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.

Shielded

M23 rebel army outside of deserted house after entering  Rutshuru

For those of you who read our first post about why we are adopting, I mentioned that our lives are a journey of learning to trust God as He stretches us beyond what we can bear.  Always in return, He reminds us that He is trustworthy.  We have yet another story of His power in our inability.  If you read the last post, just less than 2 weeks ago we were fearing for our childrens' lives in Goma.  There is a rebel malitia group by the name of M23, that had violently overtaken a town (Rutshuru, pictured above) just 25 miles north of their town and were presumed to be heading toward Goma.  What can we do from all the way over here?!  We can't legally take them out of the country yet.  In a country where murder of entire villages and rape of young girls to old women is commonplace, we could see catastrophe around the corner.  I had remembered reading Psalm 10 a few weeks ago and noting that it sounded a lot like what the fatherless are experiencing now in countries like the Congo.  The night I heard of this impending danger, all I could do was cry out to God and remind Him of what His word says about Him.  It says in Psalm 10 "Arise, O LORD, O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.  ...  you have been the helper to the fatherless.  Break the arm of the wicked and evil doer...  O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more."  I pled with Him for their safety and prayed His Word back to Him. That night and still today I couldn't help but think about all of the orphans who DO die in the hands of wicked men.  What would be the fate of N and A?  Does God rescue every time?  No.  Why not?  I don't know.  But I trust that His wisdom is greater than mine and we too as fellow humans have some great measure of responsibility in the matter.  Maybe He's waiting on us.

I am so relieved to say that God did shield and protect them!  This is an excerpt sent from another mother waiting on children who are in the same orphanage with our children.  Her Rwandan friend lives on the border and takes food in to our children. She wrote:
             "I awoke yesterday to a very upsetting email from our Rwandan friend saying that things were looking bad for Goma and that the war was very near where the orphanage was. He was asking for prayers for the situation. Today, I woke up and there was a much better email from him. He said that the troops for some reason had fled into the forest and had not gone into Goma. Praise God they didn't go where our children are :) I cannot tell you how relieved I am today. God is taking care of our babies and all the other orphans in Goma :) He did say that people were still scared and not going far from their homes and most shops were closed. Food is very expensive."

The bible tells of armies of angels protecting those who were trusting in God in dire circumstances.  Could the troops have seen some warrior angels that night?!  I don't know but I am certain that God had his hand in it one way or another.  The next morning we saw news reports that the UN had sent in troops to protect the city! http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i-5mGUlfesCQ4brpbExqtUzgvx2g?docId=CNG.0237ab58454ec150010d2c920a06e63d.301  Sometimes, there are things in life that we just cannot control.  I am forever grateful that I know the God who holds the universe in His hands and who loves and fights for those who call on His name.  

Rebel Fighting Imminent

The region where N and A are living is becoming increasingly unstable.  They are in a dangerous place as a rebel group is threatening their town of Goma and other surrounding towns.  Please pray for their safety.  Of course, if the city is under siege and at war they will be fleeing and suffering and not processing adoptions.  More urgently at this point, their lives could be in danger.  This is a brutal and very violent group.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOwLpVv3I-o&feature=em-share_video_user    Please pray for this nation and our hopeful children there!  This is the very reason these precious children are up for adoption, there are millions of orphans as the oppression has had little reprieve for generations.  How can this be allowed to continue?  God, arise and defend the fatherless!

Psalm 10:8 - 18  

 8 He [the wicked] sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;  9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.  10 The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.  11 He says in his heart, "God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it."  12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.  13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"?  14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.  15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.  16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.  17 O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear  18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. 

Praise the Lord!!! Real progress!

The heavens declare the glory of God over Africa, summer 2011

Are we seeing the parting of the waters?  I think we are witnessing the mighty hand of God as the walls of water stand in place and He makes provision for N and A to in fact walk through to freedom and hope.  Wow, we're so encouraged!  We got some amazing news this morning!  Significant progress was made on our case with N and A, even more than we had imagined and prayed for (Eph 3:20!).  The attorney's assistant was able to gather and process all the necessary paperwork to begin our adoption in Congo and our case was heard in court!  We were just praying and hoping for the assembling of the paperwork since that had been such a sticking point, but the fact that the case was already heard in court is another huge step!        

There are still several steps ahead of us and it's never over until it's over, but this is an important step forward.  We'll write another post soon letting you all know what's next, but for now we want to celebrate what God has done so far.  Thanks for all your prayers!

