Part III Embassy Issues-What I am doing about it! And where is God?

If you are looking for part II of Embassy Issues just email or message me and I will send you the content. I didn't want to leave that blog sitting out there.

What happened next...I called my friend who went through the ringer with their international adoption in another country and she gave me all the contacts she could. But, first I emailed the USE in Ethiopia asking them to please inform me of the exact document/s they felt were missing in our daughter's file and to let me know when they were planning on sending or when they already sent it to USCIS Nairobi. I also sent an email to USCIS Nairobi and asked them to please help us as we did not understand what was happening. I received a form email response from both offices with absolutely no information was given.

The following morning, October 13th, I called the USE in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I found myself listening to an automated voice response that continued to loop, never getting me anywhere. So, I pressed zero. Someone answered! I said, "I need..." and then he immediately, without saying anything, clicked me back over to the automated voice response again. So, I hit zero again. He didn't answer this time but just clicked me over again to the voice response. I know this is going to surprise you, but I hit zero again. He answered this time and I said, "I need..." then with some light laughter in the background he clicked me back over to the automated voice response. YOU KNOW I hit zero again. I would have sat there and played this game with him as long as it took except for his next course of action. This time I heard him pick up, but now lots of laughter erupted in the background, then he clicked me over to the automated voice response system, except this time it was in Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. For those of you who might wonder, the US Embassy in Addis Ababa Ethiopia has some Ethiopians working for them, but the officials are all American citizens.

The other family from our agency who has found themselves in our situation had the exact same experience happen to them when they called the USE in Addis. But the husband was able to retrieve the vice consular's extension, or so we think it's her extension. I called and left her a message asking for her to respond via phone or email to let me know what was missing in my daughter's case file that her office deemed it "not clearly approvable" and to let  her know how her office staff answering the phone treated me that morning. I also reminded her that I was a tax paying citizen and that withholding whereabouts of my daughter's case file and keeping from me information that was "missing" was unethical and likely illegal. I have yet to hear back from her via email or phone. That was 7, or (8 days in Ethiopia time) days ago from the posting of this blog entry.

Our agency had a conference call with our case worker and the director as well as the other family going through this same situation. This family is now dear friends of ours after meeting them in Ethiopia! We gained some great support through our agency and I continue to say that they are the best agency in the world.

Then, we unleashed the phone calls and letters. First I called someone from Senator Lugar's office who is working in DC. He was and still is very kind and helpful and has been trying to get me to the people in Lugar's office who can help me the most. I am still working on this and have had no response as of today's blog post.

Next, I wrote a letter to someone in the Department of State asking for their help in this terrible situation. I have also called someone in this department, and I have had no responses to either of these inquiries of mine.

Then I contacted the Office of Investigative General with USCIS and issued a formal complaint about the whole situation and specifically about the phone etiquette of the USE in Addis. She sincerely appeared appalled and told me this would get to the appropriate people. As of this post I still have not received an email receipt of that complaint like she said I would be getting despite my calling almost every day since.Now I call every day and get a voicemail, but cannot leave a message as it says, "This person's mailbox is full". I bet it is.

I also had children to take to school, a doctor's appointment, children to pick up from school, a child home with strep throat, and was still able to play outside with my kids, get the 2nd grader to get caught up on the homework the teacher had been sending home in his absences and have dinner on the table.

Around 5 PM it dawned on me. God! You did this today. You are the one who miraculously did all of these things and helped the house run smoothly. I know some of you and I know which ones of you are shrugging that last sentence off (and I still love you anyway).  But that afternoon I reflected on the impossibility of what all had been accomplished that day; from calling Ethiopia to DC to dinner, and all the things in between and it was divine intervention I tell you!

Around 7 PM that night I received a message on FB from a woman who used our agency in the past to complete their international adoption. We had become FB friends when we arrived home from Ethiopia, but really not much beyond that. It seemed urgent so I called her. She said something like, "I know this is going to sound weird and I don't know you very well, but God has told me all week to contact you to give you a message and I finally am doing it." Generally I am weary of comments like this since anyone could say, "God told me to tell you...". But this was different because she was citing Scripture. She said during her Scripture reading and time with the Lord He was pressing on her to remind us of this story.

