, or the Father?  Do I want my plans to happen exactly how I want them to happen, in the exact timing I want them to happen… or do I want to be shaped more into the character of Christ, and learn to depend on Him more and trust Him more, no matter what?  I had to open up my hands, let go of trying to control, and choose to trust Him instead…. Even if it means that we will not be able to adopt in 2011, or 2012.… or ever (This brings me to tears).  Even if it means that we will have to redo all our paperwork because it will have expired, and spend thousands more dollars.  What is that compared to all of eternity?  What is a few more years, a few more dollars compared to what awaits us in heaven for eternity.  Will anyone even care 100 years from now?  No. 

So, I laid it all at His feet.  I enlisted the prayers of some close friends.  And I saw God answer prayers.  The “middle-east vacation” was called off!  Praise the Lord!

Me: Lord, I would have been just fine if you hadn’t put this little obstacle in my path for the last few days.

God: No, you needed it.  I had a plan for you.  I had some lessons I needed to teach you.  I wanted to remind you to trust in Me, not in “chariots and horses” (Psalm 20:7).

Me: Ok, I see that now.  You were right.  I did need reminding of that.  Thank you for your lovingkindness to me!

I rejoice in the Lord always (Phil 4:4) and take to heart this great verse in Romans 8:37-39,

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Thanks for reading my rants, I hope to have more good news soon.

Good News...

We received an email today saying:

"Your I-800A application is hereby APPROVED!  You have been approved to adopt two children from the following Convention country: Burundi"
(emphasis mine)

Yes!  We have a scanned copy of the approval now, and one is on the way in the mail.  This is from the US Citizen and Immigration Services giving us permission to bring a Burundian child into the US.  We are so thankful that we finally have this piece of paperwork... it took 3 months to approve!

A big praise is that we had a very kind person in charge of our file, who called me at home when he found out that they couldn't read Mark's fingerprints, and told us we had to send in more fingerprints.  He answered questions, and now even emailed me the approval and let me know that it is on its way.  How nice is that?  Thank you Jon (immigration services officer) from the Hague Adoption Unit of USCIS!

We are very excited that the US government agrees that we should adopt from Burundi.  We just have to wait to hear more from our agency about the possible delays in Burundi.  Now we need the Burundi government to agree that we can adopt from there!

In the meantime, while we wait on information (please keep praying!), we are still working on getting that psychological evaluation appointment set up.  This has taken us almost as long as the I-800A!  I hope to hear from the provider this week.  We want to be done with our part of the process so that we can just wait.

Waiting... not something that I enjoy.  Mark is looking forward to the waiting.  In fact, he says it will be the easiest part!  Hmm... I guess we have two different perspectives.  I think it will be a lot harder than when we had something to do and paperwork to work on.  Though I expect to have other things to focus on besides paperwork... like reading parenting books, reading adoption books, planning a nursery, buying things for the baby.  It will be a big deal when we finally get to see a face and hear a name of the child or children we will adopt.  We know that we should be getting this information soon, if all things are going as planned.  But they are not... because of the possible delays.  So, we will wait.  We will wait to hear if our process will be delayed much.  We will wait to hear about our children.  We will wait to receive an invitation to come pick them up.

Therefore, I envision 2011 to be The Year of the Waiting!  But also with a hopeful ending to it... The Year of Our First Adoption.  We expect and pray for it to happen this year.  Please join us in this prayer. One thing is for sure: God is more powerful than any government agency, He can move mountains to get our paperwork where it needs to be, and He can open doors where no one even expected.  Our church's verse this year is: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Psalm 20:7)  It is perfectly fitting!

And the waiting continues...

Thank you all for your prayers.  Keep praying!  We talked to our agency last night and they have no news about the paperwork in Burundi.  Right now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Burundi is evaluating our agency's paperwork, and they haven't gotten back to the agency contact in Burundi.  Because it is the holidays it makes things a little more difficult.  So we probably won't hear anything until after the holidays. This is disappointing, but I am not freaking out.

 In a way, I have a break right now to think about other things... and to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.  Adoption has a way of taking over your thoughts. So, knowing that we will have to wait to do anything right now, it will be a welcome break.  We can lay everything in the hands of the Father.

We are praying for our friends right now who are also dealing with foreign governments... they are adopting from Ethiopia, and are now scrambling to renew some of their paperwork that Ethiopia says is too old.

We will let you know when we have any news.  Until then, Merry Christmas!!!

Some Good News?

I have no information right now about the possible delays, but I do have a bit of good news.  I got a phone call from the USCIS (US Citizen and Immigration Service) the other day.  They said that they have our I-800A application mostly approved, but they had a problem reading Mark's fingerprints.  So, they want us to submit another copy of Mark's fingerprints.  They said that as soon as they receive them, it will only take a day or two to process, and then they can send our approval to us.  So Mark rushed over to get his fingerprints taken again on Friday afternoon, and we mailed them out yesterday.

