Slowly By Slowly-Negrete Adoption

Nothing happens quickly in the adoption world, it's full of waiting and waiting. We were told we would hear after the 16th from our agency regarding their trip. But WE WERE EMAILED TODAY!! That was 4 days early. I made Chris read it out loud to me and I guarded my heart to hear the impact. I'm not ready to give up yet, I don't feel like God is closing this door....he read these words: "the trip was a positive one in many aspects as his meetings brought about much information" Information...that's not what I want to hear. My heart sank, positive in what way? Positive in that we got a lot of information, cleared things up, door are closing but at least we did things the right way? Please God NO!  Then he read: " One of the main ideas he experienced was seeing many officials and organizations desire REFORM , not CLOSURE of the guardianship/adoption process. "Our Agency" also feels that reform is necessary in order to move forward. From these...

Our agency will be returning late tonight to the US. This is really exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. On one hand, the trip is over, it's complete, they've talked with people and discovered things. On the other hand, it's scary...what did they learn? What is the outcome? Can we still adopt from Uganda? How will this affect us? And so we wait more. Adoption is all about waiting and we're doing our best to wait well. We won't hear anything until after the week of the 16th. We'll move in that time so we have plenty to keep us busy. And we will start the interview portions of the home study in the next few weeks. Even though the adoption has uncertainty, we still feel God's had pushing us forward with the home study/adoption. Today.... Please pray for safe travels as our agency returns. Pray for easy flights, rest and a sense of answers and clarity. Pray for our agency as they meet over the next few weeks to discuss what they found on the...

Today and part of tomorrow, our agency will be attending a conference in South Africa sponsored by the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). This conference is specifically focusing on the leadership within the Church in Africa and orphan care among a large group of pastors and ministry leaders from all different communities in Africa. This is a huge opportunity to talk with many people from all over Africa as well as other adoption agencies to discuss and explore how to care for orphans well. Today... Please pray for safety in traveling to the conference with all luggage arriving and easy travel. Pray for connections to be made and deepen with ministry leaders throughout Africa who have a mission to care for orphans Pray the Holy Spirit guides the attendees in how God wants orphans to be cared for well.

The trip is almost over! Our agency has worked hard the last week and we are so grateful for their concern. We haven't heard anything yet from them and don't expect to hear until the middle of the month. Obviously our hope, and the hope of our agency, is to be able to continue adoptions and place kids in families. We have worked hard this week to finish paperwork, physicals and reading for our home study. We are praying this is just a small hiccup and that our adoption will continue! Today we are praying our adoption will continue ethically. Pray for the orphans who are in orphanages who are waiting for families, pray their forever families can adopt them soon! Pray for all the families who are anxiously waiting to hear more from our agency. Pray as we, and they, prepare their hearts to welcome a child into their home. Pray our agency found a way for us to continue our adoption while honoring the people, culture and laws of Uganda As this week has gone on, I...

We have known since we started this crazy ride that Uganda wasn't happy with the way legal guardianship works for international adoption. We've known the new judges were wanting to make changes and that they had a lot of support from other stakeholders. God told us to jump anyway and trust Him in this and so we did but it's something that is constantly on our minds. Just before our agency left for Uganda, they notified us that there may be amendments made to the Child Act in the next 6-9 months. This can and will directly affect our process we just don't know how quite yet. One of the big questions our agency is working to figure out is what these amendments are. Will it close Ugandan adoptions completely? Will it restrict all legal guardianship and require parents to be in country for 3 years before adopting? Will fees be different, new paperwork, new meetings, more requirements. Will we be grandfathered in because we started the process after these changes were m...

Along with meeting with many government officials, our agency will also be having very specific  conversations  with their partners and workers in Uganda. These people are essential in the adoption process, they will go with us to court, transport us to and from appointments, help us communicate with various people and give us wisdom when we are there. They become our direct supporters  and  contact. Many are Ugandan and therefore know  the  system well.  Our agency will also meet with Embassy partners. These guys are responsible for passports and visas. They know the current situation of timelines and guidelines for adoptions. They are also one of the parties who can prevent things from moving smoothly and some families have experienced hiccups  with the embassy which can increase the length of stay. There are many who are involved in this long and tedious process and each is essential for a smooth process while in country. Our agen...

