The holiday obviously didn't help the mood of the MOE official, she failed to give Alma our docs on the 24th but is now assuring us that she will hand over the dossier to our agency on the 3rd of January!
She still tells us that she will give permission to travel in January and if our agency can finally get their hands on our dossier by the first or second week of January then we will still be able to make our flights on the 19th.
If she fails to keep her word this time then we may have to think about moving to another region in Kaz, we don't want to do this as Ust is now our 3rd region and we have become used to the idea of traveling there!
We leave it with the Lord and trust that He will overrule in this situation and the dossier will finally be in the hands of our agency workers soon.
Hope everyone had a happy Christmas and trust you all have a good new year.
We will report back as soon as we get any more info, which should be around the 3rd/4th Jan.
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 27 December 2007
Monday 17 December 2007
Fustration!
We have just heard from our agency that despite the MOE contact promising that she would hand over our dossier before she left on holiday at the weekend she has once again went back on her word and failed to hand it over!
She has promised to release it when she returns on the 24th December and again stated that she would give permission to travel in January but after the last 2-3months it is very difficult to take her seriously. We hope to find out by the 26th/27th if our documents are finally in the hands of our agency!
Putting a positive spin on things she has again confirmed to Alma that she will be giving us permission to travel out in January, our agency are also confident that it will happen then, it would have been nice however to have some confirmation of this before Christmas.
We believe that Gods plan for us is perfect and that the delays are only to ensure that we get the child that we are meant to have.
Still keeping the Faith!
Philip & Amanda
She has promised to release it when she returns on the 24th December and again stated that she would give permission to travel in January but after the last 2-3months it is very difficult to take her seriously. We hope to find out by the 26th/27th if our documents are finally in the hands of our agency!
Putting a positive spin on things she has again confirmed to Alma that she will be giving us permission to travel out in January, our agency are also confident that it will happen then, it would have been nice however to have some confirmation of this before Christmas.
We believe that Gods plan for us is perfect and that the delays are only to ensure that we get the child that we are meant to have.
Still keeping the Faith!
Philip & Amanda
Saturday 15 December 2007
Update
Looks like we need to wait a few days longer before we get confirmation that our dossier is in the hands of our agency, Alma is due to meet the MOE official on Saturday and she will hopefully hand over our documents then, we won't find out until Monday so we have another nervous wait over the weekend but we are confident it will finally happen this time.
Hopefully on Monday our agency will be able to tell us that they have our dossier and it is on its way out to Ust for our LOI.
Keep praying!!
Philip & Amanda
Hopefully on Monday our agency will be able to tell us that they have our dossier and it is on its way out to Ust for our LOI.
Keep praying!!
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 13 December 2007
Update
Quite a bit has happened since our last post, we changed our flights to the next available date which was the 25th December, yes Christmas day!
We also got a little more info on the reasons why we've been delayed for so long, apparently there has been tension between the Ust regional office of the MOE and the central office. The main MOE office has been keen to throw their weight around and prove peoples documents only travel as and when they say so!!
Our dossier is one of a bundle of five which is currently being 'held' by this office!
The positive news is that the MOE official who will release our documents has told our agency representative that she will give them to her before she leaves on a business trip at the weekend, the only provision she will put on the LOI is that we can't enter the country until the new year!
So by the end of this week we hope to have an actual firm date for our trip to Kazakhstan!!
Its not quite a Christmas miracle but a January miracle will do just fine!
Pray that the MOE official keeps her word and that our dossier is FINALLY in the hands of our agency by the weekend.
Pray for the other 4 families who are in the same situation as us.
We will post as soon as this happens, stay tuned....
Philip & Amanda
We also got a little more info on the reasons why we've been delayed for so long, apparently there has been tension between the Ust regional office of the MOE and the central office. The main MOE office has been keen to throw their weight around and prove peoples documents only travel as and when they say so!!
Our dossier is one of a bundle of five which is currently being 'held' by this office!
The positive news is that the MOE official who will release our documents has told our agency representative that she will give them to her before she leaves on a business trip at the weekend, the only provision she will put on the LOI is that we can't enter the country until the new year!
So by the end of this week we hope to have an actual firm date for our trip to Kazakhstan!!
Its not quite a Christmas miracle but a January miracle will do just fine!
Pray that the MOE official keeps her word and that our dossier is FINALLY in the hands of our agency by the weekend.
Pray for the other 4 families who are in the same situation as us.
We will post as soon as this happens, stay tuned....
Philip & Amanda
Friday 7 December 2007
Still waiting...
Its been almost a week since our last post but unfortunately we are no further forward!
On Monday I got an unwelcome birthday present, namely the news that even though our dossier has been signed off it still hasn't been sent to Ust.
Why you may ask! Good question but unfortunately not one that the MOE in Astana is prepared to answer!
The one piece of good news is that from now on our dossier and our LOI will be handled by our agency staff so once it moves it will be easy to keep track off.
Alma, our agency representative in Astana, will be calling with the MOE again in the morning to try once more to get our dossier released, we will let you know how she gets on.
Obviously we are not going to make our flights on the 11th, we now hope to be able to leave on the 22nd December.
At this stage we just want to be out there for Christmas, we have been prepared for the last 2 months to spend Christmas in Kazakhstan so we now can't imagine spending it here!!
Pray that Alma is successful tomorrow and gets our dossier released.
Philip & Amanda
On Monday I got an unwelcome birthday present, namely the news that even though our dossier has been signed off it still hasn't been sent to Ust.
Why you may ask! Good question but unfortunately not one that the MOE in Astana is prepared to answer!
The one piece of good news is that from now on our dossier and our LOI will be handled by our agency staff so once it moves it will be easy to keep track off.
Alma, our agency representative in Astana, will be calling with the MOE again in the morning to try once more to get our dossier released, we will let you know how she gets on.
Obviously we are not going to make our flights on the 11th, we now hope to be able to leave on the 22nd December.
At this stage we just want to be out there for Christmas, we have been prepared for the last 2 months to spend Christmas in Kazakhstan so we now can't imagine spending it here!!
Pray that Alma is successful tomorrow and gets our dossier released.
Philip & Amanda
Friday 30 November 2007
We're getting there!!
Our agency have just contacted us to let us know that the MOE official has been as good as her word and has signed off on our documents, when she said 'before the end of the month' she REALLY meant it!
