1. Adoptions are proceeding in regards to going to court, getting passports, getting medicals, and getting visas at the US Embassy. Children are continuing to travel to the US by escort or after being picked up by adoptive families. I know of four families (adopting through ACFI) in the past month who have gotten their children’s visas and come home or will be in the next couple of days.
2. As far as a potential timeline for when new adoptions will be able to move through the Ministry of Health again, I have not heard any information from anyone who can give a definitive answer on this. I’ve heard answers that range from 2 weeks to up to 6 months. 
   

1. UNICEF has been somewhat involved in the discussions surrounding the state of Liberian adoptions and UNICEF is openly anti-international adoptions. I don’t think UNICEF’s views on international adoptions are going to have a lot of weight on Liberian adoptions mainly because their view is the same as it always has been and they don’t suddenly have anymore influence in Liberia than they have previously.
2. The Deputy of the Ministry of Health has recently vocalized anti-adoption sentiments. While many of his concerns are valid, I think they will be addressed by some modifications in the adoption process, so hopefully he will change his position as the modifications are established. Also, he is not the ultimate person who makes the decision about whether or not adoptions in Liberia proceed, and most of the other people who have a say in this DO want to see the adoptions continue.

• Escorting will probably be done away with. There will likely be a requirement that adoptive families spend some time in Liberia before bringing their children home. I don’t know if this will mean one or both parents have to travel or for how long. My best guess is that at least one parent will need to be in Liberia for at least 3 weeks.
• There will be more in depth investigations of the children’s backgrounds and their orphan status.
• There may be an additional fee that needs to be paid to the MoH for each adoption.

I just got this news today.  On Friday, Judy Elkins and Sherry from PLAN met with the Deputy Minister of Health regarding the status of adoptions in Liberia.  He said that they will announce the changes in 2 weeks, but that they will be small.  Praise God!

Love, Dawn
Helpmeet to Aaron
Joyful Mommy to 10
6 at home: Thomas (10), Naomi Ruth (9), Rebekah (7), Hannah (5), Miriam (3), Susanna (2), and Baby (due 10/08)
and 3 in Liberia, coming home March 11th!!!!: Stephen (10), Sarah (9), and Samuel (4)

• Dave had a very productive meeting with Pastor Kofi on Tuesday, February 5th. Dave drove 45 minutes during his lunchtime to Lancaster, SC, stopping by Bojangles on the way and picking up lunch for the Kofi's, and he met with Pastor Kofi for about 30 minutes... enough to pray, eat lunch together, and share his proposal. (see below) Pastor Kofi was so excited. He said if there was ONE thing that Liberian kids needed, it was treatment for trauma. In all his years of ministry, no one had ever approached him about doing something in the trauma arena. In fact, Kofi said he could see this idea expanding beyond the orphanage and into all parts of Liberia!
•  Click here for a copy of Dave's Trauma Proposal:  Trauma Services Proposal

• On Wednesday, February 6th, Dave and I met at our church to have some forms notarized, the last step for our Liberian dossier. We walked into the notary's office and there sat our Missions Pastor, Tom Henry. He said, "I just had an anointed meeting with Pastor Kofi of ACFI." I said, "Really? You met with him this morning??" And Tom said, "Yes. And I think our church should rally around him and his ministries in Liberia. We should get a team together to go to Liberia and serve. Let's pray right now." and he hopped up from his chair, put his arms around me and Dave, and he began to pray: Father God, we just ask right now that You'd be with Pastor Kofi and ACFI. Please guide Dave and Ellen as they pursue these children from Liberia. Gather a team of folks together from our community with a heart for Africa. In Jesus name, amen." It was a holy moment. The hairs of my arms were standing up. All of a sudden, our little part of a story grew into a movement of the hand of God; what a cool thing to experience!

• On Thursday, February 7th, Pastor Kofi left for Liberia.
• On Friday, February 8th, our social worker called and said our Home Study was complete and in the mail.
• On Saturday, February 9th, we received not only our home study in the mail, but I also got my passport. We are now thinking that I will go with Dave when he goes to Liberia.  (FYI: I had just mailed my expedited passport application one week earlier.) That night, we had dinner over at the Rutledges' house. They had told Angel (who now wants to be called Angelyn) that we were going to adopt her brother and sister. So when I first saw Angelyn, she flew at me with arms open wide and gave me a huge hug. Here is a picture of us taken with her that night.

