Wow, has it really been since April that we first posted? Such exciting news- after 14 months of waiting, our agency in Russia has achieved accredidation. Now, for those of you who are not in the process of adopting- you may ask- what does that mean? Let's back up to May of 2006.
In an effort to remove corruption and be able to provide follow-through on adopted children, the Russian government shut down the accredation process, putting everything on hold until it could be revamped. They created a whole new "ministry", similar to a department in our government. By doing this, any agency wishing to place a child internationally into a family had to now seek approval from 2 different agencies. This newly created agency granted what is called "NGO status"- or non-governmental organization. Our agency received this approval in January. We were sooo excited- we were looking forward to hearing more on our child.
As often happens when revampting a system, there have been more delays. However, on July 19, 2007, we received the incredible news that, after 14 months of nothing, our agency is now accredited!!!!!-(this being granted through the original agency- the second I mentioned )Whhoooo Hoooo!!!! It was such an exciting moment for us both- as Tim stood there calmly with a big smile, I jumped all around, clapping my hands, crying, and praising God for the first movement we've seen for sooo long.
We then got the exciting news that, since our dossier (the completed paperwork required to adopt- it was almost 5 pounds when we mailed it in) was just newly updated and in great order that we may be able to go ahead and have it placed in a region very quickly. Again, you may ask- sooo, what does that mean? It means that in the vastness of Russia, we will have our search narrowed down to a particular region. (like a state in the USA).
Once we have a region, we will find our search narrowed even more, to a specific baby home and then we will receive that long awaited phone call, telling us that our child has been found- the one that God has placed in our hearts for so long!
I must admit, if I were comparing this to a NASCAR race- I'd say that we've been red flagged for 14 months, we've just gone back to yellow and we are looking forward to very soon having that green flag waving, as we soar ahead and finish the race God has set before us.
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