Praise God! We are PGN Approved!

I sit here at my computer posting in utter awe at God's perfect plan and answered prayer. Today, we received the official news that Bella is legally ours. We spent 10 weeks in the Guatemalan Courts called PGN, and not only did we receive it in record time, but we also had no kick outs or previews. Today we celebrate God's unmerited favor and grace, we are so blessed....

Our next step is that Birth Mom will sign off within the next 3 days and we will be registered with Mixco Civil Registry for her new birth certificate which will read her new given name! This Birth Certificate is a must in order for her Guatemala Passport and US Visa to be issued. At this time, the facts are that Mixco Civil Registry is corrupt and have been withholding Birth Certificates for 3.5 months now for the sake of extra $ which is not only unethical, but illegal. Generally speaking, Birth Certificates are issued in 2 weeks or less, the normal time frame from PGN approval to children coming home is 4-6 weeks, thus, this corruption is holding children from being united with their families. HOWEVER! These are only the facts, the truth is that God is bigger than all of this and His glory will be revealed. We ask that you join with us in prayer in the victory of casting down the corruption. Below is the prayer that several of us families are praying and believing God for. Like Abraham, we will not "consider our body" but stand firm in our faith.

But today, we Praise you Lord for what you have done and what you are doing. Thank you for "going before us and paving the road smooth". All the glory goes to you!

Prayer: Gracious Father, for the sake of Your most holy Name, everything You have is ours. You have given us, in Christ, every spiritual blessing for the purpose of the coming of Your Kingdom. We have been given authority over ALL the power of the enemy. Our weapons, faith/love, the Name, the Blood, and the Word, are mighty for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds. O Praise Him! In the Name of Jesus, that is above every name, I wield the sword of the Spirit that is sharper than any other and penetrates to the core. In the mighty Name of Jesus, the enemies' power at Mixco Civil Registry in Guatamala is broken. In the soverign Name of Jesus the stronghold of corruption is overthrown, destroyed and led away in public triumph, defeated, despoiled and captive to the obedience of Christ to the glory of God the Father. O praise you Jesus, Bless Your most Holy Name, You are glorious Lord, may men see and acknowledge your glory. Thank you that our faith overcomes the world. Thank you that You are a rewarder of those who believe. I praise you most wonderful LORD, in the Name of my precious Jesus, Amen

Josh 9:12-14, Eph 1:20, Eph 2:6-23, 2Cor 10:4,, Lk 10:19, Heb 4:12, 1Jn 5:4, Eph 6:11-18, Lk 15:31, Eph 1:3, Co 2:l5

Our response to Dateline

Many of you will have seen the segment on Guatemalan Adoptions Sunday evening on Dateline. I wanted to post my thoughts with you as well.

Although the segment did a fine job reporting some of the corruption that goes on in International Adoption, they failed to report the whole story, spending only 5 minutes of a 60 minute segment to report that the majority of adoptions are legal and ethical. They forgot to mention that 80% of Guatemala lives in severe poverty and that children used to roam the streets alone, trying to survive, before adoptions. They failed to interview hundreds of legal and moral private agency's, attorney's, facilitators, foster families, birth Mothers and adoptive families. I appreciate their good intension, for the most part they did a good thing, my frustration is that the media almost ALWAYS reports only one side of the story, and many times on speculation, instilling fear, doubt and worry to the general public.

Here's what I want you to know about Guatemala Adoptions through our experience:

YES! Corruption is real in Guatemala. Their are attorneys, facilitators, foster families, etc, that are using a system for their own financial gain. There are also employees within the Guat Government system using their power for their own financial gain....Dateline didn't investigate that, I certainly wish they did for those of us families now who are currently experiencing that form of corruption while in the process to bring our children home. However, the overall adoption program in Guatemala is GOOD! Thousands of children who would be roaming the streets of Guatemala, living in the dumps, dying on roads, are now home with Forever Families in many different parts of the world, the majority do come home to the US. Our daughter will be one of them.

Adoption? Why are we adopting? We have 3 biological boys, why not have your own? This is a question we here a lot, and it always shocks me. Yet I know that they have not had the same calling on their life that we have, God has not laid that on their heart, and so I say to myself "Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do".

