Traveling to get Nico and Anwa today!!!

We are traveling today to get Nico and Anwa!!! We haven't been able to update the blog as often as we would like, but things were fragile for a while and we didn't want make some facets of the case public. I'm sure we will bring closure to the blog with more posts, but for now you can follow the next few weeks on Facebook. Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Our Faithful God

Our God is so faithful!  I can not even begin to explain to you all the layers of spiritual warfare that are oppressing the process of the liberation of these children.  It is not just the Congolese system and it's inadequacies but outright deceit, manipulation, and jockeying.  Tragically, I think most of this is out of a love of money at the expense of many many orphans.  I can reveal details later once the children are home, safe and sound.  In the mean time, Nicodemu and Anouarite are safe, happy, and being fed.  They are looking forward to meeting Mommy and Daddy, Nathanael and Annalise!

Our God loves these children and He is the God of justice and power over all evil.  In spite of much opposition, we are making good progress through prayer and the faithful service of honest people on the other side.  For reasons I can not now make public, our travel will be a little postponed but we are rejoicing at the important things that have just happened.  So... if there are no surprises, we plan to travel about the second week of February to Goma to receive the children.  We should travel around Valentine's Day.  There is peace in Goma for the time being.  I wish I could expound more, but I have been speaking so directly with God and know that it was He who has done this good thing.  They are not home yet, so keep praying!

About an hour ago, the mailman rang our doorbell with our visas in hand!  So, we can now have the liberty to book a flight and hop on board in a moment's notice if need be.

Those are the updates for the day.  Thank you to all of our friends and family for supporting us with everything from bunk beds to car seats to early education materials, personalized embroidered backpacks, suitcases for N and A, special skin and haircare products, and monies to deliver Swahili bibles when we travel!  The list goes on and we are so very blessed by our family and friends.

His Grace Abounds this New Year

As this New Year unfolds, God's grace abounds to our family.  Now begins the dawning of the receipt of one of the most marvelous lavishing of gifts that a good and loving Father of all Mankind can give to His beloved children.  Namely, two precious vulnerable and alone children, incredibly beautiful in appearance and spirit.  We are amazed at both his creative handiwork of Nicodemu and Anouarite AND His preservation of their little lives.  We don't know what condition they are in physically, emotionally, or spiritually, but we are certain that the same God that has been holding us for all of our lives, has been holding them for all of theirs as well.  The smoldering wick He has not snuffed out, rather He has protected, defended, and I bet over and over whispered little messages of hope into their un-parented hearts.  He is our portion forever and He is their portion forever!  What promises of hope we have from the God who is unable to be unfaithful.

For you Nico and Anwa, on this new year, these are God's promises to you.  I wish I could hold you and speak these to you, but soon enough my sweeties.

"A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice."  Isaiah 42:3 and Matthew 12:20

"He [God] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  Psalm 147:3

"When my father and mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me.  I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."  Psalm 27:10, 13, 14   ---- There is a story behind these verses that goes all the way back to God "impregnating" me/us with the desire to pursue you 2 years ago.  I will share this story with you as you grow up with us.  He has brought about the unification of our family.

Now, a promise for us as we go in to get you...
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." Isaiah 43:2  --- we will all continue together as a family on this journey of learning to trust without reserve the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

What a year we have ahead of us.  Walking in the will of the Father is rich in blessing!  As we eat our traditional turnip greens and black eyed peas today, we will be wishing not for financial wealth but for more of the wealth that comes from the Father who owns it all.  Pour it on us Lord, we trust you and want all that you have for us this year and forever!  We thank you for gifting us with Nathanael, Nicodemu, Annalise, and Anouarite.  When measured according to God's economy of justice and mercy, we have been made rich!

As Jesus said to His disciples before His death, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you", we say the same to the orphans we love who will not be called orphans for much longer!  By God's good grace, we are on our way the minute we get the call!  All the while, we pray for peace in the Congo long enough for us to get in and back out, and will never stop praying for this country that is now dear to us.  That is up to God and we trust He can do the impossible.  A happy new year it is.

Expecting to travel to Africa in about 3 weeks!!!!!!!

