more changes from Rwanda

Nobody ever claimed adopting was easy, and again, I am reminded that I am not in control of our adoption. Not one bit.

Once again, more twists and turns have been added to our already wild and crazy journey of bringing Wyatt home. Yesterday, I received an email from Gladney informing us that a new policy has been imple­mented by the Ministry of Justice in Rwanda and the Ministry of Gender and Family requiring all adoptive parents to be present in Rwanda to sign the Act of Adoption document that must be submitted to request a court date to finalize an adoption. Previously, this was taken care of by our power of attorney weeks before adoptive parents traveled, but it looks as though we will now need to travel to sign the document in person.

What does this mean? Well, generally speaking, adoptive parents have a few choices. They may choose to stay in Rwanda for the entire process including the initial court appearance, the processing of all documents and the child’s passport, adoption finalization in court, U.S. Embassy appointments in Rwanda and Ethiopia, etc… all together, this is expected to take 4-5 weeks total. Option two would be making two trips. One to sign the document (and possibly staying to appear in court as well) followed by a trip back several weeks later.

Personally, we’re not sure what this means for us. With two young children already at home coupled with bills to pay (and jobs to work), it’s not going to be possible for both of us to remain in Rwanda for the entire time. From the small amount of processing that Matt and I have done, we have toyed around with the idea of me making the two trips while Matt stays for the month to do ministry and hang out with Wyatt. Or both of us making two trips. Or… who knows. As I said, we’re still processing.

I do know that the additional travel will add thousands of dollars to our adoption costs, and I am trying not to allow myself to become overwhelmed with this. God has already provided for us so abundantly since we began this process almost a year (!) ago, and I have no reason to believe that He has any plans on stopping. That said, if anyone knows of anyone with copious unused frequent flier miles that they would like to donate to us, feel free to let me know. 🙂

In more positive news, we were told today that the ministry is in the process of reviewing dossiers in the 80’s. They continue to be moving fast, and families are indeed receiving referrals. We are praying that this momentum keeps up and that babies will start coming home.

In God’s perfect timing, our social worker already had a trip out to Ethiopia and Rwanda scheduled for the coming two weeks, so I’m looking forward to hearing more news in the near future.

Be praying for the ministry in Rwanda as they work hard to place children in homes. Pray for wisdom as they continue to make seek the best interest of their children as they make decisions. Pray for all waiting families to have faith and patience throughout the remainder of the process.

And, last of all, would you pray for all of these children that are waiting for their families? Pray for health. For clean water. For proper nutrition. For someone to take to time to hold, play with, and love on these children as much as possible.

Thanks, everyone, for your continued prayers and support. This continues to be a team effort, with God deserving all of the glory.