Still Waiting...

The last few weeks have mostly consisted of wiring money to the Congo and waiting to hear more. We currently think our adoption decree (official approval from DRC to adopt) should be complete no later than September. I am still praying for July or August, so please pray with me. I know God has a plan for this family to come together and so I pray for the strength to wait patiently.

During this process I have consumed myself with keeping up with the conflict in the DRC and learning as much as I can about life there. I was unable to see the program, but Ben Affleck had a special run last night on Nightline. I was able to read the summary online and watch much of the airing. It was compelling and yet another example of why we need to turn our focus to the DRC. Over 4 million people have died in the DRC in the past 10 years - "Because these travesties have happened in relative obscurity — for example, 16 times as many people have died in Congo as have in the terrible ongoing genocide in Darfur, yet far more has been heard about Western Sudan than Central Africa — one goal here is to simply raise awareness." I used to watch programs about Africa and think there was nothing I could do and it didn't affect me. This is part of my family now. More importantly, we are all children of God called to live together and care for one another. If you would like to learn more about the DRC and watch Ben's documentary visit http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Story?id=5234555&page=1.

I never thought the wait could be so hard. I don't even know this child, yet he is our son and half way across the world in a place where many people do not have clean water or enough to eat. My prayer today is for all of the children of Africa who do not have someone waiting for them.