Yes, it is a delay, but at least I know where our file stands right now.  It is exciting at the same time because they said that we are APPROVED!  We are just waiting on the official paperwork to make its way back to us.  I had been waiting anxiously for it to come in the mail, but now I feel I can relax a little.  There is still a good possibility that we may receive it back by the end of the year.

As far as our progress in getting our required psychological evaluation, we have been getting the run-around.  Multiple people have been called, and so far we haven't found anyone to do it for us yet.  I know it is being delayed for a reason, so we just have to keep at it until we can get it done.  Who knows?  Maybe it's part of our evaluation... let's see how crazy we can make them before they actually come in for an appointment! ;-)

Thank you all so much for praying.  We feel your prayers.  In my uneasiness, I still feel a supernatural peace about everything.  Keep praying, and hopefully we will hear something soon from our agency!

Possible Delays!

I was hesitant to post this information, but after thinking about it, I figured that it would be helpful to have many of you praying for the situation.

I talked to our agency a few nights ago, and they told us that they are concerned about the possibility of major delays in the adoption process from Burundi.  They think they are being told that the agency's paperwork (and permission to process adoptions in Burundi) is too "old."  Burundi is realizing that they are going to have many people requesting adoptions now, and they need to really think through how they are going to process them all, and what documents they are going to require.  This may mean that they will require our agency to resubmit their paperwork.  And it may also mean that our paperwork requirements may change.  (Hopefully they will relax some of the requirements!  But who knows?)  This is part of package of choosing to be in a "pioneer" program.  Not everything has been worked out yet.

If our agency has to resubmit paperwork, if could take another 6+ months before they are ready for us to continue our process, and submit our dossier.  Or... it could take only a month, and we could just continue on.

Where are we in the process now?  We are close to having all our documents gathered for our dossier.  We do, however, still have to go through the process of authenticating all our documents (getting them stamped with official-looking seals) before all of it can be sent over to Burundi.  We also need to have a child chosen before we send our documents in.  This was supposed to happen soon, and we were praying for it to happen by the end of this month.

Now, it may be a while.  In fact, there are two children in Burundi in the agency's care right now that must be adopted first before they can take on care of more children.  We are not sure that we are ready to parent either of these two "older" children.  What that seems to mean for us, is that someone else in the Burundi program, possibly someone who entered the program after us, will be the first ones to go to Burundi to pick up the first two children.  We must wait until they go through the process and get back before we can even start up our process again, and find a younger child ready to be adopted.

When will that be?  We don't know.  In fact these are mostly conclusions based on what our agency has told us.  What we do know is that our agency told us to wait another week or two until they find out more information.  They will be getting back to us then to let us know what is happening.

What does that mean for YOU?  Please pray for us!  You have a week and half (at least) before we hear something again.

-You can pray for the whole process to work itself out according to God's will.
-You can pray for the Burundi government to move quickly through the decision process to be ready for adoptions to start happening.
-You can pray for a wise counselor in the government to help move things along, and who has a heart for orphans.
-You can pray for the mail to move quickly if our agency has to resubmit some paperwork.
-You can pray that a restructuring of Burundi's adoption process will make it easier for even more orphans to be adopted.
-You can pray for clear communication between the government and our agency's contact in Burundi.
-You can even pray for someone to be hired in the country to take on care of more orphans.
-You can pray for patience for us.
-You can pray for wisdom for us to know what to do, and if we need to change directions or start something new.

Will you join us in prayer?  This situation is all for a reason, and God's purpose in it is higher than we can imagine.  Where is God taking us on this journey?  I don't know.  But we know that we CAN TRUST HIM.

Thanks, and we will let you know as soon as we know something more.

Just a little update

Our paperwork is coming together.  We got one of our background checks back in the mail this week.  Yeah!  We have also finally got an appointment scheduled for our required "psychological evaluation," and it will be free.  We've had the first set of documents reviewed by our agency, and they look good!  So, we are taking a short break for a vacation, and hopefully when we return, more documents will be waiting for us.  Thanks for your prayers!

Book Review

Here is a book that I just finished reading:

 Love in the Driest Season: a Family Memoir by Neely Tucker

    I actually found it in the library, and discovered that is was a really good book.  The author is a writer/reporter for the Washington Post newspaper, who spent many years in Africa covering stories in various countries there.  He was based in Zimbabwe, and he and his wife come across a baby in a local orphanage that changes their lives.  He writes about their pursuit of adopting this young girl at a time when it was generally understood that Americans don't adopt Zimbabwean children. 

    There are several reasons why I liked the book.  One was the fact that they were trying to adopt when there wasn't any precedent for adopting in place.  They had to "pave the way," be the first to push through the bureaucratic system to be able to adopt the child they grew to love.  The amount of work and hurdles they had amazed me, from people "accidentally" losing all their paperwork to having to get fingerprinted and background checked multiple times.

