Plane fuel... Could you help?

Got this word by email this morning by a parent in our group adopting from Haiti... Could you help??

"We do have a FEW very generous people that are willing to put in large amounts of money to get us jet fuel to get home. That's Plan A. That gave us what we needed to tell the people trying to find us a plane that we can pay for it. Please find us a plane. Please get us home.

What if we could ease that burden a bit. What if we could find smaller amounts from a larger number of people. What if each of you reading this could find someone to give $10? What if some of you reading this could find someone else to give $100? A few people could give $1,000?

If you've already donated, will you see who else you know can assist? If you're not in a position to spare $10, will you find someone else who can?Will you help me? Will you see if you can find us $10? $25? $100? $1,000? Can more people help to bear this burden that it, too, may be light? Let's fuel it, shall we?"

You can donate with the Hope For Little Angels of Haiti paypal button!!

Many Blessings as we serve Christ Jesus, who is worthy!

long time no blog

I need to get caught up here.

A lot has happened at home as well as in Haiti.

I'll start with Haiti first. You may have read on my husband's blog that we are out of IBESR, which miraculously happened much quicker than expected. We are now finalizing funds required to enter the next stage in the paper journey. Please pray, if you would for this stage of the paper work and funds as well. As far as the parent trip in October, Chris had planned on going, but wasn't able to. Ugh. We found out from our coordinator (she's so great by the way) who was on the trip, that Schneider was admitted to the hospital. He ended up staying about three weeks He is out now and improving and gaining weight. Communication is kind of sketchy coming from Haiti, so we don't know what his illness was. I knew when we got this photo update he wasn't well. Yes, he usually looks sad, but this is more than sad. You can see big brother's arm around him. I love that seeing that. Changlais is such an awesome big brother. He's always with Schneider in all the updates we get. It's been 5 months now since we've seen the boys. Do they even remember the week we spent together?

It's kind of numbing... it's been such a long journey. Going back and forth to Haiti, email updates, unexplained illnesses. You kind of start thinking it will always be this way and it begins to get really hard to picture them home, really.

I miss them.

As for home, it's time to update our home study, our fingerprints, as well as our I171 H. It's a lot. We'd appreciate your prayers here as well.

Also, you've may have also read from my husband blog that we've started an adoption ministry. It's been very exciting, but I'll talk about it in the next post.

Thanks for hanging in here with us!

Just the boys this time...

We have dates for the next parent trip.
Chris leaves October 16th. Yes, just Chris this time. I think my heart just landed in my feet as I typed that last line. I won't be on this trip, because I need to be a mommy here this time. I'm not complaining, just wish I could have our children all in one place. The reality that I won't be there to kiss and hold the boys is sinking in now and the tears are already starting.
These photos are our August updates. I love getting updates! It's like a rebirth every time we get a new photo. Look at poor Schneider. Why does he have on a sweat shirt? Hi Changlais, my sweet man. I sure do miss you. Daddy's coming soon. I miss you terribly, painfully, urgently and breathlessly my boys...

Time

Each time I post, I am reminded of time apart from our sons. Time is not on their side. Adoptions in Haiti have slowed to a crawl as you will read. I'm posting an email we received from our agency. It details ways we can and you can help the orphans in Haiti.

When I first saw the email it looked overwhelming, draining even. We've been at this adoption for a long time. But, my heart pounds, races every time I think of our boys and all the other faces of the children at the orphanage. Does your heart pound when you hear "orphanage"? Do you feel their pain, the children's, even just for a brief moment. Maybe the pain that shoots across your heart is just too much, so you turn away or turn it off. Pray for strength that you won't turn away. Pray for strength to help. God has something for you, personally, to do to help an orphan. Pray, he will give you strength to do something.

Here's the letter from our agency... please continue reading!!!

Dear Wasatch Haiti Waiting Families and associates;
I am passing along information from JCICS (Joint Council on International Children's Services) that I just received, the JCICS Haiti task force has been working tirelessly to help with the problems mounting in Haiti. The following is the result of their efforts and they are asking all of us to join in to see that changes are made.
“The efforts of the JCICS Haiti Task Force have at last come to fruition. This morning the office of Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA) with the support of Senator Sam Brownback (KS) sent a Dear Colleague letter to all members of both houses of the US Congress. It is time for our parents to act in support of the pending Haitian adoption law”.
Please share and post the letter below as much as possible. The Dear Colleague letter and the pending law need our maximum support. Have your families and friends get involved, we all need to work together to make changes in Haiti. Please make note that JCICS is asking that phone calls be made within a 72 hour window for maximum affect, the dates are listed below.
Please let me know if you have any questions.Chareyl Moyes Haiti Program Manager _________________________________________________________________

Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
Dear Friends,
Over the past three years, the processing of adoptions in Haiti have slowed to a crawl. Abandoned children are enduring adoption processes lasting two or three years before being united with adoptive families.
Not only is such lasting institutional care damaging to the children who wait and wait, but the slowed process has had a negative effect on the many desperately needy children of Haiti who are not waiting in orphanages. Orphanages in Haiti have traditionally been providers of humanitarian aid to their communities. Many support free medical clinics, schools, feeding programs and family preservation programs. Orphanages have been a resource for temporary care for children following a family crisis, such as a fire or illness. But now that children are languishing in orphanage care for years, orphanage directors report that the beds are full, the food and medicine supplies are insufficient, and the children needing temporary care are left on the streets with little prospect for life.
In a laudable effort to move towards transparent and democratic government, Haitian officials are now adhering to the Haitian Constitutional law regarding adoption, written in 1974 by Jean Claude Duvalier. While the law of 1974 places severe limitations on the size and age of those who may adopt, it does allow for Presidential Dispensation for those not meeting the family size or age limitations. Unfortunately, Haiti lacks an organized and transparent system for obtaining Dispensations. This confusion along with the absence of a sense of urgency regarding institutionalized children has caused extensive delays in the adoption process and further victimizes children who have already lost much.
Haiti has a pending solution to this legal logjam. A newly proposed adoption law will clarify who may adopt, increase protections for Haitian children, their birth parents, and adoptive families, and streamline the adoption process. This legislation is supported by the United States and French governments along with the NGO community and UNICEF.
The children of Haiti, the crèche directors who serve them and the adoptive families who wish to raise them need your help. We must encourage the Haitian government to pass the new adoption law and efficiently grant Dispensations in the interim.
What can you do? Make five simple phone calls and write one letter.

1. Call your U.S. Senator.
· You can find your Senators’ phone numbers at www.senate.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

2. Call your second U.S. Senator.

3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative.
· You can find your representative at www.house.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

4. Call or fax UNICEF Haiti
· Ask to speak with Julie Bergeron
· Their number is 011-509- 2245-3525
· Their fax number is 011-502- 2245-1877
· Their email address is jbergeron@unicef.org
Please note that calls and faxes to Haiti are international calls

5. Write letters for the Haitian Prime Minister, President of the Haitian Senate, and the Minister of Social Welfare.
· Your letter can contain the same information as specified below. If you are an adoptive family or are close to a Haitian-born adopted child, insert a picture of the child or your family in your letter.
· Describe your family’s commitment to Haitian culture and the country’s well being as a result of your contact with a Haitian-born adopted child.
· Mail your letter to Holt International, which has volunteered to collect letters and transport them to Haiti for hand delivery to the above government officials.
Holt International
Haitian Children & Families Initiative
P.O. Box 2880
Eugene, OR 97402

6. Forward this message to everyone you know who cares about the welfare of abandoned children in Haiti. Individuals need not be personally involved in a Haitian adoption to let their voices be heard on behalf of children who have no one to speak for them!

When should you call? August 13th, 14th, and 17th
· For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window!
What should you say or write to member of the U.S. Congress?
Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
· Inform them that you are calling regarding Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
· Inform them that the Haitian international adoption process is unreasonably delayed.
· Inform them that children referred to U.S. families are anguishing in institutions
· Inform them that the backlog of children in the process of adoption is preventing orphanages, who serve as local humanitarian aid providers, from continuing to assist their communities.
· Inform them that due to the interruption of services provided by the orphanages, Haitian children outside the orphanages are needlessly dying.
· Ask that their office to sign the Dear Colleague letter regarding the pending Haitian adoption law, sponsored by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Senator Sam Brownback. The letter asks that adoptions currently in process be speedily granted Presidential Dispensation and that the new adoption law be passed.

Sample Statement
Hello,
We are calling/writing on behalf of the Haitian Children & Families Initiative. We, as your constituents, are asking that the Senator/Congressperson sign the Dear Colleague letter regarding the pending Haitian adoption law, sponsored by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Senator Sam Brownback.
As you may be aware, the Haitian adoption process is unreasonably delayed.
Children already matched with adoptive families are languishing in orphanages for two and three years. The orphanages, which have traditionally served as humanitarian aid outreach centers, have run out of resources and are no longer able to offer assistance to their communities. Haitian children outside the orphanages are dying needlessly as a direct result of the delayed adoptions.
Your office must get involved and sign the Dear Colleague letter to support the Haitian government in their effort to assist the homeless and abandoned children of Haiti.
Sincerely,

What should you say or write to UNICEF?
Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
· Inform them that you are calling regarding the Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
· Ask them to support the rights of children and lend their considerable influence to ensuring that inter country adoptions currently in-process be speedily processed to completion under the existing Presidential Dispensation clause.
· Inform them that many adoptions are taking two or three years to process, during which time children languish in orphanages.
· Inform them that due to the over extension of their resources, orphanages are no longer able to provide their traditional humanitarian aid services to their communities, such as free schools, medical care, temporary child care for families in crisis, and family preservation programs.
· Inform them that as a direct result of the orphanage’s inability to provide humanitarian aid due to overly taxed resources, children are needlessly dying in the streets outside the orphanages.
· Ask them again for their support of the Presidential Dispensation and the swift passage of the new adoption law.

