We Know He Hears Us!

Back in September we posted the following list. Praise the Lord we have been able to cross off some pretty significant steps since then!  We will continue to choose to dwell on all God has done to get us to this point and pray for the remaining steps to be completed. We can never say enough thank you's to all our dear friends, family, and even those we have never met who have prayed with us in this process the past two years. Please choose to praise the name of Jesus with us! Prayer request for what is left at the bottom of the list! Our biggest praise is that our girls are now our legal daughters and that they are now at home with us in Haiti! Praise be to God for this unspeakable gift! 

We know He hears us!

BASIC OVERVIEW OF HAITI ADOPTION PROCESS
Get your homestudy done.
Notarize documents for your adoption package to be sent to Haiti.
Send notarized documents to Secretary of State to be authenticated.
Get notarized, authenticated documents translated into French.
Send I-600A and supporting documents to USCIS.
Send French and English documents (adoption package) to Haitian Consulate to be legalized.
Send your adoption package to Haiti.
Send first payment of Haiti adoption fee to Haiti to begin adoption process of a particular child.
Orphanage director compiles child’s documents.
Haitian lawyer reviews adoptive parents’ and child’s file.
File enters IBESR (the social services dept of Haiti).
IBESR director approves this adoption. 

Send 2nd/final payment of Haiti adoption fee after exiting IBESR.

Haitian court appearance before the judge who also has to approve the adoption.

Some people (like us because we have bio kids) have to get "Presidential Dispensations"...meaning the President of Haiti has to sign our waiver allowing us to adopt and continue the process.

Dossier goes to Parquet Office  (or Commissary)
a.  Homologation
b. Parquet
c. Justice Palace
d. Exequature
e. Civil Register
f. Authorization for signature of Adoption Decree
g. Parquet Legalization  (This is the  second “First Legalization”)
More Courts
a. Ministry of Justice (Second Legalization)
b. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Third Legalization)
c. Attestation of Signatures on Adoption Decree

Archives (THIS IS WHERE WE ARE NOW...MARCH 2012)

Immigration submits papers to Minister of Interior to get approval to make child’s Haitian passport.

Minister of Interior gives passport authorization to Immigration.

Immigration prints passport.

DHS 

Adoptive Parent files I-600

DHS interviews birth parents 

We file more USCIS forms (File I-864W, recent Employment letter, past 3 years tax returns, etc. to prove our adopted child will not become a public charge.)

US Embassy approves visa application.

US Embassy prints child’s US visa.

The good news (out of the bad news on the last post) is that we will not have to go through the Haitian system of IBESR, etc. once again to obtain the documents the U.S. Embassy is requiring to approve visas for our girls. We have been told that the Haitian father (the one that failed the DNA test) will have to go to court (once again) in order to now obtain documents stating he was the "legal guardian" instead of the father and at least 4 other valid witnesses must attest to this as well. This just needs to get done and then we must show these documents to the U.S. Embassy. The fact that he was the father listed on the paperwork in no way undoes anything already completed in our adoption process. We had to do this "guardianship" paperwork for Marguerite through her aunt that relinquished her to an orphanage 8 years ago, so we are somewhat familiar with this process. The Embassy is also requiring further "proof" of Marguerite's mother's death and a baptismal certificate on Marguerite. So our first prayer request is that this new required paperwork for each of our girls will get done as quickly as possible. We are praying that these things can be accomplished by the time we are out of the Minister of Interior and that the visas will then be approved so we can bring the girls to the states (and once we touchdown in Miami they will be U.S. citizens!). The U.S. Embassy has given us an extension deadline of June 4th, 2012. Our HUGE prayer request is that we will be able to come home to the states as a family of six in mid June (preferably on June 12th returning with home with our 4 friends visiting from our hometown who already have their ticktes returning on that day). That would be just the best! Please pray for best! We know God's timing is always best and we are trusting His timing for the completion of all these things! 

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, 

that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 

And if we know that He hears us, 

whatever we ask, 

we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." 

1 John 5:14-15

"But certianly God has heard me;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer. 

