Hello and Goodbye, Bolivia!

Of the past five nights, Angie and I have spent three in transit, reclining as well as we could on buses and planes, finally getting back to our cozy beds last night. Today, as I wade through a sea of laundry, emails, grocery and to-do lists, I pray she's staying bright and alert through her first day of middle school. But even if she's a bit drowsy as they train her on such important sixth-grade skills as opening her coveted locker, I'm confident she'd say it was worth it.

Angie's best friend Maria, on her first day of school this year in Santa Cruz.

Going back to Bolivia, if only for a week, was a great way for Angie to visit old friends and stomping grounds, such as her school, her orphanage, and our church. She can be introspective, but not on demand, so I can't be sure how it affected her to see some of the poverty, and the despair of the kiddos she grew up with. But more than reverse culture shock I think what she experienced might be called reverse language shock. Returning to your mother tongue after a nine month hiatus, turned out to be more difficult than we'd anticipated. Don't worry, we'll try to be more intentional about maintaining her Spanish, it's just that her English still isn't perfect... Now, sometimes the poor kid can't figure out how to express herself in any language!

For me, it was an awesome opportunity to touch base with all our Latin ministries; see how some of them needed encouragement, and see others growing. My next prayer letter shares about lots of these updates, but to tide you over until September, I'll say that our final adoption follow-up was a success! 

Sunday, was one of the busier days of our trip. I started the morning with a long jog with my dear friends. Then we had the treat of attending La Viña our sweet little Vineyard church, with the sweetest part being the company of our first-time guests, Moira and her husband Ariel. Moira is the vet I carried the ultrasound machine down for. It was awesome to see her and her husband flipping through the pages of my old Spanish Bible I'd left with her last fall. And when the message brought tears to her eyes, it gave me hope that maybe they'll get involved and give in to the Lord's loving pursuit of them.

Enjoying church with vet friends at my side and sponsor child in my arms...

After church, Moira and Ariel joined us for lunch and then came to our VetRed party. A little get together with quesadillas, empanadas, and an assortment of other goodies was a great way to catch up with many of the people I worked with in Santa Cruz for three years. And it was wonderful to be able to connect some students, vets, and university faculty with each other in hopes that they'll continue to share in ministry even when we're not around.

VetRed Gathering

Oh, here comes Angie off the bus, time to stop daydreaming about South America and get back to the realities of life in Kentucky. Bolivia, we'll be praying for you and missing you. Vaya con Dios siempre. And know that you are loved.

Angie's First Mom

“Nice to see you again, Bolivia,” Angie said nonchalantly in perfect English as our plane touched down in Santa Cruz, like she were talking to an old friend.  An old friend she’d grown up with, but had been separated from by many miles and worlds of difference, for nine months.

Visiting Talita Cumi yesterday.

Later, the same day, while squeezing lemons into fresh lemonade, she just as casually shared story after story of her life before—with her other family--to Heidi Janecke. Heidi was one of my closest friends when we served in Bolivia, as she’s my CVM colleague Bill’s husband. But her ministry goes far beyond supporting her veterinary missionary man, she has been integral in the day to day operations of Talita Cumi Children’s Home, where Angie lived for a year between her other family, and her current one--us. During the more than 12 years Talita Cumi has served Bolivia’s children, Heidi has seen more than 500 kids come and go in countless fashions. But only one has come back to share their story with her in English. The beauty of this moment was not lost on Heidi as Angie poured out some of her most vulnerable memories in her newfound comfort, confidence, and language.

Their conversation ranged from Angie’s incredulity that people would force their five year-old children to cook dinner, to her curiosity about why her birth parents left her all those years ago. To this, Heidi wisely responded that maybe her parents didn’t have enough money to take care of her, maybe her mom was trying to do what was best for her. And later, when Heidi recounted this exchange to me, I started to wonder about Angie’s biological mother as well. I’ve heard innumerable stories about the family who raised her, but about the family who first left her, none of us really knows anything.

Maybe her mother was in a desperate situation; young, poor, unprepared… Maybe she was honestly hoping to give her baby a better life, opportunities she could not herself offer. To this new mom I’ve invented in my head, the sweet, scared, overwhelmed girl, who wanted all the best for Angie, I so wish I could show her the young lady she’s become.

Would she have imagined in a million years that her daughter would be growing up with two gringos, in a Cape Cod house in KY? Would she guess the path her childhood would take; from the abusive home, to the orphanage, to a family in the US, then back to the orphanage where she’d teach the other children English. Could she have known her baby would go from sometimes sleeping on the streets in Santa Cruz to regularly serving the homeless in Louisville?

Angie tutoring one of the home's newest kiddos for her English test today.

Heidi says we’ll get to show Angie's birth mom all of this in Heaven. But I pray she can sleep in peace tonight, wherever she may be, resting assured her beloved child is loved by sooo many. Overcoming so many obstacles, growing into a compassionate, educated, gorgeous, well-rounded, daughter of not just both of us, but of her Heavenly Father as well. To Him be the glory, for this miracle story only He could write. A page turner I can’t seem to put down, and can’t wait to see unfold….

Huge Answer to Prayer!!

Last Thursday night, I posted this status on Facebook:

"Huge prayer request friends -- Angie and I go in for an interview tomorrow morning at 9:30 with immigration. Lord willing, afterward, she'll be a U.S. permanent resident!"

By Friday morning there were a lot of likes, and quite a few comments, as we went in for our meeting with a very nice immigration officer. As nice as he was though, he did not grant Angie permanent residency, on the contrary he actually had some doubts and told me he'd need to research it further, and he'd let me know in a couple months.

I was, of course, dejected, and made a comment on the status above that we hadn't gotten residency that day. But most people didn't notice my comment, and many MANY people continued to "like" and even comment throughout the weekend, as if the interview were still in the future. Honestly, it got a little annoying. I don't think I've ever had 133 people "like" anything I've posted, let alone something that was so frustrating and disappointing. But for some reason, I didn't just erase the status, as would have made sense. 

This morning, the immigration officer left me a voicemail, which reignited fresh hope, and I dropped to my knees in prayer as soon as I heard his message. When I opened my eyes, I immediately saw the file containing some of the documents we'd been looking for! 

I'll spare you the laborious details of the following hours (during which I ambushed the nice man on his lunch break) and instead show you the result:

Angie Was Granted Her U.S. Permanent Residency!!!!!

I think that warrants some caps and bold font. It's been a long road, Baby! One where we moved back to Bolivia for four months to fulfill the requirements, and have been filing paperwork since our return last December.  One where no local lawyers would touch our case with a ten foot pole, so we navigated the muddy waters on our own.  And one where we made some mistakes, including a $1500 error in timing our trip back to visit Bolivia last month. 

But now the horizon looks pretty clear, the citizenship and Jon's adoption of her, seem like smooth sailing compared to the obstacles we've already overcome.

On Sunday, we leave for the trip to Bolivia we had planned for July. Thank you so much for your prayers, even the ones that came after the interview, when I thought they were useless. It just proves that God is timeless, and His timing is not always ours.

If you read my last post, you might be wondering if I revisited my knees to thank God for His goodness, as I had so easily sunk to them in petition. I did, but it was hard to stay down there, as I'm light as a feather with relief, and feel much more liking leaping for joy than holding still!!!

If you're interested in supporting our work in Bolivia, or here in the US, please partner with us here. As always, we covet your prayers.