Man_of_Melissa's Xanga

Video and Pix from Rwanda

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:28:27 GMT

Here is a website that shows a "Gotcha Day" video and some pix of some of the families from AWAA (our agency) who are currently in Rwanda getting their children.

http://lifechange.typepad.com/

Janaya's Vocabulary and Adoption Update

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:38:15 GMT

For a four year old Janaya loves to try out new words, even if she has no idea what they mean. For the last few months she has been letting big fancy words flow from her lips like she knew what she was doing, but it is often pretty obvious that her understanding has yet to arrive. She was listening to Melissa quiz Josiah over his spelling words, and later that day she got my attention and then sincerely proclaimed, "Daddy, I love you OCCASIONALLY!" She thought it was a good thing, and we had a great laugh. Several times.

Well, we are in one of the longest "quiet times" in our adoption journey. The paper chase has been over for a couple of months, and we are currently waiting for approval. Here is where we currently stand.

Our DTR (Dossier to Rwanda) date was June 12.
Average Time to Approval: 2 to 5 months. We are currently a little over two months into this stage.
Average Additional Time to Referral: 3-6 weeks.
Average Additional Time to Court Date: 3-6 weeks.
Average Additional Time to Travel: 1-3 weeks.

There has been a lot of activity this week with people in our Rwandan Yahoo Group. People who were DTR in March and April have been getting approvals. This does not necessarily mean much because things are not always done in order, but it does show that the program is moving along nicely.

Demolition Derby

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:06:35 GMT

I grew up in a pulp and paper town with gold mines nearby, and sometimes I like to get back to my blue collar roots since I have a white collar pastoring job in a white collar church. Josiah and I went to the Demolition Derby at the Greene County Fair on Tuesday night. The derby itself was not the most exciting this time, partially due to the fact that the number of entries was down a bit on Tuesday as compared to Fridays in the past. But we were entertained by T-shirt slogans--we passed the 40 minute wait by eating popcorn and peanuts and reading redneck T-shirts. Here were three of them.

On an older/middle-aged woman with a long white pony tail: "I don't need your attitude--I've got my own!"

On a guy in his twenties with a long brown goatee and a long brown pony tail: "Hey, that thing got a hemi? Sweet!"

On a middle school girl with a brown pony tail and blonde highlights (what is with all of the T-shirt slogans and pony tails?): "Life is good. Horses make it better."

Ah, yes. Back amongst my people. HAHA.

A Rwanda Adoption Update

Mon, 04 May 2009 15:52:12 GMT

I just got off the phone with our adoption coordinator, and here is the latest update.

Tomorrow our dossier is heading to Kigali, Rwanda. Here is the approximate timetable from here forward based on current trends.

Time to Approval: 2 to 4 1/2 months.
Additional Time to Referral: 3-6 weeks.
Additional Time to Court Date: 3-6 weeks.
Additional Time to Travel: 1-3 weeks.

So what does all this mean? The earliest times add up to the end of August, and the later times come out to the first half of January. So this would seem to be our range. Things are moving along.

We would appreciate any prayers on our behalf concerning the match. We have requested two siblings as young as possible, but that is not a guarantee. We are open to either sex, and we requested not older than 48 months. Our adoption coordinator thinks that it is doable, but plenty can happen in an international adoption.

Bits and Pieces

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:27:14 GMT

Bad news of the day: Dayton is losing its professional hockey team, the Dayton Bombers, at least for one year. There is not enough corporate support and not enough community support in this current economy they say. Personally, although those factors are realities, I also think that they need to market the Bombers and hockey a lot better.

Best saying of the week: "Don't become a pessimist. It wouldn't work out anyway."

