A Big Day for our Adoption Journey

Tomorrow is a big day for us in the journey of officially adopting Kadi Lael (who is 17 months old next week…we’ve raised her since she was a month old). We will go before the Tribunal in Lokossa where we have a hearing before the judge. This is the first of several hearings to come…this one on Friday is to have the judge hear our case and grant us permission to proceed with the adoption of Lael. According to Benin law, a couple who already has children cannot adopt unless granted permission by the courts. The idea, as told to us by those who understand the law, is to prevent child trafficking and slavery, a real AND recent problem in this country (people have told us that the law is really intended to protect innocent children). Because of our unique case, we have to make a petition to the courts to be granted an exception to this article in the law (in the article, it states clearly that exceptions can be granted). After tomorrow, we are hopefully scheduled for a subsequent hearing at the end of the month.

We are completely confident that what God has already made complete in the heavenlies will be done on earth in the same way. That’s the Lord’s way! Lael is our little girl…we don’t have to wait on formalities to afford us such approval. We know it! We simply have to follow the procedures that will ultimately pave the way for us to have full parental rights (recognized both in Benin and in the U.S.) As we look toward immigrating Lael to the U.S. next year, we have to have the adoption finalized in this country before we can proceed with U.S. immigration. Pray with us that tomorrow will be a day affirming clearly the road we have walked with her since day one of her life (I was there the night she was born by C-section; I was the one person, with the exception of the surgeons, who was closest to her when she entered this world…I was prayer walking around the building which housed the operating room at this regional African hospital….and even before Lael’s birthmother died, she had asked Kelly to give the name to this new little life…we’ve been involved in her life since the beginning!) As you can tell from our life’s pictures on this blog, she is very well integrated into our family!! She fits right in!

Pray that the favor of our God will rest upon us so evidently and the same will be afforded our attorney, Maurice, who will speak on our behalf. We are asking all of you to pray, and to pray that we will hear some concrete decisions from the judge even before we leave his courtroom. Ega, Lael’s birthfather, has also been asked to be present…pray for him and his words as well. He is nervous he won’t remember exact dates from the events surrounding his wife’s death and Lael’s birth. Pray for a sound recollection for Ega. Even as we know that Ega desires this for Lael (he approached us about the adoption and he officially revoked his parental rights in his consent 3 months ago), we also don’t want to miss an opportunity for you to pray for this strong man of faith…that God would bless him tremendously for thinking so sacrificially and commendably about the future life of this precious little girl. (If you are new to this blog, you’re gonna have to go to the archives starting in July 2005 to read the incredible story of how God made all this happen...look around July 19 '05 for the first pics of this little cutie).

We solicit the prayers of each and every one of you who read this…we anticipate reporting tomorrow night on how God responds (and He always does, in His perfect way!)

-Randy