Blessed be God,

Who has not turned away my prayer,

Nor His mercy from me!"

Psalm 66: 19-20

Never Once

We received some discouraging news regarding our adoption process on Friday. I opened my e-mail Friday night to find a report from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti saying that the DNA test results did not confirm the parental relationship between the birth father and adoptive child and that because of this they were unable to make a favorable determination as to her orphan status at this time. Although it is now clear that because her mother is dead and the man married to her mother who is on her birth certificate is not found to be her father, that she has no one and is in every way a true orphan. Unfortunately, true orphans are often harder to adopt than those who have been relinquished for adoption by their parents or due to abandonment. At least on the Haiti side of the paperwork. The U.S. side (immigration) doesn't like to see any parents involved in the process. But in our case even though there are no living or eligible parents (since both our girls mother's are deceased and neither mother was married to the now unknown birth fathers), we would have to go back through the Haiti system to get the paperwork the U.S. wants to see in order for immigration to happen. And getting that paperwork done on the Haiti side is what has taken the past two years to accomplish. So to say the past few days have been difficult to "be anxious for nothing" is an understatement. Haiti has already approved our adoptions. Pretty much the only thing we had left in our process was to gain approval for the passorts and visas to be issued. This type of thing has happened to friends of ours adopting in other countries as well. You can get all the way through another countries long and difficult process (who don't want to adopt out their children) and then have trouble with our own country granting us permission to bring the kids home. It is such. a. mess. There are unanswered questions and we are patiently waiting and seeking out those answers at this time. There are options...just not any we are super excited about pursuing. We are shaken. We could choose to be angry with those processing our adoptions, with our own U.S. government, with UNICEF who do their very best to make adoption impossible, with the overall anti-adoption system, with time lost, and most of all with the injustice of keeping children from the families that love them. But we knew getting into this that  it was a battle. And we know that this battle "is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places". This fight is not against human beings. There are spiritual forces against us. And then there is our great and faithful God who calls us to fight His battle. This is His battle. He has always been faithful to us. Sometimes we do not understand His ways, but we trust His ways. His ways are higher than ours. His plan is better than ours. We can grieve our futile plans all we want, but every victory is His. We will remember all He has done to get us to this time and place. We will remember that He has never once left our side. 

"Never Once"

Standing on this mountaintop looking just how far we’ve come 

Knowing that for every step, You were with us

Kneeling on this battle ground seeing just how much You’ve done

Knowing every victory was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way but with joy our hearts can say

Yes, our hearts can say...

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Kneeling on this battle ground seeing just how much You’ve done

Knowing every victory was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way but with joy our hearts can say

Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone 

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Scars and struggles on the way but with joy our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone

Carried by Your constant grace held within Your perfect peace

Never once, no, we never walk alone

Never once did we ever walk alone 

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Every step we are breathing in Your grace 

Evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Standing in church yesterday hand in hand in between my daughters, softly singing the words of this song with tears in our eyes...this was God's gentle reminder to dwell on His faithfulness. This is His battle. These are His children. And never once will He let them go. 

Please pray for us now. We would also like to ask for prayer for our family members that are also facing much discouragement at this time. My sister Eleisha is having her second surgery to try to keep her baby this Wednesday morning. It is a risky surgery this late in the pregnancy. Eleisha's marriage is also a serious matter of prayer. Please pray for wisdom, strength, and peace for her during this difficult time. Please pray for my brother in law to be truly repentant and reconciled to his family. Pray for protection over the hearts of our little nieces as well.

