Journey to L and H: Fighting through

The last two days have somewhat been a blur. They have been filled with meetings. Meeting with deputies, meeting with generals, meeting with directors, meeting new friends, meeting other adoptive parents, meeting with our lawyer. I can't believe that it is already Thursday. Time has flown by as each day we are spending out and about, essentially just trying to fight for our kids and for our adoption and for our adoption community. 

The day after we met our girls for the first time, we were able to go to the orphanage again for a really short visit. The home is situated somewhat out of town, so with traffic it's not an easy drive to get there and back. On this second visit L seemed in much better spirits and it was so sweet to be able to see her smile more give her hugs and see her interact with her friends. Unfortunately h was in school right up until we had to leave, so we only got to see and hug her briefly.

Earlier that day we had met with our lawyer to discuss our case and what our next steps should be. Then he took us to see two very important people that we were able to gain some good information from. In one of the meetings I was able to tell the lady about our story, and ask lots of questions. She was very open and honest about the process and she was very clear that there was no way we were going to get a court date until this investigation was complete. We could tell by the end that her hands were essentially tied and she was not the one who would be able to help move things along. 

After that we went to a massive courthouse and ended up in a room sitting before a man that we later realized was not who we thought we were speaking to. You have to understand that when you hire a lawyer in a foreign country you are somewhat at the mercy of their proceedings and of their processes. And don't get me wrong this is a good thing. But at one point I definitely felt like I didn't really know what we're supposed to say and who we were talking to other than to explain our position and our side and our case and to hope that someone could understand our American English and help us. But also, the more people we talk to the better. 

We at least are forming a good picture of how things go here, what is happening with our case, and whether or not there's anything we can do right now.

Yesterday we were unable to visit the girls as we had other things to do and the kids were in school most of the day. However one exciting thing was that we were finally able to meet the other adoptive family who just arrived from the states. They are also adopting two girls from the same home our girls are in so today they will be meeting their two girls for the very first time. They also brought their kids with them. I am excited to have them here with us and to be able to go to the orphanage together later this afternoon. 

We were also able to meet with the orphanage director last night. We have so much respect for him. He is the one that is essentially under investigation at this time. But it's all a bunch of bogus accusations by officials at the embassy and we know his name will be cleared. Since 2016, he has never had anything like this happen before. But in the meantime you can imagine that he is under a lot of stress. And yet when we talk to him, all he cares about is the kids. He could easily throw up his hands and quit and yet he said he can't leave those kids behind. We are praying for him and we are praying for a swift investigation. Thankfully he is still able to work on things. One of those things he will be doing is to contact the birth moms in our cases because the Ministry of Gender will need to re-interview them to double check that they weren't coerced into putting their children up for adoption (because this is what the initial allegation was). So they need to re-confirm stories as a precaution so that everything is neat and tidy before going to the embassy, lest they pick apart these cases and try and find another reason to delay these adoptions. 

Praying friends, all of us in this fight for adopted children are realizing that we are not necessarily fighting against flesh and blood. There is an underlying pattern in all of these stories that shows that evil is lurking. God forbid that His love for the destitute and the homeless play out in adoption. God forbid that these children find loving homes. Our enemy is on the prowl, and I have never seen a spiritual battle more clearly played out than I am seeing here. When the ones interviewing asked our friends over and over again if they were Christians during their adoption interview. Why should that matter? What happened to freedom of religion? It reeks of persecution. So we will do our part here. But we need to be covered, doused, splashed, engulfed in prayer. Those kids need a village to gather and lift them up before the Father. He is the one who can break down the gates and make a way. I am confident that He is faithful and look forward to seeing Him work through this seemingly impossible situation.