Friday, May 13, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Bilateral agreement to be signed in May!
As reported by the JCICS (via RIA Novosti) in April ...
Russia may next month sign an agreement with the United States to ensure the safety of Russian children adopted by U.S. families, Russia’s ombudsman for child rights said on Friday.
“This issue is under the personal control of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” Pavel Astakhov said a news conference on Friday.
Russia suspended the adoptions last year after a Tennessee woman sent her 7-year-old adoptive son back to Russia. He was put on a plane on his own with a note from the woman saying she did not want him as he was “psychotic.”
Astakhov said in January that 17 Russian children have died in the United States as a result of child abuse since the adoptions started more than 15 years ago.
The latest official figures show that about 60,000 children born in Russia have been adopted by families in the United States.
Russia may next month sign an agreement with the United States to ensure the safety of Russian children adopted by U.S. families, Russia’s ombudsman for child rights said on Friday.
“This issue is under the personal control of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” Pavel Astakhov said a news conference on Friday.
Russia suspended the adoptions last year after a Tennessee woman sent her 7-year-old adoptive son back to Russia. He was put on a plane on his own with a note from the woman saying she did not want him as he was “psychotic.”
Astakhov said in January that 17 Russian children have died in the United States as a result of child abuse since the adoptions started more than 15 years ago.
The latest official figures show that about 60,000 children born in Russia have been adopted by families in the United States.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Passing of a Hero
Yesterday we lost a true hero of the faith. David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge, where Chad has ministered for the past 8 years, died in a car crash in Texas. Here is is final blog entry, posted just hours before his death:
http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/
In his own words, without knowing he would soon face death himself, he comforts those who will mourn him.
Remembering David Wilkerson today as he enters the Father's House and finally hears, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/
In his own words, without knowing he would soon face death himself, he comforts those who will mourn him.
Remembering David Wilkerson today as he enters the Father's House and finally hears, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Friday, March 25, 2011
Great news!
The bill that threatened to put a halt to international adoptions in Russia has been withdrawn from the Russian State Duma! Here's the latest ...
http://blog.russianadoptionhelp.com/2011/03/in-like-lion-out-like-lamb.html
http://blog.russianadoptionhelp.com/2011/03/in-like-lion-out-like-lamb.html
Monday, March 14, 2011
Finally, An Update!
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life!"
~ Proverbs 13:12
Finally! Our friends are safely back from Russia with their newly adopted daughter, so we can finally post an update without jeopardizing their adoption process. After three long years and many obstacles, we are so happy to be able to say ...
We apologize for not updating until now, but we were instructed by our agency not to share an update on the internet until the remaining family from our region was home and had completed their adoption successfully. Now, we are finally free to update you on what has taken place in the last few months ...
After moving to the #1 position on the waiting list in our region and believing we would travel at any time, we got a call in January of this year to let us know that we had lost our region assignment due to an "incident" that occurred with a family that traveled on their first trip at the end of December, which cost not just us, but our entire agency, any future activity in the region. While we are not at liberty to share the details of what happened, we can tell you how this will affect us and our adoption process. It means that we are no longer assigned to any specific region in the country and are back to waiting in a general pool with several other families who do not have a region assignment. Once we have been accepted into a new region, we will wait in line behind whoever has already received their region assignment ahead of us. Think of it like this: You have waited in a very (very!) long line at the bank and, just as it is about to finally be your turn, the bank closes and tells you that you will have to go to another bank to complete your transaction. So, first you have to choose a new bank (or, in our case, wait to have it chosen for you), and then wait in line behind anyone who was already there before you arrived. We were told in January that this could take 3-6 months. It has been almost two.
Of course, at first, we were bitterly disappointed, especially as it seems this was completely preventable (and we were so close). But as it turns out, we have been told that the region where we were assigned has been moving extremely slow and, even though things started moving again at the end of last year, they were not planning on accepting more than 1-2 adoptions per year per agency. Regardless, we are not going to "over-spiritualize" this. It is simply an obstacle that will be overcome, just like the many obstacles we have already faced along the way, and will ultimately lead us to the little girl that God has for our family. Sometimes "free will" just gets in the way of things happening the way they should ...
Today I received a (very timely) encouragement card from a dear friend who has walked very closely with us over the last four years: through the death of Abby, secondary infertility and our subsequent miscarriage, to our decision to adopt and, now, waiting for Hope. She writes from the perspective of someone who has seen firsthand the desires of our hearts and the longing as we have waited for those desires to be fulfilled. She writes:
"It's March now, of course, and the last time we talked you were optimistic about traveling this month. I know you said there has been *another* delay -- making this the longest adoption process ever! So I just wanted to send you a note of encouragement and to let you know that you are never far from my prayers and thoughts. Also, to let you know that I am definately NOT praying for patience for you! I think you've already been granted that chore! All my prayers are for fulfillment. For this dream to be brought to fruition. For a toddling blonde beauty to be brought into your lives now -- no more delays! In the meantime, I am, as always, impressed with your strength and inspired by your faith. God has asked so much from your family that at the very least I believe that you have a huge stockpile of treasures stored up in Heaven! But I do believe that He put the desire in your heart for a reason, and He will be faithful to that promise. Be strong, Emily. She is coming, and we will all fall to our knees in praise on the day she becomes yours."