My sister Erin and her husband Jesse (whom we lived with for a few months before moving to Haiti) have been facing many struggles as they seek to love and care for the children God has placed in their home through foster care. They have experienced an incredible amount of grief in watching the children they love (and hoped to be able to adopt) being crushed by the system that in no way has sought the best interest of the children. Please pray for God's sovereign protection over the two little ones currently in their care and for the grace to get through each day for Erin and Jesse. Please also pray that God will soon give them a child of their own either through conception or adoption. It is so hard to be far away when your family is grieving. This is one reason why the latest news on our adoptions is so discouraging. We were really hoping to be able to travel home in June to be with family and have time to obtain our girls U.S. passports before we needed to return to Haiti in August. This now looks less likely. But once again, we know that His plans are better than ours. And never once have His plans not turned out for our benefit...even though we may have to endure suffering and pain to discover that benefit...the joy of knowing Him more. Never once. We pray that all these things will be a testimony to the watching world that "in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us". We did nothing to deserve His  love. We can do nothing to earn His love. He suffered for us. He first loved us. Can we expect that we shouldn't have to suffer for His namesake? Pray that we will suffer well and never once fail to remember what He has suffered to adopt us. Will you remember that with us today?

Ta Comes to Haiti!

Whoops! I have tried to post at least once a month since the start of this blog but just totally missed the month of February! I meant to post this two days ago, but our full house won over my blogging intentions. One reason for the lack of blogging is that I've been spending that time with our many visitors. We have had several friends and family come to stay with us during January and February. 


Three members of the Bonacquisti family blessed our lives with their presence for two weeks in January. Jeremy and his wife Tamara were facebook friends and a fellow adoptive family that we connected with a year before our move to Haiti. They helped start and run a clinic in the countryside and have made many trips to Haiti (spending most of the last year here). They have quite the adoption testimony and we have bonded over the difficulties shared in the long journey to bring our kids home. Their 13 year old Haitian daughter Isemelda (who we affectionately call "Lala"...reminding me of my sweet baby niece Talia whose nickname is also Lala) was such a joy to have around the house. I felt like she was here just for me as it lessened the pain of not having our girls with us during this time (after getting used to them being around during the Christmas holidays). We were very encouraged by Lala's amazing fluency in English and to see how well she has bonded to her adoptive family. She also amazed us with her knowlege of Haiti geography as we could go anywhere with her and never get lost! Our boys really enjoyed having Christian to play with as well! We praise the Lord for word just yesterday that Lala has received her I-600 approval and that they should be able to take her home to Illinois sometime next week! We are so, so happy for them! 

We left the Bonacquisti's for our Quisqueya staff retreat weekend at the beach where we enjoyed time with our boys, Haiti missionary friends, and our retreat speakers who are missionaries in Quito, Equador. We returned after a full weekend to get ready for our next house guest arriving on Monday. 

We first met the Roberts family at an "If You Were Mine" adoption training seminar two years ago. They are from our neck of the woods in Texas and we were matched with our adoptive children (from the same orphanage) around the same time. Dean Roberts was with me on my very first trip to Haiti in April of 2010. Melissa was on my second trip (Eric's 1st) in June of 2010. This time Melissa came to Haiti with their 11 year old daughter Natalie and they were able to stay with us! Their adoptive children arrived on Tuesday morning and we had the most precious time with them all! Once again (aside from having the fellowship of my sweet friend) I felt this time was God's mercy in the grief of missing my girls. Melissa was overjoyed at having the chance to bond with her adoptive children in a home environment outside the orphanage and seeing another side to life in Haiti. Please pray for the Roberts family and their adoption process that has been held in IBESR with no progress for the past 10 months. This is extremely hard. There are other families like the Roberts both at our girls orphanage and adopting elsewhere in Haiti who share this same hardship. Once again, please pray. Pray for those processing adoptions and the officials who govern this system in Haiti as well. 