We have very hopeful and exciting news to report!!!!!  We have dropped our agency and hired an local attorney on the ground in Goma.  He has been moving VERY fast, praise God, to get Nicodemu and Anouarite to safety and to their new family!  After much prayer and deliberation, we have made the big jump and we are THRILLED.  The Cummings family, see previous posts, switched to him about 3-4 weeks ago after all the fighting broke out and they were scrambling to do better than the process we have been stuck in.  They are now in the Congo, having been already united with their 3 children on December 27th!  There is a lot more to discuss here about why this attorney is able to move SO much faster than our other attorney who is hired by the agency, but that would take a whole book so I will spare you all for now.  It is a very interesting and fascinating study though into Congolese culture and how we can and should "fit" into their system.

We have been in constant contact with our new attorney and we know that the judge is working on our final adoption judgement!  We hope to get a call in about 2 weeks that our judgement is complete and that we can book our flights!  As soon as we get the final judgment, they will be legally ours, and we can post their pictures for you.  (or I guess we could now since we are no longer with our agency, but we think we will wait until we know for sure that they are OURS!)

Please continue to pray that the fighting does not resume!!  Chuck and I plan to go into Goma around the 3rd week of January as long as there is still peace.  If fighting resumes again, the airport will likely close, and we don't know how we will get them out as the Congo is impassable by car.  So, time is of the essence. 

Thank you all for taking this journey with us and we will keep you posted!

Imminent Fighting Again

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/world/africa/troops-mass-in-fought-over-city-raising-fear-of-new-violence-in-congo.html?_r=0

Troops are massing and drawing very very near.  It could all explode at any minute.  Please keep praying.  Though I can not give any details here yet, we were told by our attorney to stand by in hopes of the possibility of an immediate plan of action.  Why are they not yet on that humanitarian flight?!  Will there ever be the promised humanitarian flight?  God is in control and he loves us and them.  I still believe God will bring them home against all odds.  Please pray with us.

Friends, I wish we had more to report at this time.

We do know that our case is still being considered.  Still praying for their swift deliverance.

We are very disappointed to report that the children are all still in Goma.  No flight has yet come for them.  We are tying to dig for answers for this as well.  We are learning the depth of the brokenness of the system that has crippled their country and orphaned millions of children.  As we share in the sufferings of Christ and reach out to love these children, we are acquiring scars of our own.  I never thought it would be this hard.  But these scars are not bleeding wounds, they are quickly mended and carefully attended to by our own Father.  We have the promise in James 1 that our sufferings and the testing of our faith produce steadfastness.  And that steadfastness will have its full effect, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  So we wrestle to count it all joy.

Thank you for checking in and for your faithful support and prayers!  God is bigger than all of this.  I think we are in the part of the footprints poem when there was only one set of footprints in the sand.

Humanitarian Flight Approved!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, we finally heard that our children and the other 5 children being adopted to the US have been granted the next humanitarian flight out of Goma!  To back up a few days, a UN representative and Immigration Official last Friday/Saturday came to visit the orphanage, interviewed the orphanage director, and each of our children  one by one.  He told them when he left that he would be back for them as soon as possible.  I heard from Gilbert this afternoon that the children have been asking every minute when they get to fly in the airplane!  At this point I don't know that they even understand that this is possibly sparing their lives or that they will be coming to see us, they are just so excited about flying on an airplane!!  I love that childlike simplicity.  I don't think they have been outside of those orphanage walls for approximately 3 years.  They even washed their clothes and have been ready to go for days and are sad as yet another day comes to an end with no one coming to get them.

At about 4:00 this afternoon we learned that the Immigration Official had made it back to Kinshasa (after other humanitarian stops), spoke with our attorney in Congo, and they are now filing the necessary paperwork to get them on the next humanitarian flight.  We do not yet know when the next flight will be but our agency will be checking in with them daily.

Please pray that the flight comes before any new fighting erupts.  So far M23 has withdrawn from Goma and is waiting just a couple miles outside for negotiations.  They have already stated their intentions to "re-take" Goma militarily if negotiations do not occur on their timeline.  There have been no signs of negotiations beginning yet.  As this is all brand new news, we don't yet know what will happen from here once they are in Kinshasa.  We are still praying for a second miracle of humanitarian parole.  Otherwise, the children will have to wait in Kinshasa for the remainder of the legal proceedings to take place (we hope) from Kinshasa.  But much thanks to our mighty God that they will wait in a safer place.  Pray that the flight comes SOON!  Pray for their safe flight across country as this will be a little "puddle jumper plane" I am sure!  And please pray for all of the children and the entire community left behind in this humanitarian crisis. 

