The Journey's end is the Beginning!

The journey’s end is the beginning

 

I remember once saying in this blog that we would believe she was coming home to us the night we tuck her into her bed in our home.........well, she is home!

I can tell you that whatever we thought the trip from Haiti to our home was going to be like, it has been 1000 times better.  She is constantly singing, dancing and skipping whether it is thru the airports, or in our house.  All the time we were able to spend with her over the past 2 years and nine months in Haiti is really paying off as her understanding of us being “Mama and Papa” is only stronger now that she is home.  Of course there are our “down times” when she is beginning to understand the transformation in her mind from Mama and Papa Santa Clause to just plain Mama and Papa, but each day you can see the progress with that “cruel reality”!

 

For example, when we took her to her closet and she was seeing all of her clothes for the first time, she would point to one pair of shoes and say, “pou mwen?”, (for me?)...then point to the next pair and say, “Pou Mwen”?  So instead of going thru each piece of clothing in the closet Kim explained, “it is all yours” which lit her up like a Christmas tree....(oh-oh, she likes clothes and shoes).

 

I think the thing that is most striking is how this was the perfect time to get her home, not a day late, not a day early.  And when we think of all the consternation, the doubting, the anxiety we endured we can only come the shameful conclusion that we did not trust as we should have.  Do not get me wrong, Kim and I did grow in trust and patience over the years in ways that can only be attributed to God’s grace, but why not earlier? Why not fully surrender and trust?

 

I realize that this blog is read by people who do not share our faith and we appreciate that and are so incredibly thankful to everyone for your support, but I am convicted in this final blog to share the amazing clarity of the reality of God in our lives and how we felt His presence thru this process as sure as if He were sitting in our room, which was confirmed by the perfection of the timing to get her home, THE moment in time she was perfectly ready to be with us.

 

As you watch the video, you too will see how this is clearly the time...a year ago she may have been far more traumatized with lasting effect.....a year from now who knows what was in store for her in the poorest nation in the world....but 3/25/14 I can say she was ready to go!

 

 

We have seen God at work, no doubt, as our trust in Him and His plan for us is closer to complete trust than it has ever been, (as we try to get as close as we can while on this side of the grass).  We now know some of the hurdles in Haiti that could have, and in fact should have ended this process at the start.  Kim and I for several reasons are in fact are not eligible to adopt by current Haitian guidelines.  We were told this was no big deal, but over the weekend came to find out just how it is a big deal and how we still got thru the process.

 

God is real and God is with us, and when we surrender to those facts, our lives becomes an amazing adventure with incredible blessings around every corner, including those disguised as troubles.....like how a painfully long and exhausting adoption process really is a time of amazing growth in peace, joy and understanding.

 

Anyway, no more preaching and no more blogs....we will not keep this going as we get the other two but will let you know when they are here if they get here, because Haiti remains Haiti and the process remains iffy, but is in God’s hands.

 

We are a family, the journey home has ended and the journey to her real home begins anew.

 

So many of you have been so incredibly interested in the process and we thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and we cannot wait for you all to meet her!

 

THANK YOU!!!!

.

Let The Church Say Amen!!

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, 

believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."  

                                                                                   Mark 11:24

February 14, 2014: The excitement was mounting...we were told that the only thing left in verifying all of Francesca's paperwork was a simple document that needed to be registered with the court, correctly, correctly, meaning that our lawyer was to re-submit this document the way the US Consulate was requesting. 

Almost two weeks later the good news arrives: (remember "Jessica" is her Haitian name and her name will officially be changed to Francesca once we are home.)

On Wednesday, February 26, 2014 3:46 PM, Port-au-Prince Adoption Services

 wrote:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Liberatore,

 

I am pleased to inform you that the new documents you submitted in support of your children’s adoption case were verified by our Fraud Prevention Unit, and your cases can now proceed to the interview phase. You should receive an e-mail by tomorrow with an interview appointment, and an explanation of all the documents you or your representative must bring to the interview. Please read these instructions very carefully.

 

Yes!  It was happening, really happening.  When you read these emails after waiting two and a half years, you find yourself re-reading and re-reading to make sure it truly is saying what you have hope for so long. To see in writing that her visa interview is scheduled and knowing that after this interview we will be able to bring our daughter home!  HOME!! is sheer joy ~

 

 From: Port-au-Prince Adoption Services
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2014 3:04 PM

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Liberatore,

 

We are pleased to inform you that the I-604 process is complete, and Jessica Liberatore may now be scheduled for the final visa interview with the Department of State.  The visa interview is scheduled for March 11^th, 2014 at 8:00 am at the Consular Section. 

Jim and I have really enjoyed this weekend preparing for our move to Colorado, our trip to Haiti, our last weekend in our home in Fallbrook,CA, which we have enjoyed immensely. A lot of people have asked if this is a stressful time, and the answer is, "not at all!"  We are truly blessed that our home in Ohio sold when it did, we found a wonderful place to live in Castle Rock, CO and our baby is coming Home!  All at the same time...all in God's perfect timing.  We fought hard to get her here sooner but it is very clear now as we see how God knew that the timing needed to be just right, and just right it truly is.

Big, fun changes ahead and we are so very ready to be Francesca's, "Momma and Papa".   Stay tuned for the rest of the story...

 

 

 

 
"Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!”

Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

   

We are overjoyed!  

Thank you for your prayers, your thoughts and 

your words of encouragement.  

 

Faithful prayers availeth much!