    I am in a similar situation.  We will be one of the first families to adopt from Burundi, at least under the Hague treaty.  There is no precedent.  There is no Burundi Adoption Support Group.  There is no message boards or chat forums for "parents of children adopted from Burundi."  There is no true guideline on how the adoption will go through in the country or how long it will take.  So, though I don't expect to face the same hurdles as the Tuckers did, I feel like: if they can push though it, with all their difficulties, and still make it out with a complete family... than we can too! 

    The other reason that I like the book is the eye-opening descriptions of what was going on in Africa.  Mr. Tucker was there to cover many stories including civil war in the Congo, genocide in Rwanda, the bombing of the US embassy in Kenya, and the horrific state of orphans and the AIDS crisis.  He described things that I hope never to see in my lifetime, yet I am shocked that they do exist.  It was a clear picture of what we need to be aware of in this world, but what so many people are not seeing or understanding.

    So, if you happen to run across this book in your library I would recommend it. (There are a few unwholesome words in it, though.  I try to just skip over them.)

Dossier Time

"Dossier"  That word is so scary!  Our next step in the process is compiling lots of paperwork for our Dossier, and it's not going to be easy.  But, as Mark has said, "just take it one step at a time."  Good advice.  Is is so easy for me to look at the big picture, everything we have to get done, and get overwhelmed.  It is stressful to sit in a puddle of frustration day after day.  So, I must press on, taking it a day at a time.

One disappointing news item is that the only family ahead of us has dropped out of the Burundi program.  They decided that they has waited too long to pick up their child, so they switched programs to another country.  Unfortunately this means "their" child, the one picked out for them, will not be going home with a family any time soon.  It also makes me worry about the timeline for us to adopt when we reach that stage.  I must not despair, but remember that God is in control of timelines, governments, and mail services carrying our paperwork!  He has a plan for us, and He has a plan for that little one as well.  He will work things out in His time.

So, now on to the nitty gritty of paperwork gathering!

Blog-matic for Burundi

Sometimes during this adoption journey I can feel very alone.  Especially since we moved from a community with several adoptive families to the UK, where I know one family, who has adopted from the foster care system.  Therefore, I am trying to seek out community by going online.

There are many adoption blogs out there, and many adoptive families feel blogging about their experience is therapeutic, and is helpful for them....and provides a place for updates on the process.  I have found several blogs that have been encouraging to me.  But here is the problem:

Not only do I long to find others going through the adoption process in general, I want to find others who are in the same boat as me.  I want to find other families who are adopting transracially, I want to find other families who are adopting from Africa, and I want to find other families who are adopting from Burundi. Though I can find some blogs of families that meet some of those desires, I can't find many adopting from Burundi.  I know that I can learn from people who have adopted from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, etc.  But it's not the same as getting first hand accounts from someone who has adopted from Burundi.  

Such is the nature of being a "pioneer" in the Burundi adoption program.  We are the trail blazers.  We will be the ones to set the course for hopefully many others.  But sometimes being "first" is not all it's cracked up to be.  As far as we know, there is one family before us adopting from Burundi, and I am thankful I am not in their position.  They have been waiting for a long time, while the courts/government in Burundi get everything sorted out.  But neither our family nor theirs has the benefit of countless blogs of families who have gone before us.  We don't have the benefit of videos and photos and slide-shows of the adoption journey of different families before us.

Sometimes I am just dying for information!  Please show me a photo!  Please let me find a video!  But there is not much available.  I think to myself, could I just sneak on a plane and go down to visit Burundi myself?  But I know that would not be the wisest decision.  There is just a huge desire for someone else to know exactly what we are going through.  And so, I end up feeling somewhat alone in this journey.

I know that God knew what He was doing when He called us to adopt from Burundi.  It is His purpose for us to be "pioneers" in this process.  Even though I feel alone, I know that I am never really alone.  "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (Deuteronomy 31:8)  And God is the only one who knows exactly what I am feeling, because He knows my heart.  "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." (Romans 8:27)  I am thankful for a Savior who did not leave ME as an orphan.  "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

So, through my insatiable desire for information and community, I long to be satisfied in the fellowship with the Father, and trust that He knows what is going on, and He will reveal it to me in His time.

Thanks for sticking with me through my frustrations and raw feelings about this process.

Burundi's Road To Recovery - Burundi

I wanted to share a video about Burundi.  It's 2 years old, but it has some nice cultural information about the country and the Burundian president.  It's kind of a long video, so if you are ready to sit for 21 minutes, here it is:

Where to Begin....?

Thanks for stopping by our blog!  This blog is an attempt to provide information about the process of our adoption.  Most of you are asking, "How is the adoption going?"  Well, here is a place where you can look for those answers.  But this blog is not going to just be about the updates.  I want it to be a place where we can have honest thoughts about adoption, education on adoption (since many of you have questions about it), resources, pictures, journal entries, and more.  So, come join us in this journey.  We appreciate your support and prayers so much!

Stay tuned for the first of many posts....