Back from Africa

We got back from Sierra Leone on November 21st, but our flights were delayed from London and we missed our flight from Chicago to OKC so we had to spend the night in Chicago, fly in to Tulsa the next day and rent a car to OKC (but it was definitely worth it). This was my (Kevin) 2nd time to visit and it was Andrea's 3rd time. The first trip I took to the Wellington Orphanage was unforgetable, but it seemed very short and as soon as I started getting to know some of the kids it was already time to leave. This trip was much different. From the night we pulled into the orphanage, more of the kids knew my name than I knew theirs and I had been studying their names for weeks because I didn't learn very many on the 1st trip. We drove up to the orphanage late the 1st night we arrived and were told that all of the children were in bed so we were sad we wouldn't see them that night. However, as we got closer to the orphanage we noticed the children had lined both sides of the path and were jumping and cheering and high-fiving us through the car windows just as if their favorite team had won the national championship. When we got out of the car, they just swarmed around us and hugged us and grabbed all of our luggage.
Our team included a Physician Assistant who did an amazing job and many others with medical experience. We were able to do 5 separate medical clinics in different areas of the country while we were there and treated over 800 people. Most of the clinics were done in very rural villages, amputee villages, and polio camps. These people have no band-aids, tylenol, vitamins or anything to treat their medical problems. People were treated for everything from head aches to severe wounds, and 10-15 people were sent to the hospital for surgery. I got a little sick the week I came back and had more appreciation for doctors' visits, insurance, and medication than I ever have before. Sometimes I catch myself complaining about the system in the U.S. but at least we have access to treatment unlike most of the world's population.
Aside from the medical clinics we were able to spend a lot of time with the kids, which is my favorite part of the trip. I think on my first trip I was so impressed by how happy, joyful, disciplined, etc. the kids were that at times I would actually forget the war they suffered through which took their parents lives and put them in the situation they are in today. The orphanage they live in is great and and they are very blessed to have the staff who lives there and the 4-Him organization supporting them, but I still have to remember many of these kids watched there parents die which would have a tremendous effect on any child. The kids are obviously still dealing with the past and what they experienced, but the joy that I see in each of them when they smile or close their eyes and just sing to God is proof that God still performs miracles and changes hearts and lives. These children are living proof of that.
Andrea and I were also able to spend a lot of time with the girl (Bintu) that was living in very poor conditions when we met her in March 2008, but was moved to the orphanage a couple weeks after our trip. I wasn't even sure if she would remember us because of the situation she was in when we met her the first time, but she knew both of our names and somehow knows that we were able to be a part of her being moved to the orphanage. She has a completely different attitude and outlook on life than when we met her in March. She sat down with me one night and went through her Bible showing me all of her favorite verses. She was reading Matthew 4 where Jesus was being tempted by Satan to turn the stone into bread and I asked her how Jesus responded. She looked at me and quoted word for word, "man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God". I was shocked that she would already know this much about the Bible in such a short time. It was also very exciting just to watch her interact with her 84 brothers and sisters at the orphanage.
Lastly for now, my birthday actually occured while we were in Africa. The kids gradually started hearing this, so for 2 days they would remind me my birthday was coming. On my birthday, Andrea and 2 of the girls brought me a card, a painting, and some birthday balloons. Later that night, a couple people on our team bought cheese balls for all the kids to celebrate my birthday. One of the older boys has learned to play the guitar so he led the kids in singing Happy Birthday to me. Then one of the girls had written a short speach from the children to me and she presented that. I also received birthday cards and pictures from many of the kids.
I think I came home from my first trip very excited, but also missing the kids and wondering if I would ever get to return and see them again. This time I feel like it is not as much missing all of the kids (which I do), but it is realizing more about their needs and what resources would be most beneficial to them and trying to determine what I can do to help support them.

OCTOBER TO NOVEMBER

Wow, it has been a while since we have written, so I am warning you this is going to be a long one. I can't believe October is already over and November has quickly begun! Kevin took October out with a bang with his Halloween costume he made, yes made, for work on Friday. So, obviously, I had to post the picture. He worked so hard on this, and he was really proud! He did a good job. I really like how much fun Kevin enjoys having; he makes me laugh a lot. one of my coworkers commented that our children are going to have a wonderful playmate in their father, and that is very true! He is going to be such a great dad!
Well, October began with my trip to see my friend, E, in the Persian Gulf. I wrote briefly about it in earlier posts, but I just wanted to add that I am constantly amazed at how our Father moves and works all over the world in so many unique ways. Be assured that His work is being done in amazing ways in a very difficult part of the world through people that have said yes and said yes to His unique plan. I love traveling and serving overseas for the opportunity that it provides to stretch and grow you in ways you couldn't have imagined before. Qatar is a great place, and it was interesting to observe how the Western world and the Middle East are colliding. E, thanks for an amazing time!