 

The Long And Winding Road

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

                                                                      Romans 12:12 

 Francesca turned "5" on February 10th

Well, long time no talk!  During our move I lost my original distribution list of the Haiti babies blog and therefore, could not send anything out to the group.  For those of you “bottom-liners”....Francesca is still In Haiti......this is a long update but I think kind of interesting.

It has been an amazing process as each step came with some incredible stories and craziness, most of which you were able to follow.  But as we went along and as we realized more and more how little control we had in this process, and how the next complication was more unthinkable than the last, the easier it become to turn it over to God.  We now are 100% OK with whatever happens, and that meant on some days thinking God possibly was/is wanting Francesca to stay in Haiti.  If that is the case, then that too would be OK, in fact we believe that if that was the outcome, it would be the best outcome for Francesca.  Once we relinquished control and trusted God was going to do with her what He wanted, and once we took our own selfishness out of the equation, it became easier to get comfortable with any outcome.....and that is where we are today.

So now to the crazy stories......and these follow the crook who took our money, lied to us about the progress only to find Francesca’s paperwork was at the exact same place it was when we gave it to him 5-6 months earlier, in some drawer in his desk!!!

After our time with Agent Jean Louise McCrooked,  we found a new agent, Mirlande who really did good work for us and got Francesca to the point of getting her passport.  This theoretically, was to leave a week or two review of the paperwork by the US Consulate and then a two-four week wait for our appointment to go and get her.  So, we spent another Christmas thinking she may be home in time to unwrap presents....why did we do that to ourselves?

First amazing tale, Francesca’s mother was required to show up at the US Consulate with her photo ID and have a final interview.  After several hours of waiting, Francesca’s Mom went to the consulate with an ID with no photo.  We warned our Orphanage Director OD), she needed a photo ID, he said it would not be a problem.  Guess what, it was a problem.  She was told to go get a photo ID, so what she did was went out with our Orphanage Director, took a passport photo and taped it on to the same ID she was already rejected with.  We told the OD this likely would not work, but he told us it would be no problem...guess what, It was a problem. So after another long wait she was rejected again......So now we were told we would need to wait for her to get a country approved Photo ID, (which by the way even in Haiti a photo ID is needed to vote, so we should not complain about it in the US).  She told us she had been trying to get the photo ID for over a year!  Uh-oh...here we go again, a very long wait for the ID.  But, thank God, Kim found out that a DNA test would suffice, so we went down that road.  This whole process took many weeks.

So we call a firm in Maryland, pay the hefty fee and send the DNA kit down to the US Consulate in Haiti.  Francesca and her Mom wait for a third time, three hours in a crazy long line and incredible heat with no shade outside the consulate to get the test done.  They overnight the kit to Maryland, Maryland gets the kit and informs us that the Consulate did not fill out Francesca’s paperwork at all...left it all blank, soooooo, we need to overnight another kit down to Haiti, Francesca needs to get back in that long hot line (trip 4), and take the test again. They then overnight the kit back to Maryland and we then get a call from the DNA company....the information is still not filled out correctly!!  After Kim spent time on the phone to Maryland and Haiti, after wailing and gnashing of teeth they allowed the information to be transmitted by phone....great job Kim!!  And thank God, they passed the test!!

As that was going on, we were met with some gut wrenching news. The US Consulate told us that after going to check our paperwork at the courts, they found that none of our paperwork was filed at the those courts, none!!  The Consulate told us they have had issues with our Lawyer in the past and they suspected fraud!!!  Our you freakin’ kidding me?!? They cautioned us on the fact he may have taken our money, created the documents himself and never even went to the courts and appeared before the judges, and if so, we were looking at starting over.....starting over.....needless to say, lots of time in prayer that week...............

Last week I went to Haiti and met with the ladies at the Consulate and with our OD and they told me if our lawyer did in fact appear before the various courts, (they were very skeptical), then he for some reason did not take the final step of filing the paperwork with the courts.  If it was just a matter of him filing the documents, they were going to allow him to go back and file the existing documents which would take a few weeks and we would not need to start over or, possibly, even likely be banned from adopting in Haiti since we were involved in fraud! We were shocked. However, It appears now thank God, the problem is fixable and all the lawyer needs to do is re-file the paperwork properly in the courts.

So, as we sit here today, we are told that all of the paperwork is filed, our OD is taking all of the filed paperwork to the consulate on Friday, February 14, 2014.  They have told us they fully understand the crazy process we have endured and that they will expedite our file and if it all is legit, they will set up our visa appointment to go get Francesca!

So we are looking at anywhere from three weeks, to never, and never only goes off the “possibility” list the day our airplane touches down in the US and she is sitting next to us.......
There you have it....if you read all of this you are likely exhausted......I think losing the distribution list saved us a lot of embarrassment as we would have kept coming back with bad news and broken promises and most of you would likely think that we are suckers and Francesca is never coming home, but I can end with one great story:

Our friends Amy and Wayne went into the adoption process about a year after Kim and I and their baby was home before Thanksgiving!!  We were so blessed to spend time with Nadedge and her new family when we went home to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. We realized that it can happen, we saw it in action and really got the feeling of what it will be like with Francesca running around. 

I also spent a week in Haiti with all three of our girls last week and all three girls are awesome.  I cannot tell you what it feels like to hear one of them yelling Papa, Papa or when Francesca came to me saying she wanted her Papa to walk her to school, or Misslanda, our 9 year old asking me, “what things does Mama like”?....very cool stuff......and if God wants them here, they will be here in a perfect time....if not, they will do amazing things for Him in Haiti, and no matter where they are, they are Francesca, Bebej and Misslanda Liberatore.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!!!

