Our God is Faithful!

We are shouting it from the mountaintops: GOD ANSWERED OUR PRAYERS!!

Today, after receiving a suggestive hint from a fellow adoptive mama (thank you Chandra), I called our USCIS Case Officer, Ms. Higgins.  For the first time in 8 months, I reached her directly and did not have to leave a message.  I let her know I was calling to check on our case.  Every other time we have called, she would ask for our super long case number in order to locate our case info in her files.  Today, she immediately said, “oh yeah, I think I just approved your case.”  (Shock and awe and I think I stopped breathing.)  “Let me check.”  I think my heart was beating outside of my chest, it was so loud.  She asked me how I spelled my first name - J-A-C-L-Y-N - and then she found the file.   SHE HAD APPROVED OUR CASE YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Tears started flowing immediately and I asked her if she was serious.  “Yes, I sent it to my supervisor this morning for her approval.”  I said, “Praise God!  Thank you so much Officer Higgins for advocating for our son so he can come home.”  Then I asked about a timeline and what’s next.  Our official PAIR letter saying that Dawit has been approved as an orphan and is adoptable by Josh and me should be arriving in 7-10 business days.  I thanked her again and kindly hung up.  I immediately dialed Josh to tell him the amazing news through my sobbing.  As you can imagine, Josh was equally excited!

As soon as I finished my call with Josh, I apologized to the internet technician that was 5 feet away from me throughout these two conversations (I couldn't possibly wait until he left when I heard on Facebook there was a chance our case might be approved).  Poor man had no idea what was going on and why this freaky woman was sobbing so many happy tears in his presence.  Thankfully he was finished with his work and congratulated us on his way out. 

So then I called our social worker from Adoption Associates and shared the good news with her.  She let me know she would contact Alemu (their Ethiopian on the ground contact in Addis) and have him request our court date.  Yes, that’s right, OUR court date.  Meaning we get to travel to meet Dawit and BRING HIM HOME!!  See why we’re so excited?

And you know what?!  There is no reasonable or explainable explanation for why the US Attorney’s office sent our case back to USCIS for approval – except our Strong and Mighty and Faithful Father in Heaven made it happen.  God answers our prayers.  We have been praying for Dawit since before his birth Mother even conceived him.  God knew Dawit would need us as his parents and we would need him as our son.  He has been preparing our family for 3 years and 10 months on this journey so far.

So thank you.  Thank you family and friends for all your many prayers on our behalf.  Thank you for your questions and hugs and conversations and love.  Thank you for your financial support of this endeavor.  For buying t-shirts and bracelets and donating items to garage sales and buying things at our garage sales and supporting my Noonday business/fundraising and flat out giving us checks. Thank you for your support.  You will never know how much this has affected us.  May God bless you all richly.

Praising our Faithful Father,

Josh and Jaclyn

STUCK

On February 23, we submitted more evidence to USCIS, provided by our Adoption Agency, that Dawit is a true orphan.  It was 45 pages long and contained translated documents from 3 different languages.  Although, it did not contain the exact information that USCIS was requesting, it did provide more evidence.

On April 2, having not heard anything at all, I reached out to our assigned USCIS Officer, and learned that our case had been passed along to the US Attorney’s office for review.  We were not given a reason, a timeline, a contact name, or a general idea if this was a positive or negative move.  Since this time, we have felt both helpless and clueless as to how to proceed.  Our agency also has not provided us any guidance.

Speaking of our agency, Adoption Associates, Inc. announced this past Friday that currently they have eleven families with waiting referrals (this includes us).  They are committed to seeing these placements through to the extent that will be possible.  They have come to learn and accept that the Ethiopian government is not moving forward with all aspects of its international adoption program. The approvals of current referral documentation, the actual court processes, and the granting of new referrals are all being affected. There continue to be ongoing insurmountable obstacles. The hands of the representatives are tied as well as those of the agencies.  Unless things dramatically change on the Ethiopian side of things, our agency will be closing its doors to Ethiopian adoptions.  So…we need to get our case moving in a positive direction so that our agency will be able to assist in Dawit’s adoption before they decide that it is not an “extent that will be possible.” 

After a lot of conversations, guidance and prayer, we have reached out to an Immigration Lawyer to assist us in having Dawit declared an orphan and available to adopt.  We have our first consultation with her on May 15. 

We have also just recently contacted an investigator/searcher in Ethiopia to assist us in confirming the details we already know about Dawit and also to attempt to locate a birth mother.      

We have requested assistance from our State Representative Lynn Jenkins as well as both of our State Senators, Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran.  We have not received word from any of these offices; however, the Senators were contacted just this morning.

Meanwhile, Dawit turned 19 months on April 27.  As far as we know, he is healthy and being cared for at an orphanage in Addis Ababa.

Please…pray with us for this process to be quick so he can come home.  Please pray for the 55 or so families that are with our agency now trying to decide how to proceed with their adoptions they have financially and emotionally invested in.  And please pray for the approximately 6 million children in Ethiopia who now have no chance of being loved unconditionally by a forever family.