The last few weeks have been torture, we were prepared for the worst again but God has answered our prayers in a wonderful way!
Our documents will now travel on Monday out to Ust and the official there has already promised us that she will process our LOI immediately and get it back to Astana by Friday the 7th. Almat will then be sent his copy the same day which should arrive in the London Embassy by Monday the 10th.
This all means that we should be ready to make our flights on the 11th about 12hours ahead of schedule.
We still won't believe it until we are munching peanuts on the Air Astana flight to Almaty but we are definitely getting there!!
Praise God that after 3.5 months of limbo we are finally moving again.
Pray that our LOI will get to London in time for us to make our flight on the 11th.
We will keep you updated on our LOI progress throughout next week.
Thanks to all who are praying for us, keep at it!
Philip & Amanda
The last few weeks have been torture, we were prepared for the worst again but God has answered our prayers in a wonderful way!
Our documents will now travel on Monday out to Ust and the official there has already promised us that she will process our LOI immediately and get it back to Astana by Friday the 7th. Almat will then be sent his copy the same day which should arrive in the London Embassy by Monday the 10th.
This all means that we should be ready to make our flights on the 11th about 12hours ahead of schedule.
We still won't believe it until we are munching peanuts on the Air Astana flight to Almaty but we are definitely getting there!!
Praise God that after 3.5 months of limbo we are finally moving again.
Pray that our LOI will get to London in time for us to make our flight on the 11th.
We will keep you updated on our LOI progress throughout next week.
Thanks to all who are praying for us, keep at it!
Philip & Amanda
Wednesday 28 November 2007
Its been a while...
In our last post we mentioned that the MOE offical in Kazakhstan had promised to process our dossier by the end of the month, thats only two days away!!!
The only other news since we last posted is that earlier on this week the official repeated her intention to sign off on our dossier before the weekend!
We have had a few false dawns before so we are not getting our hopes up yet, we would appreciate your prayers that the MOE official is as good as her word and we can at last start moving forward.
Watch this space......
Philip & Amanda
The only other news since we last posted is that earlier on this week the official repeated her intention to sign off on our dossier before the weekend!
We have had a few false dawns before so we are not getting our hopes up yet, we would appreciate your prayers that the MOE official is as good as her word and we can at last start moving forward.
Watch this space......
Philip & Amanda
Monday 19 November 2007
Little more news..
We finally got some positive news from the official in the MOE in Kazakhstan who is responsible for processing our dossier, apparently she has promised our representatives out there that she will process our dossier by the end of the month. For the last 3 weeks all we have heard is, 'be patient, it will happen soon', etc so its nice to finally hear a definite date.
Obviously our flights will need to be changed again and our new 'date' for leaving is the 11th December. Thank goodness for flexi-tickets!
We firmly believe that God is guiding us to the child He has for us, the timing is not to our liking but it will definetly be perfect!
We will post as soon as we get more news but the sequence of events which will hopefully be taking place soon will be as follows -
1. The MOE official in Astana will send our dossier to Ust.
2. The MOE official in Ust will then issue an LOI to travel to Ust and send it back to Astana.
3. The MOE official in Astana will then forward our LOI to the Kaz embassy in London.
4. We then fly out to London to get our VISA from the embassy.
5. Then we fly out the next day to Kazakhstan, woohoo!
Keep praying!
Philip & Amanda
Obviously our flights will need to be changed again and our new 'date' for leaving is the 11th December. Thank goodness for flexi-tickets!
We firmly believe that God is guiding us to the child He has for us, the timing is not to our liking but it will definetly be perfect!
We will post as soon as we get more news but the sequence of events which will hopefully be taking place soon will be as follows -
1. The MOE official in Astana will send our dossier to Ust.
2. The MOE official in Ust will then issue an LOI to travel to Ust and send it back to Astana.
3. The MOE official in Astana will then forward our LOI to the Kaz embassy in London.
4. We then fly out to London to get our VISA from the embassy.
5. Then we fly out the next day to Kazakhstan, woohoo!
Keep praying!
Philip & Amanda
Tuesday 13 November 2007
Still Waiting...
***Deep calming breath***
Ok, I can start....
We got word last week that there was yet another delay in proceedings, the official in the MOE in Astana is refusing to send our dossier to Ust for an unknown reason, at least this time however its nothing to do with the fact that we are from the UK and seems to be an internal problem.
Our representative in Kazakhstan is adamant that this is a very minor issue and will be dealt with quickly though having had so many knocks recently its difficult to be optimistic!
On a plus note she again emphasised how many children are available in this region, so much so in fact that the baby house is bursting at the seams and is unable to take any baby's from the maternity hospital! This makes it all the more frustrating that we are being delayed again for what is probably a very trivial reason.
We hope to have more news about our dossier/LOI at the end of the week and will post when that happens, if our dossier does finally get sent this week the MOE offical in Ust has promised to send our LOI out immediately so we should still be able to make our flights on the 24th Nov.
'It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord' Lam 3v26
Pray that our dossier will travel to Ust soon and that we can still make our flights on the 24th.
Pray that we will be guided to the right child for us and that she will be preserved until we can get there.
Philip & Amanda
Ok, I can start....
We got word last week that there was yet another delay in proceedings, the official in the MOE in Astana is refusing to send our dossier to Ust for an unknown reason, at least this time however its nothing to do with the fact that we are from the UK and seems to be an internal problem.
Our representative in Kazakhstan is adamant that this is a very minor issue and will be dealt with quickly though having had so many knocks recently its difficult to be optimistic!
On a plus note she again emphasised how many children are available in this region, so much so in fact that the baby house is bursting at the seams and is unable to take any baby's from the maternity hospital! This makes it all the more frustrating that we are being delayed again for what is probably a very trivial reason.
We hope to have more news about our dossier/LOI at the end of the week and will post when that happens, if our dossier does finally get sent this week the MOE offical in Ust has promised to send our LOI out immediately so we should still be able to make our flights on the 24th Nov.
'It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord' Lam 3v26
Pray that our dossier will travel to Ust soon and that we can still make our flights on the 24th.
Pray that we will be guided to the right child for us and that she will be preserved until we can get there.
Philip & Amanda
Wednesday 7 November 2007
Ust Info
Still impatiently waiting for news about our LOI, we don't expect to hear anything for 10-14 days but that dosen't stop us checking our email every 10mins!!!