News of Great Joy!!

"Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes."  Psalm 37:7

This verse has been one of many important bible verses for us during this two year, four month journey of adoption.

We have worked on our virtue of "Patience" this year and have had many ups and downs in the process to be sure.  We have, in the end seen the great miracle of God's mercy in the "peace that passes all understanding", through constant prayer and knowledge that He is in control!

So, Today Brings News of Great Joy!

This morning's email began with one from the US Consulate:

Mr. and Mrs. Liberatore:
We are pleased to inform you that an I-604 interview is scheduled for Jessica (Francesca) Liberatore on December 20^th, 2013 at 11:00 am at the Consular Section. 

First we would like to say "Thank you!" to all of you for your kind words, constant prayers and support of our adoption journey.  We know that God has heard all of our prayers and in His timing will bring our family together very soon.

After the interview on December 20th, the consulate will then do a final review of our paperwork and set a date to issue our daughter's visa, at which time we will be able to travel to Haiti and make the journey home with Francesa in our arms!  How long before that trip home, you ask?  We were hoping for a Christmas homecoming but we hear that it will be a week or so after the interview on the 20th...so, it will be a "Happy New Year!"  homecoming.  

 Picture of Francesca taken on her first day of school in October

We ask for your continued prayers as we know that nothing in Haiti is guaranteed to happen as they say it will; as we have seen along the way, anything can happen.  We pray with confidence that Francesca will be with us very soon!

May God's blessings be upon each and every one of you,
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanuakkah!
Kim and Jim 

When Bad News is Good

We were met with some bad news last week that while incredible frustrating, may in fact lead to the conclusion we have been praying for.....

After waiting five months for what should be a 3-8 week process, we learned what we had feared, that our agent is a fraud. For five months when we asked about Francesca's passport being printed, we were told every time, "next week", "there is a delay in the passport agency", "I will have more information in two weeks"..."next Friday"..... "next Monday"....Finally, when we were told the agency was closed until the end of the month, which was the last straw. We instructed our orphanage director to go and get our paperwork, which he did.  When he got to the "agents" office, the paperwork was in total disarray and at least one of our forms is missing.  What is worse, we are actually a few steps behind where we thought we were, as part of the scam is to let us think we are moving thru.  This faux-agent had no ability or intention of doing anything for us.

We have now come to learn this is not an uncommon scam, people posing as agents who are not, taking our money, doing nothing until finally pressed and then, with no oversight or legal alternatives for us in the Haitian world of governance, we get our paperwork, (or not, which I will explain later in the "good news" section), and move on......with the grim result of money and worse, time lost.

So what could possibly be the good news?

First, some people in our situation never get their paperwork back....it just disappears, wow, that would be hard to handle at this point, but some parents need to start over in some areas, and go thru the frustrating process of finding copies of documents in various Haitian governmental departments....that would have been a nightmare if our paperwork was lost, thank God, it is not.

So, we now have our paperwork in the hands of a reputable agent who we know some kids she has successfully put thru the system.  While it's true we never really know anything for certain, we have spoken with this woman several times and she has shared with us the reality of our situation and has assured us to the best of her ability that she will be able to help us through to the end.

Also, she feels she has the connections to get us thru the process in one month...I know what you are thinking but she feels if we can get the paperwork situation taken care of, she can get the passport printed in a month.  We have no choice but to trust her.

She also is the only person we have dealt with who said, "we really need to get these kids out of this country".  This sadly is the first time we heard anyone but us mention the well-being of the kids.  And if you are like me, and see some very serious economic times coming for us here in America, you then must understand the ripple affects of those economic crisis on Haitians.  As it is, food and gas prices have skyrocketed and the Haitians are really hurting right now as much as ever, including prior to the earthquake. Also, there is talk of the President being ousted, which would mean the entire government could shut down which would stop our adoptions for months, maybe over a year.

Also, If our new agent can do what she says she can do, then we will feel very confident we can get Bebej and MissLanda home without any more major glitches, aside from the possibilities I discussed above.

The big "good news" point is that our girls in Haiti are safe, getting three meals a day, are in school, learning, or have learned English, they have medical support, meet new and fun visiting teams almost every week bringing them lots of various "goodies" and have a staff that loves all over them, all day long!!  In fact, we are afraid Francesca, Bebj and MissLanda are going to be bummed to leave their 23 brothers and sisters to come live two old farts like Kim and I!

Finally, it is so important to have hope and a plan, which we now have both. We have identified and remedied the problem and we are moving forward..........Please pray that Marlande, our new agent is legit, will be effective and will get the job done.  Please pray for her wisdom and for God-inspired guidance. 

I find this very popular Bible verse comforting, timely but more importantly, I know it to be true:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes"
                                              (emphasis added)  Romans- 8:28

Little help this week please

I realize that it has been a while since we have updated the blog, but that has been primarily because I kept holding out hope we would actually have some news to share....but we do not.

Francesca's paperwork is now in the passport printing phase which is to take 2-3 months....we are now in month 5.  The frustrating part is that in this phase we have been given a wide array of information ranging from,  "it is coming out next week", (that was a few months ago), to, "there are problems with some of the paperwork and more work needs to be done".

