Update from Ethiopia

We talked with our coordinator yesterday and got an update.

Ben said that our dossier is in Eth and is being translated. After that it will go to various offices / admins for authentication. Then it goes to the Womens affairs office where they will review our dossier and the childrens files. They need to write a letter on our behalf for the court. Once CWA gets our dossier back, they will ask for a court date. We are hoping that we can still get a date in July. (Prayer request #1) The letter that the Womens affairs office writes needs to be in court on our date or the court day is postponed. (Prayer request #2) 50% of all cases are delayed because the letters are not recvd on time. If we make it to court, most cases are passed. (3rd prayer request) Then it is time to request passport and birth certificate information. This takes about 3-6 weeks. When the birth cert's are recvd they are checked for accuracy. (4th prayer request) If they are correct, CWA will then request an embassy appointment. This is when we book our travel, which will be about 3-5 weeks later. (5th prayer request)

So, long story short, we will travel either the end of Sept or the end of November.

Thank you all for praying. It is a longer wait than what we wanted but it is all in God's hands. He will get us there when He wants us there. Until then continue to pray that our babies are safe and are being cared for by loving, Christian men and women. I know the Lord is watching over them. We rest in the comfort knowing that He knows our path and He will make it straight in His way.

Dossier in route to Ethiopia

Our dossier is off to Ethiopia. We are so excited that we can hardly stand it. (Still a bit nervous too) Ethiopia should acknowledge receipt of it by the end of next week.

Misrach at CWA was our coordinator for dossier preparation. She has been such a sweet lady in prayer and encouragement. We now move on to another coordinator named Ben. Not sure if we like all these changes but we will see. CWA has been wonderful to work with and has been doing this for a long time. So, we trust their path that they have laid before us. (Actually we trust that the Lord led us to CWA and we will follow their routine)

We will be informed on the next steps in the process and travel info when he contacts us next week. No more paperwork and we are thankful for that.

Hope you all are having a great day. May you seek a way to care for an orphaned child. They need you in prayer and spirit.

Vaccination Day

We visited the travel clinic today. OUCH!! Dan and I got 6 vaccinations, Amy got 5, and Joshua got 1. We are now ready to go and stay healthy.

The nurse gave us some good information and prepared us for stuff that could happen.

May the Lord protect us as we travel to Africa. May His angels surround us and keep us safe.

Today is Grandma Judy's birthday. Happy Day to you! We love you.

Dossier Complete

The dossier is complete and was sent to the courier yesterday. We received an email from the courier that said it was received today. YEH!! He will take it to the state department tomorrow and then leave it at the Ethiopian embassy for approval. It should be authenticated and sealed by Tuesday, May 26. The courier will then send it to CWA. CWA will receive it, review it, and then send it to Ethiopia.

The dossier should be in Ethiopia's hands within 2 weeks.

Continuing to praise Him! Thru it all, God is still good. Pray for our precious babies in Africa. Can't wait to see that wonderful country.

Garage Sale

We are trying to find things to sell in a garage sale. We had a huge one last year(before adoption of 4) and got rid of tons of stuff. If we can come up with a sufficient amount of things to sell, we will move forward. A number of people have asked if they can donate stuff to our garage sale so I just wanted to keep you posted on where we were with that. Not sure if we can have one--- not sure how much we have. Thank you so much for all that want to help. We are humbled by the generosity of soooo many. You are doing it for 4 precious children in Africa. They need to know Jesus and the Lord has an amazing plan for their lives. We are blessed that the Lord is going to allow us to help them come to know HIM.

Thanks again to all who want to give!

I-171 Approval

We received our I-171 approval from the US government today. This means that the US approves us for 4 children based on our home study and our fingerprints. This has been sent to Ethiopia stating that the US will accept them into the country.

So, another step closer to our kiddos. YEH!!

Dossier will be sent to DC on Wednesday (maybe Tues) .

Vision Moment - Sunday

What a great day it was today! The ministry, Mission:OrphanCare, had a Vision Moment at church. We put a video together that showed the congregaton the number of orphans in this world. It asked the question, "How can you be used by God to care for orphans?" A number of GBC families were up front to show how they were caring for orphans- Adoption, prayer, support, sponsorship, foster care... I am very encouraged and am hopeful that more will step out in faith and see what the Lord has planned for them.

The Lord totally planned the whole day. A missionary from Africa was there as a guest speaker. VERY COOL!

Our prayer is that more families step up and adopt. If they cannot adopt, (and most can) it would great if they supported someone who is. PRAY!!!!