Calling All Prayer Warriors!

We have overcome many hurdles and collected a three inch thick binder of paperwork. We are so close to bringing our son home. We are currently waiting our Travel Approval (TA) document from China with permission to travel. We have our Visas and are approved for the adoption. Everything is in order with US Immigration. We didn't receive our TA with the others from our agency that received their acceptance letters on April 15 because our paperwork was still working its way through US Immigration. We are hoping our TA will be issued soon.

However, things are very unsettled in China as a result of the flu. There have been many rumors over the past couple of weeks. Today, our agency told the current travel group that their travel is delayed until they can confirm appointments with the civil affairs offices in each province. These appointments are not usually an issue. Several adopting parents have reported their agencies have been unable to get these appointments due to concerns over the flu. There were also reports today that China is suspending matches and referrals for families waiting to be matched to a child. No word on if they are suspending TAs for families already approved.

We are trusting that God has not brought us this far to close the door now. We would appreciate your prayers that this flu would be managed well and not cause unnecessary delays in uniting children with their families. The current travel group for our agency is scheduled to leave on May 28. If our TA comes before that time, we hope to travel with them.

Today I received an email note from the orphanage. I have emailed pictures of Anna to them over the past three years. They thanked me for the last set of pictures and thanked us for adopting Li Meng. I had wondered if they had told him about us prior to receiving our first care package a couple weeks ago. I had been cautious about corresponding about him this past year because of immigration rules, so I hadn't asked and language is a bit of a barrier. Our agency did not allow us to send things to Li Meng until we had our acceptance letter on April 15. The email today said they had received the package and it had made him very happy. They also said they had showed him pictures of our family and told him about us before that. They also said, "he is very enjoy to join your family,and he is waiting." I wonder how long he has been waiting for us.

In the email, they also said they hoped we would bring Anna and that they and the foster family miss her. We do not plan to bring Anna. We think it will be too difficult for her. I also think it would be hard for them too since she doesn't remember much about China or any Chinese and I'm not sure how she would react. We do hope to bring her and Joshua for a visit when they are older. I'm not sure how to respond to this. I need to pray about it.

Where in the World

In case you were wondering where in the world we will be going - here is a map of China highlighting the Capitol of The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. This is where we will stay when we receive Joshua. The ShiHeZi orphanage is actually a couple hours to the northwest of Urumqi. Urumqi is an interesting city. It has a population of 2 million people. It is usually pronounced as something that sounds like Woo Luh Moo Chee . Don't try to look at it and say it at the same time...

Our agency received our travel visas back from the Chinese Consulate today. We are still waiting for our Travel Approval document from the China Center for Adoption Affairs. If we get it by the beginning of next week, we might be able to travel with our agency's next travel group. That will probably take a few miracles, but we know all things are possible. We're trying to be ready in case of a miracle...

Update!

When we received our RA and had permission to send a care package, we contacted a service called Ladybugs 'N' Love (I'm putting a link on the side). Angela is located in China and, with help from an adopting parent here in the US, started this service. In addition to putting together and sending our first care package, she also called the orphanage with questions from us. Today, we received answers to our questions, confirmation that the second care package sent from home had arrived and pictures of him wearing some of the clothes and enjoying the cake we had ordered through Angela.

It is such a blessing to finally have a real connection to our son. We are told he has been looking at the pictures and can recognize each of us and is very happy.

Here are the questions we asked and the answers we received.

1. Is there something special we could send that would make him happy?
A: We asked Li Meng, he said he likes toy automaton and rooter. (Not sure what that means - trying to clarify... perhaps remote controlled toy?)

2. Has he learned any English?
A: Li Meng is not going to school yet. He is attending preschool at our orphanage. He learned a few English words. He knows some simple English, such as: Hello, thank you, good bye, dad, mom, hungry, etc. (got to know those important ones like HUNGRY!)

3. Did he have anything with him when he came to the orphanage.
A: Li Meng was sent to our orphanage by policemen, there was nothing with him but a note. (Yes, we are now asking about that note...)

4. Did he tell you anything about his family?
A: When he first entered our institute, he had told us he had dad, mom and grandma (paternal). But because he was too young that he couldn't tell clearly. And then he told us something else about his family which is different then he first told. We can't tell if it's true or just imagined by him. (We have had the same experience when Anna talks about her foster family...we don't think she really remembers very much because her stories are inconsistent and don't make sense.)

5. Can you tell us what Li Meng has been doing in school or send examples of his school work with him?
A: He is learning math, Chinese words, painting, hand crafts, general knowledge. He is happy to mail some of his handicraft and school work to you.

6. Do you have earlier pictures of him that you can share?
A: There are some pictures of him and other children together. We have to take pictures of the pictures. We will send these to you as well.

7. Is there any other information about his life with you or in China that will be important for us to save for him?
A: Li Meng is a lovely child. Compare with other boys, he is more gentle, but very active and friendly. He likes to play games and toys with other boys who live with him together (you can see that in the pictures). When he is alone, he likes to draw, paint and read books. Although his hands are not very flexible, he still helps other children who has mental problem to button, switch their shoes if they are on wrong side. It's very sweet. (This was my favorite part of the report.)

8. Does he remember Shi Ru Yi? (Anna)
A: We showed him their pictures together, but because he was too little and also they were not in the same unit, he can't remember her now. But he know Ru Yi is a child from Shihezi orphanage.

9. Could we get a copy of his finding ad and the finding ad for Shi Ru Yi?
A: Yes. We can give you the copy when you come to adopt Li Meng.