To understand the problem takes an understanding of the Haitian adoption system.  We have an orphanage director, (OD), who we hire, who then needs to hire an "Agent",whose sole purpose is  to push the paperwork thru the process. The OD really holds very little sway over the agent, and in fact needs to treat the agent with kit gloves in fear he may upset him and then things happen, like paperwork mysteriously gets lost.  Furthermore, the agent does not share the paperwork numbers associated with our adoption with the OD, knowing if he did, we would go around his back and hire help, which he does not want us to do.  Consequently, we are powerless to do anything but wait and weekly be told new and often contradictory information that we have no way of ever finding out what is true or not.  This month we were told that the passport division is closed until the end of August, (which we found not to be true when  we called the US Embassy), to yesterday hearing passports are coming out again "this week".  So we now clearly understand we are told what we want to hear as to "kick the can" down the road and get us off the phone and temprarily off our OD back.

Our agent has a travel agency as well, and all we know is his company is "Bob Travel Agency".  (Seriously, not Bob's Travel Agency, just Bob travel Agency!).

However thru a series of events that I will not go into, I am asking everyone to pray this week, that the passport comes out this week.  I want to be clear this is not desperation talking, some form of "The Secret" mumbo-jumbo or the misguided theological "name it and claim it" stuff, it is really a feeling I am getting more and more in prayer that we need to back up and let God work....give Him elbow room and show us His power.

I have been having some sort of spiritual breakthrough's in several areas of my life and this request truly is not a last ditch attempt of desperate parents wanting their kid home, it is simply some direction I feel I am getting, need your help and feel you all can be blessed thru this process.

So, my request is simple, this week, if you are a praying type of person, or even if you are not but feel there is a God out there, please pray that this week, Francesca's passport gets printed....

Thank you so much for helping us, we will be in touch next week.....

Happy Easter and Passover!

Happy Easter and Passover!

As we continue the long wait (20 months and counting) for our beautiful Francesca, she has had another birthday (February 10), she is now 4 years old!  We have also prayed about and have been called to adopt two more girls.  Misslanda is 9 and her sister Bebesh is 7 years old.  They are currently at the orphanage with Francesca, and as you can see they are best of friends.  The wait will undoubtedly be long but very much worth it!

We have been encouraged by those who are bringing their children home from Haiti and we know that the timing is totally in God's hands.  Due to some issues at the passport office we are still waiting to have Francesca's passport printed, once printed we move to the US Consulate where they will issued her visa and we will then be heading home.  How soon??  "soon" is the response we continue to hear and soon will need to be good enough for now.

This Lenten season has given us a real opportunity to deepen our relationship with Christ as well as renew our trust and belief that God loves us and our little girls very much.

We thank all of you for your continued prayers and emails of encouragement.  We pray for all of you as well this Easter Season.  

God's eternal promise came that day upon a cross and we rejoice in Him! – "I came for you, to hold you, to carry you, to save you.”

  Beautiful Sisters!

Striking a pose...Oh, boy!

Legally Liberatore

It appears the incentives we offered last week are paying off as Francesca has already passed thru the legalization process and a pre-Christmas "get-her-home" date still seems possible.  The exciting news about the legalization process is that Francesca is not only a Liberatore in our hearts and minds, but legally!  Her name has been changed and she is officially a Liberatore! 

Next step is passport...then visa...then HOME!

It was surprisingly emotional when Kim got the call and hung up the phone and told me, "she is legally a Liberatore!".....still brings tears to my eyes.......so here she is, Francesca Liberatore:

Ready for soccer practice!

Getting Closer

On October 10th, Francesca exited IBESR, which is the first and longest phase of the process, (In our case, it took 13 months)!!

Our Sweet Francesca!

Exiting IBESR is a HUGE relief for several reasons......

First, given the general state of the Haitian government and the lack of regular communication and our inability to get good intel from the adoption agency, we could not help but wonder if in fact our dossier was really where it is supposed to be...is it lost?  has it slipped between desks? has it been accidentally destroyed?  You simply did not know and had no way of tracking the process or calling someone who can confirm that "yes we have it, we just have not gotten to it yet".

Secondly, you never know if the President will sign your paperwork initially or at all.  We have heard reports of paperwork missing or incomplete and being sent back.  And then there was always the possibility that the President could reject our application because we did not meet 100% of the criteria, which is why we needed the dispensation in the first place.

And finally, any unrest, any disruption in the government for any reason would bring everything to an abrupt halt and our dossier would simply sit somewhere until whatever "issue-du-jour" would be cleared up.  For example, things as minor as the President needing shoulder surgery in Miami meant he was not in-country to sign paperwork.....

So, getting out of IBESR is really, fantastic, wonderful, great news!

Now moving forward we have been able to commission some extra help and attention to our paperwork and God willing take months off of the remaining process and possibly, hopefully, and again, God willing have Santa deliver her to us by Christmas!  We are managing are expectations as best we can and we have turned this over to God and regularly acknowledge that we do not want her here before God wants her here, but we are excited to see things progress!

Please keep praying, this is still a third world country, the government remains very, very fragile and there are still hurdles that need to be cleared.  We thank you in advance for those continued prayers.....

But, we are getting closer and we have butterflies in our stomachs just thinking about her smiling face running around our house, (most likely, from the dog)!

A happy day

Bad news, Good news

Let me start by saying we just spent another week with Francesca and with each visit, the bond deepens and we become more and more ready to get her here, (as if we already weren't!). We feel by the way she acts that she becomes more and more ready to be with us.  The downside is, it is really getting hard to leave her......

                                                Francesca and Papa looking for butterflys
                                             
Anyway, the news from Haiti is that the nation is going to institute the Hague polices for adoptions and the rules for these adoptions will be published on 7/13.  Herein lies the "bad news, good news".