Next up was our long awaited visit from my mother Beverlee whom her grandkids lovingly call "Ta". The name "Ta" is short for "Safta" which is the Hebrew word for grandma. The story behind the name goes like this. When I was a little girl we lived in Jerusalem, Israel. I went to a Hebrew speaking pre-school and called my mom "Ima" and my dad "Abba" like all the other children. Skip ahead about 23 years and I'm near ready to present my parents with their first grandchild. I kept getting cards at my umpteen baby showers from my mother signed "Ima". I was like, "ok, so if you want your grandma name to be Hebrew, then what is the Hebrew word for grandma?" Mom wrinkled her nose up and said, "Safta". I said, "then Safta you shall be"! So my parents are Saba (meaning "grandpa") and Safta. But when our Ethan (1st grandchild) was learning to talk he couldn't say Saba and Safta so he just shortened the names to "Ba" and "Ta". The names stuck and every grandchild that has followed has called them Ba and Ta. These names seem so fitting and natural to our family now that we sometimes forget they aren't common grandparent names...until we have to explain why we call them that to their adopted grandaughters. We thought the reason our girls giggled whenever they called their grandparents "Ba" and "Ta" was simply that they were unusual and silly names. What we didn't know until a few months ago was that the words "ba" and "ta" are actual words with actual meanings in Creole. And the funny thing is that the meanings totally fit with the personalities of their grandparents who share those names! Ba in Creole is a form of the verb "bay" meaning "to give". If you know my dad, you know that he loves to give gifts to his children and grandchildren. Ta in Creole means...are you ready for this..."late". My mom will never live this one down as she is usually and notoriously late! However, on this long awaited day our dearest Ta was not late. Her plane was right on time and we were all very ready to have her with us. This was the girls first time meeting their Ta! It was also our school spring break (due to Mardi Gras otherwise known as Carnaval in Haiti) so we all had the week free to take Ta to our favorite spots in Haiti. Below are some pictures from our special time! 

The day Ta left we had more friends come to stay! The King family whom we knew from when we lived in Mexia, Texas four years ago (Chris, Tracy, and their two oldest kids Carter and Kynlee) had already been in Haiti for nearly a week and spent the last part of their trip with us...lucky us! We expect to see them again very soon...Lord willing! Please pray for provision as the Lord seems to be leading their family this direction! Whohoo! Whose next?

4 grandkids waiting outside the Port au Prince airport ready to catch sight of their Ta. 

Ta is here!

Long awaited hugs!

Ta brought lots of goodies!

The girls spent the next hour modeling their new outfits for us!

Elita Marguerite proudly showed Ta how well she is reading both in Creole and in English!

We took Ta to the beautiful land of Belot.
It was Elita and Esmée's first time to visit the mountaintop too!

We had a picnic lunch at the top of the mountain with the Oostland's whose family was visiting from Holland. 

We thank you Lord for the ability and freedom to run and breathe the clean mountain air...

...and spend time with our Ta!

After our time at the top of the mountain we ventured down to make a stop at the Baptist Mission.
We were blessed to spend time with Wallace and Eleanor Turnbull who founded the Baptist Mission. They have been missionaries in Haiti for 60 years and wrote the books we have been using to learn Creole.We discovered that the Turnbull's only live about a mile from my parents in Lynchburg, Virginia and work with Haitian students at Liberty University where my father is a professor! My mother was very excited to talk with them about this program and find that they share many of the same dear friends. We had a wonderful time visiting with the Turbull's and learning from their many years of wisdom in Haiti where they still spend much of their time.

Mom might not like me posting this photo, but I just had to record this! Our boys and girls took turns sleeping with Ta each night. The girls had a really special time bonding with their grandmother for the first time. 

And there is no better place to bond than the beach! 

We were invited by a new friend who lives beachside to come and hang out with her family. We much enjoyed spending time with Heather's family including her many, many children....which Ta loved getting her hands on!

We visited an orphanage nearby that our friend Heather started.
Ta loved holding the precious babies there too!

More fun in the sun...

...with those we love!

Mom said, "I think this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been". And if you happen to know my mother then you know she has been to A LOT of places! I have to agree. There are some places in Haiti that are the most beautiful I have ever been to too!

And the morning after we returned from the beach, this is what I found when I woke up. Ta hired these massage therapists who were desperate to earn a trip to the toy store.
(I'm sure she won't like this posting either...but I can't resist!)

Surely she won't mind me posting this one of my beautiful mother and my school bound boys!

Saying bittersweet goodbyes the morning Ta has to go.

Lord willing we will see Ta again very soon.
The girls seemed worried about the next time they will see their Ta and long for the day they will get on the big airplane as well. 

Please continue to pray with us for the day we can fly away together!

Remember, you can always come see us too!