Grab a chair and sit down, because we GOT OUR COURT DATES!!!!!!!!!! We are beyond excited (and a little scared!) to be going to meet OUR BOYS!! We received an e-mail from our director on Thursday afternoon letting us know our court dates are going to be August 25 and August 26!!! As of right now we are planning to leave the weekend of August 15 to make sure we are there a week before our date. This will give us enough time to do a few required things before we meet our sons!!! That's right I said our sons!!! So for those of you who are a little unsure of our process in country here's a quick re-cap:
1) Arrive on August 17: we will plan to stay in the capital city of Kampala for the first few days to see the tombs of the kings, parliament and few other historic landmarks that are required by our judge. We need to document us there with pictures, so we want to get this out of the way ASAP.
2) Travel to Jinja to meet our boys: Our boys are in an orphanage in Jinja which is about a 3 hour drive from Kampala. We will plan to stay at a guest house in Jinja for the first 3-4 weeks until we have the official ruling from our judge
3) August 25: Court for J-man :) Please pray for this...our judge is very erratic and very hard on the adoptive mom (that's me!). From what I've heard he will question the mom for up to 2 hours while asking the adoptive father maybe 1 or 2 questions. I will need peace for this as I'm already a little anxious as to what he will ask. I will be coached by our lawyer in Uganda prior to court, but I will take all the prayers I can get!
4) August 26: Court for L-man :) Pray for this too! Pray that the boys both have peace and will feel comfortable sitting on our laps for most of this time. Additionally, any living relatives of the boys will need to be at their respective court dates. Please pray we can bless them in some way and that we can form a good rapport.
5) Wait... After court we wait for the verbal ruling from our judge. This is typically 1-1.5 weeks. After we get the verbal ruling, then we wait for the written ruling...again another 1-1.5 weeks. We're believing to have both rulings within 2 weeks. During this time we will be going back and forth to the orphanage to spend time with the boys.
6) Move to Kampala: Once we have their written rulings, we will plan to move to a guest house in Kampala. This place is a little nicer (more consistent electricity and a washing machine!) and the house mom Harriet will cook us meals. This is the first time we will have the boys stay overnight with us, so pray for peace for them and that they will feel safe with us.
7) Passports: Once we get their written rulings we can apply for their passports. This process can take anywhere from 5 days to 4+ weeks. Most people expedite this process by paying bribes to the officials. Paul and I will not be doing that, but we ask God's favor over this step so HE will expedite it for us :)
8) IOM (International Organization for Migration): This is the medical exams our boys will need to have prior to leaving the country. They will be tested for Tb and a slew of other illness to ensure they don't need further treatment before entering the United States. After their initial exams we will head back 3 days later for their follow-up. If this is approved then they will send the paperwork over to the embassy for processing (typically 3-5 days).
9) Embassy Part 1: Once the embassy receives the paperwork from IOM we will be contacted for a document check interview. This entails an embassy official going through our paperwork to make sure everything is accounted for, legitimate and filled out properly. Once we pass this we will be contacted for a Visa interview.
10) Embassy Part 2: After the document check we will have a Visa interview. This requires any living relatives to be present again and they will interview Paul and I as well to ensure nothing is fabricated or fraudulent. Once this is complete (and we are approved!) we can pick up their Visas a few days later and head home!
I know this is all making your head spin (mine too!!), but it will all be worth it when our boys are finally home :) We are believing to be there less than 12 weeks, but are planning for the full 3 months to keep our minds right. We know this is going to be a crazy adventure, but we are ready for the challenge and so excited to fulfill this desire we've had for so long. We still have a long road to go in-country and still needs to come up with all the necessary funds, but God is faithful and we know He won't leave us now!
If you would like to support us financially there is still time and every dollar matters! Options include:
1) Tax deductible: http://www.projecthopeful.org/
2) Paypal: stevens.paul.s@gmail.com - please select friends and family so they don't take a percentage!
3) Buy a t-shirt: $25 each plus shipping...They are pretty fly if I do say so myself :) and comfy!
4) Go Fund Me (details to come): We are planning to do a Go Fund Me account while we are in country to hopefully raise the funds for our plane tickets home. We currently do not have the money in our account to pay for those and are hoping to raise $5,000 to cover some of the costs or at least pay for the boys!
I want to genuinely thank each and every one of you who have reached out during this process and supported us in any way. For those of you close to me, you have seen many tears and frustrations over the last few months, but your support and encouragement has meant the world to me. This period of waiting was very challenging, but God was so faithful to fulfill His promise to us and despite the deep feelings of sorrow, we never lost faith.
We couldn't do this without each and every one of you, and we are so grateful to call you friends. We hope you continue to follow us on this journey and we can't wait to finally introduce you to our boys in a few short weeks!
Love to you!
