Another Day Waiting

Continue praying for the adoption process for Lael.  We’re still very early on, awaiting Ega’s birth certificate (Lael’s birth father).  This has been a 6-month process!  Unreal.  Each day of waiting (and hearing over and over, “tomorrow Ega will get it”) is a real test for our patience.  Not for our perseverance, though.  Nothing…Nothing would cause us to give up on this.  But honestly, my patience wears thin with bureaucratic protocol in a country that is acting like it demands formalities, exact documentation, and yet does so alongside corrupt judges, inefficient procedures, and even a willingness to fudge a little bit on the truths of documents just to satisfy the next level of bureaucracy.  Crazy!  Not all of this is going on with Ega’s birth certificate…today I had taken him to the Tribunal about an hour away and I sat in on the hearing where the judge looked over all the documents and signed off on the authorization to the local government office to issue the birth certificate.  Just before we sat through our own hearing, I observed a very impressive and intimidating gentleman call aside the judge who would later preside over Ega’s hearing.  After a firm handshake, it was obvious that the distinguished man handed the judge a large envelope that went quickly into the judge’s pocket.  I’m pretty sure I could guess the outcome of that man’s hearing!  Even after spending much of the day, after the government official HANDWRITING 3 copies of Ega’s birth certificate (plus 3 copies for each of his kids, too), the officials at the Tribunal made it known that the forms that were completed earlier today did not conform to the latest and greatest birth certificate forms.  I then asked what the simple question, “where might they get the new forms?”  The Tribunal official then went to his computer, printed off a page and said, “have them take this to one of their local printers and have the birth certificate registry made from this.”  They were demanding new forms, but had not yet bothered to issue the new forms!  Maddening!!  We’re not sure when it’ll happen, but we’re sure that by the end of next week, Ega will have his birth certificate.  Next week is a 3-day holiday (Benin’s Independence Day, Aug 1st), so that throws a kink into expectations that things will be done quickly!! AAUUGGGH!!  But today, I was in the car with a friend of Ega’s who is helping us doing a lot of the running around.  His name is Fabien.  He was a Catholic but has not been to church in years.  I was explaining Ega’s son’s name, Azarie (in English, it is “Azariah”).  This is the Hebrew name for Abed-Nego, one of the three valiant believers in the book of Daniel in the Bible.  That conversation opened the door for a longer discussion of faith and his life (he abandoned the church long ago because of “discouragement”).  If we measure a day’s worth by whether or not we obtain some important document, we ourselves fight discouragement.  But if the “delay” permitted me to have a conversation about Christ with Fabien, we all know that is God’s perfect timing!  Keep praying with us!!

Back in June, Tim Chapman paid us a visit that we all still talk about!  He writes his perspective on his blog…check it out here!

I just love the pictures Kelly posted below…great kids.  Wish Jonathan could have been in there as well.  It’s hard to get all 4 in there together.  I love having this blog to catch up on things that go on around here that I don’t even get to see when I’m gone during the day!  

-Randy