July 29

I know so many of you are praying for our family and Samuel and are eagerly awaiting any word regarding the visa, as are we. Here is the next thing on the radar– on July 29th Nana Yaw’s family - Esi and her husband and two kids - are coming to visit us here in Iowa for 3 weeks. They will be coming to help us send Nana Yaw off to college. After our time with us, they will then be headed to North Carolina to visit Esi’s family that hosted her as a foreign exchange student back in the 70’s. I believe their time there will be another week. Nana Yaw’s family has had this trip planned for 6 months…long before they knew they would be helping us out by caring for Samuel…..their plane tickets were purchased a few months ago.

So, I am asking all of you out there to pray with us that Samuel’s visa gets issued & printed before Nana Yaw’s family comes to visit the U.S. If Samuel has his visa, we would be able to coordinate it so that Esi could chaperone him here to the U.S. along with their flight on the 29th. I will be praying that:

-The Embassy will be able to finalize the I-604 investigation within the next few days.
-The Embassy schedules an appointment for Kofi to come in and pick up the printed visa sometime next week.
-God’s power would overcome any obstacles that could stand in the way of our adoption.
-That we would trust in God's plan for Samuel's life, and trust in God's timing.
-On the phone Samuel has started asking us when he gets to come to America! I would be asking too if I were him! Please pray with us that God would comfort him and give him understanding of all of this. Above all, I will be praying that Samuel doesn't think we have abandoned him or are not coming back for him. I will pray that God continues to prepare him to join our family, and that in the mean time Samuel can feel our love for him.

We have a week and a half before Nana Yaw’s family’s flight leaves. We know that God has a plan. We know that God loves Samuel so much more than we do. God has given Samuel a resilient personality….and we trust that no matter what, Samuel will be cared for by our Almighty God.

Luke 18:1-8

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"