Not Yet....

This is from an email recieved from AWAA:

“The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before June 15, 2005.” Our date is June 28, 2005

According to this posting, America World does not expect to receive referrals from the CCAA this month, as we do not have families with Dossiers logged in during this timeframe. Our next log in date is June 20th. Based upon this information, it does appear that the wait from the time a family’s Dossier is logged into the CCAA to referral is slowly increasing. The CCAA has not given concrete information on the potential length for wait times or the reasons for an increased wait. America World will keep families informed if any factual information is given from the CCAA.

As the wait time increases, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of potential expirations. There are three documents that can potentially expire due to the increased wait time. They are the home study, I-171H approval and USCIS fingerprints. Home studies expire either 12 months or 18 months after they were finalized. Families should look at the date their home study was notarized to find the finalization date, and then contact their social worker to learn when the home studies expire in their state. Approvals from USCIS do not expire for 18 months and fingerprints expire after 15 months. These expirations must last through travel to China. Families can refer to their Dossier Confirmation Mailing to find these expiration dates. In the event that fingerprints will expire, families will need to contact their respective USCIS branch office 2 months prior to the expiration date in order to arrange a time to be re-fingerprinted.

Please know that the China program staff continues to lift our waiting families up to the Lord. The increased wait time is hard on America World staff, and we can only imagine how much more heartbreaking it is for our families. We continue to hold fast to the truths found in God’s Word:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:28-31

We pray that your strength is renewed today by the One who readily gives strength! We are here to help support you through this time, so please let me know if you have any specific questions regarding this information.

Grace and Peace,
Laurel Ludwick
AWAA

Overview of the trip to China

This is my best guess what we'll be doing when we get to China, based on the information we've recieved so far.

Friday: We should put in up to 30 hours travel time, from Gonzales to Beijing! Can't wait for that. I think a portable DVD player is on the shopping list, we each already have MP3 Players.

Saturday: The first full day there starts with a tour of Beijing: Tienemen Square, 600 year old Palace called the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. In between those places I believe we stop at a pearl market and a silk factory (CHA-CHING). Request for pearls and silk will be taken on a first come, first serve basis, limited space and there's a 25% handling and shipping fee, all proceeds will go to buying Jada's pearl and silk gifts... :)

Sunday: We'll attend a church service at a local Christian Church. Then tour the Great Wall of China! Then we get to visit a Jade Factory! (CHA-CHING) See comment above... :)













Monday: "Gotcha Day!" We fly from Beijing to whatever Province Jada is from. Most of the time, the reception is scheduled for afternoon before dinner. But, sometimes schedules change or the orphanage or foster parents need to drop the children off earlier. We've seen it done differently. Sometimes the reception is done in a hotel conference room with Chinese and American flags and they put on a ceremony. Sometimes, they just bring the children up to the room, no pomp nor circumstance. Whatever, we're just ready to hold her. From what we can guess, there's alot of crying the first night and following day. Massive confusion for these poor little babies. I can't imagine what they are thinking and feeling. A little bit of crying the 2nd & 3rd day and the adjustment is usually complete after 4 days.

The next couple of day we may tour the local city sights. I'm not sure if there is paperwork to be done in her home province or not.

Then, we travel to Guangzhou, where the US Consolate is located. Jada will get photographed for her visa and do a physical examination. More touring in Guangzhou for a couple of days.

Next, we go to the American Consulate on Shamian Island to get Jada's passport and visa. More touring.

Then, we start heading back to USA. We should be in China 13-15 days.

Most of this is guessing, based on the many websites I look at that other families have made to document their experience. Here's one of the better sites of the Miller Family.

More to come. Thanks for visiting!!

His Heart For Orphans Crawfish Boil

We had an Adoption Ministry meeting today at Tommy & Aimee' Poche's house and Tommy boiled up some delicious crawfish! I had to leave early to come to work, but I made it for the free food!

I need to remember to bring my camera so I can post pictures of all the wonderful families that have adopted. Remind me next time Tommy & Aimee'!

It's so encouraging and uplifting to spend time with folks like that. It's fun to see those who have adopted and see how they are enjoying the time with their children. It's such a great resource of hope and inspiration as Brandi & I wait for our call.

Did you know that even adopted children ignore their parents and other adults? They just run around having fun in their own little world too! I love it! So innocent, just having fun! We're checking with the Chinese Consulate to see if they got some trained children. You know, ones that do exactly what the parents say, right when we say it & can help out with the housework and yard work as soon as we get home.... I know, life is gonna change....

If you are interested in getting more information about adopting or just curious, please check out the His Heart For Orphans site and email Tommy & Aimee' for information. You can be added to an email newsletter and be informed about future meetings like today and future adoptions workshops.

We should be getting word on Jada within the next week. So, stay tuned!

Fingerprints are expiring

We knew this was coming and AWAA sent us an email to confirm it. Our fingerprints are expiring! Yes, when they digitally scanned our fingerprints 13 months ago. I guess our prints metamorphisizes into new patterns every now and then.

So, we may hae to drive 3 hours to Jackson, MS and 3 hours back and dish out anoter $140 ($70 each) to redo our prints. Oh, I'm not complaining.....

The good news is, by the end of next week, we should be getting a better idea of when we'll be gettin' Jada. Either we'll get another email from AWAA about how many referrals they have processed (BOOO!!! We don't want that one) or we'll get a phone call from AWAA to let us know we have been matched (YEEAAAHHH!!!! That's the one we want!)

So, stay tuned and thanks for you continued prayers and support.

Time Table Update

China
America World is excited to announce the agency’s receipt of new referrals! This past Thursday, America World received referrals for 24 healthy little girls from three different provinces. The little girls are currently located in the provinces of Hubei, Fujian, and Hunan. Families receiving referrals are in Groups 214 – 216 (Log in dates of 6/3 and 6/6, plus 2 expedited families for Chinese heritage). The staff of America World joins these families in their excitement! America World requests continued prayer for these families, their children and that travel arrangements will come together smoothly.

We are group 219. So, if they do 3 more groups (217, 218, 219) we should be in!

We're just checking to see if any of the paperwork we've completed will expire before the referral comes. We may have to go and get fingerprinted again or something like that.

We also just got a new little packet in the mail from AWAA about what to expect next. AWAA will recieve the referrals and try to call each couple and inform them by phone. Then, they will next day to referral information to us. Pictures, blood test results, biographical information, stuff like that.

So, we'll be scouting the weekly update page on AWAA and waiting for the phone call.

That's all for now.