God is definitely amazing, awesome, and sovereign. Thanks to God's sovereign hand (and the prayers of the saints), he used our adoption coordinator (Martha) to get everything completed today and we're working on coming home this weekend.
Today we embarked on a task that seemed virtually impossible - obtaining all the paperwork we needed and arriving at the US Embassy by 11:30 AM, in time to apply for a visa. We were supposed to receive (via courier service) new birth certificates for Yamile yesterday and begin the final paperwork process so we could apply for the visa today. It turns out that there was an error in the mailing address so the papers were not delivered like they should have been. This left us distraught, because if we didn't apply for the visa today, we would not be able to travel until next Tuesday evening at the earliest. At this point, however, Martha began working the phones and doing all she could to help us.
Last night she sent a driver across Bogota (think of sending a driver across Los Angeles or New York City) to pick up the birth certificates at the courier's office. She also spent much of the day yesterday making phone calls to set up arrangements for today.
The first item on our agenda was to obtain a new Colombian identification card for Yamile. We needed that to be able to get a new passport for her. The ID card office opened at 8 AM, but Martha arranged for someone to stand in line on our behalf. Martha and our driver for the day (Miguel) arrived at the hotel at 7:25 and we were off to the ID card office. (Martha also arranged for the driver to wait for us throughout the day, so we would not have to flag down a taxi every time we completed a task.) At the ID card office, our "place holder" was third in line. The office opened at 8 AM at the public servant arrived at his station at about 8:10 or so. Like I said, we were third in line, but Martha knew that every minute would count. She quietly spoke to the two mothers in front of us and they allowed us to move ahead of them in line. What a blessing to start the day. We were done by 8:20 and on our way to our next stop.
Miguel took us to the passport office next (or at least took us close - we had to jump out of the cab, run across the street between the cars in rush-hour traffic, and run into the office). Martha led us quickly into a store where Yamile's passport photo could be taken. After the snapshot, Lenna waited in the store while Martha took me and Yamile into the actual passport office, giving Lenna instructions to come in as soon as she had the photos and tell the guards she was there for adoption and they would let her in. Martha wisked Yamile and me around the passport office from one station to the next, taking care of everything. She briefly stopped a woman and spoke with her. It turns out this woman was the director of the office and Martha explained the situation. Martha told me that as soon as we paid the passport fee, we would be expedited to the front of the line. At this time, Lenna arrived with the photos, after being asked something by the guard on the way in. I don't know if she knows what she was asked, but somehow she was able to enter. Martha paid the fee, Yamile and Lenna accompanied her to the window and, not long after, we had Yamile's new Colombian passport (with her new name!).
The next step in the process was for Yamile to be seen by a physician to make sure she was healthy enough to enter the U.S. Of course, this meant driving to some other area of the city. This doctor usually will not see children in the morning for these physicals after 9 AM. Martha had called previously and spoken with the doctor and he said he would see Yamile as long as she arrived by 9:30. At precisely 9:28 we showed up at the receptionist desk in the doctor's office! (Can you imagine the fix we would have been in if we hadn't had someone standing in line for us, if the two women had not let us go first, if Martha had not expedited the passport procedure? We would have been unable to proceed any further and our day would be done.) The doctor reviewed the vaccination and medical records and we chatted with him a bit (all the time knowing that the clock was ticking on us). After a brief examination and conversation with Yamile, he had some more items to let us know. Finally, he approved everything and we were out of his office by 10 AM.
Now, we had to get to the ICBF office to pick up more paperwork. Every time we got back in the car, Martha immediately began collecting and organizing all the documents we would need for our next stop. (And I am so glad for Lenna's organizational skills that made sure we had every document we needed! She has kept everything so well organized and complete from the beginning, and it has been a tremendous blessing throughout the one-year adoption process.) At ICBF, Martha led us into one office, where she talked to some people and got the paperwork she needed. Once we were done there, we had to run (and I literally mean "run") to another office in the same building. This office did not appear to be heavily staffed and Martha began asking for the paperwork we needed. Martha actually looked around the office a bit and found the paperwork she was looking for. We were introduced to several people who had helped Yamile at ICBF and it appeared they wanted to chat with us and Martha for a bit. Martha politely let them know of our predicament and we charged out the door on the way to our next venue.
The next destination was the U.S. Embassy to apply for the visa for Yamile to travel to the U.S. as our adopted daughter. Normally, you must be at the Embassy by 11 AM in order to put in your visa request. Martha called them yesterday and explained the situation to them. She was told that we could have until 11:30. We arrived at 11:05 and went past the long lines of Colombian citizens seeking visas right to the front. We were let in right away and submitted the paperwork. From this point forward, it was just a waiting game. While waiting, we encountered two other KidSave families. One family was adopting a 16-year old boy. The other family was adopting 16- and 17-year old sisters. It was neat to hear a bit of their stories and see the excitement on the faces. Finally, at about 1 PM, we were called to the window, answered a few quick questions, and were told that everything was approved. We get to pick up the visa tomorrow (September 3rd) at 3:30 - which means we get to come home ASAP.
The morning was a whirlwind, and Martha mentioned how stressed she felt throughout the morning. The driver commented (joked?) that he had a sore neck because of the stress from driving us from location to location in the maze of Bogota's streets and traffic.
What seemed impossible to us yesterday was completed in an amazing fashion today. And none of it would have happened without God sovereignly causing everything to fall into place. We praise Him for His great work (Martha was joining us in admiring what God was doing). We know that God could have chosen to cause us to wait, and we would have had to be patient with God's plan and His timing, but we are rejoicing that He is allowing us to return home now. Thank you again for your prayers, and we look forward to being home in Fallon again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment