I'm long overdue for posting an update on our adoption process. Sadly, not much progress has been made in the last 7 months. We have been waiting for all of our court documents to come in since we passed court last July. We need all of these documents to move to the next step, which is filing our i600, the request for citizenship for our children.
I had planned on filing the i600 in Kinshasa and by doing so, getting another opportunity to see our kids. But unfortunately, our paperwork was not ready before my visa expired in October. A simple visa means a flight to our capital city, and $400 for the visa. I grieved seeing this window of opportunity close. I was so longing to see them again and reassure them we are coming back for them.
In December we finally received everything we need, but there were major errors on several of them. We are currently waiting on one more document to be corrected, so we can file our i600, God willing, sometime in February. Once we file, we wait for our approval and once that is received, the US Embassy in Kinshasa begins it's 3-6 month long investigation to ensure our children are orphans by US standards. Once this investigation is complete, we can apply for our kids US visas and hopefully travel to pick them up soon after.
During the last 7 months, while not much progression was happening in our case, a lot has been doing on in Congo and with Congolese adoptions in general. Most notably, in September the DGM (Congolese Immigration office) decided to temporarily stop issuing Exit Letters for children adopted by foreigners. The DGM shut down will continued, possibly until September of this year as they restructure their procedures. So, while we may be able to pick up our children before September, we will not be allowed to take them out of the Congo, until the DGM reopens. And when it reopens. we will find out what new procedures they are incorporating.
When we begin this adoption process, I always saw 24 months as the 'worst case scenario' in terms of our time frame. But God's plans were different. We just hit the 2 year mark and have no end in certain sight. We are striving to be thankful for each day and month that passes, as it is ultimately bringing us closer to having J & T home. It's not easy though. In fact, it's probably the hardest journey I've ever been on. We go through spurts of excitement when we can tangibly DO something which gets us closer to them. Like forms to be filled out, emails to send, things to mail, etc and then more long dull months of just.....lots of waiting. It's not just a simple feeling of impatience or excitement. It's not just a simple question of "do you trust God or not?" The best way I can describe it is-- as if you are fighting a battle with your arms tied behind your back and a blind fold on. You have to trust everyone around you, that is supposed to be fighting on your side, to protect you. You have to trust God to be your eyes and direct every step you take, no matter how dark it is. You have to listen to His voice for reassurance that the end is in His sight and by His strength you can persevere. It's a gut wrenching longing to have your children safely in your arms, yet not being able to do anything about it. It's a daily battle to fight off fears and worries that they may never make it home to you. It's frequent thoughts of wondering what they are doing, how well fed they are today and what are their tender hearts feeling.
Trusting God in the midst of all of these emotions and concerns is one of the biggest tests of faith I've ever had. I feel like we are living out James chapter 1, "because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" and I'm praying that we will "Let perseverance finish its work so that (we) may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." And with each trying day, we're counting our joy and relying more on our faithful Father.
I had planned on filing the i600 in Kinshasa and by doing so, getting another opportunity to see our kids. But unfortunately, our paperwork was not ready before my visa expired in October. A simple visa means a flight to our capital city, and $400 for the visa. I grieved seeing this window of opportunity close. I was so longing to see them again and reassure them we are coming back for them.
In December we finally received everything we need, but there were major errors on several of them. We are currently waiting on one more document to be corrected, so we can file our i600, God willing, sometime in February. Once we file, we wait for our approval and once that is received, the US Embassy in Kinshasa begins it's 3-6 month long investigation to ensure our children are orphans by US standards. Once this investigation is complete, we can apply for our kids US visas and hopefully travel to pick them up soon after.
During the last 7 months, while not much progression was happening in our case, a lot has been doing on in Congo and with Congolese adoptions in general. Most notably, in September the DGM (Congolese Immigration office) decided to temporarily stop issuing Exit Letters for children adopted by foreigners. The DGM shut down will continued, possibly until September of this year as they restructure their procedures. So, while we may be able to pick up our children before September, we will not be allowed to take them out of the Congo, until the DGM reopens. And when it reopens. we will find out what new procedures they are incorporating.
When we begin this adoption process, I always saw 24 months as the 'worst case scenario' in terms of our time frame. But God's plans were different. We just hit the 2 year mark and have no end in certain sight. We are striving to be thankful for each day and month that passes, as it is ultimately bringing us closer to having J & T home. It's not easy though. In fact, it's probably the hardest journey I've ever been on. We go through spurts of excitement when we can tangibly DO something which gets us closer to them. Like forms to be filled out, emails to send, things to mail, etc and then more long dull months of just.....lots of waiting. It's not just a simple feeling of impatience or excitement. It's not just a simple question of "do you trust God or not?" The best way I can describe it is-- as if you are fighting a battle with your arms tied behind your back and a blind fold on. You have to trust everyone around you, that is supposed to be fighting on your side, to protect you. You have to trust God to be your eyes and direct every step you take, no matter how dark it is. You have to listen to His voice for reassurance that the end is in His sight and by His strength you can persevere. It's a gut wrenching longing to have your children safely in your arms, yet not being able to do anything about it. It's a daily battle to fight off fears and worries that they may never make it home to you. It's frequent thoughts of wondering what they are doing, how well fed they are today and what are their tender hearts feeling.
Trusting God in the midst of all of these emotions and concerns is one of the biggest tests of faith I've ever had. I feel like we are living out James chapter 1, "because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" and I'm praying that we will "Let perseverance finish its work so that (we) may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." And with each trying day, we're counting our joy and relying more on our faithful Father.