Waiting... a glimmer of hope

We are awaiting a report from our agency letting us know of any hopeful and necessary developments.  As I posted earlier, our attorney's assistant made it into Goma last week and was working to light a fire and get some paperwork moving.  He has now returned to Kinshasa so we are anxiously and prayerfully waiting to hear hopefully that something has finally started moving!!!  If it has not, we were lovingly told that it will not likely be able to progress especially now that there is no one there pushing it.  It is all very complicated and too much detail to share here but we hope that we will only have good news and be able to get back on the "adoption train" with precious N and A.  We have been praying for God to move mountains and we know He can.  We also trust Him enough to know that whatever He has planned is best.   

Overlooking the Nile River 1 yr ago, praying for our kids.  Still waiting and praying.

Meanwhile, my new friend (mentioned in the previous post below) whom you can learn more about here, sent us a brochure in the mail.  At the time they made up the brochure, they had no idea that the kids pictured there are our kids!  I can't believe it, I have a brochure pleading for the sponsorship of the kids in our orphanage so that they can all eat.  And on the front is a big picture of our very own A that I have just fallen in love with.  She is smiling!!!  And sadly very thin with a poked out belly and shaved head.  Poor baby.  I can't wait to get her home, feed her, give her a good warm bath, snuggle her up in a warm towel, lotion her, put her in her new pj's that I have been holding onto for months, sing to her, rock her, and put a bow on that bald little head!!!  When I thanked this mother who sent the pictures from her recent visit to the orphanage she said, your son was the other child in the brochure and at the time I didn't even know they belonged to you.  Huhh?!?!?!?!  I couldn't believe it.  I had already poured over every child in the pictures to find him but I couldn't recognize him.  I think I now know which one he is but it's crazy that even though I have stared at his sweet little face many a time in the only picture we had previously had of him, I couldn't even recognize him from a different angle, different expression.  They are so adorable.  I don't know if that is just because I see them through the eyes of a mother but I already love them and think they are so cute.  I have that same ridiculous pride over them that any mother has over her children.

Lastly, our agency's International Director and his Assistant are going back to the Congo this week for their second trip.  This is a crucial trip for all of the Congo families as they are making major decisions on our behalf and on the behalf of all of the families and children who will come after us.  Please pray for their safety and for God's wisdom and favor as they navigate this treacherous and beautiful thing called Congolese adoption.

On the Move Again

After about 4 months of gridlock, we have finally gotten what seems like a breakthrough in getting the process moving again!  Our attorney sent his assistant to Goma and we got word today that he arrived yesterday and is working on paperwork himself.  He is getting the ball rolling again it seems.  In order to prove their legal orphan status for the courts, they must get the P.V. of Abandonment from the Dept. of Social Affairs and go to the courts to obtain a judgement suppletif.  We hope both of these things can happen while our attorney's assistant is in Goma this week.  Pray for this miracle!  He is also training a local lawyer to handle the case in his absence. This could be a very helpful step as it is very difficult for him to work this case from the other side of the country.

As an unexpected surprise, God has been answering our prayers in another way!  We have been praying, of course as any parents separated from their hopeful children would, that God would care for them and protect them.  I got an email on Monday from another adoptive mother in our program who is also matched with siblings out of the same orphanage in Goma.  We were able to talk and she said she was just there at their orphanage in March and that after reading my blog realized that she had met our children!  It is an amazing story really of our loving heavenly Father caring for these children and the God-given fighter spirit in this mother who would go to any cost to care for the children she is awaiting.  After being contacted and told by another party that the conditions in this orphanage are worse than could be expected and that the children are literally starving to death, she raised a bunch of funds, started a ministry, and jumped on a plane to go over and feed these orphans!  Since March, they have been all eating 3 meals a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I wept when I learned that while we were praying and trusting that God would care for them, He sent flesh and blood in the form of a mother to go and do just that!  The cherry on top is that she has tons of pictures from her time there and we were able to see more pictures of N and A than the single picture we have of each of them.  In the picture of A, she is even smiling a big smile!!!  That means a lot to me because she looks very sad in the picture we have of her so I am glad to see that she isn't too traumatized to be happy!  She looks very hungry but I trust now that she is better fed.  If you want to read this amazing story, visit her blog at sweetinterruptions.blogspot.com  She has included pictures of food delivery and wrote about what it was like to meet her kids for the first time.  You should also check out her minsitry's web-site at mercysmission.org.  You can see other pictures there of the orphanage and the children.  By God's grace pieces are coming together both in my mind and in the adoption.  We are still so far from the finish line and so we hold onto N and A loosely, though we will continue to pray and fight like heck for them.