She read it straight from the Bible. You can find it in the New Testament in the book of John chapter 11. Mary and Martha's brother, Lazarus, was very sick and these ladies sent word to Jesus and said, "LORD your dear friend is sick." My friend said the first thing that God had wanted her to tell us was that we (all 3 of the families going through this from our agency) are His dear friends.

Tears.

You can read on for yourselves. It tells how Jesus did not leave to come to them right away. The background is that Jesus had already been doing miracles and healing people so they knew He could do something if He would just come. But, He waited. My friend said the second thing the Lord wanted to remind us was that He may delay His coming to our rescue, but there is a greater purpose behind it. This is something I felt from the very beginning that He was saying to me, but she just confirmed it.

More tears.

See if you finish the story about Lazarus, you will see that when Jesus arrives Lazarus was already dead... 4 days dead. Mary and Martha had lost hope in the saving of their brother. Jesus knew what He was going to do, but they didn't and they were in pain. He saw their suffering and this is where you read that famous Scripture of Jesus crying. My friend said that the Lord wanted me to know that He is sorry for the pain we are going through right now, but to know there is a bigger purpose and people will see Him in this. She said, He trusts us to do this thing with Him.

Tears of joy and confirmation of what I was already feeling.

Some of you know the end of that story. Lazarus was brought back to life. If you can rank miracles that does seem a bit bigger than a healing from being sick. What you also may know is that this act of raising Lazarus from the dead is what caused Jesus' enemies to be fed up with His miracles and initiate the process that ultimately led to His Crucifixion. But, we know that He was eventually raised from the dead too.

Dear non-believing friends: bless you for hanging in there with me through that. There is just no way for me to go on with my story without sharing what He is doing.

OK, second day of getting stuff done: October 14th is another day of calls, emails to our senator's office again, and still more waiting. I did get in touch with our congressman's office and have been working with a very responsive woman. She has already found some good information out for me. I have pleaded for more to be done and am waiting on a response.

I contacted an international adoption attorney and he applauded what I had done and spent half an hour talking with me about the situation.

My friend with all of the contacts called me and told me that she has a direct contact with a very important person. I know you are going to hate this, but I just don't want to say right now and jeopardize any good that could come out of it. But, it's reeeeeeally good! :) So, my information is getting sent to this person on October 23 and we will see if anything comes out of it.

Many of the other families who have found themselves in this situation, which the number grows daily as the USE in Addis is still sending files to Nairobi, are contacting senators and congressman as well.

We don't know how this will end. We are pretty sure (our agency is VERY sure) that Evelyn WILL get her visa and come home. We just don't know how long the Embassy will delay that process. We received her October pictures Monday night and it felt like someone took all of the air out of my lungs and punched me right in the stomach. She looks "Soooo Big!" as we would love to say to her in person like you do with all of your children around that age and they laugh and try to imitate your big arms. Someone else got to put her hair in little ponies for the first time. I didn't get that privilege. Clearly she is now standing on her own. I didn't get to witness that first either. Here is her most current picture.

I am not bitter or angry even though some might say I have a right to be. Yes, I have had fleeting thoughts of whopping someone upside their head with a frying pan and yes, I am angry sometimes. But, I know my enemy is not of the flesh. The devil loves it when babies and children are oppressed. He does not want a single orphan to have a home or to know the God who saves. satan also wants you to wonder why God isn't doing anything about the orphan crisis. But, I wonder if God is asking you what you are doing about it? God is not the one who abandoned those children or established corrupt governments throughout the globe. What do we want Him to do if we are not willing to do anything ourselves. He doesn't want us to love Him only because we have to. He wants us to choose.

So, would you like to do something about the orphan crisis? Would you like to help bring one child home? We hope you do! Even if you don't realize it you can make a huge difference and help our situation. Prayer is the number one thing. We need that desperately. Look for the next blog post for what else you can do...