Hopeful Update

We are currently awaiting approval for Humanitarian Parole.  It is very rare but in circumstances as dire as these, it can occasionally be granted.  This would mean the children could leave Goma immediately and come into the US.  The hang up with this is that they would have to come out through Rwanda and there are ethical tensions that complicate the process.  Best case scenario would be a combination of Humanitarian Parole and the second possibility below.

Secondly, our agency just informed us that there is the very near possibility of them flying out to Kinshasa on a humanitarian flight across the country (to the safe side of Congo) with an Immigrations Director.  He is flying into Goma tomorrow night in the first humanitarian flight to the area.  He will speak with the orphanage director and they will discuss possible arrangements.  I don't know what would be to discuss!!!!!  They are asking the Committee to move ahead with the current documents we have and finalize the adoption since Goma will not be operational in the courts for the remainder of the process.  Or if not, see if Kinshasa can file the rest of the process.  The latter could still take a while but at least they would be safe  in the waiting.

I am a little bit in shock as we just received the news about the humanitarian flight possibility.  We are still not getting too excited because there are a lot of "ifs".  Thank you to all of you for your friendship, support, and prayers!

Hearts held hostage

After the elation of getting to talk with Nico and Anwa for the first time has now worn off, today has been a much more difficult day.  I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep.  At first, I was recounting all of the remarkable ways so far that it has seemed that it is just more than coincidence or misunderstanding that has laid the path of getting us to this place of grieving hope where we are today.  We have exhausted all options that we could think of over this holiday weekend.  Chuck has spoken with consulates, attorneys, foreign embassy personnel, and has drafted a letter to our congressman and made an appointment at immigration services.  We had our hopes up for a while that they would be able to legally escape to Rwanda on refuge papers and the adoption be completed in the US.  For the time being all answers at this point are that we just have to wait.  There is nothing we can do.  Sitting and waiting is the last thing we want to do after hearing yesterday from Trent that during the fighting a bomb had gone through the orphanage wall and kitchen yet never exploded.  (Thank you God for protecting them, YOU DID HEAR AND DID ANSWER OUR CRIES).  We can see in the near future the crumbling of this nation or much more bloodshed, rape, children becoming orphans and child soldiers as they lose families in the mass exodus, courts with officials who have likely fled, and if anyone happens to still be there, a confusion over who has authority upon return.

If we allow ourselves even for a short time to dwell on the circumstances, we begin to lose hope.  I can not afford to do that!  Neither can Chuck.  The pain of not being able to adopt these children would be one thing, but the pain of wondering their fate if left behind would be something entirely different.  We need a fresh word from God.  These past 6 days have seemingly been never ending days as we wait for Monday morning to roll around and see if our attorney in Congo has made any progress with his requests on our case.  Time is not on our side and if time has a thief, it is Congolese litigation.  As my mother-in-law said, "we don't need everybody to say "yes" we just need God to say "yes".  In which case, we know it will be.  God please keep our hearts and minds in a safe place regardless of the outcome.  And please bring those two precious children that will already forever be Hetzlers home immediately.  I believe, help my unbelief!

We "meet" them on the phone today on Thanksgiving!!!

Last night after midnight we got a call from our friend Trent who said "I am getting on the bus with Gilbert and I am not afraid.  We are going into Goma!!!  We are going to check things out on the ground and make sure they are ok.  We want to see how things are in Goma and take them some food.  If they were my kids, I would want to know. I will call you from there and maybe you can talk to them."

