The Lord's Battle

What a day, what a day!! Oh, how I wish all of you could have been here to experience the Lord's work first hand. 

We started the day at the notary's office. We had to get some papework notarized before taking it to the inspector's office. At the inspector's office, we learned that we would have to for sure track down A's brother to get him to agree to the separation.  Before we could do this, we had to have permission from another inspector in a region 2 hours away where her brother is registered. While waiting for permission to proceed, the inspector here tried to locate the brother. She had no luck. Basically, we had to start with nothing!! While we waited for permission, Ryan, Angelina, and I enjoyed coffee from the coffee truck...one of our new favorite things:)

Coffee with a smile!

 Photo bombed...love this crazy girl!!

The waiting turned into a couple of hours, so we used this time to change apartments. We were going to try to tough it out at the old place, but after trying to take a shower in a bathtub that only has a hand held wand...with nowhere to put it other than the bottom of the tub, and the bathroom completely flooding.....we decided we just couldn't stay there. So, we switched apartments. It is hard to tell from the pictures how much better our new apartment is, but trust me, it's WAAAAY better! Only downside is that it has no A/C. I will take being warm at this point:)

 Bathroom at new place

 New Kitchen

Bedroom...can't find a real bed here!?!?

Living room

We finally got permission to start searching for A's brother...Alexander. Armed with only his name and the rumor that he attended a trade school here in town, we drove there. 

Inside, we found 3 adults just sitting around. Our fabulous facilitator talked with them and they said that he had been enrolled there, but that they hadn't seen him in a long time. They called the place he was supposed to be working, and they said he had not shown up for work in 3 weeks.  All signs were pointing to a dead end. At this point, Ryan and I decided we better start praying more fervently than we ever had that we could somehow locate him. Adoption is possible without this separation agreement, however, it would cost a lot of money and add weeks to this process. Neither of which we would want. As we were praying, Angelina was calling the orphanage director to see if she knew of anyone who might know his location. She called another person, who called another person, and y'all....she got a hold of a friend of Alexander's who was WITH HIM!!!! He was in a town about 45 minutes away, and we had to jump in the car to get to him before we lost him. I cannot even begin to describe how we all felt when we found out where he was. Angelina, Ryan, and I all had the chills, and all we could do was praise the Lord and give Him thanks for leading us straight to Alexander. 

Next hurdle was getting him in the car to drive to the orphanage with us to sign the papers. I had no clue what to expect. We were told he was a drunk and we didn't know if he would be drunk when we got to him, if he would try to resist coming with us...we just had no idea. When we found him, he was agreeable and came with us with no problem. I have to tell you, I am so sad for him. He is one of the statistics of the abandoned, forgotten orphans that Ryan and I have been trying to save A from. He looks so much like his sister, and I can't help but wonder what his life could have been like had someone come along to scoop him up out of this sad world. It breaks my heart for him, that we had to ask him to sign a piece of paper that states that we want to adopt only his sister...not him. I know that with 5 girls, we simply cannot adopt a soon-to-be 18 year boy, but oh, how I pray that somehow we can impact his life in a positive way. 

Driving to get A's brother

On the way to the orphanage, I prayed that his meeting with A would go well. That he would be kind to her, and that it would be good for them to see each other. They have not seen or talked to each other in over 3 years...since he left the orphanage by his own choice. The meeting went well, and we were able to get a picture of the 2 of them together. I can't share it publicly yet, but will do so after the adoption is finalized. When we left this evening, Alexander was still at the orphanage, and A went over to talk to him some more. I pray that this time together will be a healing time for them, and that they can both get closure. 

After our wild and crazy day, Ryan and I enjoyed a yummy meal at a restaurant up the street called Yao! (translation...Ciao)

Ryan deciding on what to eat!

We rolled the dice and drank yummy drinks with ice. Ryan got an alcohol free mojito, and I got a basil and cucumber lemonade. Delicious!! So far, no tummy issues due to the ice...fingers crossed it stays that way!

Yes, please!!

Tomorrow we have a free day, so we will go to the orphanage to spend time with A:) 

Specific prayer request: Please pray for Alexander. That he will know the love of the Lord, and that he will be able to get his life together, and have a happy, productive life. 

Thank you SO much for all of the prayers today. We truly experienced the mighty Hand of God today at work. I must thank Him for bringing us here, so that we can experience Him in such a powerful way. It is very rare to experience this power back home, where we have so much control of our day to day lives. What a blessing to be so in need of Him!! 

This morning, I sent my Mom a text, briefly telling her that we were trying to track her brother, and to pray. She sent back a wonderful verse that she found written on my 4 year old's shield she made at church, " For the battle is the Lord's" 1 Samuel 17:47. This whole process with all of it's hurdles and speed  bumps, has shown us that there is no way we can win this battle. Thankfully, this battle is not ours, it is the Lord's, and He triumphs over all!!