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VI want to begin by thanking all of you for not only reading my posts, but for your continued prayers. I truly cannot express what it means to us to know that others are intervening on our behalf. I know we have not shared an update for a while. I will try my best to give you some updates in this post.
A friend shared the above verse from Isaiah 26 with me some time ago. I hold fast to the promises of God. He has given me a peace that could only come from Him. There are moments, that if I allowed fear in, that it could be very overwhelming. When my fear and lack of understanding of the timing of it all start to creep in, I hold fast to those words. We are currently still in the waiting stage. Our paperwork was registered with the Burundian government on November 6th, 2017. The Burundian government has a committee that meets to “match” families and children. This “matching” committee meeting is how we will receive a referral for our child. The matching committee met in early January 2018. During that meeting 5 families from our agency were matched with children. We were not one of those families, but it is exciting to see 5 families come together. As we are waiting to be matched with the child God has ordained for us, we have some more paperwork to complete. Indiana requires home studies to be updated once a year. We are in the process now of updating our home study. This means new medical exams for all four of us, a visit from our social worker, and general information updates. Every 18 months, we have to update our immigration status as well. In order to update our immigration we must have a recent (within 6 months) home study. Thankfully our dates all work so that once we update our home study it will be ready for our immigration update in the fall without additional amendments and/or payments. As I mentioned earlier, we are waiting to be matched to our child. We have been praying for his paperwork to be complete and once it is that it is obvious to the committee that his file belongs with ours. We believe that is what we are waiting for at this time. We had some confirmation of that from our latest update from our agency. They stated that the matching committee is not meeting more frequently because they are waiting on children’s files. Based on the recent information from our agency’s time in Burundi, one of the biggest barriers to children finding families is shelters (orphanages) not proposing children for adoption. Shelters often do not propose children because the shelter is not aware of adoption as an option, or they have misconceptions about adoption. Our agency is working closely with the Burundian government to assist as much as they can to help “stream line” the adoption process. It is a new process in Burundi and while the Central African Authority is very positive and helpful in the process, it takes time build. One of the things our agency is helping with is to work with shelters to educate them about adoption and the process of preparing paperwork for children who are eligible for adoption. Our agency is hopeful to create a conference to get shelter directors together to help educate them on adoption and the processes of paperwork. Please join us in praying for their efforts in this matter. While the efforts will benefit us, as a family, they could largely impact the lives of children in Burundi. We ask you to join us in prayer for the education process of the shelter where our little guy is currently living and for the paperwork of our little guy to be completed. That the shelter he is in will feel compelled to complete his paperwork and submit it to the Central Authority. Also that once the child God has ordained for us has paperwork completed, that it is obvious to the committee that he should be matched to us. While waiting can be excruciating, we trust God’s timing. We know that just because we are lifting up these prayers doesn’t mean it will happen today or tomorrow. But I believe God gave us the desire for this child and He wants us to share our desires with Him. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6. God continues to grow us during the wait. We are so thankful for God’s faithfulness. We are thankful for all He is teaching us. We are thankful for the Central African Authority and ALL he does to make adoption possible. We are thankful for the efforts of our agency to educate and help ensure the best for the children of Burundi. We are thankful for the staff whom is caring for our little one. We are thankful for the groups that support shelters in Burundi. We are thankful for the support of family and friends. We are thankful for the prayers of others. We are thankful God has called us to this amazing journey. |
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AuthorMy name is Deidra Miller. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Dusty, for 17 years. We have two biological children and our family is growing again. We prayed for 2,786 days and God answered our prayers. More days (almost 4 years) have been added as we wait for God's perfect plan for our family. We can't wait to meet our beautiful twin boys! Archives
October 2022
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