While we are waiting i'll post a little info and a few pics about the region we are heading too, Ust-Kamenogorsk (we can already spell it off by heart).
I got the following info from the official website, i'll also post a few photos from the baby house there before the end of the week.
Ust-Kamenogorsk city is the industrial, cultural and administrative center of the East-Kazakhstan region, city was founded in 1720 and is situated in the north-eastern part of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers, the territory makes up 54,4 thousand hectares.
The average temperature in January ranges from – 17 to –26C˚ with an absolute minimum off – 55C˚, (brrrrrr). As of October 2005 the population of the city numbers 300 900 people.
Keep praying that we will get our LOI sooner than expected and can be out and back before the end of the year.
My sister Avril is still hoping for a Christmas Miracle :)
Philip & Amanda
While we are waiting i'll post a little info and a few pics about the region we are heading too, Ust-Kamenogorsk (we can already spell it off by heart).
I got the following info from the official website, i'll also post a few photos from the baby house there before the end of the week.
Ust-Kamenogorsk city is the industrial, cultural and administrative center of the East-Kazakhstan region, city was founded in 1720 and is situated in the north-eastern part of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers, the territory makes up 54,4 thousand hectares.
The average temperature in January ranges from – 17 to –26C˚ with an absolute minimum off – 55C˚, (brrrrrr). As of October 2005 the population of the city numbers 300 900 people.
Keep praying that we will get our LOI sooner than expected and can be out and back before the end of the year.
My sister Avril is still hoping for a Christmas Miracle :)
Philip & Amanda
Saturday 3 November 2007
New Flights
We've changed the dates for our flights AGAIN!!! We are now booked for travelling out on the 24th November. Its very fustrating at the moment, days are feeling like weeks and weeks feel like months.
However we know that the Lords timing is perfect and that we will be led to the perfect child for us.
We now have a two week wait where we are unlikely to hear anything but we will update as soon as we get more news.
Keep praying that our LOI will arrive quicker than expected.
Philip & Amanda
However we know that the Lords timing is perfect and that we will be led to the perfect child for us.
We now have a two week wait where we are unlikely to hear anything but we will update as soon as we get more news.
Keep praying that our LOI will arrive quicker than expected.
Philip & Amanda
Monday 29 October 2007
The latest
I've spent the last 5 minutes writing then deleting the opening paragraph to this blog entry in order to get the right balance between being too positive and too negative. My first attempt was, aarrrgghhh!!!!!!!!!
Overall we are heading in the right direction though as usual not as quickly as we would like, our agency rang us today to say that our dossier has arrived in Ust and we should have a rough travel date by the end of the week, we will not however be able to make our flights on the 6th November.
At this stage we are looking at travelling out around the 17th-20th of November, which would mean that our chances of being back for Christmas are practically 0%. This will probably extend our stay in Kazakhstan as the whole country seems to shut down for the first couple of weeks in January. On a more positive note our agency was able to confirm that there are multiple infant girls available in the region.
Once we have a better idea of when we will be travelling we will let you all know, KEEP PRAYING!!
'For with God nothing shall be impossible' luke 1v37
Philip & Amanda
Overall we are heading in the right direction though as usual not as quickly as we would like, our agency rang us today to say that our dossier has arrived in Ust and we should have a rough travel date by the end of the week, we will not however be able to make our flights on the 6th November.
At this stage we are looking at travelling out around the 17th-20th of November, which would mean that our chances of being back for Christmas are practically 0%. This will probably extend our stay in Kazakhstan as the whole country seems to shut down for the first couple of weeks in January. On a more positive note our agency was able to confirm that there are multiple infant girls available in the region.
Once we have a better idea of when we will be travelling we will let you all know, KEEP PRAYING!!
'For with God nothing shall be impossible' luke 1v37
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 25 October 2007
The Soap Opera Continues.....
Ok, where to start?!?
We got an email this afternoon from Nicole at our agency informing us that we had feedback from the committee, good news and bad news and that she would be in touch soon....
After a lifetime of waiting (2 hours) Nicole rang us with the news, lets get the bad out of the way first...
'Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord' Thankfully we have good news to report too,
We got an email this afternoon from Nicole at our agency informing us that we had feedback from the committee, good news and bad news and that she would be in touch soon....
After a lifetime of waiting (2 hours) Nicole rang us with the news, lets get the bad out of the way first...
- Despite our best efforts the committee is unwilling to allow us to adopt from Almaty.
- The girl we were hoping to adopt is gone.
'Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord' Thankfully we have good news to report too,
- We were terrified that the problem we were facing in Almaty would prevent us from adopting anywhere else in Kazakhstan, however the MOE official assured us that this issue was an Almaty issue and we would be free to adopt elsewhere in Kaz.
- There are a number of infant girls available for adoption in Ust-Kamenogorsk which is a region in the North East of the country. Unlike Almaty this is a region which handles many intercountry adoptions and one where our agency has worked before.
- They are hopeful that we can get a LOI from this region and still make our flights on the 6th November.
We have been praying that we would have clear guidance on where we should go as a result of this meeting and the Lord has answered our prayers, Almaty is completely closed for us and the little girl we were hoping to meet has been adopted, the little girl we were due to meet in Almaty was suffering with a club foot, if she had been left in the orphanage as a result of our inability to travel it would have made it harder to take, we are thankful that the Lord has intervened and made sure she is with a family who can help her, we can now concentrate fully on travelling to Ust knowing that there are many children available there, we are also travelling to a region which our agency is comfortable with.
Praise the Lord that we have now a positive direction to go in after 6-8weeks of 'limbo'.
Pray that we get our LOI in time to make our flights and that the Lord will continue to lead and guide us.
On a totally unrelated matter, at lunchtime today Amanda noticed a grey hair in my head, i wonder why!!!!
We will keep you posted with the progress on our LOI
Philip & Amanda
Tuesday 23 October 2007
Committee Progress...
The last week has actually lasted for 0ne year and we have been going steadily insane with impatience but thankfully we have at last something positive to report!! We've just recieved an email from our agency who tell us that Alma, who is our coordinator in Kazakhstan, has set up a meeting with the MOE for Thursday. They are going to discuss our case and she is confident she will have some feedback for us on Thursday afternoon!
We have also had to put our flight times back again, they are now booked for the 6th November. This is the last time we are going to put them back!!!!!!!!!
Pray that she will have a good meeting with the committee and that they will tell her they are happy to approve our paperwork!
