While we wait...

Three more days until June 6^th, when we hope to get the elusive positive ruling we've been praying for. Please continue to pray that we can build trust with the High Court, as the judge could literally make his final ruling at any moment.

We have spent the last few days planning for what the next 6 weeks will look like if we are approved on Friday, working on the next phase of the IDP (internal displayed Kenyans) outreach effort (officially starting next week), and even doing a little relaxing.

Sunday was so cool. First, three new families in Pastor Samuel’s church made commitments to adopt an orphaned child. That was so encouraging! We spent the entire afternoon with Samuel’s family, which is always a good time. But the highlight was probably playing with their new daughter, Ruth. In the orphanage, she was one of the most serious little kids we have ever seen lives. However, after just weeks in their family she has really come to life. She is talking, laughing, running, playing, and just having a good time. She is really doted on by her older siblings, which doesn’t hurt! She has had an incredible personality hidden away, just waiting to come out!

Orphan Adoption = LOW Priority For MD Legislators

Of the 211 members of Congressional Coalition on Adoption, the only member from Maryland is Dem. Chris Van Hollen. (Never heard of him before, but just became a fan on Facebook). This group is nearly split in half between Dem/Rep parties and also includes Senators. We are tied with 7 other states for the lowest participation nationwide. Bummer.

Please don’t stop reading yet! Today and tomorrow are the last of 3 scheduled days to contact US leaders in supporting of NOT stopping all Vietnamese adoptions. Even if this campaign is not successful, it would be great for our legislators to be reminded one more time that Marylanders really do care about orphans. Emails are good, calls are great, both together are ideal. For Maryland, the contacts are:

Ben Cardin: (202) 224-4524 and cardin.senate.gov/contact/
Barbara Mikulski: (202) 224-4654 and mikulski.senate.gov/Contact/contact.cfm
Elijah Cummings (for our area): (202) 225-4741 and http://www.house.gov/cummings/contact.shtml

The suggested email (or phone message) is:
I urge the Senator/Congressperson to join the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Co-Chairs and sign their letter to Secretary Condoleezza Rice in support of the recommendations found in Joint Council’s A Child’s Right Campaign for Vietnam.”

For more info, you can read A Child’s Right Campaign for Vietnam at www.jcics.org. If you are not from Maryland, you can find your Senators’ phone numbers and email address at www.senate.gov. You can find your Representatives’ phone numbers and email address at www.house.gov.

As we said last week, there are people in both governments who have made valiant efforts to fight corruption. This is an extremely tough situation, with no easy answers. We don’t envy them one bit. But most importantly, we don’t want orphaned children from any nation to miss out on families because of the unethical behavior of adults. We applaud our government’s tough stance against corruption, but also ask that they not give up the fight.