Something I never really knew before: when my hair grows out a bit, it is actually somewhat curly. Not super curly, but not too straight, either. I don't really know what to do with longer hair (at least mine), and I don't really plan on leaving it that way long enough to figure it out. :)

Is there such a thing as a man's musical? Josiah and I watched Newsies last week (I had seen it years ago), and he liked it a lot. It is pretty rough and tumble in places, and the guys in the film do some pretty athletic stuff. We had some good conversations about the way sin affects both unions/working men and owners/wealthy men. The world view presented is not biblical, but it is based on a true story around the turn of the century. It is also interesting to think of a young Englishman named Christian Bale copping a New York accent for the film.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:44:57 GMT

Well, Melissa made it back to the USCIS office this morning to redo her fingerprints, and it seems like they liked her fingertips a bit better this time. Either way, we think this would be her last go at it.

Our home study has been completed, and most of our dossier is compiled, so pretty soon we will be dealing with notarization, county seal, certification, and authentication. Don't ask. Let's just say that things are cooking along nicely.

On a different note, I am becoming less and less of a Dell fan. Here is a quick summary of my attempt to reconcile an issue for a church purchase.

Dial number and listen to music for a while.
Talk to foreign person #1.
Dial new number and listen to music for a while.
Talk to foreign person #2.
Listen to music for a while while waiting to be transferred.
Talk to foreign person #3.
Finish series of conversations no farther along than when I started.

Really not a fan. I have kind of liked Dell for some time, but I am ready to find other sources that are cheaper, friendlier, and accent-free. I love people of all nations, but when I am dealing with business issues over the phone, I want someone EFL (English as a first language).

Adoption Update and Time to Remember

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:43:41 GMT

Yesterday afternoon we all went to Lima, OH for our last meeting with our America World adoption social worker from OH. We met at a "McCafe" McDonald's with the best PlayPlace that I have ever seen. Josiah and Janaya played for two hours without much of a problem. Janaya would just come by our table every little bit to "check in" with us.

The adoption process often reminds us of our days in Sterling/Rock Falls, IL because we spent a lot of time working on Janaya's adoption up there. There were a number of things that we were talking about yesterday that really made us remember those days:

The home study process really makes you focus on your house, and we were thinking about our Rock Falls neighborhood and our little cape cod.
We had to amend a number of our documents concerning employment. I went from Providence Baptist Church to Industrial Waterjet to Unemployed to Kemp Road Baptist Church. Even though we were very frustrated at times with the delays, we are very thankful that we didn't have to try to fly to China in the middle of the chaos of 2005.
We have been ministering at Kemp Road Baptist Church about as long as we did at Providence. We were in IL for a little over four years, but I was only pastoring for about three years and four months. We will reach the "three years and four months" milestone at KRBC at the end of March.

We are still using the copier that the folks from Providence let us have after the church disbanded, and I think about them just about every time that I use it.

On the adoption front, our homestudy is about done, and we actually have most of our dossier paperwork gathered. It will still be a few weeks before we can get everything notarized, certified, etc., but our social worker thought that we were moving along rather quickly. Since I have been driving the paperwork on this adoption, I would rather get it done in the winter anyway. When spring comes, I will have lawn mowing and other yard work to do, and we will need to turn our attention to getting ready for the possibility of two more children coming into our home. I know Melissa is starting to think about clothes, and after we know who we are getting, we will need to address sleeping arrangements as well.

USCIS did not like Melissa's fingerprints, so she has to go back in a little over a week to try again. We knew that this could happen, but we were kind of hoping they would be fine. Not really a big deal, but the folks in that building in Cincy are not going to win any customer service awards--that is a more certain fact than bailout failure.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:52:03 GMT

I think that Title quote is from the magician on Frosty the Snowman the cartoon. Between working on the home study, taking a seminary class, going to a marriage retreat, regular church work, and having all four of us come down with colds, things have been pretty full.