Sample Statement
Hello,
· We are calling/writing on behalf of the Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
· As financial supporters of UNICEF (through our tax dollars), we are asking that UNICEF lends its support and considerable influence to the Joint Council Haitian Children & Families Initiative
As you may be aware, the Haitian adoption process is unreasonably delayed. Children already matched with adoptive families are languishing in orphanages for two and three years. The orphanages, which have traditionally served as humanitarian aid outreach centers, have run out of resources and are no longer able to offer assistance to their communities. Haitian children outside the orphanages are dying needlessly as a direct result of the delayed adoptions.
UNICEF must get involved to ensure that adoptions in process be speedily granted Presidential Dispensation so that they can be completed in a timely manner, and that the new adoption law be passed.
Sincerely,

Can you explain the problem behind the current crisis?
Here is some additional information…
· The current constitutional law, written in 1974 by Jean Claude Duvalier, severely restricts who may adopt from Haiti. The only method by which the Haitian government may permit adoptions to non-conforming families is via Presidential Dispensation.
· The lack of a defined and efficient Dispensation process has caused delays of up to three years for children in the adoption process. Prolonged institutionalization has been scientifically proven to be highly detrimental to children.
· As orphanages expend their limited resources caring for children in the process of adoption over extended periods, they are unable to provide their traditional humanitarian aid programs to their communities.
· The existing adoption law provides almost no protection for the rights of abandoned children, their birth parents, or adoptive families. It offers no safe guards against human trafficking.
· A proposed adoption law will alleviate the crisis by standardizing and streamlining adoptions, and will far better protect abandoned Haitian children from child trafficking.

What else can you do? In addition to your primary calls to U.S. Congress and UNICEF, you can call the Haitian Embassy:
Embassy of Haiti in the U.S.
2311 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Office Phone 1- 202.332.4090 Office Fax 1- 202-745-7215 embassy@haiti.org

If your still with me reading this, God bless you. Let's pray for strength together right now... Lord Jesus Christ, I humbly bow at your feet and confess that I am weary. I confess my doubt that this situation will ever improve. I can see that I've let doubt steal my strength. Forgive me Lord for not coming to you for strength. I come to you now Lord. I need your help. Fill me up with your Holy Spirit and move me to action. Show me the path you would have me to take to help. Lord, there are many options here before me, strengthen me to just get started. Lord, thank you. I praise you for who you are, mighty and able to save. Impress upon your people Lord a heart of compassion that will lead us to act. Amen Jesus.

Last week

Last week we got to do something we haven't done in 5 years. Go on vacation! We went to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was wonderful! The last time we went, Savannah was 7, she's now 12, Lilah and Lona were 2, they're now 7 and Ella was turning 1, and she's 6 now. Noah and Izzy weren't even on the radar. So really, Savannah was the only one who remembered what the beach was like and for everyone else it was new. Also, the last time we went, Savannah was the only one who didn't try to eat the sand.

The kids loved the ocean. They wore themselves out in it. It was so great to watch them enjoy themselves so much. It's thrilling to see a child's soul filled up and overflowing with excitement. Another thing that caused a lot of excitement was the elevators. Everyday, the question of the day was "Can I push the alligator button?" How can you even think about saying no to that?

Stuck

I have been avoiding the blog. Sorry, I haven't even checked for comments, they're so kind.

I miss the boys... it makes me feel it all over again when I blog, but usually by the end of the post, I'm encouraged again, so... here I am.

By it, I mean missing the boys and going over thoughts about Haiti. I keep feeling stuck. Stuck between two worlds. America and a 4th world country. The contrast is mind boggling. Uugh, how do you deal with that? Complete poverty verses complete comfort. My day here, verses their day at the orphanage. All I have to do is say the word orphanage and that sums it up.

We do have some good news though, we are in IBESR and our file is being reviewed because they asked us to correct something in one of our documents. That gives us some hope anyway.

The Lord has given me a verse that comforts my heart as well as makes me hopeful for the day when my posts are not about missing the boys, but about our boys being home. Take a look.

Psalm 126:5-6

Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.

They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Makes you wanna shout Hallelujah right!! And, PRAISE GOD FOR ADOPTION too!!

Unpacking

Unpacking... not so much clothes, we took more food than clothes. Still unpacking the thoughts and lessons experienced while in Haiti. I'm humbled again. Yep, I thought on this trip I wouldn't be affected again by what I've already seen of Haiti. The devastation, the poverty, the longings, the confusion written on the faces of the people of Haiti. I didn't think I would examine that again. I didn't think I would examine those things in comparison to my own life, my own heart again. Not so. I am processing it again, reading God's word and praying over it. I stand in awe of the Lord. He carries all of this and the rest of the hurting world. But, he is not worried, not wringing his hands, not saying... Oh, what am I going to do about this? No, He is... I AM.

When I was on my needs before bed two nights ago, I came to him with thoughts of our trip, concerns and worries for the boys and the other children at the orphanage. It was overwhelming and swirling in my head. But, when I began to pray, all I wanted to say to him was... HOLY, HOLY, HOLY. I could only praise him. Not because of anything in me, but him living in me.