The bad news is that the Hague in conjunction with UNICEF has historically made international adoptions far more difficult.  There are very important reasons as to why this is so, such as combating child trafficking, but there are also very unfortunate ramifications, such as UNICEF's anti-adoption stance.  There are many people and agencies that feel adoption in general is a bad idea and UNCIEF is one such agency.  The feeling is that children born in Haiti, or wherever, should remain in Haiti (or wherever).  I think we can rap our brains around that general concept, yet with 750,000 orphans in Haiti, and maybe a few thousand adoptions pending, it really seems adoption in the end will be a solution for Haiti, not a problem. One reason among many is the idea that adopted kids may one day return to Haiti with an education, and a myriad of ways to potentially help their nation.  For Kim and I this may mean our hope to adopt more Haitians will become more difficult as several Hague nations are no longer adopting kids at all.

The very good news however is that we are being told every kid in the system, including Francesca, is not only grandfathered into the pre-Hague standards, but the desire for the Haitian government to get all of these kids thru the system quickly so Haiti can begin the transformation to the Hague standards.  They have targeted 7/31 as the day they want all the kids out of IBESR, the first step, and then on to the step of getting Visa's. 

If this governmental plan unfolds as we are being told, and that is a big IF, we theoretically can count on Francesca being here by the fall, this winter at the latest.  If our contacts in the US government can help, who knows, maybe she will be here in August/September.  The difficulty now is managing expectations!

We also continue to understand that there are several more hurdles, which for us is why, knowing God in in control, makes all of this far easier than it otherwise would or could be.  Which reminds me, PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR US...we may be getting close!

In the Political Crossfire

As you may have read, the current Prime Minister of Haiti, Connelle, resigned this weekend. What this means is that until there is a new PM appointed, all adoptions and the entire adoption process, stops.

In real terms and unless we are the benefactors of miraculous intervention, (which we always believe is possible), this will delay our process by 3-6 months, maybe longer if the Haitian Parliment cannot agree on an acceptable PM, ending our hopes of getting Francesca home this spring/summer.

Kim and I are viewing this as an opportunity to increase our capacity for trust and patience and our ability to live and believe that God, from His superior vantage point, has a plan and as always, is working that plan for good, be it our good, Francesca's or the people and government of Haiti.

thank you again for your continuing prayers, God bless you

Happy Birthday Francesca

February 10th is Francesca's birthday, so this year, Kim and I went down to celebrate her third and hopefully last birthday in Haiti. This was the third time we have taken her out of the orphanage for a week "vacation" and this is the trip we really feel we crossed the threshold of simply being two nice people who take her for occasional trips, to officially becoming "Mama" and "Papa".

The idea that she calls us "Mama" and "Papa" is really the least significant indicator of this realization, as it is more the non-verbals that speak volumes.  Many times this trip while talking to various Haitian friends or members of the visiting team, I would feel her come up to me and lean on me or ask to crawl into my lap.  Several times she would simply come and sit next to me on the stoop and lean against me while softly singing or murmuring to herself.  As she was learning to dribble a soccer ball like a basketball, she ran into our bedroom to find "Mama" so she could show her new skill.  She is talking to us non-stop in both Creole and some pretty decent English.  She also would seek out Mama when it was time to use the bathroom, as potty training is well underway!!

It is hard to explain what it feels like to be blessed with the opportunity to get to know her this way before she comes home, but much more of an impact for me was the idea that for the first time in my life,  I am recognized as "Papa"....wow...words cannot express....

She is an adorable, energetic, strong, fun and funny girl with a very big personality and an incredible spirit.  At times she will sit back and observe and you can see the smoke coming out of her ears as she is probably trying to understand what all is happening...and then at times she jumps in and takes over.  We love both of those aspects of her personality

As far as getting her here, Francesca's paperwork is in the first in-country phase and we are told we are getting very close to advancing to stage two.  Stage two is in the hands of our lawyer and he feels they can do that work in a week.  After that it goes to the Haitian Ministry of the Interior and is out of our control which will be very uncomfortable.  We are told that this phase at a minimum could be 3-6 months!  However, and where we are asking for prayers, Kim and I have established a "two degrees of separation" contact with Secretary Hilary Clinton, and IF we can get Secretary Clinton to write a letter, email or place a phone call on our behalf, a nebulous, black hole minimum period of 3-6 months could turn into one week!!  That would be incredible so please do remember us in your prayers.

We are not sure when we are going back down, it may be a short trip in early May or a week in June or both, I do not know, but we are really looking forward to seeing Francesca again.  It is getting very exciting!


May God bless you all.....

Beautiful Papers

Kim and I never thought we would look at paperwork as "beautiful", but this paperwork truly is gorgeous in more ways than one.  First, the lovely gold stickers, the red ribbons, the neat stamps and signatures.  It really is lovely.  More importantly, much more importantly, this is the paperwork that is going to bring Francesca home!

Kim has worked so hard on all of this and after hundreds of phone calls, many hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars capped off by a trip to Columbus to personally usher our papers thru the Ohio Secretary of State's office and then phone calls and hiring a company to personally usher it thru the US Secretary of State's office, (yes, Hillary signed each packet!), and then the Haitian Consulate, the completed paperwork was returned to us in a very short period of time.  On Monday, a friend and employee of Christianville took it all to Haiti in his carry-on bag and hand delivered it to our facilitator waiting for him at the Port Au Prince airport.  Today it will go to get all of the seals verified and we are off.....

The process has been incredible and at times extremely frustrating. However you can at least understand why you need to do all the they ask of you.  It is of note that the US and Haitian government will now know exactly what is in my bank account and criminal record, to what is in my colon!, (nothing of note in any of those, by the way).

