New Region Assignment!!

Well, it is official! After six long months, we finally have a new region assignment! You may recall in January that we lost our region assignment because the region we were assigned to closed. We had been watching the region's progress last fall/winter very closely as the waiting list got shorter and shorter until we were next in line to receive an invitation to travel and receive our referral. Instead, we were placed back in the general waiting pool (with those without a region assignment) behind 4-5 other families to wait for our dossier to be requested by another region, which we were told could take 3-6 months.

Then, last month (May), we were asked if we were willing to increase the age limit in our dossier and possibly meet a little girl in June. At first, we wanted to do it because it meant we could travel sooner. But we quickly realized that we had our hearts set on a younger child so we declined. I expected it would take a long time since we declined a possible referral of an older child, but apparently not! If the new region where our dossier is now finds our paperwork in order, it looks like we will be invited on our first trip in July!

Anyway, we are soooooooo excited!! And even though we know that having a region assignment is no guarantee that we will travel now, or that we will even be able to accept this referral when we get there, we are still celebrating being one step closer to meeting and bringing home our little girl!!!

Update on Bilateral Treaty

Here's the latest news from the Russian perspective on the bilateral adoption treaty between Russia and the United States ...

Russian-U.S. adoptions to adhere to Hague convention

Note: Regardless of what the article says, international adoptions between Russia and the United States were not suspended last year. I know many parents through our agency who have successfully completed their adoptions in the last 14 months.

Just a little update ...

Well, we have been waiting almomst 23 months now and are well into the window of time when a referral can be expected. Typically it is taking 20-26 months for the referral for a girl, so we should hear something any day!

For those of you unfamiliar with the international adoption process, a referral is when an agency matches what they know about you and your family with what they have learned about a child from an orphanage and the caregivers. Most regions in Russia do not give out referrals, rather, they invite you to visit an orphanage where a referral is given to you in person. You have the opportunity to meet the child and send information back to your international doctor in the U.S. for review and then make a petition with the court to adopt while you are in Russia (if you accept the referral you are given).

So, we are waiting for our invitation! In the meantime, we have been having a fun spring of baseball and finishing up the school year, which ended last week. We are going to help with a weekly Bible camp over the summer and are looking forward to a trip to Washington D.C. in June! Lots to keep us busy while we wait.

Chapman Family Leads Push To Adopt

I absolutely love this family and their story. They have inspired and encouraged me in so many ways through my own journey of grief, loss and adoption. We were blessed with a Show Hope grant in 2009 and I got to meet and thank Mary Beth in person at a women's banquet in 2010. She is such a precious woman of God. This video stirred my heart so much, I had to share it. I hope you are as inspired by the Chapman family as we have been ...

Wonderful News Story

Adopted US twins visit Russian orphanage where they lived as babies

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.

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."