Bringing Home Jimmy: August 2012

I should have posted about Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaac before now, but better late than never. Here is a map of Haiti.

As you can see Cap Haitien, where Jimmy lives, is on the northern coast of Haiti. Isaac hit the southwestern portion. So, he and the rest of the kids at his orphanage are fine. They were without internet for a few days but faired very well. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. There were lives lost and destruction.

Despite the storm and all the worries it brought, Jimmy Rishard and Altagrace were able to make their trip to Port au Prince yesterday. Their travels went well from the reports. Jimmy facebooked us a brief message. I asked if they asked a lot of questions. He answered "they asked everything." I am sure it was nerve racking and stressful. They are back in Cap Haitien today and we hope to be able to skype soon.
Altagrace reported that USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) would like to interview Jimmy's aunt. I believe it is his mother's sister. From what I understand, she lives about two hours from Cap. That could be 15 miles but in Haiti that can take two hours. Not sure her exact location. Anyway, they would like to interview her. It is standard procedure to interview the birth parents and sometimes living relatives. We were really hoping this would be the only interview and not expecting them to request this one. We have not been able to see the paperwork USCIS gave to Jimmy. Tabitha is working on that for us and we really appreciate her being able to help us. We are uncertain when the interview will take place. To be perfectly honest, this turn has sent me for a loop. I was so optimistic about him coming home soon and now we have another task to accomplish on the list. I have no idea how we will contact his aunt to go to PaP. She could decide not to go and I have no control over that. Not to mention another expense added to our total. It is all too much to wrap my mind around.
Did I also mention that Chance for Children informed us that the courts in Cap wanted Jimmy's birth certificate verified in his hometown? That was done, but it means our file has not yet entered MOI (Ministry of the Interior). MOI is taking several weeks if not months to complete the dossier approvals, and our dossier hasn't even gone in yet..
Tonight I am feeling the weight of this process and how draining it can be. I miss Jimmy and I want him HOME! Please pray I can lay all of this at HIS feet and stop trying to help Him. You know when you have a little one trying to "help" you with something and the task ends up being harder to accomplish because of his/her "help". I have a feeling with all my "helping" ie. worrying and stressing; I am really just getting in His way. I need prayers to step aside and let Him do the job of bringing Jimmy home so that He will get all the glory He deserves. Thank you!

So, the last post was when I was in Haiti. Here is the rest of the story.

We traveled to Cap Haitien via Tortug Air with little fan fare. Micial picked us up from the airport and we went to pick up Jimmy and Rishard. It was of course great to see Jimmy's face and hug his tall lanky body. He has grown a few more inches since the last trip, making him pretty much eye to eye with Mom. We spent some time at CHCH then headed to the preaching school. We spent the afternoon and evening visiting with the boys and playing board games. We were anxious for our day in court planned for Wednesday.

Wednesday morning we prepared to meet Robert, our lawyer, at the justice of the peace at 10 am. We managed to make it on time and contrary to the norm in Haiti so did Robert. We followed Robert into an old building and into a back room. It had three desks and a handful of men inside. We set down and Robert asked for the power of attorney papers our husbands' signed. We provided the documents. A man behind one of the desks took the papers, turned the page in a spiral notebook and made two X's. I was told to sign for Rob and myself. The same procedure followed for Cindy. It was all very official (she says with an enormous amount of sarcasm).
We then headed to the courthouse. We were told the judge was not there yet, and we were to wait. Luckily there was a good amount of shade in the courtyard. We waited alongside many Haitians waiting for their turn. We visited with Robert, stood and visited with each other, sweated, waited, stood and visited with Micial. Made a trip to the bathroom, escorted by the armed guard who waited. Of course there was no toilet paper and no flush. Thank goodness Cindy had some wet wipes. Back downstairs where we waited some more. It was about twelve-ish when we talked to Robert went to a party the night before and got very drunk. 7 of the 8 judges did not show up for court that day and the one who did was sleeping it off upstairs. Robert said he would wait on the 20% chance our judge showed up with the agreement he would call us. Micial had some errands to run so we tagged along. We went to a very nice guesthouse and met some very nice people who asked if we would like to join them at the beach on Friday. Fun!
So, we headed back to the orphanage to pick up the boys. We went back to the CPB and relaxed the rest of the day. In the meantime, Alex, a friend of the boys met up with us at the CPB and stayed the rest of the time with us. This was a much needed distraction or buffer if you will. The boys are a little more relaxed when it is not just us. They do not feel so much pressure.