There are multiple different viewpoints on international adoption. Some have issue with mixed race, removing a child from their home country, the legality of the adoption, bribes, child stealing....the list goes on and on. But there are even disagreements among two countries working together in international adoption just as there are two sides to every story. This can and does create conflict. This conflict is where we find ourselves in Ugandan adoption. Although we love Uganda, I lived in Uganda....We are not Ugandan and so we think differently because of our different experiences. The same is true with American adoption agencies and some in the Ugandan government.  Today would you pray for: Humble hearts that are willing to hear other viewpoints and to hear God's view of the situation Pray for respect for all parties involved but the utmost respect and humble heart in hearing from God Pray the Judges and the Ministry of Gender humbly hear our adoption ...

Thank you for tracking with us the past 4 days. The Uganda portion of the trip is about half way over. I will keep today's post short and sweet as we are both exhausted. Chris had shoulder surgery on Tuesday and recovery has been difficult. He has battled 3 days of horrible hives that are blistering and weeping. He was given an injection and prescription for steroids so we are hoping relief comes soon but in the mean time we haven't slept well since Tuesday. Will you also today pray for relief and healing for Chris. We believe this is another form of spiritual warfare that often takes our focus away from praying for this trip and our child/children. Please pray today that our agency would have wisdom and discernment while in Uganda as well as when they are back and meeting to discuss moving forward. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would be felt as the advocate for the orphan and that truth and discernment would come from His wisdom and discernment. Pray that our a...

As previously mentioned, Uganda is frustrated with the way that adoptions are taking place. For some judges, it has gotten to the place where they do not support international adoptions at all and rule that way in court. In some ways, our agency is working to repair relationships and to show the judges and other officials, that they want what is in the best interest of the child and Uganda.  Unfortunately, they are walking an uphill road but Ugandans are as a whole, very relational. Today please pray for: A continued open door into the conversations surrounding adoptions and orphan care in Uganda. Pray that everyone attending the meetings is focused on the orphan, poor and vulnerable. Pray all meetings can be solely about them and their best interest. Both parties want to care well for orphans. Pray that they can begin on this common ground and work positively together from there. Pray for a deepening of trust and relationships and a blending of ideas and concern...

Thank you thank you those of you who prayed for our agency yesterday. Please continue praying for safe traveling by car, taxi, bus, boda-boda! Today we would love for you to pray these things specifically: Uganda is a a very fluid place. One of my favorite things about Ugandans is that they are more concerned with people and events than timelines and appointments. This allows for awesome and stress free conversations. They fully invest in relationships rather than cutting it off for a previously made appointment.  However, you can imagine the difficulty this can create when important meetings need to take place. Today would you pray that two meetings are kept: 1. A meeting with Ugandan Judges (Most Ugandan judges are agains the Legal Guardianship that allows us to adopt. In some ways, it is easier to adopt internationally than it is to adopt domestically in Uganda and that makes. This is frustrating for Ugandan judges. We also imagine it makes them feel disrespected that...

Dear friends, leaders in our adoption agency leave today to evaluate whether or not ethical adoptions can continue in Uganda. We respect and appreciate our agency's commitment to ethics. We are proud to partner with an agency who is committed to doing it right or not at all! They will have jam packed days in Uganda meeting with the stakeholders of Ugandan adoption. We will be posting daily prayer requests to help focus our prayer each day. Will you join us? Check back daily, every morning we will be giving another prayer request which our agency has helped us to focus on. For today: Please pray for safe travel for our agency leaders. Pray they are able to rest on the long flights and have the energy to hit the ground running. Please pray for quick and easy plane flights and all luggage to arrive. Those of you who have traveled overseas know the multitude of travel troubles that can arrive. To add to the stress, our agency begins meetings immediately after landing in...