Well, it has been another very emotional day. We had the high of expecting the US visa’s for Moses and Miriam and the low when we were told that they were not ready. Then came the even bigger low when the embassy notified us that all visa applications for adoptions coming from the orphanage that we used have been put on hold. Apparently, there is an ongoing investigation into the home and until that is resolved they can’t do anything on our visa application. We were told that this could take weeks to resolve. Let’s just say that it was not a good moment. To be brought up to the brink and then rejected with such uncertainty was completely disheartening. Prior to this, the embassy had assured us that the visa’s would be approved and ready to be picked up by Monday at the latest. So, we had finalized our travel arrangements, planned our time in the UK and most of our time in Colorado. Now we were looking at having to scrap everything yet again and wait for an unknown length of time. We pleaded our case with the embassy and they agreed to submit our circumstances to the Washington DC office who has put this home under investigation. I left the embassy at 3:45 pm with little hope of having any answers and there was 17 hours before our flight was scheduled to depart. I came home and told Shanthi the news and we cried and prayed and presented the situation to God. There was literally nothing else we could do. Again, things were out of our hands and we had no recourse, simply the ability to pray and ask God for wisdom and intervention. At around 4:45 pm I received a call from the embassy and they told me that our visa’s had been approved! Apparently, since we have finalized our adoption in Uganda, have followed all the laws and have complete custody and parental rights over Miriam and Moses they allowed our visa’s to be approved! We were so excited until we heard that they would not be ready until 7 hours after our flight was to depart Uganda. There was no way to process the paperwork in time and I was told to come on Wednesday afternoon to pick up the passports (our flight departs at 9:00 am on Wednesday). So, we continued to pray and ask for wisdom as to how we should proceed. After talking with the travel agent it was decided that we would change our tickets yet again, although it would only be for me, Miriam and Moses. Shanthi, Nathan and Chesna would fly out on Wednesday morning as planned and the rest of us will follow on Friday. We were bracing for another huge cost to change the ticket (the first change cost us over $1,000), but to our surprise the change fee was only $25 per person! We were pretty excited about that and finalized our packing and making arrangements to separate for a few days when the travel agent calls and tells us that they are having some problems rebooking the tickets. Earlier in the day, when we had thought that the visa’s were going to be approved today, Shanthi had tried to check in online. The process timed out due to internet troubles and she assumed that nothing had been processed with the online check in. Seems like something did happen and that is what is causing the travel agent troubles in rebooking the ticket. So, it is now 11:00 pm and we have 6 hours until the van is scheduled to arrive to pick up Shanthi and the kids to take them to the airport. We are pretty sure that they will not have any troubles, but we are still in a state of uncertainty about the rebooking of the rest of the tickets. It is now time for bed, but I am prepared for that phone call in a few hours saying that there is a problem and we need to change something yet again.
Thank you for your prayers and upholding us through this process. We are so tired of the emotional roller coaster that we have been on these past couple months. Through this entire process we have been asking God “what are we to learn from this?” I think that we are still trying to understand that, but we have some ideas. However, that will be for another update. I need to get some sleep before the travel agent calls!
Waiting,
Chad
No comments:
Post a Comment