One more baby step...but we'll take it!

You'll rejoice to know that despite an unforeseen set back, we got enough money to pay for Project English! Praise God with me! :) He is SO good! He will ALWAYS come out on top!

Additionally, after many months of hard work, paper gathering, praying, and ultimately trusting God to provide, I had a successful meeting with USCIS today st the American Embassy in Port au Prince! Our I-600 has been submitted! Birth parent interviews are scheduled for October 21. Please be in prayer that both bio parents will show up at the appointed place...close to the appointed time (that's a Haiti thing...more on that later).

After frantically trying to get papers together and fervently praying that God would burden our lawyer to get the appropriate papers to our translator, I arrived safely in Haiti yesterday just after noon. I was "assisted" by three different people at the airport and passed off like a runner's baton in the less than 300 feet to the proper car, so i could tip them all...ahhh, welcome to Haiti!

I met with our translator, who had received the necessary papers less than 24 hours earlier, to get the French and English copies of our daughter's birth certificate and the minutes from our  October 2011 experience with lower court.  This was the first time i had met our translator. I must say, he has to be one of the kindest, most genuine Haitians i have met! (Let me know if you need a translator! He's awesome!)

After that, I met with our lawyer on the side of a road in the Delmas area of PAP. Here, i provided all the documentation (and money, of course) for MOI and our girl's passport...all if which she requested after 7 pm the night biggie...the night I was packing for my trip...really?! As if i just have these things laying around? Tuesday night was filled with a LOT of emotional highs and lows. God would provide, the enemy would attack, Eddie and I caught in the middle. However through God's grace and a little help from our friends at the Bair Foundation), we pulled it all together. 

Today, I can't help but hope we are closing in on the final stages of this adoption...after 32 LONG months, hope is nothing short of a miraculous gift from our loving God!

Tomorrow I head out to La Gonave to rejoin my team and to serve God with the island folks. No more mountain retreat for me, though my stay at the Bethel Guest  House has been wonderful (see the view from my room below! Awesome!). I hope to also update you more on my trip to the Embassy...once i have a keyboard, rather than a phone... :D

For now, please praise God for safe travels, His love, grace, mercy, and provisions, and the mighty work He is doing in and around me! I pray that He well continue to work through me in whatever way He prefers, and that He will continue to move our adoption along!

Opportunity to HELP!

Mme. S has always had this incredible vision to raise the orphans of Haiti to be productive Haitian citizens.  In fact, the direct statement she has made to me on several occassions is "I keep going because you never know...I could be raising the future President of Haiti who will fix it all."  What a motivation!  What a passion!  What a dream! 

Eddie and I were brainstorming ways that we could make a difference for Mme. S and her children.  Afterall, not only is this the woman with whom God has currently entrusted my child, but also because we love Mme. S and her vision!  We love the other kids at the Children's Village (CV)!  We, TOO, want to do whatever we can to make a difference in the lives of these precious little ones and in the future of Haiti!

SO, Eddie and I committed to find a way to provide summer English classes for the older children (those already taking English lessons in school) at the CV.  The goal is not only to maintain their current level of English-speaking throughout the summer months, but to ideally actually improve their abilities by building on the foundation laid in school.

"Why English classes?" you ask?  Obviously Catrina will also be taking these classes, so that would be hugely beneficial for us. However, this wasn't really the driving force.  According to The World Factbook, more than 2/3 of the labor force in Haiti does not have a formal job (some estimates place this percentage closer to 90% even).  The ability to speak English is a huge advantage when entering the workforce in Haiti, as many of the jobs that are available are offered by Christian organizations (aka. often managed by missionaries...who most likely speak English).  Another very relaible business in Haiti is working as an English translator.  God placed in our hearts a desire to figure out a way to help these kids become better English speakers so that they have a better chance at a future.  In ths process of working so hard to provide a way for our child to come home, we've managed to fall in love with dozens of kids who we are also eager to help in anyway possible.  This small contribution touches many lives, rather than just that of our child. 

Eddie and I worked with Mme. S (who LOVED the idea, by the way!!!) and the folks at Okipe to get an English teacher to come out to the CV three days a week for 2 hours each day.  Mme. S loved the idea SO much that she actually wanted the teacher to come 5 days a week!  :-)  Wouldn't that be amazing! 

The cost for the entire summer is going to be only $900.  This covers the two hour classes, three days per week, for the 3 months the kids are out of school.  $300 of this amount has already been covered, and the Charleston Vineyard Community Church has agreed to match the remaining amount. 

That means we need only raise $300!!!

So this is where you come in.  If you can give $20, that will become $40.  If you can give $100, it becomes $200.  Please pray about what God might want you to give toward the future of these children. 

How can you give?
The easiest ways to give are:

• Make a check out to "Vineyard Community Church" with the memo line designated as "Project English" and mail that check to:

1377 Palm Cove Drive

Charleston, SC 29492

--OR--

(psst...this is the Vineyard "Donate" button; please use this one - not use the one to the right - to donate to "Project English")

Please note that all donations made through the Vineyard Church are tax deductible!  :)

We know everyone has a cause that is near and dear to them, so if you can't help, we fully understand!  Even so, please continue to pray for each of these sweet children and the plan taht God has for their lives.