While the paperwork is off and running, it is important for us to remember there are still several things that can derail this process and we have heard the stories.  So, please continue to pray for us if you would.  Please pray that the process continues successfully and on God's timing, (hoping of course God's timing is the same as ours!), and pray Francesca remains happy, healthy, well fed and comfortable......

thank you all and may God bless you......

Strengthening Family Ties

Wow, what a great week! Kim and I along with my sister, my niece and two of her friends spent last week in Haiti working on a school sponsorship program, (coming soon), but also spent the week with our daughter, Francesca. We packed her up and took her out of the orphanage to spend the week with us at Christianville, It was awesome being with her night and day for a week and for the first time in my life I began to feel like a dad. A dad who already is proud of his little girl. I cannot tell you what it feels like to hear her say "Papa"....it feels like God touching me.

I hope I can do justice in telling you how amazing Francesca is, and I will try. She is strong both mentally and physically, she is independent, she has an incredible spirit and she is really smart. In fact Kim and I have spent a lot of time since we have been back discussing and praying that we do not ruin her by bringing her here, seriously. She has such a beautiful spirit and you can tell her hardships have in many ways have made her a stronger, special, unique child, a unique person. She has a smile and a giggle that force a smile and warm the heart. We loved spending time with her knowing at the end of the week, leaving her was going to be rough, and it was, trust me. But, if all goes as planned, we will be back in October.

Just to prove I am not completely blinded, I can also tell you she is spoiled, big time. In her orphanage, every girl of about ten years or older takes on a mothering role and kind of caters to her needs. When she cries, she is picked up, when she is bullied, she is defended, when she wants something, she likely gets it. You would think that living in a tent city and then a Haitian orphanage that this may not be the case, but it is true. As soon as things did not go her way, she had a very clear and loud way of showing her disapproval! However once we simply left her alone and allowed her to cry, I think she quickly understood that Toto was no longer in Kansas!

The last night when she was having one of her mini tantrums, we took her to another room and sat her on the ground and let her cry. She realized we were not coming to rescue her and in about five minutes she was back up and playing. You could almost see her thinking, "well shoot, that didn't work".

Hopefully in the next week our paperwork will be making its way thru the US side of the process and will be in Haiti by mid September. Also, concurrently, our guys in Haiti have begun the process down there. They tell us it could be as long as a year, (UGH!), but could be, should be sooner than that. We are working every angle to make it sooner, God willing, much sooner.

Thanks for your continuing prayers!! I hope you all meet her very soon!

It's a Girl

Meet Francesca, the 1 1/2 year old girl who is going into the system in Haiti and God willing will be in Avon Lake, Ohio within the year!!! While we understand there remain many potential pitfalls, Francesca does not come with any strings like fighting parents, bad information or any concern if she will get into the orphanage, because she is already there.  We are off with a clean start.

Kim and I were in Haiti last week and we met Francesca and really had a blast with her.  We cannot wait to get back down there and spend some more time with her or take her to Christianville for a weekend.  We will be going back and forth to be with her every reasonable chance we get and cannot wait to get to know her better over the next few months.

Francesca was born a few months before the earthquake.  Her dad has not been around since the beginning and has legally abandoned her.  Her home was destroyed in the earthquake and she, her mom and two sisters have been living in a tent city since the earthquake.  Her mom surrendered her to an orphanage as she was simply unable to support her or care for her.  Also, those tent cities can be very rough especially on girls with no fathers around. The orphanage she took her to requires the mom's written, (but not legally binding), consent to adopt at the time she dropped her off, which she happily gave.  That orphanage however was full; luckily this place has worked with Sue's orphanage, our friend, to accommodate overflow kids when necessary, and thus, Francesca went to Sue's....this is where we met Francesca!

We hope to be back down late July or early August to see her again.  At the same time, Jimmy Carter may be going to Christianville in late July and August with 400 people to build 1200 homes in 6 weeks as part of Habitat for Humanity program.  If that happens, Kim and I and maybe a small group will go down and stay at the orphanage, but spend time documenting some of this amazing efforts on our campus.

on another front, while we were there we had a very sad meeting with Jhonnico, Gladine's dad.  He so desperately wants Kim and I to adopt Gladine, but her mother, who actually is not living with Gladine at this time but with another guy, is saying "no".  He knows her "no" is all about him and not about Gladine and he is really heartbroken.  As we explained to Jhonnico that our pursuit of Gladine is over, he kept asking for "more time, more time", but we explained, without the enthusiastic consent of Ket li, the mom, the process is far too risky for us.  We cannot invest the time and money if at any point the mother can change her mind.  As we told him, "Fini.... Fini" he pushed back from the table and I think he may have been crying a little. Even as he left he was telling me he was going to work it out, but I cannot see how. We did tell him we wanted to sponsor Gladines education and this way, we can stay in touch....(and who knows??......did I just say that?)

This is Fedeline (in the pink) and Gladine (in the red dress)

We went up to see Gladine and she was as is usual with a lot of these kids, a little sick, in a t-shirt and no shoes.  We found out their well is not working, which may be a good thing as two of the kids are suffering with Cholera.  We now are also looking at adopting one or two sisters from on the Hill, (officially named Bognette), Samantha and Donna. I wish we could take all 16 kids up there.  The conditions are deplorable, I am led to believe that some of the adults are stealing provisions, as I said the well is broken, a few kids have cholera and yet when we see them, they smile and laugh.....that seems to be what they are doing every time we see them, smiling and laughing. We do have plans underway to help these kids. Kim and I are going to start a program to get all 16 kids education sponsored, we are working with FISH Ministries, our sister mission, to build a kitchen so they can stop cooking in the dirt and we are regularly sending food and supplies up there.  We are also talking to a Haitian we know and trust to oversee all these projects so we can be sure what we need to happen, is happening..