The last question was about visiting the orphanage -- they said they need to ask permission. We probably won't know until we arrive. We also received updated measurements. "Little brother" is almost 3 pounds heavier and a good inch taller than Mark -- but who knows, maybe that is with shoes on :)

We feel so blessed to have this opportunity to communicate and ask questions. We are very eager to meet our son in person. Our agency received travel approvals for other families today. They will travel later this month. We would love to get our travel approval and go with them, but that may take a miracle!

This morning, when my radio woke me up, I heard this verse: Deuteronomy 3:22 "You must not fear them, for the LORD your God Himself fights for you." I got up and looked up the verse to see the context. It is Moses' report to the Israelites as they are standing on the side of the Jordan. The words in Deuteronomy 3:22 were spoken to Joshua.

I think Joshua is a good new name for Li Meng. I hope that he will be happy with it. We introduced him to this name in the care package we sent. It will be interesting to find out if he understands.

More Progress!

Yesterday, our agency told us the last piece of paper we needed for US Immigration (the article 5 report - or second RA/LOA) was picked from the US Consulate in Guangzhou and forwarded to the China Center for Adoption Affairs! Our agency also applied for our travel visas this week. The next thing we are waiting to hear is our Travel Approval from China and travel dates! We are hoping and praying that this would be a step in the process that happens more quickly than expected!
Tonight, I received word that the orphanage received our second care package and are working on putting together some pictures and information for us.
Tomorrow, we are going to get the suitcases out of the barn and start thinking about packing. I realized that if we are praying for God to do a miracle of speedy travel approval -- we had better be ready!
We sang this song at our women's prayer gathering tonight and it made me think of Joshua.

Joshua's Camp Buddy

Here are some pictures taken last summer with Joshua's Camp Buddy. There are two organizations that partner up to provide a special camp experience for children at the orphanages up in his province. Each child is assigned a "buddy" for the camp. One of the organizations is Good Rock Foundation. They also sponsored Anna's foster care. The other is called Eagle's Mount. Both are run by special Christian people. His camp buddy is also an Occupational Therapist.
Right now, they are raising funds to sponsor camps again this summer. It costs $80 for a child to attend camp. Joshua spent three days and nights away from the orphanage having this special experience. We would like to help more children participate this summer (we're hoping we have him home before then!) If you would like to sponsor a child for camp, contact me and I will tell you how you can make a donation through Love Without Boundaries (lwb handles donations from the US since the two organizations are not registered in the US).

One more step........

Today we received notification that last Friday the National Visa Center forwarded our case to the US Consulate in Guangzhou for processing. Now we wait for word that the Consulate has issued our Article 5 report for pickup by our agency's representative and forwarding to CCAA. Still waiting to hear reports of more Travel Approvals and hoping to see some this week.

Here are the pictures that started us on this journey. These pictures were taken in summer of 2006 with a disposable camera we sent in a care package for Anna. There were several pictures taken with her foster mother and her foster mother's relatives. We aren't sure why these pictures were taken with this group of children at the orphanage. As far as we have ever been told, she spent all of her time in foster care. Can you pick out Anna and Joshua?It was the picture of the two of them standing on the stairs that caught my husband's attention. We were waiting for our turn to share our story at an adoption information meeting for our agency. He and Anna were looking through a photo album. We had seen the pictures before, but until that night hadn't noticed that the boy in the pictures seemed to have the same condition affecting his arms as Anna. I couldn't sleep that night. Those pictures started a quest to find out about this boy. That was January of 2007. In April 2008 we finally found him listed for adoption and now here we are, waiting for travel approval to bring him home!

Praying for Rain

On Friday, there was no new news out of China. It seems May 1 is a holiday everywhere in the world, but here. Families waiting for children from China are waiting to see what will happen this week and hoping to see some new travel approvals issued. We are all praying that approvals will continue to come and that we can bring our children home soon.

I started feeling like it is time to get ready to go. Through these many, many months - over a year now since we found our son listed with an agency - actually getting to China has felt so far off. We have done things along the way to prepare for his arrival and prepare for our trip, but they have been small little things here and there. I has just never felt like it was time to make all out preparations. It was too hard to do when our timeline was so uncertain and kept getting pushed out farther and farther. After we sent our dossier for Anna, we started serious preparations for bringing her home. 13 weeks after submitting our dossier, we were on a plane to China. If this process had been similar, we would have had Joshua home a couple months ago. So, we've waited for signs that our travel is imminent. We thought that would come after receiving our RA/LOA only to learn there were several new hoops. We started navigating those new steps and then last week started hearing rumors travel may be delayed because of flu concerns. Despite all of this, I started thinking on Friday that perhaps it is time to seriously start preparing to bring our son home.

I was pondering the wisdom of preparing to go and how to get started as I went about my evening chores. After I tucked Anna into bed, I decided to join my husband who had popped in a movie. I had noticed him watching this movie as I was doing chores and hadn't been too interested since we had seen it many times before. Our kids love Facing the Giants. As I sat down, partway through the movie, I realized how much the theme of the movie spoke to my current situation. It may seem like a trivial theme centering around football, but it is really about trusting God, doing what you are called to do, doing your best and trusting God with the outcome.

There is a scene in the movie that has always impacted me. There is a gentleman who comes to the school and prays for the students. One day he comes with a message for the floundering football coach from Revelation Chapter Three. "These things says He who is holy, He who is true, 'He who has the key of david, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and on one opens.' I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied my name. " He goes on to tell him a story about prayer. He tells of two farmers who prayed for rain. One prepared his fields for rain and the other did not. He asks the coach - "Which one trusted God?"

So, we don't know what will happen with travel approvals this week, but we are praying for rain and preparing for it to happen.