Truth Will Set You Free

Turned into the Embassy September 7th, 2012 for Marguerite Cesar Ream
(who will eventually be readopted/renamed in the U.S. as Elita Marguerite Ream)

Well, that's finally done. It felt good but sad too. Wishing we were turning in two. However, we will praise the Lord for each provison. Last week we got our miracle. We found the aunt on Monday. She met with the lawyer on Tuesday. Notarized affidavit was completed on Wednesday. Entire original dossier with English translations (that was an adventure to read), Marguerite's Haitian passport, and the elusive affidavit were delivered to the Embassy on Friday...10 days before our 2nd extension ran out! 

The U.S. Embassy officials will now study our completed packet and decide whether or not to approve our I-600 which will give permission for visa and immigration to the U.S. for Marguerite. They said we should know something within about a week.

I am halfway expecting that the Embassy will ask us to redo the death certificate for Marguerite's first mother. We now know that the information on the death certificate our original facilitator provided is completely incorrect. We know Marguerite's bio mother died in 1999 shortly after her birth. The death certificate states she died in 2009. We also now know that all those listed on the death certificate to verify the death are not actual members of the family even though they are listed as having the same last name. It is a joke. A sick one. I am very sick over it. But it will be ok. 

The lawyer asked me what I wanted to do regarding the discrepancies on the affidavit vs the death certificate in the dossier. I thought about what I have been teaching my children about always telling the truth. I said, "I want you to tell the truth. We have to tell the truth." The lawyer agreed and said he could not understand why the truth was not told in her clear cut case in the first place. He wrote the truth in the affidavit with an accurately plausible explanation for the discrepancies.  He told me that if we have to do another death certificate that it should not take long at all. I've heard that before. I cringe at "long at all" for anything else. So we are praying that the additional explanation given with the affidavit will be sufficient. But even if it isn't and we have to do additional work, we are thankful to know the truth. We are thankful we cling to the Truth Who helps us bear all these things. We are thankful for our Truth who accomplishes all things according to His will. We believe that it is always best to tell the truth and we believe in faith that The Truth, The One Who has been gracious to give us the truth about our daughter's history will indeed set her free. 

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

John 8:32

***There is more to this story. We got a big surprise last Tuesday that came with the truth and the aunt. But that deserves its own post. :)

Of Money, Madness, and Miracles

A few days ago I sent out a plea for help with immediate adoption expenses. God, through several good friends, met that need and we are so thankful! We actually received above and beyond the amount  we needed at this time for Esmée. This is another answer to prayer that we would have the money available to pay for Elita Marguerite's visa fees and the madness we are currently trying to overcome in order to submit the paperwork for her visa. 

Such madness includes but it not limited to old facilitator not having or simply not giving the contact information to reach Marguerite's aunt so that we will be able to acquire the Embassy's requested affidavit from her before the deadline. Instead of giving the information needed the focus was shifted elsewhere to utter madness that we have nothing to do with (though we have had enough to do with these people in the past that we are certain it is utter madness). I received several calls from different people last week over delusional drama about a boy that we helped over the summer. It has been reported that the sweet and timid 15 yr old boy we know has been driving by our girls orphanage on a motorcycle while harrassing the nannies and children and throwing rocks! The first time I heard this I fell out of my chair laughing at such lunacy because we know this boy would never in a million years do something like that! This boy lived with us for 6 weeks and he is one of the kindest and more thoughtful souls I know. The last time I was with him I asked him what God had been teaching him. His answer was "I've been convicted that I need to learn how to be more gentle". Even if we were wrong about our knowlege of this boy's character we know his situation well enough to know that acquiring and driving a motorcycle (he has no money and doesn't know how to drive) the distance to the orphanage without being stopped by police is simply not possible. Not to mention doing this 3 times within a week as was reported! He lives with an American foster family and is on a tight leash. There is absolutely no chance that he could have accomplished this task multiple times even if he dared to do so. We also know how much this boy loves the nannies and his friends at the orphanage and would never cause them harm or alarm. All that to say...this is one example of the kind of madness we encounter on a regular basis around here. Valid questions (like asking for a phone # for a valid reason) are met with invalid answers that are intended to take the focus off the question at hand and deliver only more drama to the situation. The ensuing madness of not being able to contact the aunt has forced us to resort to another more reasonable form of madness. Today we will be asking the general popluation of Haiti for their help. We are praying they will be less delusional in their response...which is probably overly positive thinking. We are basically praying for a miracle to find the aunt. So today we are putting out the following message on two different radio stations in the area we believe the aunt lives as well as with a Haitian DJ that has promised to make regular announcements. 

"We are urgently looking for Marie Jeanne Cesar, the aunt of Marguerite Cesar, age 13 who lived in the orphanage "Ayiti Enfant Sauve Mission" otherwise known as HCRM. Marie Jeanne is the sister of Margerite's mother Mamoune Cesar who is deceased. If you are Marie Jeanne Cesar or know how to reach her please call *-***-****immediately. It is urgent that we find her this week. The # to contact once again is *-***-****"

Except it will be in Creole of course. Please pray for a miracle to find the aunt this week! We would then have one more week to get the affidavit completed and turn everything in to the Embassy in order for them to approve her visa. 

We are incredibly encouraged by the blessings we have received in order to pay for adoption expenses. Esmée's adoption paperwork that has to be redone will end up costing an additional $4,000-$5,000. We will pay for these expenses as they arise and are trying to do as much of the work as possible ourselves to keep cost low. God has been faithful to carry us so far and we are trusting in His continued provision. 

Thank you again for being part of His faithfulness in our journey!