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