Just wanted to give an update of where we are at in the process. We have not updated in awhile, but sometimes we are just in a period of waiting out a particular stage of the process in which there isn't much to update.
In the beginning of January, we sent in all of our paperwork for USCIS. I am so thankful for the help of our agency in guiding us through this step of the process. USCIS received out paperwork, and we have been scheduled for our fingerprinting next Wednesday morning, February 5th, in Milwaukee. They fingerprint every adult in the house, and do an extensive background check. So we will all drive down to Milwaukee Tuesday night, stay with my brother (thanks, Christopher!), and go to our appointment Wednesday morning. We absolutely can NOT miss this appointment, or we will be waiting several more months to do this all again. Please pray for good travelling weather (which is definitely a concern this winter!!), safety, and that everything would go smoothly.
After our fingerprinting, we will wait a couple months for USCIS to send final approval, called a 797. This approval is the last piece of paperwork to complete our dossier (official documents). Once we have this, our dossier will be sent to China, and we will await approval from China. Once approved (Lord willing), they will work at matching us with a child. The timeline seems to be that this could happen sometime this summer (our best guess!).
Our excitement is growing. Our little girl is waiting. We covet your prayers in several ways:
- Paperwork process at USCIS and in China to go quickly and smoothly.
- Our continued growth in preparing for this child. We are bringing a child home who will have many emotional and some physical difficulties. We have found the Empowered to Connect website to be of great help (http://empoweredtoconnect.org/). Please check it out if you have a moment.
- Financial provision. Our total costs will be between $30,000-$35,000. We are applying for several grants, and are planning a fundraiser in the spring with a fabulous local Christian band, silent auction, and more... we will keep you updated with details! Hope you can join us! Also, please don't forget to check out the Adoption Bug t-shirt fundraiser on this blog page.
We want to again say THANK YOU to all those who are praying for us and supporting us in one way or another. We absolutely could not get through this without the Lord's strength and without you! Thank you for asking us how it is going, and for your love for us and our waiting child. We have seen some wonderfully unexpected ways that God has answered our prayers in this journey. It has grown our faith and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Please feel free to contact us if you ever want to talk with us more.
We love you and thank Jesus for you!
John, Dawn, Esther, Anita, and ???
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