In the grand scheme of things, what is a couple of years? How long is long enough to wait? When is it time to "fish or cut bait"? More to the point . . . is it time to look in a different direction for Sunshine?
Now . . . we don't take this lightly, we never have, but if she's not in Albania or if God is moving in a different direction, who are we to keep Him in one spot. The doors to Albania for International Adoptions have been closing for the past year. We knew that. That was the subject of our blog back in September of 2009. By no means do we regret the decision to stick with the Albania Program. I don’t pretend to know the timing of God or even the reasons that He leads us in certain directions. The only thing I do know is that He is in control . . . and wherever He is leading, that’s the direction that I want to be going too.
The long and short of it is this . . . Albania referrals to the US have declined steadily over the past 3 years (from 13 in 2008, 5 in 2009 and 0 in 2010). The likelihood of receiving a referral now is very slim. Even though we are #2 on the list, this doesn’t help us if they decide to not refer any children. There are currently no other US agencies working in Albania and Bethany is not accepting new families, while encouraging existing families to consider other programs.
What’s up with those Albanians, you may ask. Well, from what we understand, it is actually good news. It seems the Albanians are doing a very good job in the development of their Foster Care System and referring children for adoption both in country and regionally (Greece, Italy, etc). For lack of a better term, they are becoming “healthy” and need less and less US help with their children. We continue to pray for the well being of the Albanian orphans and hope that God will see this through to every child finding a home in that wonderful country. Unless things change and by some miracle we receive a referral from Albania, I will regret not having the opportunity to visit and learn the culture.
So the question remains . . . where to turn? There are so many places that children need homes. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are in a relationship with a great Agency that has programs with some countries that hold our interest. Right now, the two at the top of the list are China and Russia. Both have major pros and major cons, but at the end of the day, we just need to go with what feels right and fits best with our family setup. What I mean by this is that there are restrictions that both countries have for adoptive parents (mostly medical). If we pass those, there is a decision to make, if not, it may be a bit clearer. More on that later . . .
So, we’re heading off on vacation next week and we’ve given ourselves a deadline. We will be praying and talking and praying some more about where. By the end of the month, we will have a direction.
Prayer Request: direction, direction, direction. Please pray that God will grant us a vision for where we should go. Pray that we would have favor with both the new country as well as the agency. Bethany has been great to deal with, but the process for all of this is expensive and gets more expensive with a switch in programs. If we go with Russia, there could be significantly more expense. Please pray that God would still provide for us financially through all of this.
Thank you for continuing to be interested in our posts and for your continued support.