Jimmy, Funny Rishard, & Alex

On Thursday, we asked the boys to take us around Cap a little and show us some things. Jimmy was hesitant to go if we were taking the big truck. It is very rough to ride in. I told him if he could make other arrangements that would be fine. He asked Job to take us in the little truck so off we go: Job, Cindy and me in the front seat and Jimmy, Rishard, Alex and Jetro (a friend from CHCH) all in the backseat. Did I mention there was no air conditioning. Pretty sure there was some arguing in the backseat about who had to sit in the middle. They took us to the cathedral and the sight of the last battle in the revolution. Then we all went to get drinks. It was a good day. Again, we ended our day at the CPB with a yummy meal and just enjoying being together. We also got to explain to the boys what sunscreen is used for and why us white people need it so badly. Good stuff.

Alex, Jimmy, Jetro, Rishard, Job

Job told us this is "University under the trees".

The boys were desperately trying to hook up the tv to the dvd player. The problem was the tv was too old, but they were convinced they could make it work. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful.

On Friday, all four boys along with Cindy and I headed to the beach with our new friends. We spent the day soaking in the bright sunshine, warm sand and cool water. When I am able to be in a situation like this with Jimmy, I try to take it all in. I also miss the rest of my family and really wish they were with us. I think of how much fun we could be having all together. It is always bittersweet. Along with fun and sun, we enjoyed a delicious meal at the restaurant. We ended our time with the group with the kids playing a little soccer.

The girls were talked about how good the boys were at soccer, but little did they know they were holding back. They would not have risked hurting the girls. Not nearly as physical with them as they are with each other.

Jetro, Rishard, Micial, Jimmy, Alex

I love this picture and all in it.

Cindy's daughter and her friend raised money for another orphanage in town. So, Cindy talked to Fonrose, the preaching school director, about what she needed. He was kind enough to take the money, exchange it, then take us with him to buy food. After our trip to the market, we headed out to Tabitha's new land. A little about Tabitha, she is an amazing lady who had an orphanage in town but IBESR had recently told her she did not have enough room for the kids to play and they were shutting her down. So she moved the kids to a bigger place about five miles out of town. She has since been given land by the government to build on. Not sure how that all will work, but she is optimistic. We look forward to seeing the progress and pray God will continue to bless her efforts. Anyway, she gave us a tour of her land and then we went to her current place. It is always a blessing to love on the kids there. Cindy and I both got to love a little one into a nap. So precious. Makes me long to stay and give them that motherly love they long for. Although, Tabitha does do an awesome job.
After saying our goodbyes, we headed back to CHCH to spend a couple of nights. Our attention is greatly divided when we are at CHCH. There are so many kids to love on and talk to, not to mention the boys are distracted and torn between their friends and their moms. I had not slept well the night before and began to feel it Saturday evening. My emotions were right on the service and spilled over a bit. Thankful for Cindy and her listening ear. She is always an encouragement. After a few tears, I felt better and spent the rest of the evening up in the dorm with Jimmy. We even got to skype with Rob, Rylan and Kyndal. It was a good end to a overall good day.

Sunday was a very hot day. Up until then, we had hot weather, but it was bearable. Sunday was HOT! We spent the rest of the morning into afternoon with the boys in front of our fans. We even took a nap. We went out to eat for supper. Then, we had the unpleasant task of packing up and preparing to leave. There were no tears like most trips.

Monday morning we got up early to catch our 6:50 flight to Port au Prince. We left the boys sleeping after hugs and saying goodbye. It was the easiest exit since we began the process. Our flight was on time and we arrived in PaP at 7:30. Unfortunately, my bad did not make it to PaP until 9:15. We waited for my bag at the little airport then went to the big airport to wait on our flight to Miami. We left on time at 1:15. Upon arriving, we learn that Cindy's flight has been delayed and she will not make her connecting flight to OKC. After much hub bub, we got everything worked out and went to get something to eat. Cindy's flight left at 5:30; my plane was scheduled to leave at nine. After several hours of waiting, I finally left at 9:30. I arrived in Dallas at 11:30. I was beat. Rob picked me up. *A HUGH THANK YOU to my sweet friend Mika that stayed with my kids.* We arrived home at three or so.

On Tuesday, it was back to real life. Again, I had left a piece of my heart in Haiti and the spot where it used to be ached. The joy of hugging and loving on Rylan and Kyndal competed with the longing for Jimmy. Our prayer is that our longing will come to an end very soon.

Here are some random pics from the trip. I am missing some because Cindy took those with her camera and I keep forgetting to ask her to send them to me.

Sleepy girl found her a cozy spot.