• On Sunday, February 10th, I added our notarized home study to the other forms and put together a final dossier packet to be sent to the ACFI orphanage in Dixville. Dave had spoken with Cece Kofi, Pastor Kofi's wife, and asked her if she would hand-deliver our dossier when she traveled to Liberia on February 14th. So I put together a package each for Sayfou and for Matterline. I had been writing letters to them since December, so in each package I was able to place 8 letters from me, a prayer from Abbey, 3 lollipops, a Valentine's Day card, a leather bracelet that said "Be Strong" and a necklace for each. 
• Click on the link below to see what we sent Sayfou and Matterline as an introduction to our family.
  
  Family Newsletter

• On Tuesday, February 12th, Dave again drove to Lancaster to drop off the dossier and the two packages with Cece Kofi. He thanked her and prayed with her, then drove back to work.

•  On Thursday, February 14th, Cece Kofi flew to Liberia with our life-changing documents in her possession.

Last week I told my headmaster that we were adopting two children from Africa. I quickly assured her that, even though I was adding to my family, I still loved my job and wanted to keep it! From that point, the news spread like wildfire on my campus. I told as many teachers as I could, hoping they would hear from me and not from the watercooler gossip. I noticed something interesting about their responses. They fell into one of two camps. First were the folks who were obviously excited for me and wanted to know all the details: "how did you hear about them?" "what are their names?" "when will you get them?" and the ever-popular "how much does it cost?" Then there's the other camp. I call this the "Cricket Camp" because when I sat down with a bunch of teachers at lunch and told them I was adopting two kids from Africa, all I could hear were crickets. Their faces must have instantly filled with Botox, because not one muscle moved. I could actually read the Thought Bubble over their heads: I-can't-act-as-shocked-as-I-feel-but-that's-the-craziest-thing-I've-ever-heard! Then a fake smile came over each face and they nodded their heads saying, "That's great." Then they quickly changed the subject! "How about those Patriots!"

I even had one teacher seem extremely happy for me, gushing as she backed out of my room and at the door, she stopped and said to me, "THANK YOU."  Thank you? That's an odd response, don't you think? She meant, "thank you for adopting African children..." For some, my adoption makes them feel guilty, as if I am telling them THEY should be doing something to help the starving children in Africa. Then their obvious guilt makes me feel bad! Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!

On Monday, January 21st, our social worker came for our home visit. Since it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, both our girls had the day off from school. So when Ms. Nathanson arrived, the girls showed her around the house... Christy said, "This is Dad's office, but it will be Sayfou's room." "Christy and I are going to switch rooms and I get to sleep with Maddie, " said Abbey, smiling. Ms. Nathanson took some basic notes, like "open living room", "walls painted in a neutral color." Then she sat down on the couch with Christy and Abbey and I sat in a nearby chair.

She asked them good questions, like "What do you think about this upcoming adoption?" Abbey said, "I think it's a good thing to adopt Sayfou and Maddie. I want them to be my brother and sister."

"How do you think you'll be toward them?"
Christy: I'll be sisterly, just like I am with Abbey.

"What is 'sisterly'?"
Christy: You know, I'll look out for them and be nice to them.

My eyebrows raised, but I didn't say anything.

"These kids have different color skin. What have you thought about that?"
Christy: It doesn't matter.
Abbey: If we go into a restaurant and people are staring at us, we can just pretend we're famous.

"We all have ideas/fantasies about what life will be like when these kids come. What if it's not all great? Abbey, what if Maddie snores? Christy, what if Sayfou doesn't want to play with you but just wants to hang out by himself?"
Christy: I'll give him space until he's ready to play.

"What if he never gets ready?"
Christy:  (silence)

Abbey: It's okay if Maddie snores.

"What if she takes your toys and wants to keep them for her own?"
Abbey: (silence)

So I think our social worker gave the girls some good things to think about. We talk every night as a family about all the different scenarios that could occur once these children come home. But Ms. Nathanson even expanded their vision. She was wonderful with the girls. When she left, Abbey gave her a hug. Then Abbey told me later, "She really liked my dimples. I want her to be my third grandma, because she's so nice."

The next day, Dave and I met at Nathanson Adoption Services' office to wrap up our portion of the home study. She asked very specific questions, like, "What do you know about child development?" Dave said, "Well, I've taught 'Child Development' at four universities." Her eyes got wide as she wrote this down. Then she asked about how we parented, had we discussed possible attachment issues, and what resources we used as parents. To that last question, I answered, "Well, there's this great book out there called 'Parenting the Millenial Generation' by a guy named Dave Verhaagen..." Her eyebrows shot up and she asked, "You wrote a book? On parenting?" She could not believe it. Then she said, "Can I just tell you? Your children are delicious... so well-spoken, well-mannered. You guys I'm kinda worried about," she said facetiously, "but your girls just might tip the scale in your favor!"

Bottom line: I think we passed the home study with flying colors!