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Yes, we are still here! We were hoping to travel to Russia (and Wyoming) by now, but obviously God's timing is not our own. We just received notice last week that another family has been chosen to travel at the end of December, which means our plans are on hold again. We will definitely be next to receive an invitation (we were one of only two families still waiting in our region); however, based on the current timeline, it will now likely be March or April before we are invited on our first trip to meet Hope. On the bright side, this actually gives us more time to get ready, financially and administratively. We still need to complete our immunizations, update our CIS filing and other documents that are about to expire and work on some additional grant applications, so we would have been scrambling to get everything done over the holidays. We are reminded that God's timing is perfect, and so we wait ...
We would like to take this time to thank everyone who has supported our journey this year. Our Usborne Book sales raised over $1,000 for Hope and we are waiting to hear from two grant applications to be processed. One was denied last month due to more applications than funds available and two more are up for review in January (please pray we are approved). We held two garage sales, one in the spring and one in the fall, which together raised over $1,200. Our online coffee store generated almost $500. And we have had many friends and family generously give "just because!" God has certainly blessed our journey and we are excited to see what 2011 brings!
For those of you who expected us to be in Wyoming by now, we thought we'd give you a little update. We traveled to Cheyenne at the end of January after successfully jumping through all of the hoops required for our move. We were certain that things were moving along only to find out at the end of February that we had not gotten the job that would have made it possible to go at this time. Then we received notice from our adoption agency that we had been assigned to a region and would travel in 2-4 months. We decided to update our Home Study in Ohio to avoid complications that could prevent our travel and interrupt the process. While we were busy doing that, controversy arose surrounding Russian adoptions when a Tennessee woman put her 7 year old adopted son on a plane back to Moscow in April, accompanied only by a note that said she no longer wanted him. While many regions allowed adoptions to continue, our region came to a full stop while a bilateral agreement was discussed between the US and Russia. Several meetings have taken place between our two countries since then (including one that had to be postponed due to the volcano in Iceland) and an agreement is expected to be signed early next year. Just in time as the Russian Duma has been arguing about whether or not to ban international adoptions altogether until an agreement is signed. We have definitely had our share of obstacles this year, but things are finally moving again!
The "good" news during all of this is that several families assigned to our region dropped out of the adoption process, bumping us up on the list to one of three remaining families in August. The first of the three remaining families was invited to travel on their first trip at the end of August. We had the privilege of meeting this family (who live in Mason, Ohio) and learning all about their travel experiences over lunch in October. What we learned only makes us all the more determined to complete this long process and bring Hope home. Please pray that she has what she needs not just to survive, but to thrive while she waits for us!
Long story short, since the incident in April, our agency has been urging all families to keep their documents up-to-date and not to make any significant life changes, we have postponed pursuing our plans to relocate until later. How much later? We don't know. We only know that we are on God's timeline. As it says in Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps."
May the LORD direct your steps in 2011 and bless your family this Christmas as we once again celebrate His birth.
Love,
Chad, Emily & Benjamin
Remembering ^Abby^ and waiting for Hope!
We would like to take this time to thank everyone who has supported our journey this year. Our Usborne Book sales raised over $1,000 for Hope and we are waiting to hear from two grant applications to be processed. One was denied last month due to more applications than funds available and two more are up for review in January (please pray we are approved). We held two garage sales, one in the spring and one in the fall, which together raised over $1,200. Our online coffee store generated almost $500. And we have had many friends and family generously give "just because!" God has certainly blessed our journey and we are excited to see what 2011 brings!
For those of you who expected us to be in Wyoming by now, we thought we'd give you a little update. We traveled to Cheyenne at the end of January after successfully jumping through all of the hoops required for our move. We were certain that things were moving along only to find out at the end of February that we had not gotten the job that would have made it possible to go at this time. Then we received notice from our adoption agency that we had been assigned to a region and would travel in 2-4 months. We decided to update our Home Study in Ohio to avoid complications that could prevent our travel and interrupt the process. While we were busy doing that, controversy arose surrounding Russian adoptions when a Tennessee woman put her 7 year old adopted son on a plane back to Moscow in April, accompanied only by a note that said she no longer wanted him. While many regions allowed adoptions to continue, our region came to a full stop while a bilateral agreement was discussed between the US and Russia. Several meetings have taken place between our two countries since then (including one that had to be postponed due to the volcano in Iceland) and an agreement is expected to be signed early next year. Just in time as the Russian Duma has been arguing about whether or not to ban international adoptions altogether until an agreement is signed. We have definitely had our share of obstacles this year, but things are finally moving again!
The "good" news during all of this is that several families assigned to our region dropped out of the adoption process, bumping us up on the list to one of three remaining families in August. The first of the three remaining families was invited to travel on their first trip at the end of August. We had the privilege of meeting this family (who live in Mason, Ohio) and learning all about their travel experiences over lunch in October. What we learned only makes us all the more determined to complete this long process and bring Hope home. Please pray that she has what she needs not just to survive, but to thrive while she waits for us!
Long story short, since the incident in April, our agency has been urging all families to keep their documents up-to-date and not to make any significant life changes, we have postponed pursuing our plans to relocate until later. How much later? We don't know. We only know that we are on God's timeline. As it says in Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps."
May the LORD direct your steps in 2011 and bless your family this Christmas as we once again celebrate His birth.
Love,
Chad, Emily & Benjamin
Remembering ^Abby^ and waiting for Hope!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Bilateral Agreement - Update!
Delegations from the United States and Russia met December 1-3, 2010 in Washington, D.C. for the fifth round of talks on a bilateral agreement regarding intercountry adoptions. The talks were fruitful, and further progress was made. Several key issues remain under discussion; however, both sides remain committed to reaching an agreement. A decision on scheduling future talks will be taken once both sides complete respective interagency reviews of the draft text.
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