Donna is 9 and Samantha is 4 and they have a screwed up parent situation as well, but we are still going to try.  The dad has not seen them in over a year but last week said he would love to have them adopted and prayed it would happen.  The mom lives in Ghana....that's right, Ghana Africa, (OK, I know what you are thinking but we are going to try anyway! We have to try). We will contact the mom this week and hope she is as enthusiastic as the dad because she is really going to have to want it and to work for it given her location.

 Donna age 9

 Samantha age 5

bottom-line, (today), we are thrilled we at least have Francesca on the line now and we will keep working for at least one more, maybe two, (why am I picturing rows of bunk beds in our basement?)

Anyway, it is a happy, exciting time and we know it is because of your prayers and the gracious God we serve.  THANK YOU!  Keep 'em coming.

Guarded Optimism....

Things have been kind of quiet until last week when Kim stumbled across a new orphanage who has three young girls for adoption and because of over crowding, are sending them all to our orphanage!  At the same time, Gladine has reentered the picture but that is kind of background noise now as we are not getting sucked into the soap opera with the parents.  If Gladine gets to the orphanage, great, if not, fine. 

Kim and I are headed down on the 23rd to meet the three girls who are already at our orphanage, Jessica, Diane and the third, a 7 month old who we do not know her name yet but we are told will be at the orphanage this week.  So the very exciting news is that we are heading down to spend some time with these girls and assuming all goes well, when we leave, the applications for 2 of them will be filed and the process will begin......so we proceed with guarded optimism. (our biggest concern is to hold off the temptation of submitting four applications!)

Conditions in Haiti this month have been awful.  The rain simply does not stop.  We were told the yard of the orphanage is flooded and the poor kids on the hill where Gladine lives are literally living in mud.  The last team sent us some pictures and you can see the muddy ground beneath them and the tents in total disarray, yet the kids are out smiling and playing and as usual, accept whatever comes and really find whatever joy they can.  (The joy in this case was s team that came and visited with them bubbles).  BTW, It is the horrible living conditions which have convinced Gladine's dad she needs to get off the hill.

We know just a little about Jessica and Diane.  Jessica lost both her parents in the earthquake and her uncle brought her to the orphanage.  I think Diane lost at least one parent in the earthquake as well.  They are not related but both were living in the same tent city.  They are not adjusting to the orphanage very well as the 1 1/2 year olds are apparently a bit aggressive, feeling they need to fight to get what they want.  A little too much slapping, hitting and pushing.  Sue, the director, said the good news is they are happy to be held and are comfortable with being handled and in fact will take a "nap in a lap" without any problems, so that is good.  But to think about the violence and chaos of the first year and a half of these two young lives is difficult to imagine.

We have no information on the 7 month old.

Seeing the pictures from last week of the mud up on the hill makes you so desperately want to be there with them.  We are looking forward to hanging out with all the kids, playing with them, holding them.  When you realize the joy a bottle of bubbles can bring, you really feel compelled to get down there with your own brand of joy to distribute and give these kids a great afternoon or evening.  Being with them redefines enjoying life's "simple pleasures". There are incredible lessons to be learned from them when witnessing how little it takes to bring a smile to a face or  fill a hillside with children's laughter.....it is awesome, it makes you think about what it takes to help us become truly joyful.  Anyway, we march on, Thanks again for all your prayers...one day, we will explain to our kids that they are the daughters of many praying, concerned "parents"!

Orphans walking through the mud

Enjoying the bubbles!

Fedeline is healthy and happy!

Only God Knows......

I am almost embarrassed to keep updating this blog with the in..out...in...out updates, but I guess since I started it I need to keep it going....

Last update, Gladine was set to go to the orphanage last Saturday, April 24th.  We got a call from the parents during last week asking if they could keep her for the Easter Holiday which of course was fine with us.  We then were set to pick her up, ("we" being Frank), on Monday.  Frank went up the hill Monday and waited for 1 1/2 hours and Gladine was never presented and ready to go.  Frank was very upset, and told them he would be back on Thursday and Gladine needed to be ready Thursday morning.  I asked him then if we should be concerned about all of this and he said no, he just felt the parents are incredibly inconsiderate and the concept of time or appointments means nothing to them.

So yesterday he goes up and Galdine was not to be found...after three hours he left.  He called us and advised us that if the parents were not able to simply have her bathed and ready to go to the orphanage, how can we expect them to go thru the process of the adoption, which involves some degree of effort from them.  His advice was to "move on".......

"Move on"......"Move on"........All I could picture in my mind was Gladine's sweet face and the time we had spent together two weeks ago.  I remember how enthusiastic her mom was, how her mom had sent her to me to be held, how her mom had referred to me as Gladine's "Pappa", how in my mind, I allowed this to become closer to a sure thing, a thought I had forced out of my mind until I left Haiti two weeks ago....and now we were being advised to "move on".......

Kim and I went out to eat last night and discussed the concept of "moving on".  While we both agreed it makes the most sense and is the right thing to do, we both know the picture of Gladine is going to haunt us for a while.  We also discussed that this is when you find out if "thy will be done"  really means, "thy will be done" or is it honestly closer to "Our will be done and and could thou please bless it"!!