Oh my gosh!!!  As you can imagine, I slept about 30 minutes all night long.  At 2:30 am he called and said they had safely crossed into Goma and that the soldiers weren't in the city.  They were outside of the city training.  At 6:00am we got a call from Trent and got to speak with Nicodemu and Anouarite for 30 minutes!  They are absolutely precious.  They were trying their very best English and we spoke some occasional Swahili. Trent was translating the rest for us.  Highlights... Nicodemu has a very strong, confident, yet gentle and respectful voice and when asked if there was anything he wanted to ask us, he asked what he was going to be able to eat when he came to America.  We told him, "anything you want!!!" and started listing everything I could think of from ice cream to steaks! He also sang us a song and has a very very good singing voice, wow!  Anouarite joined him super quietly at the end of the song.  Anouarite is very shy and Trent says she is super sweet and has been latched onto him all day.  She spoke occasionally, with a very quiet gentle voice.  We finally learned how to say her name.  It is ahn-wa-ree-tay with the accent on the ree.  Her nick name is "ann-wa" and that is how she introduced herself.  "My name is ann-wah".  Nicodemu kept saying in English "my name is nee-ko-day-moo (strong stress on day with his cute little African accent).  They are calling us Mama and Baba, Nicodemu said "hello dada" (sister) to Annalise.

Nathanael and Annalise woke up and got to speak with them as well.  Nicodemu counted to 9 in English and Nathanael and Annalise each sang them a song.  I sang them a song too.

I am still in shock.  We asked how they are and they said "nzuri" which is good.  We explained to them that things are difficult now because of the war and that we are doing everything we possibly can to get them home as soon as possible.  We don't know how much they understand, seems like very little of this concept.  Then the older kids got Anouarite to say "I am hungry, give me some of that food" - in Swahili of course.  Everyone broke out laughing.  Unbelievable.  We are still in shock.  I even prayed against my will that if they would not be able to come home that God would just not allow us to be able to speak with them.  I was so worried laying awake all night and not being able to get through.  Finally the phone rang at 6:00.

I know there is so much more that I can't remember at the moment but that is enough for now.  Trent will call us when he gets out and is taking videos of them!!!  Oh, and get this... Trent says he thinks they look like us!  I just have to laugh out loud.  Chuck and I have thought the same thing, that they somehow look like they belong with us as improbable as that seems.  That was one of our first thoughts when we saw their pictures but we didn't know that anyone else would think that.

This is the best Thanksgiving ever.  And we recorded the whole conversation.  God, please bring them all the way home!  Thank you for this Thanksgiving blessing.

In the aftermath

Fighting ceased yesterday for now.  The rebel group has taken over the city of Goma and is occupying now.  Chuck is in New York today and is trying to get an appointment with the Congolese Ambassador at the United Nations.  Please pray that he will be able to get in to see him and that the meeting will bring about some successful clearances or expeditions with the final court proceedings so that we can get them out of there as soon as possible.  Our Congolese attorney is asking for the same things there in Congo with the Ministry of Justice.  Please pray that God will continue to strengthen the hearts of Nicodemu and Anouarite and that they will not be shaken.  Though we are grieving for them and the region, God has been so near to us, and to them we trust, and is faithful and very much still in control!  Nothing is impossible with our God.

Goma has been taken

Fighting has stopped. 
Goma is now under M23 authority.  M23 seems to have political ambitions, not brutal violence for the sake of violence.

It is far too early to know what this will mean for the adoption, but at least we now know that all 180 or so children in the orphanage are safe from the fighting.
What a tumultuous time for this entire region.

Our personal declaration that Jesus reigns

I want to make it public to all who know us, that if indeed Nicodemu and Anouarite make it home to us in safety, that it will be an absolute miracle from the hand of God.  God forbid that as we cry out to Him and He moves in mighty deliverance, that I would neglect or cower in giving Him all of the glory.  I am specifically pleading with God, Abba "Daddy" Father, through the powerful blood of His Son Jesus Christ.  Whether you agree or disagree, this is what the Holy Scriptures say about the One in whom we put our trust.

Colossians 1:15-17  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him.  17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

It would be foolish of us to trust in anything less, and wise of us to put all of our hopes in Him.  I know much of the world would call us foolish but that's okay.  He's worth it and this earth is not our permanent home.  There is mighty power to save in the name and the blood of Jesus.  We believe in the resurrection!  I want anyone who knows me and us and our adoption to know, to hear clearly from us, and I have to continually tell myself, that it will not be by chance or by coincidence if something were to happen to allow these children out safely and moreover to become ours. 