We have Stephen Grant with us in Cardy this week taking children's meetings and ministry meetings, this has been a help in taking our minds off our situation. Tonight we had over 100 children from around the hall in to hear the gospel which is wonderful to see!!
We will report back on Thursday evening with feedback from Alma's meeting with the MOE, KEEP PRAYING HARD!
Philip & Amanda
We have also had to put our flight times back again, they are now booked for the 6th November. This is the last time we are going to put them back!!!!!!!!!
Pray that she will have a good meeting with the committee and that they will tell her they are happy to approve our paperwork!
We have Stephen Grant with us in Cardy this week taking children's meetings and ministry meetings, this has been a help in taking our minds off our situation. Tonight we had over 100 children from around the hall in to hear the gospel which is wonderful to see!!
We will report back on Thursday evening with feedback from Alma's meeting with the MOE, KEEP PRAYING HARD!
Philip & Amanda
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Committee Update
We heard last night that the committee have not been meeting for the last number of days, they are due back today.
They haven't even looked at our letter yet but we are hopeful that they will consider it this week and make a quick decision.
Our flights for the 23rd October are now looking pretty unrealistic so we will probably have to put them back a further few weeks.
We know that Gods timing will be perfect and we appreciate all your prayers.
Pray that we will hear positive news soon
Pray that our child will continue to be preserved and protected
We will hopefully have some positive news to post soon!
Philip & Amanda
They haven't even looked at our letter yet but we are hopeful that they will consider it this week and make a quick decision.
Our flights for the 23rd October are now looking pretty unrealistic so we will probably have to put them back a further few weeks.
We know that Gods timing will be perfect and we appreciate all your prayers.
Pray that we will hear positive news soon
Pray that our child will continue to be preserved and protected
We will hopefully have some positive news to post soon!
Philip & Amanda
Friday 12 October 2007
Childrens Rights Committee 2
Just got an email from our agency, they hope to get an answer from the committee next week, keep praying that we get good news.
We will keep you posted
Philip & Amanda
We will keep you posted
Philip & Amanda
Wednesday 10 October 2007
Childrens Rights Committee 1
Alma, who is our representative in Kazakhstan was able to hand deliver our letter of answers to the Children's Rights Committee on Monday morning.
She was able to speak with one of the committee members for a few moments and give him a brief background of our case. She was told that the committee will try to address our request in the next few days and may have an answer for us by the end of the week!
We pray that this little personal touch may count in our favour and we are still hopeful for a positive outcome.
Pray that the committee will look favourably on our answers and restart our application process.
We will of course keep you updated and will post as soon as we hear anything! KEEP PRAYING.
Philip & Amanda
She was able to speak with one of the committee members for a few moments and give him a brief background of our case. She was told that the committee will try to address our request in the next few days and may have an answer for us by the end of the week!
We pray that this little personal touch may count in our favour and we are still hopeful for a positive outcome.
Pray that the committee will look favourably on our answers and restart our application process.
We will of course keep you updated and will post as soon as we hear anything! KEEP PRAYING.
Philip & Amanda
Friday 5 October 2007
Its Friday!!
Our documents finally arrived in Kazakhstan last night, they should be delivered to the committee either today or tomorrow. We now need to pray hard that the committee are happy with the answers that we have given and also have the ability to make a quick decision about restarting our application!
Also Amanda's brother Ken was released from hospital yesterday, his aneurysm has healed by itself without surgery!! In his last scan the doctors seemed to be very happy with how well it had healed up, they will bring him back in for regular scans for the next few months to check everything is still OK, Good to see God is still able to 'answer exceedingly abundantly more than we ask or think'!!
We will report back as soon as we have anything to tell you, PRAY HARD!!!
Philip & Amanda
Also Amanda's brother Ken was released from hospital yesterday, his aneurysm has healed by itself without surgery!! In his last scan the doctors seemed to be very happy with how well it had healed up, they will bring him back in for regular scans for the next few months to check everything is still OK, Good to see God is still able to 'answer exceedingly abundantly more than we ask or think'!!
We will report back as soon as we have anything to tell you, PRAY HARD!!!
Philip & Amanda
Monday 1 October 2007
Monday Update
We got the Russian translations of our responses to the Kaz authority questions back this morning and they are now winging their way to our Representative in Kazakhstan via DHL, they should arrive wed/thu.
Once Alma in Kazakhstan receives them she will hand deliver them to the 'Children Rights Protection Committee' and we wait and pray! We have answered their questions as far as UK legislation will allow, not exactly what they want to hear but the best we can do.
We should know quite quickly if they are satisfied and will post once we get an answer.
Amanda's brother Ken is doing a lot better, they have done a number of CAT scans on his head and the bleeding seems to have stopped of its own accord, his headaches also seem to be easing. Thank you to all who prayed for him, it now seems like there is nothing stopping us from getting news soon that we can travel!!!
Pray that our letters will get a good response from the Kaz committee.
Pray that they will make a quick decision and allow us to travel soon.
Pray that we will get clear guidance and direction from God
Philip & Amanda
Once Alma in Kazakhstan receives them she will hand deliver them to the 'Children Rights Protection Committee' and we wait and pray! We have answered their questions as far as UK legislation will allow, not exactly what they want to hear but the best we can do.
We should know quite quickly if they are satisfied and will post once we get an answer.
Amanda's brother Ken is doing a lot better, they have done a number of CAT scans on his head and the bleeding seems to have stopped of its own accord, his headaches also seem to be easing. Thank you to all who prayed for him, it now seems like there is nothing stopping us from getting news soon that we can travel!!!
Pray that our letters will get a good response from the Kaz committee.
Pray that they will make a quick decision and allow us to travel soon.
Pray that we will get clear guidance and direction from God
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 27 September 2007
Thursday Update
We should be getting our answer to the Kaz authorities finally put together tomorrow, we will then get it translated along with our personal cover letter and get it couriered to the proper person in Kazakhstan.
We need a lot of prayer during this time, we are unable to answer the questions with the degree of detail that the Kaz authorities require, we are also debating at the moment the best person to send it too. Our social services have done a great job and have answered the questions to the best of their ability we now need to pray that the person who receives them will be happy and will restart our application promptly.
Amanda's brother Ken is still in the Royal Hospital, the doctors haven't operated on him yet but are continuing to do tests on him, please continue to pray for him.
