Article about Government Shutdown and Adoption. (from America World Adoption agency)

What a Possible Government Shutdown Means for Adoptions

As rumors of a possible shutdown of the U.S. Government increase, we wanted to take a few moments to pass along some information about how this may affect America World families. Currently, members of Congress are working with the Obama Administration to pass a budget for the 2011 fiscal year. If an agreement is not reached by midnight on Friday, April 8, parts of the federal government will close until a new budget is passed.

We are working to stay on top of the situation and to get accurate information about what adoption services will be affected if a shutdown occurs. It is important to remember that, at this point, a shutdown is only a possibility and is not guaranteed.

While the information coming out of Washington is unclear, what is known is that a shutdown would result in the furlough of any “non-essential” government personnel. It is unclear exactly which services are considered “essential,” but it appears that “essential” functions are those that the government considers necessary for the protection of human life and property (i.e. national security, air traffic control, medical care, etc.).

Unfortunately, it appears that the Department of State and USCIS will be affected if a shutdown occurs. Information that we received from a recent meeting held at the Department of State indicated that furloughs will affect many staff who work with adoptions at DOS, USCIS, and embassy and consulate offices around the world. Embassies will be officially “closed” during the shutdown, meaning that embassy staff will not be able to serve the public during this time. If this happens, delays in processing paperwork and completing adoptions are likely.

If a shutdown occurs, it is unclear how long it will be until all government services are back up and running. Previous shutdowns have lasted from as little as a few hours to as long as 21 days. It is also important to remember that there are ways for the government to avoid a shutdown completely. First, Congress could pass a budget prior to the Friday deadline, which would fund all government services throughout the remainder of the fiscal year. Obviously, this is the ideal scenario. Congress also has the option of passing a short-term “continuing resolution” that would continue spending at current levels in order to buy more time to reach an agreement on a new budget.

In the event of a shutdown, here’s how we think America World families will be affected: Families currently building their dossiers could see delays in paperwork processing of USCIS approvals and document authentications. Families who are preparing to travel could likely see delays in receiving Embassy/Consulate clearance and appointment dates. Families who are already in-country would likely not be able to receive a US visa for their adopted child and experience delays in returning home until the government re-opens.

America World is in communication with U.S. government officials and will provide you with any new information we receive. Please be in prayer that our elected officials will be able to come to an agreement so that the government can continue processing adoptions.

WE HAVE TRAVEL DATES!!!!

We are going to pick up Eli May 16th. Jill called at 1:36pm to tell us that our case is through the court system and we are traveling next month to get our son! I can't think straight right now. So much to do.... Will write more later. Thanks for praying!!!!

Moving Along

My heart skipped a beat yesterday afternoon. I was driving home with the kids when my phone rang. The call was from Heartsent, our adoption agency. I almost ran off the road trying to answer it, but remained calm when I said hello. Jill, our adoption worker, said hello and began asking how our family was doing. I'm thinking, "we don't have time for all this small talk...are you calling to tell me we can travel?" Finally, Jill got around to telling me why she was calling. Cathwel, the orphanage in Taipei, emailed her asking for more photos of Heather and I and of our entire family. She said they asked for the photos because they wanted to show them to Eli and prepare him for the adoption. I asked if that meant we were almost ready to travel or if they gave us any indication of the time frame for travel. Jill said there was no way of knowing, but it did mean that our case was moving along and the orphanage is making plans to place Eli into our care. At this point, any information that we receive is great news. We have not heard a word since November and the waiting has become very difficult. Just knowing that they orphanage workers care enough to prepare Eli for his new family gave us great comfort about his current care. Please continue to pray for Eli, his caregivers, and the adoption process.

Amazing News

Yesterday, I posted a story about a family attempting to adopt Kirill, a toddler with down syndrome. This morning, another family went to court in an attempt to adopt a toddler girl with down syndrome. This family had to appear before the same judge who ruled Kirill medically unfit to have a family. It goes without saying that they were extremely nervous and anxious about their court hearing. No child with down syndrome has ever been adopted from this country. The officials of this country believe that children with down syndrome should be institutionalized for their entire lives. It blows my mind to think how ignorant some people must be. Anyway, the prayers of so many people were answered by the Lord as Eva Noel, the little girl, was accepted to be adopted by the Hook family. Clark and Angie Hook wrote on their blog,

"Today we became a family of six!!! At noon Russian time, the judge accepted our application to adopt Evan!!!! Our excitement cannot be explained or described!!! We hope that today's victory of one less orphan will open the floodgates to this region so that other children with special needs will be able to go home to their forever mommies and daddies."

Let's join them in this prayer.

Kirill's Story

Join us in praying for the mother and child in this photo and the many others who are caring for and desiring to care for orphans with Down Syndrome.

Kirill’s Story…. Two years ago Greg and I began praying for God to do whatever he wanted with our lives. We handed him a “blank check” so to speak, and told him to cash it. He opened our eyes to children with disabilities wasting away across the ocean in Eastern Europe. We joined God and started our adoption journey.

As we prayed over the faces of thousands of orphaned children with Down Syndrome, we finally allowed our then three-year-old son to choose from three little boys. We feel that children have the purest hearts and hear God’s voice more clearly than adults because they are not tainted by the world. He chose a little boy named Sergey. Eight months later, as we neared the finish line of our adoption, one of Sergey’s family members stepped forward to adopt him. We were heartbroken for our loss, but God showed us that we were following him, and his ways are perfect. We knew we still wanted to adopt, so the way we saw it, two children would find homes because of our journey…Sergey went to his family and now we would choose another child to come into our family. We took great comfort in knowing that God could see this when we first committed to Sergey! We were honored to be a part of his plan.

