Running...(kind of)

She'll be coming round the mountain...

Tae Kwon Do
I think I can....almost there....

Still no word on the girls' visas, been about 3 weeks since the last piece of paper went in. We have no idea what the hold up is currently. We have contacted our US Representative for some assistance (because he has nothing else going on right now, economy, re-election...). He has agreed to contact the US Embassy in Haiti to see what the hold up is, no word yet though.

On another note, I completed my first (and maybe my last) 5K this past weekend. I am very proud of myself and although I was definitely not the fastest (no all of the 65+ group was faster then me), my goal was to run the entire way without stopping and I did (more like a slow jog, but I like to call it running). Of course it was the coldest morning we have had thus far, 34 degrees and lots of frost. I'm sure I could have run much faster if it wasn't so cold....maybe.... Enjoy the pics. Oh, Walker ran a 1/4 of a mile, screaming the whole way, because Daddy was mean (his words). Brian wouldn't let him catch up (really, every time Brian slowed down, Walker would start walking, so Brian kept running). I think the screaming had something to do with the cold temps and running at 8 in the morning. That is why I was screaming anyway. Ahhh, family fun! Whose idea was this anyway? The donuts were great afterwards...shh, don't tell anyone!

Walker and I are still loyal Yankee fans, even after a not so good year this year. That's okay, next year in a new stadium will be the trick. We are cheering for Joe Torre, our former leader, go Dodgers!

Also, some pictures of the boys at Tae Kwon Do!

Love,

Alli

Extrait

Last week we heard that the girls' extrait was finally stamped and sent through legalization. This was the piece of paper that the US Consulate has been waiting on in order to approve their visas. Dixie brought it over to the US Consulate on the same day and hopefully we will hear something very soon. We are praying that they will not need anything else and that we will hear that their visas are approved some time within the next week or two. We hate to get our hopes up, but we hope that this will finally be it.

It has been hard these past few months, but only through our faith have we gotten through it all. This has definitely taught us that we are not in control and that only God knows the whole picture. We have learned to lean more heavily on Him and to let Him play this whole thing out the way it needs to. I can't tell you how comforting it has been to stay in His word everyday. I read somewhere that the Bible is a letter from God to us. He uses it to remind us how much He loves us and if we continually read it, it will always bring us great comfort. I can't tell you how much it has lately! So whenever you need a quick pick me up, open up His word. He is never far away!

Thank you all again for all of your thoughts and prayers! Hopefully we will be hearing something real soon!
Love,
Allison

Department of State Update

A Bethany worker (who use to live and work at GLA) recently went to GLA for a visit and was updated on many different areas of the Haitian adoption process. The following was her experience with the US Consulate/Embassy. It helps explain some of the delays we are currently experiencing.

US Department of State
We met with Donald Moore (Consular General) and Garry Pierrot (Adoptions Unit Officer) at the new US Consulate/Embassy. Mr. Moore led our meeting for the most part. He is extremely enthusiastic about his position, and in working alongside families with adoptions. He mentioned “we want to give good news …” Transparency is very important to Mr. Moore, and wants services to be as transparent as possible. If there are problems, he wants to be able to have this communicated. One of the issues that the Consulate has been dealing with is not having sufficient staff. He is expecting that by November, they will be full staffed, which should result in speeding up processing time. DOS is currently processing 7-8 adoption cases a week.

Mr. Moore and Mr. Pierrot indicated that they are mandated to prevent fraud. They mentioned that fraudulent documents are statistically quite common in Haiti visa applications, often unbeknownst to orphanages that are submitting them. Orphanages believe that they have obtained the documents legitimately; however, it turns out that these documents are not always as they appear. As a result, Mr. Pierrot’s job is to ensure that no child leaves Haiti and enters the U.S. with fraudulent documents. Mr. Pierrot indicated that adoptions have priority with the Fraud Unit at DOS, and fraud investigations for adoption cases are normally completed before other fraud investigations. This is good news that adoptions are seen as important, and that DOS does recognize their urgency. However, after this discussion, we could better understand why the visa process has been taking longer lately. I expressed some concerns with these two regarding some recent frustrations Dixie has been having in correspondence with DOS (when emailing/phoning about orphan investigations, specific case questions, etc). Mr. Moore was very apologetic. He indicated that they have been short-staffed, and are hoping that correspondence issues will be resolved with more staff. We also presented the idea of JCICS developing Standards of Practice for Haiti, and they were very supportive of this. They indicated that if, in the future, training would be required, they would be more than willing to assist with the training if they could.

