First of all He heard our prayers for a daughter. We had felt that our family was not complete and a little girl was who God had laid on my heart for the last two years.
The country of Uganda has been in our hearts since we welcomed three sweet little girls into our home for several days. They were visiting with the Ugandan Orphan Choir and we were coordinating the group's stay in our area. They were so beautiful and full of joy. They stayed in my girl's room. Every night they would pray, then worship, then pray some more in Lugandan. It was spirit filled goodness. Both Jeremiah and I talked of adopting from Uganda after they left but at the time it sounded near impossible. And we were waiting for Elijah to get home from Haiti. Little did we know that God heard our desire and had a plan in place for the future.
When we heard about Mercy through MAT, we knew she was an orphan. We were open to helping her however we could. A few days later decided we were dedicated to try to adopt her if possible. There were so many unknowns and questions about what the best decision would be for her. We were unsure if a medical visa would be best (we really thought it would be) or if just doing a legal guardianship would be the solution to getting her here quickly. God answered our prayers for a clear answer and we got one several weeks later.
We also prayed for Mercy's health. MAT came in contact with a doctor in NC who wanted to help. He was able to look at Mercy's MRI results and through the internet told Mercy's caregivers what kinds of medication to try. He also was willing to spend some time with me on the phone, answering to the best of his ability some of my questions. Mercy has been on one type of medicine that has helped with her seizures. They are almost completely gone. She still is walking into things and slurs her speech. She still needs medical help very soon, but she is doing so much better!
The Lord has provided for us financially when it didn't seem possible. We have had many wonderful people make donations for her and our family. The fees that we have had to pay so far has all been there when needed, either through donations or Jeremiah's over time.
The home where Mercy lives needs to get government approval so we can do the legal guardianship. They received their Non Government Organization approval (step 1) several weeks after we heard about her! That was great news. Now they need approval from the Ministry of Gender (step 2). They needed to go around and collect letters from people (references I believe), then turn them in. I think they need to have an inspection and then hopefully they can get approval. Today I learned that the prayers for the letter collecting were heard and they were able to gather them all. Tomorrow they will turn them into their lawyer. Hurray and thank you Lord!
Now, here is what we need prayer for:
The Ministry of Gender approval
Our i600a approval to be expedited (fingerprinting is next week!)
Mercy's health and protection
God's provision for the remaining fees (travel and legal fees)
our family and Mercy's heart to be prepared
our children and home while we are away
that we will not need to stay in Uganda for more than a few weeks
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