God`s up to Something

Just a quick update for our prayer warriors:

We made it safely out to the wharf yesterday...several hours later than intended and on our third detour, but we did finally make it.  Albeit a bit surprisingly.  We are currently staying at the Wesleyan guest house out by the wharf, as the Port Authority has not yet reopened the ports.  Ie. no boats are allowed to go out.  Yesterday this was COMPLETELY understandable.  I can't say I would have wanted to be in a boat with the water as choppy as it was.  So far today the ports are still closed, so still a no go unless something major changes in the next hour or so.  Unfortunately there is a mission team on La Gonave trying to get back, as their flight leaves from PAP back to the States at 2:00 today.  Please do keep them in your prayers too!  Currently neither Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) flights nor boats are allowed to go.  So basically they are stuck trying to get off the island and we are stuck trying to get on.  The good news is, we've had PLENTY of rest.  Emotional stress, yes!  Physically though, I feel like we've done nothing but eat and sleep!  Seriously, what do you do at a Carribbean beach resort in a hurricane?  :-D 

In other news, a brief update from the meeting with our lawyer.  We have to address some issues with Catrina, preferably on this trip (assuming we can get out to the island).  First, her mother and sister should have never taken her from the orphanage on La Gonave.  Especially since they have no longer have any legal rights to her (those were signed over to us a year ago).  Technically we are responsible for the fact that she is no longer where she is supposed to be because we are her legal guardians.  Therefore we need to address this with the birth mother and sister to ensure it doesn`t happen again.  Then we need to get her into a creche, preferably back in PAP.  We have sent some emails and our lawyer is supposed to be checking on a few that she knows of.  This is a little difficult for us, as we have no phone to be able to make the necessary phone calls.  We were planning to get a phone this trip, but again, due to the rain, all the Digicel stores are closed.  So we`re having to beg and borrow until we can get our own.  Another issue that just came up is that our lawyer apparently has no way to get in touch with any of Catrina`s birth family.  We expected that she would have asked Mme. S for them, especially since she speaks Creole...we don`t.  Anyway, while we already knew that things work quite the same way here, we are slowly learning that pretty much anything that needs to be taken care of falls back on us.  This is a little frustrating, as had we known this, the issue could have been resolved a year ago.  Instead, now we are running around trying to pick up the pieces.  Anyway, it is what it is and we will do what we have to do.  Just praying for God`s blessings and wisdom as we continue to do so.

So until these issues are resolved, we will continue to be stuck in IBESR (the Haitian Adoption Authority).  Praying that we can get out to the island and start working on a resolution to these issues immediately.  We would LOVE to have answers to each of these issues before we head back to the States next week.  Again, it will take a LOT of work...work we are willing to do, just hoping we can get some clear weather to begin.  If any of you recall last October`s La Gonave visit, you`ll recall that we went into it with the same expectations (just a visit), got here to find that we had a LOT of work ahead of us, God provide in some amazing ways and we accomplished much!  So far, this trip has started about the same way....now, we are watching for and waiting on God`s amazing provisions!  Such is the story of our adoption process so far; God seems to wait until it seems completely impossible to show us how great and powerful He really is!  We are faithful and bold in our prayers that He is going to work this out!

One thing that has really been carrying us this week is a song that Eddie only recently discovered and it has been ringing through his mind for the past few weeks.  The lyrics for the chorus are:

God’s up to something
God’s up to something good
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
His plan is working
Everything out for my good
All because I love Him

Go here to check out the full lyrics and see a video.

Pleace and love to you all!  Thank you for the continued prayers!

Praying for guidance and wisdom

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting..."   ~James 1:5-6

Praise God for safe travels! We had a fairly uneventful trip into Port-au-Prince today.  Tropical Storm Sandy definitely has things a little chaotic around  here... SO not what we are used to in North America! Not sure whether we will be able to make it out to La Gonave tomorrow, but we are getting in a taxi at 7:30 am one way or another and heading to the wharf.

Praise God for Carl! Despite the crazy weather, our dear friend Carl took us to meet with our lawyer tonight (as she could not make it to us due to the rain). What a blessing that we got to meet with her! No good news, but at least we now know where we stand and what needs to be done. More details later (when I have an actual keyboard), for now, we are praising God for His Grace and Mercies and praying specifically for:
- Clarity for where to go from here. May God slam shut any doors through which we should not enter and widen those we need to find!
- Catrina's birth father's heart to be burdened to  do what he needs to do
- Wisdom (which we have faith we will receive) to know God's Will in each step of this process
- Compassion for everyone involved in this process
- Safety and the ability to travel as necessary. (Jesus is going to calm another storm...how cool!)