It seems that the Rebel M23 group has overtaken Goma and the airport we were hoping could play a role in getting them out of there.  We did hear this morning that the children are still alive.  For them to get out to safety and for there to somehow be clearances for the children to legally make it through the system that is maybe no longer a system at all, would be an act of God.  By God's grace, we'll declare it as such.  May He pry my lips open to be more faithful to Him.

More than anything, I want to hold those sweet children and rub and kiss their heads and tell them that they are loved and belong with us and that God has delighted to place them in our home and family.  I was reminded this morning as I was praying that my God is not a God who is distant and who is unacquainted with suffering.  He seemed to be telling me, "Karen, I know this suffering very well.  You and the people of Goma, and Nicodemu and Anouarite are not suffering alone.  I am right here with you all in this."  How could our foolish hearts ever reject Him every time we are met with the sufferings of this world?  The God of the Bible is not one who judges from afar, but who in love asks us to lay our burdens and sins on Him.  He has borne them lash by lash, was despised and rejected as He entered into our pain.  His love for us is beyond our comprehension.  Just as Jesus prayed in the garden that the Father would take this cup of suffering from Him, He also prayed with full trust and full surrender to the wisdom of God, "not my will but yours be done".  We stand where He stood.  "Abba, we beg you to take this cup of suffering from us and them.  We know you are mighty to save.  You have proven it throughout all generations.  We eagerly await the parting of the sea so that you can show off your glory again!  And we say with Jesus, not our will but yours be done."  

Hell on earth

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121120/DA2LMET82.html

The airport has been seized by the M23 rebel group, they are now in the city center.

Our friend was able to get in touch with the orphanage director and the children are still alive.  That is all we know about them at this point.

We are working from every direction to find out how we can get them out of there to safety.  God still sits on the throne and He is with them!  I will say again this morning, nothing is impossible with God.  We humble ourselves before His power, wisdom, and love.

First concern of prayer, the safety of all involved.  Secondly, that the volatility and (seeming?) overturning of governmental power won't stop the adoption procedures.  Thirdly, wisdom for us and provision of a way out.

Urgent!!!

Urgent prayers needed!

The M23 rebel group has now advanced on Goma and began heavy fighting last night, retreated for negotiations, and when they were told negotiations wouldn't happen, this morning began the fighting again .  Goma is under heavy attack at this very moment.

In the mean time, our attorney is doing what he can to legally get clearance to get them out of there to safety (7 children total being adopted), even though the adoption is not yet complete.  Please pray for clearance and for their safety!!!!!  If this is granted, they will have to wait for the airport to re-open to fly out to Kinshasa.

God has been very gracious in steadying our hearts so far to not grumble against Him.  Pray for us in the testing of our faith, that it will prove genuine.  We are hoping in Him for a miracle.  No matter what we put our trust in Him, He alone is God.  And He is always good.  God, their lives and our hearts are fragile.  Let us see your glory!
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121119/DA2L5VEO0.html

English lessons

We found out today that the kids are spending 5 hours a day in English studies!!!  We knew they had been taken out of their school to study English with a private tutor with the other 5 children also being adopted to America.  I guess I thought they were getting a bit here and there.  They are becoming fast friends I am sure, as we parents are on this side.  Five hours a day?!  I sure hope they have a good teacher!

Breakthrough

Do you remember when I first posted why we are adopting and I mentioned that we are on a journey of learning to take risks and trust God, while He proves himself again and again?  I am so glad we have a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever!  The kindness of the Lord is pouring in as we get nearer and nearer to having Nicodemu and Anouarite home.  We have more good news than we can report!  Just 3-4 weeks ago we were beginning to despair and wonder if the red tape would ever be able to be cleared.  Here is how our God has moved.

A friend, Andrea, has been faithfully praying with us about the children and for months has been praying that they would make it home by Thanksgiving.  As she told me she was still praying for this, I laughed and thought it is in no way possible, but God can do anything.  Andrea organized a meeting of our friends to pray for every step of the process and for all of us as we make this transition.  This time was such an encouragement and I believe that God put that on Andrea's heart because He was ready to move.  They won't be here by Thanksgiving, BUT it does seem that they could be legally ours by Thanksgiving!!  Thank you Andrea for pulling this prayer time together.