We still believe we are in the hands of the Lord, we will be matched with the right child for us at the right time!
'the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' phil4v7
Once we know anything more we will post again.
Philip & Amanda
We need a lot of prayer during this time, we are unable to answer the questions with the degree of detail that the Kaz authorities require, we are also debating at the moment the best person to send it too. Our social services have done a great job and have answered the questions to the best of their ability we now need to pray that the person who receives them will be happy and will restart our application promptly.
Amanda's brother Ken is still in the Royal Hospital, the doctors haven't operated on him yet but are continuing to do tests on him, please continue to pray for him.
We still believe we are in the hands of the Lord, we will be matched with the right child for us at the right time!
'the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' phil4v7
Once we know anything more we will post again.
Philip & Amanda
Tuesday 25 September 2007
Tuesday Update
We got the second part of of our prayer answered this evening, a very detailed email has just come through from our agency spelling out the specific questions which we need to answer, we have also got an additional contact in Kazakhstan to send the completed info to as well.
We will be in contact first thing in the morning with our Social Services and will try to get an official letter from them addressing the concerns of the Kaz authorities, we also need to write a cover letter from ourselves to go with it, then we need to get both copied, translated and couriered to the contacts in Kazakhstan.
Our prayer on Thursday has been answered, we now need to keep praying that once the authorities in Kazakhstan receive the letter they will make a quick decision and get us under way again.
We would also appreciate prayer for Amanda's brother, he has just been taken into hospital suffering from a brain aneurysm, he will be shortly having keyhole surgery in the Royal Hospital. This was all taking place when we should have been sitting in the departure lounge in Heathrow Airport. He is in control!
Will post again when we get more news.
Philip & Amanda
We will be in contact first thing in the morning with our Social Services and will try to get an official letter from them addressing the concerns of the Kaz authorities, we also need to write a cover letter from ourselves to go with it, then we need to get both copied, translated and couriered to the contacts in Kazakhstan.
Our prayer on Thursday has been answered, we now need to keep praying that once the authorities in Kazakhstan receive the letter they will make a quick decision and get us under way again.
We would also appreciate prayer for Amanda's brother, he has just been taken into hospital suffering from a brain aneurysm, he will be shortly having keyhole surgery in the Royal Hospital. This was all taking place when we should have been sitting in the departure lounge in Heathrow Airport. He is in control!
Will post again when we get more news.
Philip & Amanda
Monday 24 September 2007
Monday Update
We have just gotten off the phone with our agency in America and praise the Lord we have had one half of our prayer answered, we have the name and the contact details of the person who has the authority to restart our application and we have been promised the other half of our prayer tomorrow, i.e the specific question that he needs answered!
The last two days have been a nightmare as our minds worked overtime and lurched from one worst case scenario to another, however the support of other Christians has been a great source of comfort for us both, to know that people are praying for us means a lot! On Sunday morning in Cardy someone read a verse which seemed very appropriate - 'Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will show to you today. Ex 14 v13
We will update again tomorrow.
Pray that we get the specific question we need to answer tomorrow.
Pray that the contact in Kaz will be satisfied and will restart our LOI process.
Thanks for all the prayers, cards, words and texts of support, we really appreciate them all!!!
Philip & Amanda
The last two days have been a nightmare as our minds worked overtime and lurched from one worst case scenario to another, however the support of other Christians has been a great source of comfort for us both, to know that people are praying for us means a lot! On Sunday morning in Cardy someone read a verse which seemed very appropriate - 'Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will show to you today. Ex 14 v13
We will update again tomorrow.
Pray that we get the specific question we need to answer tomorrow.
Pray that the contact in Kaz will be satisfied and will restart our LOI process.
Thanks for all the prayers, cards, words and texts of support, we really appreciate them all!!!
Philip & Amanda
Friday 21 September 2007
Update...
We've spoken to a lot of people today in order to try and find a solution to this problem, including but not limited to, our social workers, Almat from the Kaz Embassy in London, our health trust, Stormont and our agency in America. Our health trust are happy to give us a letter to pass onto the kaz authorities reassuring them that the care of the child is paramount concern and that no matter what happens she would be cared for by the trust. Our biggest problem at the moment is the fact that we really don't know what the problem is!!!!
So the next step is that on Monday morning our coordinator in Kaz is going to speak with senior official in the MOE to establish (a) Who is raising this issue? and (b) What is their specific question/concern?
Once we have established this then we can start to resolve the problem and give the appropriate persons the answers they are seeking.
Pray that we will get some answers on Monday and can start planning a way ahead.
We will post again on Monday
Philip & Amanda
So the next step is that on Monday morning our coordinator in Kaz is going to speak with senior official in the MOE to establish (a) Who is raising this issue? and (b) What is their specific question/concern?
Once we have established this then we can start to resolve the problem and give the appropriate persons the answers they are seeking.
Pray that we will get some answers on Monday and can start planning a way ahead.
We will post again on Monday
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 20 September 2007
Bad News...
Just got some pretty bad news from our agency, we were hoping to get our LOI today but instead we got news that the body in Kazakhstan who issues the LOI has suspended all UK adoption documents until they clarify a legal point with the UK courts.
Its a question which we feel can be quickly answered but the wheels of bureaucracy tend to run slowly in Kazakhstan so we have no idea at this stage how long we will be delayed.
Our agency is going to try to find out some more concrete information tomorrow so that we can at least know what the Kaz authorities want from us.
We are utterly in the hands of the Lord with this situation and as he has guided us in the past we are praying that we will soon see a way forward.
Pray that the issue will be resolved soon.
Pray that our daughter will continue to be preserved till we can get there.
As soon as we have any more information we will let you know.
Philip & Amanda
Its a question which we feel can be quickly answered but the wheels of bureaucracy tend to run slowly in Kazakhstan so we have no idea at this stage how long we will be delayed.
Our agency is going to try to find out some more concrete information tomorrow so that we can at least know what the Kaz authorities want from us.
We are utterly in the hands of the Lord with this situation and as he has guided us in the past we are praying that we will soon see a way forward.
Pray that the issue will be resolved soon.
Pray that our daughter will continue to be preserved till we can get there.
As soon as we have any more information we will let you know.
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 13 September 2007
Flights are booked!
"I'd like two seats on flight KC902 from London to Almaty please". It feels quite strange to have actually booked flights, after such a long time spent waiting we are now only a few weeks from being in Kazakhstan.
