Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Our month-long week in Ghana

Last Sunday,we said goodbye to Enam Christopher, for now. We flew home Sunday night and arrived Monday morning. I'm so glad we have our lovely boys to come home to, it will make the waiting a little easier. We showed them more pictures and videos of Enam and they are both excited for him to come home.

So here are the details of where we are at in the process now. The judge they usually work with will be on a medical leave for another 3 weeks. The coordinator will stand in for us at court, then we will file with the Embassy in the US for Enam's visa and passport to come home. We agreed that we would rather wait a little longer for a judge that is more likely to give us a favorable decision than risk another judge. So we are thinking it will be between 2 and 3 months  before we go back to bring him home. I really hope we can have him home for Christmas.

It was also good to talk to our in country contacts to ask them about Chrismond, the twin who passed, and about Enam's biological family.  We learned that he has an older brother that lives with the mother and that we will get to meet her our next trip! I am excited to meet her, thank her and encourage her that we will always pray for her and teach him to always remember her with love and gratefulness. Our contacts also assured us that the parents are happy that their children will be adopted and cared for. These parents often do not have work and cannot afford to feed all of their children and sometimes unable to even house them. It is a hard reality, but with a hopeful end.

It was a pretty crazy week. With all the drama of the culture shock, the fresh reminder of true proverty, and the change in adoption plans as well as getting to know our youngest son, it felt more like a month. I am thankful though, I feel like God gave us a lot of peace and rest in his faithfulness and goodness. Last week I studied the book of James. It begins with the encouragement that "the testing of our faith produces perseverence. And let perseverence have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing". It was very encouraging to see God's work in my life giving me rest when I otherwise would be freaking out or falling apart. I also know that those praying for us help hold us up through all of the challenges. So thank you. Another couple there, who were not believers, were more anxious about it all and could not believe how we held it together and were so mature. I got to give God the glory to answer them because I know it is not my inherent self.

Now I'm also holding on to Matthew 6:33. After encouraging us to not be anxious about the details of life, this verse reads,"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Finally, more pictures!
-The first night we picked him up from the orphanage


-The Cape Coast Castle (mentioned in the previous post)

An amazing artist we bought from (even though it was on the restaurant patio)

Our wonderful group and in country coordinators




Final goodbyes, just for now


1 comment:

  1. Oh Katie! I just hate that you guys had to leave without him. We will continue praying for you as you persevere this wait.

    ReplyDelete