Immigration Approval

We received the official document from USCIS and we have received immigration approval!  

This was the final step to our dossier and it is now in our agency's hands. They will send it to DC for final US approval then it heads to Haiti's gov't (IBESR). We will wait to find out when we officially "enter IBESR" but expect that to be January 2016. 

The timeline for referral/match will likely be 2-2.5 years. So we pray for our babe(s) in Haiti. They may or may not be born yet. They may be sick. They may be thriving at Rivers of Hope. 

We know and believe God will uniquely and purposefully weave our family together.  Until then...we wait. I pray that the peace I feel right now can last during this long wait!!!

Adoption paperwork

Let me give you the rundown of what has been happening in our life since we decided to start on our adoption journey.  This list may seem super boring to most of you...but I'm writing it out so I remember all the blood, sweat, tears, more sweat...more tears.

From August until November 2015, we collected the documents for our Dossier (our adoption file that will be sent to Haiti).  The following items that had to be submitted for both Erik & I (oofta!):

• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Certificate
• Medical Form from our Doctor (required exam and blood work)
• Psychological Evaluation (required two visits each with Psychologist and a Psychological Test)
• Local Background Check
• Reference Letters (2 total)
• Employment Verification Letters
• Bank Letter

And then there was the Home Study that also had to be submitted with the Dossier.  This was a separate process but also required what felt like a million documents:

• FBI Background Check/Fingerprints
• Reference Letters (6 total)
• Medical Form from our Doctor (same exam as above...just a different form)
• A 20+ page data form with loads of open-ended questions
• 3 in-home visits with social worker
• Copies of Birth Certificates & Marriage Certificate

Once we got our written home study and all of our Dossier documents notarized...I took the entire stack of paperwork to the Capital to be State Certified.  I don't even want to tell you about the drama that unfolded that afternoon when we had to go fix a couple documents that were notarized incorrectly.  I may have cried in the Secretary of State's office.  God bless those amazing employees.

Then I made a million copies and put them in the mail to our agency!

Just when you think you are done...then begins the Immigration Approval process.  More paperwork, a copy of the home study report had to be sent to the Department of Homeland Security...and then we went for fingerprints at the Omaha office.  As soon as we receive our Immigration approval...our entire Dossier gets mailed to Washington DC for US Embassy approval...then to Haiti's Department of Social Welfare (IBESR).

You guys.  I crushed this process.  We did it in less than four months.  I feel like a million bucks...and now I will call us paperwork preggers.  :)

3...2...1...HAITI.

Dearest Family and Friends,

I'm writing today with joy, gratitude, and exciting news!  We are so grateful for the love and support you have shown Erik and I over the past eight years. You've been with us and prayed for us through many moves, culinary school, restaurants opening, the birth of our babies, scary medical challenges for sweet Keller Grace, and come alongside us to love and raise our children. You are a blessing to us. You have invested in our lives and we are humbled. Our family isn't the same without you and we wouldn't be where we are today had you not been alongside us.

As you know, I (Jess) am adopted. I have a beautiful birth story, homecoming story, and an amazing story of being reunited with my birth family.  God is good.  He gave me parents who loved, supported and encouraged me.  He also gave me a birthmom who advocated for me and was selfless and loving in her decision to place me in an adoptive family.  Because of that, I've always known that I wanted to adopt.  And thankfully, I married a man who believes God has called us to serve the least of these (Matthew 25:40). For us, it’s just been a matter of timing.

Well...that time is now.

We have been praying about growing our family for several years, and we have both been called to take a huge step of faith and take the journey to bring our next baby home. Our hearts are in Haiti and we are working with an agency called All God’s Children International (AGCI) in order to make this dream a reality.  We've been approved to adopt a child (OR sibling set of two) of either gender who is/are at least 10 months younger than Keller Grace. AGCI has partnered with the Rivers of Hope home in Haiti to provide a safe haven so children can receive food, shelter, clothing and quality medical care.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves; ensure

justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and

helpless and see that they get justice.” – Proverbs 31:8-9

Haiti is one of the poorest nations on earth with a half a million orphans seeking food and shelter each day. Haiti’s 2010 devastating earthquake created an additional 150,000 orphans in just a matter of moments. The country still lies in ruins and more than 600,000 children and adults struggle to survive in tent villages.  For many Haitian women, providing for their children is a daily struggle against intense poverty. There is no money to purchase food, to provide clean water or to receive medical care. Often these women abandon or relinquish their children.

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the

east and gather you from the west…

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” – Isaiah 43:5-6

There are an estimated 143 million to 210 million orphans in the world. While we cannot save them all, we can start with the one[s] that God has called us to. We can give this child hope, love and a family, but most importantly a chance to know God, the God that has called us from Lincoln, Nebraska to Haiti to be a part of their story. We can give a home, a family that our baby belongs to, and arms that are willing and anxiously waiting to be wrapped around him/her.

This Haiti adoption process could take up to four years. That is terrifying to me. I am a person of control. The mountains of paperwork we had to complete (more on that later) was easy for me. I knew where I needed to go, what appointments to make, who to ask for signatures...and that process made sense. Now, we wait.

It could take longer than two years before we are matched with our future child (or sibling set of two...EEEE!). Once matched, it usually takes a year+ until we are able to come home with our newest babe.

“You are the helper of the fatherless. Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.” – Psalms 10:14,17-18

Your love and support has carried us this far, it has prepared our hearts to love and long for our child(ren). We would covet your prayers. Please pray with us for the following:

• Health and safety of our child (or children!) in Haiti
• Patience while we wait on God's perfect timing
• Evie and Keller as we talk about this journey with them
• Rivers of Hope and their director Rachel
• All God's Children staff - Julie & Kate
• That God would continue to prepare our hearts, and the hearts of all of our children for what lies ahead as we blend our family
• Financial preparedness and provision

To learn more about our agency and Rivers of Hope in Haiti by watching this video: