Prayer Request

Well, we did not receive a court date this week as we had hoped. Monday was an Ethiopian holiday and Tuesday the power went out, so our proceedings were delayed. We should receive our date sometime next week.

Also, the Powers That Be convened this week and made some changes to the way adoptions will be handled from now on. Each American adoption agency will be assigned one full day of embassy appointments (10 children per day) every other week, instead of every week as it is now. Depending on the number of children who have had successful court cases recently, this could delay our travel to get our kids by several weeks.

Also the Center for Disease Control has enacted a new policy regarding tuberculosis. All children who have had successful court cases, must be re-tested for TB. If the test comes back positive, the child will have to stay in a clinic in Addis Abbaba for 6 months and receive treatment for the disease. The testing process can add as much as 8 weeks to our travel date. And you can imagine my mother's heart at the mention of having to leave my child in a clinic for 6 months before I can go get her (or him). Please pray with us that our kids would continue to be kept safe from TB while they're in the orphanage. They have already tested negative, so the only way they could be positive is if they pick it up in the orphanage.

Also, several families have reported that their children have tested positive for hepatitis A once they get them back to the U.S. Most of them tested negative at some point, so they must be picking this up at the orphanage as well. The CDC highly recommends that anyone who will come into contact with a child adopted from Ethiopia, be current on their hep A vaccinations.

As human beings, we tend to feel excited and happy at the report of good news and hesitant and depressed at bad news. We must not become discouraged, anxious or afraid because of these reports. We still cling to the fact that the God of the Universe TOLD us to adopt these children. He has allowed us to become overwhelmingly emotionally attached to them and has guided each and every step of this process. He will continue to carry us and our children until they are home with us.

Thank you for lifting us up. Most days I feel "carried along" and I know that it's because of your prayers!

Melanie