We're Coming Home!

So this morning we got a call from the US Embassy. After six months of waiting, the Department of Homeland Security finally accepted our application for Humanitarian Parole. We now have a letter allowing us to travel to the United States that we will pick up on Monday. After that we are free to put our son on a plane and bring him home. We'll be talking with our travel agent in the next couple of hours to finalize travel plans, but we expect to arrive in Tulsa sometime next week. We can then keep Phin in the States for one year. After that time, we will return to Uganda to complete our adoption in obedience to the Appeals Court ruling we received last year.

Please pray that God would guide our steps as we figure out the next step for our family. Also, pray for our house to sell quickly.

On Becoming "African"

The end game is getting Phin home. With that perspective, the more we've learned, the more it seems that joining this tribe doesn't help us get there. As a result, we've invested less of our energies in that direction although it remains a possibility. We are still waiting for the Department of Homeland Security to give us a response about Humanitarian Parole. They communicated to us that the process would take 60 to 90 business days, and we have now exceeded 120. Please ask God to move the right people to get us a response. At this point, we're okay with a "no". We just want to hear something, so we can feel settled or move home.

As for happenings at the home, life continues as normal. Each week, I play games, teach lessons, and tell stories, and I pray that God will use this to communicate to them how deeply he cares about them. Please pray that these precious kids will see that love and open their hearts to Jesus.

My hope is to begin highlighting different kids, so you can see their faces and hear their stories.

You're not going to believe this!

It's official! Our story is now book worthy. Here are the broad strokes of our new plan for getting Phin home as well as facilitating any future adoptions by us in Uganda. We are in talks with one of the tribes of Uganda to join them. This is the quickest way to Ugandan citizenship and could help us get Phin home. But as we've investigated this possibility over the last 24 hours, we have fallen in love with the idea of joining this tribe. Phin has no tribal identity, no clan, which is a huge part of any Ugandan's identity. Through this process, Phin will be a member of a tribe. He will have a clan and be a member of a Ugandan "family". As part of joining the tribe, we have also dreamed of ways to serve and invest in them, and we are so pumped about some of the opportunities. As you can imagine, there are a lot of questions and issues we are still wading through. As a result, we wanted to get you all praying as soon as possible. Ask God to give us discernment and to keep us from blindspots as we move forward.

A New Member of Our Family...

Before anybody starts thinking about another son or a daughter, I had better just say that I'm talking about a cat. But if you know my wife, you can only imagine the joy that this living creature has added to our house. Also, if you have ever seen a two year old boy interact with a kitten, you know how much we have laughed in the last 48 hours. We've decided to call her LC, which is pronounced "Elsie" and is short for "living creature". I'm a little embarrassed about how many photos we've snapped of our new pet. I'm only going to share one.

At Our Own Home, I continue to work on activities, lessons, and stories to give these precious kids structure during the afternoon. Here's a photo of some memory games I've made for them. We're slowly working through the Old Testament stories using some worksheets that a friend gave to me. Please pray that they would begin to see the character of God through these stories.


God continues to give me opportunities to teach His Word, which brings such fulfillment to my life. Saturday, I spoke at a youth event here in town and found out from the youth leader that as I try to take on a Ugandan accent, I come out sounding "part Mexican, part Italian, and a little Canadian". Sunday, I returned to the village to challenge them to live in unity. Fortunately, one of my friends who is a long-term team member here and who shepherds the pastor of that church was visiting, so I was able to get some input about effectively communicating in this culture. In the vein of teaching, I'm also launching another blog where I'll basically share what I'm learning in the Word and the random thoughts that make their home in my head. Please pray that God would continue to use me and sharpen me as I teach His Word at every opportunity available.

Preaching in a Village

I love teaching God's Word! It doesn't matter where. It doesn't matter how many people are there. I love it!

Iron roofing held up by thick tree branches, rolling green hills spreading out all around us, and a couple of small mud brick houses completed the scene as I preached from Psalm 133, calling this village church of about 30 people to pursue unity, because that is "where the Lord bestows his blessings". I'm going back next week to walk through some obstacles that keep us from unity. Please ask God to move in their hearts and to truly bless this piece of Christ's body as they seek to love, serve, and build up each other.

We are still waiting to hear from the US government about humanitarian parole, which would allow us to bring Phine home for a year. Our frustration ebbs and flows. Sometimes we are content; other tiWe are still waiting to hear from the US government about our humanitarian parole, which would allow us to come homemes we just want to cuss. Please pray that we would hear something soon.

Chicken pox has broken out at the home. Nine children are covered in calamine lotion and trying so hard to not scratch. We wait patiently as we expect more to develop. Pray for these precious children as God begins to introduce and clarify Himself.

Here are some pictures of our family. Phin is huge, but he is beginning to grow up now. Last week, we just looked at him. Our bowling ball was becoming a little boy. He weighs about 40lbs. and is about 3feet high, and he's only 2 1/2. Pray that he would know fully that we love him, preparing him to believe our Father's complete love.