While I was gone, we did receive confirmation from the National Visa Center that our CIS approval has been sent to the embassy in Ethiopia, so we were excited to hear that had been taken care of. Also, sweet Kevin, began to paint our nursery furniture! What a nice surprise to come home to. We are continuing to wait as patiently as possible. Probably the most difficult thing with the referral timeframe being extended is the question of "will we ever have our baby, and will the timeframe be extended again." So, the Lord has really been working with me on trust the last couple of months. Wow! When a friend who has adopted told me that this would be the biggest faith walk of my life, I definitely listened to her, but now I am beginning to understand. Jackie, thank you for speaking that truth! Other friends, John and Sheila, gave the encouragement that once it happens, then we will forget all the dark days. That was good to hear! My heart is being knit to a little person somewhere in Ethiopia that I do not know, and I do not know when exactly I will have the opportunity to meet him/her. We may not be pregnant, but we are expecting, and we think and dream about this sweet baby everyday, many times every moment of everyday. Our hearts long for him/her in a way that I never could have imagined or dreamed of. We are so excited to be parents of the child that God has chosen for us.

I am reading "There is No Me Without You" a very powerful book about a woman in Ethiopia who took orphaned children into her home, and it is written by a woman who has adopted 4 children from Ethiopia. I would say it is a must read, even if you are not thinking about adoption. It will hopefully provide a better understanding of some issues surrounding orphaned children, so you will know how to pray. As we have been working through this adoption process, my heart has been grieved for the reality that is present prior to the adoption. Unfortunately, we live in a world where many things are so wrong for so many different reasons. It really makes me sad to think about all of the loss that our child will have experienced prior to their first birthday, the loss of biological parents and siblings, extended family, familiar language, their country.... mainly due to poverty, lack of resources, country's infrastructure....Now, not to be all doom and gloom, but for some reason this reality has been pretty heavy on my heart since this summer. I am concerned for my child's biological mother because I do not know if she has a roof over her head, any type of family or financial support, enough food, or if she will survive childbirth or other preventable diseases. This is a reality that the Lord and I talk about quite often. We know that He has made adoption one beautiful solution for such a grave reality, and we are so thankful that an adoption process has been made available, so many, many children will have a different opportunity. Orphaned children and adoption are God's heart. We are thankful that our adoption agency (link below) makes humanitarian aid and service such a priority for the countries that they adopt with, so they are using adoption and country fees to help provide much needed medical, educational, and vocational services available for many countries. I am also so thankful that this is not our home, and we have a promise of an eternal home because of God's amazing love and grace where there will be no more sickness or tears. What a beautiful place. However, in the meantime, we as believers cannot sit back in our comfortable worlds and pretend as if everything is okay. We have a much higher calling than that. God has called all of us to love and serve with the least of these, and we all need to seek Him to know what that calling is for our lives, and His will and glory will be spread. We can all have an impact in the way we serve, give our money, challenge our mindsets, the way we vote, the way we shop, the way we work to simplify our lifestyles, and the list goes on and on. We have to respond to His call. Thank you for letting me share my heart and for reading.

Well, the rest of October was filled with a visit from my friend, Kristen, who lives in California. We had a great time and it was great to see her. My parents and my sister were here this weekend, so it was really great to see them and get to spend time with them. My brother and his family headed to VA for their overseas training, and Kevin's brother headed to BC for his overseas training, so it has been quite a month.

We have a very exciting month ahead with Kevin's 35th birthday, and we are headed back to SIERRA LEONE, West Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! We can hardly believe it, but we are so thankful that we have the opportunity to go. We can't wait to see all of the smiling faces above and hug their sweet little necks! We definitely covet your prayers. Hassan, the orphanage director, is actually in town this week, and he will be sharing on Saturday night at 7:00 pm at Crossings. Well, I am sure that you are tired of reading now, so that is all for now!

A few pics from Andrea's Doha, Qatar Trip

I returned from visiting my good friend, E, in Doha, Qatar last week. It was a great trip and full of very interesting experiences. Curt and E were very good to me and made sure I had a great experience in the Persian Gulf. I was able to meet a lot of their friends, which provided me the blessing of meeting some really great people who have some amazing life experiences that they were so gracious to share with me. I could go on and on, but I will later. For now, here are a few pics from the trip below. Thanks, Melodie, for telling us about slide.com!

