Our case November 30, 2016

It’s been a few months since I’ve updated you on our case.  As you can probably guess, we are still waiting. I dream of the day when I will be able to look back at this season of my life and say, “Remember how long we waited to bring J home – that sucked”.

Nonetheless,  God does not do anything in vain.  So we continue to wait for His timing.

Here’s the high-level overview from the top:

-We officially began the adoption process March 1, 2013

-We did months and months of paperwork and on December 13, 2013, our file officially entered the Haitian social services unit (IBESR), which manages all adoptions in Haiti

-On October 1, 2015 we received our official referral for a 3-year-old boy, J.  Patrick and I went to Haiti for two weeks to meet and bond with him.

-We were supposed to exit IBESR 3-6 months after our bonding trip.  We are still waiting to exit.

-In July, 2016 we learned that for some reason IBESR launched a full investigation into the circumstances regarding how J came to the orphanage.  We have never received an explanation as to why.

-In early August, IBESR said they were suspending the full investigation and instead were asking our orphanage director to submit more paperwork.  That paperwork was completed and submitted to IBESR August 29, 2016.

-Earlier this month (November 2016), I learned that IBESR planned to send a social worker to our orphanage to once again interview our orphanage director and J’s nanny (once again, I have no idea why).

-That interview took place today, November 30th.

-Supposedly this was the last step IBESR needed to complete before they issue our exit letter (I am not holding my breath).

-Once we receive this precious exit letter, we head to courts in Haiti; passports; visas; and home!

We cannot thank you enough for your continued prayers and encouragement.  I am sure when our friends and family vowed to walk beside on this journey 42 months ago, they had NO IDEA it would be such a long, hard road.  We certainly did not.

Patrick, Noah, Brady, and I are going to Haiti over Christmas – we are so blessed to have this opportunity to be together as a family of five for the first time.  And to spend Christmas with about 150 awesome kids and nannies.  Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Christmas party-we cannot wait to share stories and photos with you.

 

 

Christmas Party Update November 2, 2016

Thank you all for your generous support for the Foyer de Sion Christmas Party! We have already surpassed our goal to fund a pizza party. We plan to keep the GoFundMe campaign open until November 15th – we will use the additional funds raised to purchase food supplies such as rice and beans for the orphanage.

We still have additional gifts items on the Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/ref=cm_reg_rd-upd?ie=UTF8&id=1JWMO91VK8JCP&type=wishlist

A few people have asked about where to ship the items on Amazon. When you go to checkout, there should be a shipping option that reads, “Patrick Wickline registry”.  This will ship the items to our home.  Our family will carry all of the gifts to Haiti in our suitcases.

Again, many thanks for your generosity.  We cannot wait to celebrate Christmas with J and his friends!

Christmas Party in Haiti November 1, 2016

As you know, our family is in the process of adopting a little boy from Haiti. We’ve met him and are waiting for all of our paperwork in Haiti to be completed before we can bring him home.  Our family is traveling to Haiti this December 26 – 30 to spend Christmas with our son and his friends at his orphanage.  Because the orphanage is focused on providing basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, they do not have the capacity to celebrate Christmas, much less host a party.  This is where we’d love to engage our community – would you be willing to help us throw a Christmas party for the kids and nannies at Foyer de Sion?

Whether you’re a family member, friend, colleague, adoptive family, or stumbled upon this list by accident, we would love to invite you to be a part of this event and help in any of the following ways:

1. We’ve set up an Amazon Wish List (https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/ref=cm_reg_rd-upd?ie=UTF8&id=1JWMO91VK8JCP&type=wishlist) that includes presents for all of the children and nannies – would you consider buying a gift for some pretty awesome kids?
2. We plan to host a pizza party (a treat many of these kids have never experienced) – would you be willing to contribute to the cost of pizza, drinks, cookies, etc? If so, check out this GoFundMe page – http://www.gofundme.com/foyer-de-sion-christmas-party-2wac7kc
3. If you are interested in joining us for a trip to Haiti, whether it’s for the Christmas party or in the future, please let us know.
4. Would you pray for our time in Haiti and our adoption process overall?

Many thanks!

The Wicklines