Thank you in advance for your kindness, generosity, love, and prayers!

With God ALL things are possible!

Over the past two and a half years, Matthew 19:26 has been our life verse and a source of certain hope and strength. Every now and again God reminds us of just how true it is! Our God is awesome; He can and does move mountains!

I haven't had a chance to post since our May return (waiting on all the photos...Awesome trip!) or the exciting news since then that C's birth father went to PAP to sign off on the adoption, but we got news tonight that I just can't hold back! I'm bursting at the seams to praise God for His love and mercy! Here goes...

WE GOT DISPENSATION!!!!!!!

What is dispensation, you might ask?  President Martelli (president of Haiti) has reviewed our case and signed off that we may precede with adopting our girl!  If this didn't sound like a big deal, put simply Haiti-like every country-has a set of laws that define WHO is allowed to adopt their children...we didn't meet...ANY of these criteria. Missing one of the criteria requires a presidential dispensation...not meeting ANY of them is even scarier. However, MY GOD who brought this child into my heart and life is faithfully and mercifully moving mountains to bring this child into our home! And so...WE PRAISE HIM!

GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!

What next? We have to continue to wait for our paperwork to flow through the various courts of Haiti, collecting the necessary signatures, then we head to Haiti to finalize our adoption, then we wait on the US to approve our adoption, then we being our sweet girl home! Slowly, but surely things are happening, but trust me when I say THIS IS HUGE!

God is working...and so...WE PRAISE HIM!

Haiti Bound & Praying for a miracle!

We haven't really had any news in quite some time (hence the lack of posts...)

This year, in just a few short weeks actually, Eddie will hit the big 4-0. When asked what he wanted to do to celebrate, the only thing that made sense was to go visit our girl...with his dad! So, here we are, sitting in the Miami airport, grandparents (Catrina's) in tow, waiting to board the next plane to Port Au Prince.

As of this week, we have been in IBESR for a year, with no news...but as always, God's up to something! He's up to something good!

We are meeting with our lawyer today at 1...and praying for and expecting a miracle! Please join us in prayer for this miracle and safe travels!

Photos from my January Trip

As previously promised, some photos from my trip!  Sorry they took so long!!!  Enjoy!

Catrina with some of her many friends at the Orphanage :-)

You may recognize Sunday (the guy on the left), as he is Nadelta's little brother...the guy on the right is actually a photo-bomber!  HA!

Gotta love Little Stanley!  ...and another photo bomber...what is with these kids?!  :-D

SO well behaved!  Mme. S runs a tight ship!  :)

The art of self-amusement

She would be SO embarassed I put this here, but I couldn't resist!  How cute is she?!

Puzzling...  :-)

Making Valentine's Day Cards

Some things are universal.  Teenage girls love dressing up and doing photo shoots!

One of the many times I was seranaded with a trash guitar!  Gotta love the creativity behind it!

Who wouldn't just fall in love with this sweet little gal?!

Finally, some long awaited movement!

As I'm sure you are aware, we were pretty down after my last visit to Haiti.  It was so hard to hear that after 8 1/2 months, our file hadn't even been started!  Yikes! 

Last week, at long last we were able to get in touch with our lawyer (praise God for Facebook!).  She had some meetings on Friday (for which many of you joined us in prayer...THANK YOU!) and we found out today that our dossier is at the Presidential Palace awaiting dispensation.  Praise God!  Please rejoice with us today and continue to pray!

Home Safe & Sound

I returned home safely last weekend and while I managed to stay healthy in Haiti, managed to catch a stomach virus back in the States...irony?  I believe I also may have mentioned in my last post that the Wi-fi was down on the Wesleyan Compound, so while I could log on to check emails, I didn't feel comfortable stealing the Edmonds' computer for too long.  All that said, all apologies for my delay in posts!

I had a great trip!  It was so nice to "get my hands dirty" and actually accomplish some things on this trip.  Unfortunately mission team work was the only thing I managed to accomplish.  We did finally hear from our lawyer that the IBESR hasn't even started processing our dossier.  This was heartbreaking for me! 

Even so, at least I had a great time visiting with Catrina!  It is amazing to me how much we have bonded and somehow this trip seemed so much different than any previous...

Of course she's growing up and changing (I definitely saw some improvements in her attitude at the orphanage...Praise God!), but it was something more...  It was almost like this was the first time we were family.  I was not just her special visitor, but her family.  That was definitely awesome!  I also got to hang out with her friends a little more than I have in past trips and spend some quality time with Mme. S.  All good stuff! 

Upon my return I was musing that we have less than 22 months to get her home!  For Haiti, that is NOT a long time...however a dear friend of ours made the encouraging comment that "God created all of existence in 7 days...I think he can handle 22 months."  :-)  Yes He can!  Just as our adoption process began, I am once again reminded of the words of Chirst:  "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)  Yes they are!