Shortly after losing Sergey, we received a new referral with a grainy photo of a four-year-old blond-haired boy wearing pink glasses named Kirill. We were instantly in love with him. We had to re-file a lot of our paperwork because of the change in referrals, but we were fast and we thought we were looking at three more months at the most until we would have Kirill home.

That was one year ago…

Since then so many things have happened. A tragic story of an adoptive mother sending her child back to his country alone on a plane with a note pinned to his shirt rocked our world…he was from our Kirill’s country. Adoptions in that country came to a screeching halt. Kirill’s region stopped processing adoptions for eight long months. The judge refused to accept any Amercian adoption cases until an official treaty was signed between the United States and Kirill’s country.

Even though we wouldn’t be able to finalize the adoption in court until the treaty was signed, we were allowed to go visit Kirill and sign our official petition to adopt him in August 2010. We fell more deeply in love with him. This was our son.

During that time, we found out that Kirill is the first child from his region EVER to be adopted with Down Syndrome. A birth mother keeping her child with Down Syndrome is unheard of in this area of the world. Adoptions of children with Down Syndrome just don’t happen there, these children are literally hidden away from society in orphanages and mental institutions. As our process continued, it became apparent that Kirill would be a pioneer. If our adoption was approved, it would pave the way for other children with special needs to be adopted from this region.

Then, a miracle happened around Christmas and the judge in this region suddenly changed her mind and began processing American adoptions again. We were elated. Could this be the light at the end of a very long tunnel? I was somewhat nervous about Kirill being the first child adopted with Down Syndrome from his region, but our agency was very confident that if we got a court date, our adoption would be approved. In seventeen years, they had never had a case rejected IF the family was issued a court date. We were told not to worry, so I didn’t. After meeting the judge’s requests for several supporting court documents, we were finally granted a court date-March 17, 2011. St. Patrick’s Day…I was thrilled. This would be our new favorite holiday! Our son was coming home!

Our other son, Clayton, who had just turned three when we started this adoption process, has prayed fervently for his brother. He is now almost five. When we told him Kirill was coming home, oh my…we had an excited big brother on our hands! At one point he even went to his room, dumped out his toy cars and divided them into two stacks…one for him and one for Kirill.

Last week, as we sat in the courtroom and suffered through five agonizing hours of difficult questioning, we were not prepared for anything but an approval of our case. Two doctors, two social workers, and the Minister of Children’s Services all made very strong statements on our behalf. They fought for us. Hard.

But when the ruling was read, the judge said, “Your application to adopt is rejected.” The basis given was that Kirill was “not socially adaptable” due to his “medical condition” and he was better off in an institution than in a home with a family. We were told we could adopt another child, and the judge would approve it, but not this child. Why? The only reason? Because he has Down Syndrome.

It was like a terrible dream. We were so unprepared for this outcome. As we left the courthouse in a mental fog, the doctors and social workers that had testified came to us and said, “If you appeal, we will fight for you. Appeal. Fight this decision.” Of course we were going to appeal…I could no more walk away from Clayton at this point. Kirill is just as much my son.

So here we are, asking God to move the mountain that is standing between Kirill and us as we appeal to the Supreme Court in his country. There are also three other families who are in various stages of adopting children with Down Syndrome from this region; one of the families has a court hearing set for next week

Oh Lord, hear our cries. Free these children and set them in families. We know you are sovereign. We know you are just. We know you see the bigger picture and our sole purpose is to carry your name to the ends of the earth. Regardless of the outcome, our God is sovereign and we will lift our hands and praise him! We know the battle is won and we will hold our son Kirill in Heaven. But we are begging God to give him and the other children of his region redemption here on earth as well; to let them be held and loved by families who so desperately want to care for them. Let us pray for the judge and the people of this country who cannot see that these children are your ambassadors. Let them be changed. Let them see you. Let all of us see you and live to glorify your name alone. Amen.

More about Greg and Tesney and their journey @ http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsordavis

Quick Update

We are continuing to wait for news about travel to Taiwan. We have not heard anything for quite sometime, but that was to be expected. The call could come any day, so we just continue to pray and ask that you join us.

Ten days ago a massive earthquake hit Japan. Taiwan is south of Japan and according to some news reports, aftershocks as big as 5.2 have been centered just off the coast of Taiwan. Last week, I called our adoption worker to make sure that everything was safe in Taipei and she assured us everybody was fine.

Eli's Home Away From Home

This morning I was thinking about Eli. I was wondering how his day went and how he is growing and developing. We long to see him. Our desire to go to Taiwan and pick him up and bring him home today, but we are aware that everything is done in God's time. There is not much to do while we wait. It is very hard to be patient and wait for a phone call. But that is all that we can do. We really don't have any idea when we will be able to go get Eli. We have spoken with our adoption worker and she tells us it could be any day and it could take 3-4 more months. There is no way to know. So we just wait.

I got on Google Maps and found these street view pictures of Jonah House. Jonah House is the orphanage that Eli was taken to at one month of age. It has been his home for the past 17 months. I am ready to walk through those front doors and get my son and bring him to his new, permanent home. Please continue to pray for a quick court process. Pray that Heather and I will be able to travel soon.