We managed to catch up with Almat in the Kaz embassy earlier today to find out the lie of the land regarding our visa, we had expected to be required to travel to London the day before our flight to sort it all out, however we were surprised but happy to hear that all we needed to do was turn up at the embassy the morning of our flight and he would give us our visa over the counter.
We also spoke with Alec McLane again tonight, he has our accommodation all sorted out for us, we are going to be staying with 'brother Randal', he has even offered to come with us and carry our bags :) We are looking forward to meeting all the Christians in Almaty after hearing so much about them from Alec's reports!
The only possible fly in the ointment is our letter of invitation, we need this to arrive by Mon 24th at the very latest in order to get our visa on Tue morning and make our flight on Tue evening at 9pm, Alec told us 'of course it will arrive' so we will take his word for it!!!
Pray that the LOI will arrive in time for us to get our visa and make our flights on the 25th.
Pray that our daughter will be preserved and will continue to thrive till we can get there.
Praise God that He has brought us this far and that we are able to stay with Christians during our stay.
Will report back when we hear good news about our LOI
Philip & Amanda
ps thanks to everyone who have left comments and sent emails of support, we really appreciate them.
We managed to catch up with Almat in the Kaz embassy earlier today to find out the lie of the land regarding our visa, we had expected to be required to travel to London the day before our flight to sort it all out, however we were surprised but happy to hear that all we needed to do was turn up at the embassy the morning of our flight and he would give us our visa over the counter.
We also spoke with Alec McLane again tonight, he has our accommodation all sorted out for us, we are going to be staying with 'brother Randal', he has even offered to come with us and carry our bags :) We are looking forward to meeting all the Christians in Almaty after hearing so much about them from Alec's reports!
The only possible fly in the ointment is our letter of invitation, we need this to arrive by Mon 24th at the very latest in order to get our visa on Tue morning and make our flight on Tue evening at 9pm, Alec told us 'of course it will arrive' so we will take his word for it!!!
Pray that the LOI will arrive in time for us to get our visa and make our flights on the 25th.
Pray that our daughter will be preserved and will continue to thrive till we can get there.
Praise God that He has brought us this far and that we are able to stay with Christians during our stay.
Will report back when we hear good news about our LOI
Philip & Amanda
ps thanks to everyone who have left comments and sent emails of support, we really appreciate them.
Saturday 8 September 2007
Back on track!
Watch this space, three weeks from now we should be writing this blog from Kazakhstan!!!
We met with our paediatrician yesterday and she was happy with the limited medical information we have for our child, we would have loved a photo as well but it seems that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get any information from the orphanage prior to travel. All we know at this stage is that she is 4 months old, small but healthy and has a minor correctable problem with her right foot, something which would probably effect her all her life in Kazakhstan but easily fixed here.
We believe that we have been led very definitely by God to this region and this child and we will continue to leave everything in His hands...
Our letter of invitation should arrive around 21st Sept and we hope to be on the 21.15 flight from London to Almaty on Tuesday 25th Sept.
Pray that we can keep on schedule with these dates.
Pray that our daughter will continue to grow and thrive.
We intend to post photos and video clips every day while we are in Kazakhstan, I'm going to attempt to post a short clip of our cot as a wee trial run, hopefully this works!!
Philip & Amanda
We met with our paediatrician yesterday and she was happy with the limited medical information we have for our child, we would have loved a photo as well but it seems that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get any information from the orphanage prior to travel. All we know at this stage is that she is 4 months old, small but healthy and has a minor correctable problem with her right foot, something which would probably effect her all her life in Kazakhstan but easily fixed here.
We believe that we have been led very definitely by God to this region and this child and we will continue to leave everything in His hands...
Our letter of invitation should arrive around 21st Sept and we hope to be on the 21.15 flight from London to Almaty on Tuesday 25th Sept.
Pray that we can keep on schedule with these dates.
Pray that our daughter will continue to grow and thrive.
We intend to post photos and video clips every day while we are in Kazakhstan, I'm going to attempt to post a short clip of our cot as a wee trial run, hopefully this works!!
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 30 August 2007
Two steps forward.....
And one step back, that's what it feels like at the moment anyway! After being promised photos and more medical information by Mon/Tue of this week we have just found out that the coordinator who works in the Almaty region has been called away on a 'family emergency' for a week. It's frustrating but something which has become all too familiar over the last few years!The latest news is that our agency will receive the updated info on Mon of next week, Mon just happens to be the Labour Day holiday in America (typical) so we should get the information by Tuesday lunchtime. We already have a meeting set up with our paediatrician on Tue/Wed of next week so it should be in time for that.
Our revised timetable is as follows -
Confirm acceptance of the child after our paediatrician meeting next week.
Apply for letter of invitation which should arrive 20th Sept.
Sort visa and book flights and be in Almaty last week in September.
Pray that our paediatrician will be happy with the latest medical and photos and will give us permission to travel.
Pray that the paperwork will travel quickly.
To keep you all going here is a pic of some kids from an Kazakhstan orphanage :)
Philip & Amanda
Saturday 25 August 2007
Getting there...
OK, we seem to be getting somewhere, we are almost matched with a little girl in Almaty. Our agency have said that in all the years they have been organising inter-country adoption they have never seen a child this young being made available for adoption before, (we like it when they say things like this as it helps to remind us who is REALLY in control of our situation)!!
She is not quite 4 months old and very very tiny, she was born 5 weeks premature and is still only 8 lbs. However she is gaining weight and growing in all categories and her brief medical states that she is healthy and developing well.
Our next step is a photo and a little more info from Kazakhstan on Tuesday then a meeting with our health trust paediatrician later on that week, if everyone is happy we will get permission to travel and three weeks later we should be in Kazakhstan, woohoo !!!
Pray that the info from Kazakhstan which we receive on Tuesday will be good.
Pray that the meeting with our paediatrician will go well and we will be approved to travel.
Pray that our letter of invitation from Almaty will arrive quickly.
Pray that our little girl will continue to grow and thrive.
I will post an update next week as soon as we have met our health trust.
Philip & Amanda
She is not quite 4 months old and very very tiny, she was born 5 weeks premature and is still only 8 lbs. However she is gaining weight and growing in all categories and her brief medical states that she is healthy and developing well.
