Today was a great day. We dedicated our children to the Lord at Pastor Samuel's church in Soweto, then Jeromy was baptized along with about 12 other people there. Since our family is leaving Tuesday morning, we decided to take a leap of faith and not wait for the official adoption orders to dedicate our kids to God. It was truly an incredible experience.
Tomorrow we want to do 2 things:
1. Call, email, and fax our President and VP, asking them for a letter confirming that the Smiths have approval to adopt 2 children from Kenya, and also confirming that US-CIS/DHS has the authority to speak to adoption law and practice (I'll probably draft something in the morning, along with putting some background on the blog, but that's the most important part.)
2. Continue to pursue, through a few good Samaritans, a letter from the US Attorney General. Since this request is brand new as of Friday, we want to work directly with small groups for now and then hope that some of our new friends can pull off another miracle. Please pray for us in this AND if you are willing to spend the time to get caught up to speed, you can help us be a point person for the AG offices. We only need 2-3 people for this, I think.
One IMPORTANT clarification on something that I got wrong on the blog this weekend. The Monday deadline was to get the PDFs we presented in court on Friday authenticated at the US Embassy. This should be done tomorrow. However, we have until cob Thursday for scanned copies of the US AG and Presidential letters!! Still a daunting task that will take a miracle, but this makes it feel a bit more feasible.
My body is literally shutting down on me after 2 + weeks of minimal sleep, so instead of risking any mis-communication whatsoever, we'll jump online tomorrow morning and target having detailed instructions (and background info) ready by 6am EST for anyone who is willing to help us through this final phase. Please don't lose hope-- or interest. We are almost to the end and remain eternally grateful for your help. We are still idealistic (or perhaps naive) enough to believe that God could use your collective prayers and efforts to somehow alter the course of history for Kenya's orphans. Seriously.
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3 comments:
Jer and Kim, Praying everyday for you guys, I know God has his hand over the whole family and you all will be coming home soon!!! love you dearly!!! Jer Gods giving you the strenth you need sleep or no sleep. just run on God's engery.
Aimee
I wish there was something physical I could do, but for now I will continue to lift you and your family up in prayer. May God cover you and protect you and pave a way for you to finalize this adoption.
Laura
tons of people are still praying! Don't lose heart or hope! Our God is HUGE!!
"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for justice, freedom and peace. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done."
- a Franciscan blessing
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