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Thursday, December 12, 2013

I-171H

Today we returned home from a week long visit to LaGonave to find  our I-171H letter in the mail.

The I-171H, the official name for our I-600a approval, will allow our children to enter the USA once the adoptions are completed in Haiti.

This indicates that the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration after an investigation of Cory and I [home study review, fingerprint check by FBI and the application] approve us to adopt internationally.

They then contact the Embassy who will eventually process our children's exit visas.

As we also picked up our renewed Haitian visas from Irvine's home during this trip we scanned them along with our approval letter and sent the information off to our agency social worker and the gal working with the creche in Haiti.

So now we pray and wait. Wait and pray.

Today IBESR held a meeting with some of the creche leaders in Haiti to talk about the new procedures.

No word yet on how the meeting went but we continue to pray for the process, changes, and workers involved.



Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Being First…..

Do you like to be first? First seat on a roller coster? First for something good? What about first for something bad-do you like to just get it over with? Enjoy the unexpected? Adventuresome? What about first in line for the unknown?

Generally in life I do not push to be first. I did not even do so as a school child but would hang back a bit. Middle of the line was OK. Let me see how the other's accomplished a task.

In medical school often my evaluations read 'not aggressive enough'. True enough. I prefer to learn from other's mistakes than be the first to mess up, especially in front of a group.

With all the changes in the adoption process in Haiti we find ourselves one of the first families in line with our agency to go through the new process. In addition everyone else we know living in Haiti going through the adoption process already have their children living in their homes.

Our dossier arrived in Haiti the end of October and may be the very first one our agency submits to IBESR. Being first means no one can share their experience, time frames or give us an idea on what to expect.

Having lived in Haiti for 15 years I suspect that we will be called upon to use the flexibility and patience that we have developed living here as we move through the new process and the unknowns.

We will depend on our support team to partner with us in prayer during this journey especially when waiting for our referral, waiting to learn which children the Lord has chosen to join our family and afterward as we wait for the process to bring them home.

We 'hear' that the new law passed but as of yet still not printed in the paper.

Through a Facebook group we know that some people continue to wait for a referral more than 10 months after their dossier submission to IBESR under the new system.

So far have not heard of any new process families matched who did NOT already have a 'soft match' meaning that their agency already located a child.

Know that hundreds of charts, cases, representing families and children exist in the system each needing attention, time and action to move forward. PLEASE PRAY.

Faith can move mountains. God is in charge. His way. His timing. No delays outside of His will.