Andrea left to visit our friends Curt and Elizabeth in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar (ku-tar). She called me and we were able to talk and see each other on Skype before she went to bed the night she arrived. That was great to see her and talk to her after she had spent 30hrs traveling to the other side of the earth. All of her flights went well and she arrived with all of her luggage, which isn't always the case. She emailed me this morning and told me that she was having a great time so far. Her first day was scheduled for a lot of fun activities including sand duning and riding a camel. She was also able to visit the school Curt teaches at, which helps train children to become Olympic athletes (the facilities Curt showed us previously were incredible. I can't wait to hear from her again to see what else she has been able to experience. I also can't wait for her to come home and to see all of her pictures.

Malaria Outbreak

We just received an e-mail from 4Him last night stating that there has been a malaria outbreak at the orphanage. One of the male staff members, Bob, and several of the children are very sick right now. 4Him will be helping them obtain the treatment that they need, but please pray for the children and staff at Wellington Orphanage that God will provide the treatment that they need and ultimately, quick healing. Please pray that God will protect their lives and provide the needed rest for everyone who is helping to take care of those who are sick. Malaria is contracted from mosquitos, and the symptoms are like a really bad case of the flu, but it can be fatal. So, please remember Wellington Orphanage in your prayers. Thank you!

A Niece!

Gary and Kathy, Kevin's older brother and wife, told us all last night that they are having a baby girl! We are all so excited to have a little girl in the family. They have our sweet little nephew, Caleb, who will be 2 in November, and so now he is going to be a wonderful big brother to a sweet little sister who will be here in February. The pink is already coming out!

Nashville

We were able to go visit my sister, Adrian, and her husband, Brian, and their sweet child/dog, Benny, a couple of weeks ago and had a great time! We were able to go with my brother, Adam, his wife, Jennah, and my two sweet nephews, Nic and Nyle. My youngest brother was not able to go; he just moved to Los Angeles. So, we missed him. This was our first trip to Nashville, so we had a lot of fun running around and enjoyed getting to see Adrian and Brian's world. Nashville is a great city! Adrian's blog is listed at the side. She is an amazing photographer, so you'll have to check out some of her pics on her blog. She is getting to accomplish one of her dreams this week. She is in Mexico photographing mission work being done by the International Mission Board. So, I am excited for her. Well, just thought I would share a few pics from the trip. Kevin was enjoying his time at the Wildhorse Saloon as you can see. Jennah, Adrian, and I had just finished taking our line dancing lessons in this picture. Adrian and Brian took us to some housing additions where some TV and music stars live, and Nic really liked looking at the big houses because "they matched him." We're not really sure what that meant, but he had fun. Sweet little Nyle did really well on the trip; he is such a good baby. We were glad that we got to spend this time together because Adam and Jennah are getting ready to move to Eastern Europe with the International Mission Board in January. We had a great trip!

Sierra Leone

Well, I told you in an earlier post that I would tell you more about Sierra Leone. So, I wanted to start doing that now; it will definitely be an ongoing process. We started this blog, so we could keep our family and friends informed of the status of our adoption, especially while we are in Ethiopia. As we talked more about it we knew that the blog had to also keep you updated on the sweet children in Sierra Leone that have become such a significant part of our lives. We truly have a family in Africa, and we are anxiously awaiting the time that we get to bring our sweet child home from Africa, so we felt the appropriate title for the blog would be "Our African Family." We just love those sweet faces and smiles that you see above in the picture.

Sierra Leone is listed as the second poorest country in the world and noted by the UN as one of the most difficult places to live due to human suffering. When you think about those two things alone, then this is definitely not a place that you would probably jump at the chance to go and visit. However, we will never be the same after visiting Sierra Leone. Words could never express what it is like to be around these children. The Lord is using them in amazing ways to impact their country and the mission teams that go to Sierra Leone from the US. We just have to tell others about their amazing testimonies. My friend, Jen C., put it best when she titled the CD with the children singing, "The World Should Know." You should definitely check out their website at the bottom of the blog page. As I mentioned in my first post, I was able to go to the Wellington Orphanage in Sierra Leone in the fall of 2006 with 4Him to do some trauma counseling with the children. I met the president of 4Him, Steve, at a friend's going away party, and our friends got Steve's wife and I together because we had missions in common. Well, here we are heading back to Sierra Leone in November. We are very excited about this opportunity. After our trip in March, we knew that we needed to go back when we could, and with our adoption coming up later next year this seemed to be the right time. We are ready to go back and spend time with the kids.