Our next step is a photo and a little more info from Kazakhstan on Tuesday then a meeting with our health trust paediatrician later on that week, if everyone is happy we will get permission to travel and three weeks later we should be in Kazakhstan, woohoo !!!
Pray that the info from Kazakhstan which we receive on Tuesday will be good.
Pray that the meeting with our paediatrician will go well and we will be approved to travel.
Pray that our letter of invitation from Almaty will arrive quickly.
Pray that our little girl will continue to grow and thrive.
I will post an update next week as soon as we have met our health trust.
Philip & Amanda
Tuesday 21 August 2007
Still waiting....
They say 'no news is good news', they were wrong!!!!!
We find ourselves in a strange limbo like state between possibly, maybe, probably being matched with a child but having absolutely no information or confirmation that this is the case. We were speaking with our agency this evening and they have told us not to worry as it is quite normal for the coordinators in Kazakhstan to promise information by a certain date then hear nothing for a week!
We leave these things with the Lord and trust that we will get some good news and more information this week, thank you all for continuing to pray for us, we really appreciate it!
Hopefully in our next post we will have something more positive to report.
Philip & Amanda
We find ourselves in a strange limbo like state between possibly, maybe, probably being matched with a child but having absolutely no information or confirmation that this is the case. We were speaking with our agency this evening and they have told us not to worry as it is quite normal for the coordinators in Kazakhstan to promise information by a certain date then hear nothing for a week!
We leave these things with the Lord and trust that we will get some good news and more information this week, thank you all for continuing to pray for us, we really appreciate it!
Hopefully in our next post we will have something more positive to report.
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 16 August 2007
Bumps in the road
The only sure thing about international adoption is that it's unsure, we experienced that again tonight as we found out that the child which we had been matched with in Arkalyk is no longer available, it seems that once her maternal grandmother was informed that she was going to be adopted she decided to take her out of the orphanage and take her home.
Naturally we are disappointed but throughout this journey we have been praying that the Lord would guide us to the exact region, exact orphanage and exact child He wants us to adopt and we believe that this is part of His plan for us, it also means that a child who was placed in an orphanage has been taken home to live with her family again.
Thankfully after delivering the bad news our agency had good news for us as well, they have identified a girl who is available about 1000 miles east of Arkalyk in the former capital city Almaty, they have no further information yet but by Mon/Tue of next week they should be able to confirm her age, health, availability, etc. in greater detail.
We can already see the hand of God, Almaty was always our first region of choice as this is the city where Alex McLean has visited, it is also where Phil Wagner and 'Spiritual Freedom' works however 0ur agency had previously told us it was unlikely as they had never worked there before and the region had only recently reopened for adoption after being closed for a while.
If we do get to travel there it will mean that we will be able to enjoy the fellowship of other Christians during our time in Kazakhstan there is also a chance we will be able to stay in the house owned by Spiritual Freedom. We will also be able to avoid travelling in the country, the Arkalyk trip would have meant an extra return flight plus a 30 hour return train journey!!!
Pray that we will receive good news next week.
Pray that Almaty will be confirmed as our region.
Pray that our paperwork will make its way safely and quickly from Arkalyk to Almaty.
'For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him. 1Sam 1v27.
Philip & Amanda
Naturally we are disappointed but throughout this journey we have been praying that the Lord would guide us to the exact region, exact orphanage and exact child He wants us to adopt and we believe that this is part of His plan for us, it also means that a child who was placed in an orphanage has been taken home to live with her family again.
Thankfully after delivering the bad news our agency had good news for us as well, they have identified a girl who is available about 1000 miles east of Arkalyk in the former capital city Almaty, they have no further information yet but by Mon/Tue of next week they should be able to confirm her age, health, availability, etc. in greater detail.
We can already see the hand of God, Almaty was always our first region of choice as this is the city where Alex McLean has visited, it is also where Phil Wagner and 'Spiritual Freedom' works however 0ur agency had previously told us it was unlikely as they had never worked there before and the region had only recently reopened for adoption after being closed for a while.
If we do get to travel there it will mean that we will be able to enjoy the fellowship of other Christians during our time in Kazakhstan there is also a chance we will be able to stay in the house owned by Spiritual Freedom. We will also be able to avoid travelling in the country, the Arkalyk trip would have meant an extra return flight plus a 30 hour return train journey!!!
Pray that we will receive good news next week.
Pray that Almaty will be confirmed as our region.
Pray that our paperwork will make its way safely and quickly from Arkalyk to Almaty.
'For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him. 1Sam 1v27.
Philip & Amanda
Sunday 12 August 2007
God is Good
Its been a long time coming but we are just about ready to negotiate the final few obstacles on our adoption path, the Lord has been good to us, especially in the last number of months and we have caught right up with people who started the whole process a couple of years ahead of us. Its good to reflect and give thanks to God for what He has done!
At the beginning of the year our adoption dossier was sent to an agency in the UK called the DFES, it should have been there for 2 months, it came back in 4 weeks!
Our dossier was sent to Kazakhstan in March for translation, its meant to take 8 weeks then once back with us it has to be copied twice and both copies notarised and legalised, it came back in 6 weeks with 2 legalised and notarised copies included! Something which our agency could not believe and have never heard of before!
We then went to England to meet Almat at the Kaz embassy in London to hand over our dossier for processing and dispatch to Kazakhstan, this stage takes on average 3 months and has taken up to 6 months in the past. We rang Almat 2 weeks after our return and he told us it was already processed and in Kazakhstan!!!
Once our dossier entered the information black hole that is the Kazakhstan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minstry of Education we were told to expect to hear nothing for 3 months, being told that the head honcho was on holiday for a month didn't encourage us! We also expected to have to wait a number of months after our approval before we would be refered a child, thankfully we have a God who 'is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think' Eph 3v20. Not only have we been approved but we were also told that there is a child available immediately!
We are now waiting for the region we are travelling too to issue a letter of invitation (LOI) we need this to get our visa to enter Kazakhstan, once we get that and a few other bits and bobs we are on our way!!!
Pray that we will hear good news about our LOI this week.
I know that was a big chunk of text to get through but it is really encouraging to look back and see the Lords hand guiding and leading us, not only for us but also for all who are praying for our progress.
I promise the next post will have more pictures and less talking!! :)
Philip & Amanda
At the beginning of the year our adoption dossier was sent to an agency in the UK called the DFES, it should have been there for 2 months, it came back in 4 weeks!