Our case should be heard in court next week and it is expected that we should receive the final judgment by then as well.  The judge said his docket is really full Monday through Wednesday so we are hoping and praying that he can still get our hearing in this week!  Once the judgment is received, we will begin our second and final 30 day waiting period.  Once the adoption certificate is signed after these 30 days, they will legally be our children.  Hetzlers!  Then we will still have to wade through the immigration process, which could take another 2-3 months.  Then we can finally travel to get them.

The children received our package yesterday!  We have pictures of their enormous smiles as they were handed their packages.  We have seen some sweet smiles from them both but we saw Nicodemu's biggest smiles today!  We even noticed that they have a matching dimple under their left eye when they are smiling really big.  They tried on their new clothes and were very happy to be wearing them it seemed.  Nicodemu and Anouarite are both smaller than Annalise, based on the size clothes we sent.  Though Nicodemu especially is small for his age this is very understandable considering the years of malnutrition during their formative childhood years.  They are now eating well and look much stronger and bright eyed.  Chuck was joking with me that he just knows as soon as they get here I'm going to be pumping them with protein until I give them gout.  You better believe it!  We also sent some small toys, some snacks (protein packed Cliff bars, Lara bars, and almonds of course), some English/Swahili children's books, pictures drawn by Nathanael and Annalise, bead bracelets spelling their names, and even got to see pictures today of them looking at pictures of us in a family photo album!  Gilbert reported that they said in Swahili of course, "we can't wait to live with our parents".  My parents are in town and got to join in on all the good news and tell Gilbert to tell them hello from their Mimi and Daddy G too. 

Pastor Gilbert, on his way in to visit the kids and deliver our package

As if that's not enough kindness from the Lord, a dear friend of ours and recent graduate of Princeton, Trent, just took a job in Musanze, Rwanda.  We prayed for him and commissioned him to Africa just a few weeks ago right here in our living room.  He is fluent in Swahili, and is the one who gave us his Swahili textbooks.  He is now living about an hour away from Goma (REALLY?!)  He shared with us that he had a dream that we came to visit him.  Though he has been living in Africa for less than a month, he has already met up with Gilbert in Rwanda (Gilbert is the one who takes food in to the orphanage every two weeks and the one who told Nicodemu and Anouarite about their adoption, read them a letter from us, delivered our package, got them an English tutor, and takes new pictures of them every time he goes).  Trent is working to get his travel visa to travel into the Congo and visit the kids himself!  He plans to make videos AND we will call him while he is there and talk with the kids for the first time while Trent translates!!!  What an unlikely and extravagant gift from our Heavenly Father!

I am sure there is more, as so many good things have piled up.  Once the children y are legally ours, we can post all their pictures here.  There is no denying that they are brother and sister.  They look so much alike!  We hope they will love us as much as we love them.  From what God has unfolded so far, we believe He wouldn't have it any other way.  This must be His plan and when His hand is in something, you better reach out and grab on.  He remains the God who loves to give good gifts to His children.  Feels like Christmas in October around here.

We have birth certificates!

Today, the sherrif was able to deliver and have signed by the mayor of N and A's home-town, their first ever birth certificates!  This is significant for many reasons, but most importantly it is the last of 2 documents needed to file for the adoption hearing.  So, and I hesitate now to give any timelines, the adoption hearing should get scheduled within the next few days.  We don't know how long the wait is for a hearing but at least now, the Congolese attorney is able to schedule it.

We have a few other bits of great news!  Chuck and I, along with other families, were growing increasingly concerned about the amount of time lapsing between steps.  We were beginning to discern that the children might not ever make it home without some significant supernatural intervention (which we believe He has again provided in the past 2 weeks after many prayers) or changes in our agency's oversight of the more relaxed Congolese style of going about business.  The good news is that after reaching out to our agency with our concerns, the International Director has stepped in and is personally overseeing our case and the other 2 that we know of in Goma.  He is setting firm expectations and is in regular, now almost daily communication with the attorney in the Congo.  We have also been getting very regular updates ourselves to what attempts have been made at things, even if they were not successful.  This gives us the confidence that they really are watching things with a careful eye and pushing things along now much much more than before.