So, I wanted to tell you more about the orphanage. Seventy-eight children live there at this time due to a twelve-year civil war that began in the early 90s. The war was started by the President of Liberia over the diamonds in Sierra Leone. Many innocent people were killed as control over the diamonds was sought. Families and countrymen were forced to turn against each other, and the country's economy and infrastructure was completely destroyed. The children at the Wellington Orphanage lost their parents during this war and many of them witnessed their parents' brutal murders. So, Hassan Manssary felt God calling him to take in the orphaned children throughout the war, and he, his family and fellow believers continue to love and care for them today. The children are housed in a building that was built by a bank in Sierra Leone a few years ago. It provided them much needed shelter because they had a very difficult time finding a place to live. These are the most amazing group of children I have ever met. God has used 4Him mission teams to bring them to know Him. When you see them smile, hear them laugh and sing, watch them play and dance, you know that they have truly experienced complete healing from the Lord. When we are around them, we see the joy of the Lord. When you hear them speak of forgiveness, you hear and understand like never before the true meaning of the gospel. When you worship with them, then you truly get to experience worshipping in spirit and in truth. We love these children, and we are so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to have the opportunity to know them and learn from them. Please visit the websites below to read more about the children and 4Him ministries. 4Him stands for His Healing Helping Hands International Ministry. We strongly believe in this mission organization and what they are doing around the world. 4Him currently has a lot of amazing projects going on in Sierra Leone from building churches and schools, to assisting with individual businesses starting up and continual support of the children at the orphanage, just to name a few. 4Him operates completely on donations, and it is a great way to make an impact around the world! Their link is at the bottom of the blog page.

Our Timeline

August 2007-January 2008 – This time started with sharing with our family and friends about our plans for adoption. We are so thankful for their excitement and support. We also spent this time researching organizations and countries from which we could adopt. We were looking at Central/South America due to the location, Spanish being a valuable language to know and the culture being fairly prevalent in our area. There were definitely some frustrating points in the process since we were having difficulty locating a country in this region that we could adopt with. During this time, Ethiopia began to surface, but we didn’t feel a complete direction to pursue Ethiopia at this moment. We discussed Ethiopia as a possibility for our second adoption, where we to adopt again.

January 2008- We discovered that Peru would be a viable option. The process would take about two years, and our child would be about 18 months to two years old, and we would be in Peru for about a month, possibly longer. We could only find one adoption agency in the US that was licensed for a family from our state to adopt from Peru so we chose Children’s Home Society & Family Services out of Minnesota. We would soon find out that this would be a great agency for adopting from another country besides Peru. We completed and mailed in our initial application to be placed in the program to adopt from Peru.

February 2008- We began gathering all of the required documents for our home study and we completed our initial home study meeting at the end of the month.

March 2008- Kevin and I went to Sierra Leone, West Africa to the same orphanage that I had the opportunity to work at in 2006. It was an amazing week! When we returned, we really began sensing that God was leading us to adopt from Africa. We completed our second and final interview for our home study right after returning from Africa. We took the rest of March and beginning of April to seek the Lord on what we needed to do.

April 2008- We felt a peace and direction to adopt from Africa. Only a few countries in Africa have strong, reliable adoption programs, and Sierra Leone is not one of them. As I mentioned earlier, Ethiopia had been surfacing for several months. So, we did a lot of research and praying, and we decided upon Ethiopia. We notified our agency and our social worker so our home study and paperwork could be changed. We were transferred from the Peruvian to the Ethiopian program within the same agency. The process for Ethiopia takes about 9 months to one year to complete the paperwork and receive our referral. Our child will be about 6 months old give or take a month or two, and we will stay in Ethiopia for one week. We do not know what gender our child will be. Our agency stipulates that if you do not have children, then you must be open to gender, which is fine with us.

May 2008- Filed our I600A with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Our home study was approved and we were approved to begin the process with adopting from Ethiopia. We received our information packet for our dossier (legal documents that are required by the international government) for Ethiopia.

June 2008- Completed and mailed in our dossier on June 17. On June 20, we received confirmation via e-mail that our dossier had been approved, and would be sent to the Ethiopian Embassy and US State Department to authenticate specific documents, and then it would be on its way to Ethiopia! So, WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON THE WAIT LIST FOR OUR REFERRAL AS OF JUNE 20, 2008!!!!!!! Currently, if nothing changes with the time frame, then we can expect to know who our child is between December and March. Once we find out, then we will travel 2-4 months after that.