Our dossier was sent to Kazakhstan in March for translation, its meant to take 8 weeks then once back with us it has to be copied twice and both copies notarised and legalised, it came back in 6 weeks with 2 legalised and notarised copies included! Something which our agency could not believe and have never heard of before!
We then went to England to meet Almat at the Kaz embassy in London to hand over our dossier for processing and dispatch to Kazakhstan, this stage takes on average 3 months and has taken up to 6 months in the past. We rang Almat 2 weeks after our return and he told us it was already processed and in Kazakhstan!!!
Once our dossier entered the information black hole that is the Kazakhstan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minstry of Education we were told to expect to hear nothing for 3 months, being told that the head honcho was on holiday for a month didn't encourage us! We also expected to have to wait a number of months after our approval before we would be refered a child, thankfully we have a God who 'is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think' Eph 3v20. Not only have we been approved but we were also told that there is a child available immediately!
We are now waiting for the region we are travelling too to issue a letter of invitation (LOI) we need this to get our visa to enter Kazakhstan, once we get that and a few other bits and bobs we are on our way!!!
Pray that we will hear good news about our LOI this week.
I know that was a big chunk of text to get through but it is really encouraging to look back and see the Lords hand guiding and leading us, not only for us but also for all who are praying for our progress.
I promise the next post will have more pictures and less talking!! :)
Philip & Amanda
Thursday 9 August 2007
A little about Kaz
If you know as much about Kazakhstan as we did before we started this whole process you may appreciate a little more info about the country, where it is in the world, it's people, etc. The following is all my own work and is definitely not ripped wholesale from wikipedia! ;)
Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of northern and central Eurasia. Ranked the ninth largest country in the world, it has a territory of 2,717,300 km² (bigger than Western Europe). While located mainly in Asia, a small portion lies to the west of the Ural River and is technically in Europe. It borders Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea.
Despite its vast size, much of the land consists of semi-desert (steppe) terrain. In terms of population, Kazakhstan ranks 62nd in the world, with a population density of less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The total population has declined somewhat since independence, dropping from 16,464,464 in 1989 to 15,300,000 in 2006.
The city we will be adopting from is a small mining city in central Kazakhstan called Arkalyk around 45,000 people live in the city. Historically Arkalyk was a centre for the Soviet space programme. Cosmonauts would land on the huge central Kazakh steppe and come back to Arkalyk before heading to the Baikonur, the Union's premier "space city".
By monday we hope to have firmer information about when we can travel from our coordinator in Arkalyk, a Mr Baurzhan Mukambedzhanov, if anyone has any suggestions how on earth you would pronounce his name we would be more than happy to hear them!!
We will keep you posted!
Philip & Amanda
Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of northern and central Eurasia. Ranked the ninth largest country in the world, it has a territory of 2,717,300 km² (bigger than Western Europe). While located mainly in Asia, a small portion lies to the west of the Ural River and is technically in Europe. It borders Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea.
Despite its vast size, much of the land consists of semi-desert (steppe) terrain. In terms of population, Kazakhstan ranks 62nd in the world, with a population density of less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The total population has declined somewhat since independence, dropping from 16,464,464 in 1989 to 15,300,000 in 2006.
The city we will be adopting from is a small mining city in central Kazakhstan called Arkalyk around 45,000 people live in the city. Historically Arkalyk was a centre for the Soviet space programme. Cosmonauts would land on the huge central Kazakh steppe and come back to Arkalyk before heading to the Baikonur, the Union's premier "space city".
By monday we hope to have firmer information about when we can travel from our coordinator in Arkalyk, a Mr Baurzhan Mukambedzhanov, if anyone has any suggestions how on earth you would pronounce his name we would be more than happy to hear them!!
We will keep you posted!
Philip & Amanda
Wednesday 8 August 2007
Lets try some photos...
We spoke with our agency today and they confirmed that everything is still on schedual for travelling before the end of August, we were also greatly reassured about our travel and accomodation arrangements as well, praise the Lord!
I've found a few pictures online from the exact orphanage in Arkalyk we will be visiting, i'm going to attempt to host a few pics here, hopefully this works out ok...
All we have to do now is wait for our letter of invitation to be issued for the Ministry of Education in Kazakhstan, we need this in order to apply for an adoption visa to enter the country. Its going to be kinda hard to concentrate for the next few weeks!!!!
Philip & Amanda
First Ever Entry
Hey All
This is the first entry in our blog recording our adoption journey from Ballywalter in Northern Ireland all the way to Arkalyk in Northern Kazakstan and back again with our new daughter :)
I'm a bit new to the whole blogging experience so hopefully I'll pick it up as i go along...
We will try to keep you all updated with our progress everyday along with a few pictures, requests for prayer and we trust reasons to praise the Lord for answered prayer!
After 3 years of jumping through social services hoops and wading through miles of red tape we are finally approved to adopt from Kazakhstan and stand excitedly at the starting line of our adoption journey, today we will be speaking with our agency and hope to get more information on when we can travel, how we get there and where we will be staying when we arrive.
Pray that we will get good news from our agency today and that we will be allowed to travel as soon as we get our visa.
Praise the Lord that He has brought us to this stage so quickly, the best we could have realistically hoped for at the beginning of the year was to travel in Dec/Jan.
OK, think that's enough to get started, I'll add a few pictures and start making the blog look a bit fancier once i work out what I'm doing :)
Philip & Amanda
This is the first entry in our blog recording our adoption journey from Ballywalter in Northern Ireland all the way to Arkalyk in Northern Kazakstan and back again with our new daughter :)
I'm a bit new to the whole blogging experience so hopefully I'll pick it up as i go along...
We will try to keep you all updated with our progress everyday along with a few pictures, requests for prayer and we trust reasons to praise the Lord for answered prayer!
After 3 years of jumping through social services hoops and wading through miles of red tape we are finally approved to adopt from Kazakhstan and stand excitedly at the starting line of our adoption journey, today we will be speaking with our agency and hope to get more information on when we can travel, how we get there and where we will be staying when we arrive.
Pray that we will get good news from our agency today and that we will be allowed to travel as soon as we get our visa.
Praise the Lord that He has brought us to this stage so quickly, the best we could have realistically hoped for at the beginning of the year was to travel in Dec/Jan.
OK, think that's enough to get started, I'll add a few pictures and start making the blog look a bit fancier once i work out what I'm doing :)
Philip & Amanda
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