Adoption Update

Here is a letter Jeremy shared with our church family and prayer partners. It explains everything.

Do you ever have one of those days where all signs point in the opposite direction of where you are headed?

This past week had, not one, but two of those days!

On my way out of town for vacation I received an email from the Haitian pastor who had invited me 4 months ago to train top-level Haitian pastors in Biblical spirituality for one week this coming week. The email stated the conference had been cancelled due the fact that they had not raised enough money to host all the pastors. Sign number one.

I was still planning to go to Haiti, because MAIS, the organization we partner with in Haiti had some things I could help with. In addition, I had a very important meeting scheduled with the director of the orphanage from where we want to adopt a little girl.

A little back story...

Since May we have wanted to adopt a particular little girl from this orphanage. We found out after several weeks that she had a mother, a father, and three siblings. The mother had dropped her off at the orphanage because she couldn't care for her. The orphanage director tried to contact the mother, but could not find her. He did find her father, however. He asked the father at that time if he would be open to the girl being adopted by a family in America. He said yes, with the condition that he could receive updates about her well-being, etc. The next step was to find out how to go about adopting her. We found out the orphanage she was in was not accredited by the Haitian government and it had to be for children to be able to be adopted from there.

Now, fast forward. I was going to sit down with the director to discuss moving her to an accredited orphanage, so we could adopt her. In order to do that, we would have to have her mother and father's signature on papers to transfer her. I was going to be able to work on some of those details this coming week.

Then this afternoon, I received a call from our contact in Haiti with some bad news. Sign number two.

Yesterday, evidently, the girl's father made a decision (changed his mind) that he does not want her to be adopted. We don't have all the details, but at the end of the day, I cancelled my flight to Haiti. (The fact that tropical storm Irene is headed straight for Haiti this week also helped my decision. Maybe Sign number three?).

I know many of you have prayed and prayed for us and for this little girl who we want(ed) to adopt so badly. I felt like I should update you.

So . . . questions . . .
A. Are you still going to adopt from Haiti?
That's the plan at this point. We will continue working with our adoption agency moving forward in the process. We have a completed home study with the state of TX. We are submitting paperwork to the U.S. Immigration department to be able to adopt internationally. We will know more after we are approved. The adoption process has many setbacks and is an emotional roller coaster, but I have to be honest and say it is so worth it.

B. Will you adopt a different little girl?
Yes. We are very open to this. We know God will give us the one He wants us to have.

C. What are you going to do this week instead of going to Haiti?
I am trying to figure that out right now. To change flights last minute is very expensive. And, I have a speaking commitment this coming Sunday at one of Free Chapel's sponsor churches in Palm Beach Gardens, FL (I spoke at a different church in Miami today), so I may end up staying here this week. I'm not sure at this point however. I will keep you posted.

Got more questions? Email me.

I was headed to Haiti this week and all signs pointed in the opposite direction, so I'm not doing my plan...I wonder what God's got in store? It's always better than our plans!

I love you, friends.

Jeremy