We are making good progress with the home study. Here is where it currently stands.
A: Ohio Application (JFS 01691) DONE
B: AWAA Contracts & Agreements DONE
C: Release of Information for Adoption DONE
D: Copies of all Birth Certificates DONE
E: Copy of Marriage License DONE
F: Copies of all Divorce Decrees/Death Certificates NA
G: Financial Statement (JFS 01681) DONE, BUT WAITING TO MATCH FIGURES WITH DOSSIER
H: Medical Statements (JFS 01653) (For all family members) IN PROCESS; APPOINTMENTS BEING MADE AND CONDUCTED
I: Well Water Test (If Applicable) NA
J: Fire Inspection (JFS 01200) DONE
K: Photo Listing Waiver (JFS 01614) DONE
L: Child Abuse Clearance WAITING ON IL AND OH TO SEND INFO BACK
M: Tax Forms – Past 5 Years (First Page of 1040 Only) DONE
N: BCII Fingerprint Clearance – Original WE DID OUR PART; WAITING FOR THE RESULTS
O: FBI Fingerprint Clearance – Original (If applicable) SAME AS N ABOVE
P: Local Police Dept. Letters – Copies DONE
Q: Letters from Employers – Copies DONE
R: Insurance Verification (Medical & Auto) DONE
S: Guardianship Agreement DONE
T: Autobiographies DONE
U: International Disclaimer DONE
V: Reading Agreement DONE; NOT THE READING, BUT THE AGREEMENT :)
W: Safety Audit DONE
X: Training WAITING FOR OUR SOCIAL WORKER TO DO THIS LATER
Y: Reference Letters ADDRESSES SUBMITTED; NOT SURE IF THE LETTERS HAVE BEEN SENT

We are meeting with our social worker today for the third time. I think we will have one more visit with her after this. After the things we went through in IL to adopt Janaya, this has been refreshing. Our social worker opened up our first visit with Scripture reading and prayer!

Why They Call It the Paper Pregnancy

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:25:23 GMT

Here is a list of documents that we just received from the Ohio office of AWAA. It all has to be filled out for the home study.

A: Ohio Application (JFS 01691)
B: AWAA Contracts & Agreements
C: Release of Information for Adoption
D: Copies of all Birth Certificates
E: Copy of Marriage License
F: Copies of all Divorce Decrees/Death Certificates
G: Financial Statement (JFS 01681)
H: Medical Statements (JFS 01653) (For all family members)
I: Well Water Test (If Applicable)
J: Fire Inspection (JFS 01200)
K: Photo Listing Waiver (JFS 01614)
L: Child Abuse Clearance
M: Tax Forms – Past 5 Years (First Page of 1040 Only)
N: BCII Fingerprint Clearance – Original
O: FBI Fingerprint Clearance – Original (If applicable)
P: Local Police Dept. Letters – Copies
Q: Letters from Employers – Copies
R: Insurance Verification (Medical & Auto)
S: Guardianship Agreement
T: Autobiographies
U: International Disclaimer
V: Reading Agreement
W: Safety Audit
X: Training
Y: Reference Letters

And here is the Table of Contents from the National AWAA office for dossier guidelines.

Table of Contents Page
Introduction……………………………………………. 2
Overview of the Dossier Process .......................... 3
The Home Study……..……………………………….. 4
Submitting the I-600A Application……………….. 4
The Dossier Documents……………………………. 5
Vital Statistics Offices………………………………… 7
Notarization and Certification Process…………… 8
Secretaries of State…………………………………… 9
General Physical Examination……….…………… 10
Financial Statement…………………………………..12
Sample Employment Letter .……………………….. 13
Power of Attorney……………………………………. 14
Agency Post Placement Commitment………… 15
Agency Recommendation………………………... 16

Jumping through hoops, baby. Just tell me which hoop is next and how high I have to jump.

Ethnic Groups in Rwanda

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:29:57 GMT

The Rwandan people have historically belonged to three main ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. In the twenty-first century, about 90% of Rwandans identify themselves as Hutu, 9% as Tutsi, and 1% as Twa.

Historians have long debated the nature of these divisions. Some historians believe that the Hutu (as well as the Twa) were smaller, darker-skinned people who came from the rain forests and lowlands west of Rwanda. The same historians believe the Tutsi were taller, slenderer, lighter-skinned people who came from northeastern Africa, in the valley of the upper Nile River and its tributaries.

Other historians maintain that Hutu and Tutsi are simply names for different social classes. These historians say Hutus and Tutsis belong to a single ethnic group that has inhabited Rwanda since the time of the earliest mwami (king).

--taken from Rwanda in Pictures by Tom Streissguth