Also thankfully, Gilbert was able to visit our children a couple weeks ago and took about 50 amazing pictures of them!  They look SO much more healthy than they did from their pictures in March now that they are eating 3 meals daily as opposed to 1.  They are so happy and laughing in many of the pictures, even playing hide and seek and laughing from behind a giant plant of some sort.  One of our questions was whether or not N and A knew each other and understood that they are brother and sister.  There are 180 children now in the orphanage and I imagine that relationship could get muddied if not nurtured.  They clearly know and love each other!  In one picture, A is snuggled up behind her brother's shoulder, seemingly seeking protection.  In another, they are holding hands.  In another they are sitting head to head.  There are many of them playing together.  Gilbert said they didn't seem to have been told about the adoption, though we sent a letter many months prior.  No one had taken the time to sit down and read it to them I guess.  But he was able to begin telling them and he said they were so very happy.  He was there again this past Monday and we are waiting on a new report.  Gilbert has such a selfless and Christ-like spirit.  He was so eager to begin telling them all about our love for them, read them our first letter, and show them our family picture for the first time.  Hopefully he was able to do this Monday along with his normal bi-weekly food delivery.  He has agreed to deliver to them our package that is filled with clothes, bracelets the kids made them, a couple little toys, and snacks.

We have many hurdles yet to get over but we are recently greatly encouraged.  We are still a few months away from having them home but we hope it is 6 months or less and I think now that may actually be possible!

sending a package!

Thank you all for expressing your care and your frequent trips to our blog for any new information.  I haven't posted because there is so little to share and we are expecting to hear good news any time.

So, here is what I can share.  Our first 30 day waiting period is over!!!  The Municipality in Goma has been very slow issuing the Certificate of no Appeal apparently because the person who signs off on these has not been there for many days.  This is kind of the way things tend to work.  Our attorney is working to have those certificates issued asap, hopefully even this week.  Once he has that and the birth certificate, he plans to "file immediately" for the final (2nd) judgement.  This is the really big step when it comes.  We are not sure yet once it is filed for how immediate or not the hearing will be scheduled.  So... we will keep you all posted as we expect to hear something within the next few days.  And pray that the hearing will be scheduled very soon.

In the meantime, we shopped for their first clothes yesterday!!!  It was such a special feeling.  The whole family went and the kids helped us pick out 2 outfits for each of them and a hoodie (it gets a little cool at night).  At the store we saw a pair of shorts that Annalise already has and Annalise really wanted us to get the same ones for Anouarite so they can match.  Among Nicodemu's new clothes is a red shirt that Chuck found with an American flag on it that says "Gold medalist in training".  Pretty cute.  We have learned of a group from Alabama taking a mission trip to Rwanda and they are willing to take, we hope and are waiting for verification, a small package as space is very limited.  They will not actually see the children or go to the orphanage but the Rwandan pastor who takes food in to them every 2 weeks will retrieve the package and deliver it to them with the food!  We have also put together a family photo album for each of them and will send a letter as well.  Please pray that all of this makes it to them, that the clothes fit, and that they learn of our deep love for them.  We have sent 2 letters but we don't know if they have received them so we don't know what they know about us!

Hoping to update you all more very soon.

First Judgment Received - Check!!!

A major step is completed.  There are 2 judgments in Congolese adoption and we recently got word that our kids' case was heard in court (which we reported in June) and our first judgment was successfully served!  This judgment declares that N and A are in fact legal orphans and we can therefore move on toward the actual adoption hearing.

Both of the judgments are followed by a mandatory 30 day waiting period.  We are currently about one week into our first 30 day waiting period.  This first waiting period is to allow for any remaining living relatives to step forward and claim them.  At the end of the 30 days, if no other family claims them, we wait to receive a Certificate of No Appeal.  Once that certificate comes, we file for their first ever birth certificates to be drafted up for the hearing (they aren't typically born in hospitals and they rarely issue birth certificates).  Once we receive both documents, we file for THE adoption hearing!  We don't really know how long either of those documents takes to process but we will keep you updated.  Our 30 day waiting period is over after the first week of August.