August 2008- We received our CIS approval on 8/1!!!! We were very excited to receive this approval from US Citizenship and Immigration services. This means that once we receive our referral that we are approved by the US federal government to go and bring our child home. We also got to meet the local group of parents who have adopted from Ethiopia and meet at a local Ethiopian restaurant. We had a great time, and we look forward to spend more time with them on a monthly basis in the upcoming months.

September 2008- On 9/8 we received word from our adoption agency that our referral time has extended due to anticipated referrals slowing down while the Ethiopian courts are closed for August and September. This was obviously very disappointing news and not at all what we wanted to hear. However, we knew it was a strong possibility and the more friends that I have talked to that have adopted experienced increased wait times with their adoptions as well. That did provide some encouragement that this adoption will happen. As I said, we knew it was a possibility, but when you get a certain timeframe in mind, then it is definitely discouraging to hear otherwise. So, at this time we are expecting to receive our referral somewhere around June of 2009. This was the initial timeframe that I had in mind before we completed all of our paperwork, but it still seems far away right now. So, we will just continue to wait as patiently as possible....

OUR STORY

Mission Trip to International Adoption

This story probably begins back in the fall of 2006 before I (Andrea) went to Africa for the first time. Africa had always been a very intriguing place for me, so I was extremely excited when the opportunity came available to go to Sierra Leone, West Africa and stay and work in an orphanage. (more information about the orphanage and our trips to Africa will come in later posts) I had no idea how this trip would really change our lives. Prior to going to Africa, I had always had a passion and a compassion for international children and had thought off and on about international adoption. In preparing for Africa, I began to have a very strong, compelling desire to adopt internationally. It was like my heart was about leap out of my chest when I thought about the children I was preparing to meet and work with. It was quite overwhelming and caused a lot of tears! After returning from my trip, the desire for international adoption increased exponentially.

Fast forward about 6 months (Spring of 2007) and Kevin and I are talking about starting our family because I was set to graduate from graduate school in May of ‘07. In talking about our family, we had always planned on biological children, and that was very important to Kevin. Our conversations started out with discussions of having biological children and then looking into adoption. At that time, I was in a place mentally and emotionally where adoption was on the forefront of my mind and more of my desire than having biological children, but I definitely agreed with Kevin that we would have a biological child and then pursue adoption. Well, before I graduated, Kevin began mentioning that he had been thinking about adoption more and more. He would mention every so often that he thought and wondered if adoption was what we were supposed to do first. I kept reassuring him that we would try to have a biological child and then adopt. A few weeks after graduation, I remember looking over at Kevin while we were driving and telling him that I truly had a desire and felt very excited about having a biological child, and this was the first time that I can remember having that desire in a very long time. Kevin very calmly looked at me and explained that was nice, but he really thought that we were supposed to consider adoption now. WOAH! This really caught my attention, and I took him VERY seriously at this point. We decided that we would take the summer to pray about it.

In August, we went to Vancouver, British Columbia for a mission trip with our church and to see Kevin’s younger brother, Bruce, who was serving in that area. I had been praying that God would make it very clear what he wanted for our family as far as adoption. We had worked at a camp for children a couple of days that week, and the children were of different ethnicities. I remember vividly a moment where Kevin and I were walking back into the building with one of the little girls who was of a different ethnicity, and it was just the three of us outside. As I looked at the three of us, I had a very strong sense that this was what our family was supposed to look like. I can’t put into words what that moment was like, and it was exactly the direction that I needed to confirm what I felt God was calling us to do. A week after we returned from Vancouver, Kevin shared with me that adoption was all he was able to think about and truly had a peace about pursuing adoption to start our family. We knew at this point that not to pursue adoption would have been disobedient and not following God’s will for our lives and the life of a sweet child somewhere in the world. So, the journey began….

Prayer:
A young woman in Ethiopia is likely pregnant at this time with the child that will be our daughter or son. We may never fully know her or her families' situation leading up to the need for our child to be adopted. Children in Ethiopia are orphaned due to extreme poverty (Ethiopia is one of the ten poorest countries in the world), poor health conditions, preventable diseases, residual effects of war and an extremely high maternal mortality rate, just to name a few. This will be a very difficult time for her and her family. We respect her deeply. We ask that you pray for her and that she is able to take the best care of herself and her unborn child that she can, and that God will provide for and protect her and her family.

We are praying for the health of our child, and that they will receive the immediate physical and emotional nurturing that they need.

We are prayerful that our child will bond with their caretaker in the orphanage so as to lay a good foundation for forming a bond and attachment with us.

We want to use our time waiting very wisely and effectively, so please pray that we will be good stewards of our time in reading material on international adoption, Ethiopia and meeting with couples who have adopted.