Hurricanes

No new news on our front, but I thought I would update you on Haiti and GLA, in regards to the hurricanes....

FAY - lots of rain and wind, but no damage.
GUSTAV - a lot more rain, but GLA weathered the storm well
HANNA - This was posted on GLA's website:
Hurricane Hannah brought destruction to Haiti last night , September 2nd. Our area sustained downed trees, toppled brick walls, and roads blocked. People are already out cutting the trees blocking the roads. Our metal roofs got blown off the house and we lost the internet dish at the Toddler House. The wind was blowing so hard the rain came in around the closed windows of the orphanage and flooded our dining room table and floor! There seems to be as many leaves inside the house as outside! Thankfully, we are all safe and God kept us from harm. Now we just have to clean up from the storm. This was much worse than any storm we have personally seen in the 17 years we have lived in Haiti.

Two more storms are headed in their direction, please pray for Haiti, the people, and GLA. The flooding on the island is horrible and many have lost their homes. Many consider Haiti a 5th world country, because there is no hope. I refuse to believe that as long as we believe in the power and glory of Jesus Christ, He is our hope, even for the people in Haiti. I praise God for keeping the orphanage safe and out of harms way!

Comfortable Existence?

"We seem more interested in managing life into a comfortable existence than in letting God spiritually transform us through life's hardships."
-Larry Crabb, The Pressure's Off

Christmas In August

Well, still no word about the girls' visas, but thought I would share some recent news. Many of you have asked about Tropical Storm Fay and its effects on GLA. They reported lots of rain and some strong winds, but they weathered the storm just fine. Thanks for your prayers!

Today we got our monthly update (frustrating, since we didn't even think we would get July's). In the letter they informed me that the girls' Christmas presents just got there (I sent it December 6th). I couldn't even remember what I even had sent them, then I remembered when I saw the pictures. I filled bags with lots of girly stuff, rings, bracelets, earrings, lip gloss. I also got them each a locket with each other's pictures inside of them. Needless to say, they were very excited to get the package and all the goodies inside. At this point, I think the package was perfect timing, because they know they are suppose to be home already as well. God's timing was so perfect with this little gift (even though in our minds it was 8 months late)! He knew the girls would need this reminder that we were still here and still cared about them. I had also sent them an email telling them how we can't wait for them to get home, they got it on the same day as the presents. I can hear you all saying, "God is Good, All the Time!"

Well keep up those prayers, if you can, we badly need them now as our patience grows thin. The boys start school after Labor Day and we are looking forward to that (okay I am, ha ha).

Love you all!

Allison

Legalization

Since I posted last, a lot of you have asked me about this piece of paper that the US Consulate is waiting on. I just found out that this paper is a document that verifies the girls' birth certificates are registered with the Haitian government. This document is now being "legalized" (officially stamped by the Haitian govenment) and that is what the U.S. Consulate is waiting on before they will issue the girls' visas. I have no idea how long this will take, but will let you all know when it occurs. Thanks for your many prayers! I also thought I would share the following, it is one thing helping me get through all of this...

I was regretting the past
And fearing the future...
Sudenly my Lord was speaking:
"MY NAME IS I AM." He paused.
I waited. He continued,

"WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE PAST,
WITH ITS MISTAKES AND REGRETS,
IT IS HARD. I AM NOT THERE.
MY NAME IS NOT I WAS.

"WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE FUTURE,
WITH ITS PROBLEMS AND FEARS,
IT IS HARD, I AM NOT THERE.
MY NAME IS NOT I WILL BE.

"WHEN YOU LIVE IN THIS MOMENT,
IT IS NOT HARD.
I AM HERE.
MY NAME IS I AM.

-Helen Mallicoat

Love you all and so does Jesus!
Allison