We have a Momma!

Piper and Rachel arrived safely and with all of their luggage on Friday night. Faith was there waiting for her, but was crying for 20 minutes prior to arrival because she was up for 2.5 past her bed time. We have been relaxing and playing with babies and Faith at Amani. Faith has developed a considerable cough in the last couple of days. It should pass soon. We will try to post a family picture tomorrow.

Please pray for the babies that have colds, coughs, and chicken pox, they are too many to list here.

We've got a visa!

Praise God! Today I was able to pick up Faith's visa from the US embassy. This means that we can fly home with Faith. I leave in a few minutes to pick up Piper and Rachel (her cousin) from the airport. Today is a great day!

We could wrap this thing up tomorrow!

Daniel, the consular at the U.S. embassy has told us to pick up the visa at 11:00 am tomorrow! Piper will be here at 8:15 tomorrow night! What an exciting day I have in store for me.

Working on the US visa

Faith and I have spent the week working on obtaining her US visa. We have everything complete except for determining if there has been a complete enough search for Faith's mom. We have submitted a letter from the social worker at Amani today to that effect. Please pray for this visa process as it could be done tomorrow, or this could potentially drag out longer. We are praying for a quick resolution.

Thanks for all of your prayers so far. We have seen the fruits of your prayers in a smooth process so far.

I am so excited to see Piper on Friday night. I will be taking Faith to the airport to meet her Momma!

Passport complete and turned in!

Today we were able to get our passport for Faith! We are so thankful for the quick turn around. Then we took it to the embassy and dropped it off. On Monday (22 July) we have the visa interview for Faith at 3pm. Please keep this meeting in your prayers. We are so thankful for how quickly and smoothly this process has gone this time. Thank you for your continuous prayers. I am ready for a restful weekend, without having to get up at 5am or earlier and 5+ hours in the car.

I will hopefully communicate again on Monday.

We Just Keep Moving Forward

This week has been grueling. We have been up at 5:00 or earlier for the 2.5-3 hour trip to Kampala to continue on with the process of collecting the right papers to move us closer to a visa for Faith. On Monday, we weren't able to meet with Mr. Otim (the Director of Gender for Uganda) but we were able to meet with the Consular at the US Embassy. On Tuesday, we were able to get a critical letter from Mr. Otim so that we can apply for Faith's passport. In the afternoon we applied for the passport after several delays. Today is Wednesday, and we were able to do more work on the passport, and with some prayer, might receive it today. Once we have the passport, we will meet again with the Consular at the US Embassy and finally apply for Faith's visa. This is scheduled to be done on Tuesday, July 22. The visa should only take 1-2 days to process, and we will be done. Then Piper, Faith, Rachel, and I can relax and enjoy two weeks stress free in Uganda!

Ruling Received

We have received our written court ruling! It came last Thursday. Now we are moving on to the last three steps. First, we must get a letter of recommend from the Minister of Gender, who is responsible for keeping the children of Uganda safe. Then we take his letter to the passport office to get Faith a passport. When we have the passport we can apply for the US visa at the US embassy. Please continue to pray for these steps as well as thanking God for a quick ruling.

Faith and I are having a great time together and we get to play a lot at Amani. she isn't enjoying the drives to Kampala as much as i would like. We will be there the next several days doing paperwork.

Enjoying our time

Faith and I have been enjoying our time together since our court date. We have mainly been relaxing and playing at the babies home. She has become rather talkative. She loves to walk all over the place at the babies home and has trouble remaining in one place for too long. Faith also loves to sit in and play with dirt. We are getting into a routine of waking up and eating breakfast together. Then we clean up our room. On even numbered days we do laundry together, by hand. Then we head over the to Amani. After playing and having lunch she sleeps at Amani for her nap. I take the opportunity to walk into town to get things, or work back at my hostel. Then I head back to Amani for more play time. Faith eats dinner and I take her home to go to bed. After she goes to bed, I read or talk with other guests at the hostel.

Finally here with Faith

Although I arrived on July 2, I have not been able to get onto the Internet until today Here is a brief recap:
July 2 - Arrived in Kampala and spent the night with our friend James, who Piper had toured on the African Children's Choir with. None of my luggage completed the flight with me.
July 3 - James drove me into Kampala to meet Faith for lunch. It was amazing to meet her for the first time. She is adorable and cute, and really observant. She doesn't talk much, but I'm sure Jonah will be able to change that for her. I bought some clothes for court and we went to Mommy Robinah's guest house for the night. George, the gardener, was there as was Robinah and David, her husband. It was great to briefly catch up with them.
July 4 - Amy, the social worker, Faith and I appeared at high court. Although the judge did not ask me any questions directly, I was able to provide additional paperwork that was not in our case file. The lawyer thought the appointment went well, and we should hear her ruling sometime next week. We then ran some other errands around Kampala and picked up one piece of luggage from the airport in Entebbe. It was a good, but long day. I am very excited to be back in Uganda again. It has begun to feel like a second home.
July 5 - Woke up this morning in Entebbe. Our driver is attempting to pick up my second piece of luggage while he picks someone else up in Entebbe. I should know this morning if my bag with my clothes has arrive. I have been wearing the same pants for five days. Faith is talking more now and seems to be warming up to me. We are having lots of fun.

Prayer requests - Please pray for this entire process. Please pray for a just and fair ruling from the judge. Please also pray for smooth processing of paperwork for the rest of the time we are here.