If we are praying that above all else that God to lead this process, then we need to embrace that leadership and embrace this setback as a part of His plan.  We reminded ourselves that our Lord sees the past, present and future, and we would be foolish to question His vision.  We also realize it is not our job to understand, but to faithfully trust...and we do 100%.......

To make all of this a little more interesting, Frank called this morning and said Gladine's dad called him last night and said  he still wants Kim and I to adopt Gladine, that her not being there was not an indication of the parents changing their minds and, "no matter what", he will be sure she gets to the orphanage.  Frank and I discussed some very tall hurdles the parents would need to clear to get this back on track, for example, them bringing Gladine to Frank, not Frank going back to them.  Them signing the papers as almost the very first thing that happens, things like that.....

So, while we will be cautiously optimistic, we are also not going to be foolish and are going to consider Gladine as a "no", until the papers are signed and she is off the hill and in the orphanage.....

So, only God knows....and that is good enough for us.

Back on Track.....Partly

Last Saturday I was back in Haiti, on the hill talking with the parents of Gladine and Fedeline.  I was completely unsure as to why I was called in to meet with the Dad's but I was told they wanted to ask me some questions.  The flight over was a little nerve racking, as the type of questions I was to be asked would determine if this process was to continue, or end.  What I mean by that is questions such as "what will you do for us"? or "what is in it for me"? would mean the entire process was over.  But real questions, questions about Kim and me, our home, family, resources, plans for the kids and their future, those questions would be welcomed.

So Saturday around noon, (high noon!), we drove up to the hill where Gladine's mom and dad were there waiting for me, as was Fedeline's dad.  We picked a spot under a tree, where joined by about ten men from the village and our Q&A began.

Almost immediately I could tell Gladine's mom and dad were happy and I had a really good feeling about them. In fact at one point early on, Gladine's mom told her to come over to me and say "hello".  She sheepishly did, and when she made her way over and was standing next to me, her mom told me to pick her up.  I did and in about five minutes, Gladine was asleep on my lap.  The mother would look over at us with a big smile and I really felt in my heart that Gladine was going to be going back to the orphanage and back on track to coming to us. I was correct and this weekend, Gladine will be going back to the Creche' orphanage!

Gladine

Fedeline's dad was a different story.  He kind of is an angry looking guy and as he spoke, i was unable to get any read from him at all.  My Creole is no where nearly good enough to follow the conversation so I had to sit there not knowing what was being said, waiting for that first question and first indication of where this guy, (Johnico) was coming from.  then Frank our interpreter finally looked at me and asked that first question:
"How will he know you are really going to love his daughter and you just don't want her because you have no kids of your own"?   Wow, I remember being relieved because I knew then he really just wanted what was best for his daughter, and he asked a really good, but more importantly, loving question.  He then asked things like: "Will I ever see her again"?  "Will you bring her back"? "Can we come to see her"?, "Can we talk to her".  I explained the best I could and told them in my horrible Creole: "ou pral tojou, tojou, se Fedeline's Papa...Li ou pral toujou pou ou pitit fi"..Which means in what I am sure is very broken Creole, "You will always, always be Fedeline's dad, she will always be your daughter".

For about an hour he asked very good and important questions and left by taking a picture I had brought of Kim and I and said he wanted to send her back to the orphanage.  I gave him a kind of awkward hug and a smile as we headed back to the truck.  Gladine's mom was really sweet, she took a picture from me of Kim and me and one of the bedroom Gladine will be sleeping in....really an incredible moment imagining Gladine's mom looking at this picture from time to time imagining Gladine sleeping in bed.

So as I walked past the squalor and the dilapidated tents and dirt, I thought for about five minutes Fedeline and Gladine were headed back to the orphanage, then I ran into Fedeline's mom, who I had met before and she could not even look me in the eye.....my Spidy-sense was tingling.

I did find Fedeline looking pretty good, better than the last time I saw her, I said hello, kissed her on the head and had to go.  When I got back to the truck I found Johnico, Fedeline's dad, irate.  It seemed now Fedeline's mom did not want to adopt Fedeline to us!  The same woman who two weeks earlier was crying when Johnico took Fedeline out of the orphanage and back to the hill, was now unwilling to adopt.  I quickly came to understand that Fedeline's parents are not living together and it seemed for very good reason.  I could see we were getting into the middle of some domestic power struggle thing which Kim and I do not have the time or inclination to enter.  I asked Johnico to calm down, asked him to not make this a real ugly thing with Ketlove, Fedeline's mom, and simply said I had to go.  It was sad though, explaining to Johnico what Fedeline's future was going to look like, pictures and all, then get his complete buy-in, only for him to be frustrated at the very end.  The last thing I saw him do before we left was lightly slam his fists on the truck.

So I left with mixed emotions....VERY excited to call Kim and tell her Gladine was back on track, very bummed to think Fedeline was going to stay on the hill.  But more than anything, trusting God...not wanting to do anything but trust God.  He has been so good to us and He will work things out as he plans.

We are still not giving up on Fedeline but we are not going to actively  pursue her.  If there comes a day when her parents can both feel good about adopting her, they know where to find us.

One more good story, before I left, Gladine's mom brought her over to me and said something to me which ended in "papa".  I think she was telling Gladine I was going to another Papa to her.  I am pretty sure that is the first time I have ever been called "Papa"......hopefully not the last!

Gladine and "Papa"

 Gladine's mother and father

Fedeline's family (behind, you can see where they all live)

 Thank you for your continuing prayers!