Many of you knew I was a little anxious about this trip for some reason...I think it was likely just because I knew we'd be faced with some tough choices while here. Rest assured that anxiety has been relaced with excitement and joy that I get to see in what xool ways God is going to make Himself known over the next week! Praise God for lifting my spirit and keeping my focus on Him!

Catch-up with the Bates

I must admit, I've been putting off posting as things have been just a bit up in the air at the moment.  Here are the major updates:
- Eddie and I head to Haiti bright and early Wednesday morning.  A trip that we scheduled earlier this month as a replacement for our September trip that fell through.
-Catrina is no longer at Mme. S's orphanage.  An odd array of events led to this and we are hoping to work out the details of what this means for our adoption while we are there.  The most important thing is that yes, she is safe.  She's currently living with her sister again, tough this is only a temporary possibility.

As always, I plan to try to update from Haiti, but one way or another, please do keep Catrina and us in your prayers, especially over the next two weeks.  Our specific prayers are for:
-Catrina's safety and health
-God's blessings on this recent development and the entirety of our adoption process (no movement there that we know of...)
-God's perfect Wisdom for any decisions we may face while there.
-God's Peace that transcends all understanding as we move forward and/or wait.

Many thanks to you all for all of the love and support you are so faithful to provide and the ceaseless prayers!

Yard/Bake Sale a success!

To those who came out and helped participate on Saturday, I can't thank you enough!  It was a long morning that was CRAZY busy (and most of us hadn't had nearly enough sleep...), but it was SUCH a blessing!  We had more stuff than we could possibly sale (thanks so much for all the donations!!!) and the perfect people to get it all set-up and sold!  We were seriously selling tons of stuff for about 4 hours before you could even see a dent in it!  We were calling it our "Fishes & Loaves" yard sale.

We were so blessed to see our church family and people in the community surround us with love and encouraement!  All in all, we had some amazing people pull together this great event, which raised just over $1500 toward our adoption costs!  Thank you so much to our Vineyard Community Church family and the sweet Bush family for letting us use their driveway for the morning! 

Several people generously made donations...even after haggling on prices :)

The driveway was FULL (this in about the 3rd hour of selling).

We even had the front walk covered in yard sale items! 

Who can resist yummy baked goods sold by cute kids?!

Yup...still selling...still tons of stuff...  :-)  AWESOME!

Yard Sale / Bake Sale Tomorrow!!!

Happy Friday! 

Just a quick reminder that we are looking forward to seeing all of you at our Daniel Island Red Balloon Community Yard Sale/Bake Sale Fundraiser tomorrow morning from 7:00 am - noon at 1036 Barfield Street.  We've got some great stuff to sell and some great eats too!

Have a great weekend!

Countdown to Yard Sale!

Still praying for news from Haiti...nothing to report yet.  In the meantime, we've been busy, busy getting donations gathered and preparations made for our next fundraiser:

THIS Saturday we'll be having a yard sale/bake sale (providing a coffee and baked goods breakfast for all those busy yardsalers) at the Daniel Island Red Balloon Community Yard Sale.  We've got some good stuff, so come check it out!
As you can see in the flyer above, it's from 7 am until noon and we will be at 1036 Barfield Street.  Ya'll common out and show us some support!  :-)  Hope to see you Saturday!!!

PS. We are still accepting yard sale item donations, as well as donations of k-cups and baked goods for the breakfast.  We can provide a donation receipt upon request and we're happy to come pick up your donations.  Just let us know...  :-)

Puzzle Update

So as previously promised, here's where we stand with our puzzle:

Current Front View of Puzzle

Current Back View of Puzzle

I particularly love the back view!  This was precisely what we were going for! I can't think of a better way to portray how our adoption journey is taking so many different people helping in different ways to make this work.  I love the back view so much, I almost want to hang it backwards!  :-)

So far we've raised just over $1500 with the puzzle fundraiser.  Our goal for this fundraiser was $5000.  We still have 333 pieces available for purchase, so ya'll keep spreading the word and keep praying!

Other ways you can help:
 - PRAY!  We always need tons of prayer.  Please pray specifically for Catrina, as I know this waiting game is particularly hard for her.
 - Encouragement!  I know it seems strange to ask for this, but it is always such a blessing when people post positive comments on here or send us a text or note to say hi and they are praying for us. 
 - We've had some stuff donated for the yard sale at the end of the month.  If you have items to donate, please do call us!  We will happily come pick ut up!  We're requesting items other than clothes.
- Plan to come to the Daniel Island Community Yard Sale on September 29.
- Purchase an "Adopted" T-shirt to show your love and support, not only to us, but to the entire adoption community.