In January of 2006, a seed was planted in my heart to adopt. I don't recall that moment when I thought about it, but I do recall the time spent on researching adoptions, countries, interviewing agencies, etc and the whole time thinking..."What are we doing? We have not done babies in 7 years, my boys are all in school now, I have time now to focus on my career, we can travel more, start over with a baby?" By May 2006, my husband and I attended an informational meeting with our now current adoption agency and on the way home in the car, we decided we were going to adopt a baby girl from Guatemala.

We were very careful in our choice of agencies as we were very well aware of the corruption in Guatemala, baby snatching, paying birth Mom's for their child, etc. and we wanted no part of that. That is directly from the pit of hell and we were not going to go down that road. Yes, we paid a higher price to make sure that did not happen, but its been worth every penny.

What many of you don't know about our agency is that they treat the whole scenario and person. They do not just care for orphans and uniting them with a forever family, but they also treat the Birth Mom. Our agency has a home specifically for the care of the Birth Mothers during their time of pregnancy. They give them a beautiful home with their own bed, feed them, provide for all their medical needs, provide them with counseling before and after the adoption, teach them skills so that they can find jobs when returning home, give them spiritual guidance and bible studies, they treat them with love, dignity and respect. What they do not do is "pay" these woman for their babies, the woman CHOOSE adoption for their child because they have no way to provide for them. All of these Mothers are single, some very young 12.13. 14 years of age. They do not have family support or even a job to care for themselves much less a child. The birth mothers of this program are allowed to choose the family for their child based on a photo album and birth mother letter the adoptive families prepare a head of time. They have a say in their child's life, they are empowered and ultimately at complete peace with their decision for their child.

We had the privilege of meeting our birth mother when visiting our daughter in September and it was absolutely the most humbling experience I have ever had. She is only 20, lives in poverish conditions and she told us that her family will not support her with this baby and that the Dad is only 18 and still lives with his parents. She was afraid and very sad. But by the end of the visit, one hour in length, we were laughing and looking at pictures together, sharing stories of our lives and what this little girl will receive in her life with us. In the end, I held our Birth Mother in my arms and we wept together. Easy....oh no, nothing about leaving this child in our arms was easy for her, but she's a Mother, and she wanted what's best for her daughter....and she just couldn't provide for it. Fortunately for our Birth Mother, our agency offers a program where we can send continuous updates, photos, letters, etc. to our birth mother through the agency. The birth Mother may return to the agency at any time to see if their has been any correspondence from the adoptive family and they will give those items to her. Of course we will be doing that at least once a year, hoping to do so twice. In addition, birth mothers of our agency also receive continuous counseling after the birth of their child and through out their lives should they need it. Our agency's programs also houses the Mothers after they deliver for up to 6 weeks after so that they can recover from the birth. This is one of the GOOD stories I wish dateline would have written on.

My husband, myself and my children can honestly say that we will NEVER be the same again after this experience. We have experienced the absolute center of God's heart. To hold a child in your arms that did not come from your physical womb and feel that same absolute unconditional love you have for your biological children is totally the love of God. I pray every day that God will give me the words to describe this experience, but I still struggle to find them, yet I am living it. And if you ever have the opportunity to talk with us, you will see it in our eye's, our body motions, our smiles. Although sweet Bella is still not physically home with us, she is very much a part of our lives.

We ask you to please pray for all the children and birth mothers of Guatemala. There are hundreds of children still stuck in a corrupted adoption system trying to get home to their forever families, these birth mothers have already re-relinquished their rights. There are also hundreds of babies being born every day, toddlers and young children who will be wandering the streets because their is no new system in place to take on these children. Guatemala does not have Government run programs to provide for the large number of orphaned children. US and Guatemala must become Hague compliant immediately, there are children at stake. We pray daily that the strong hold of corruption will be broken and that God will be victorious!

I posted a picture of one of the many bedrooms provided for the birth mothers of our agency. Every family has the opportunity of visiting this home when traveling to Guatemala to meet their child.

As always, thank you for checking in on us. God Bless!

4.5 month Update!!!

Our Bella girl is growing, but only in weight! We received our update today, she is now 15 lbs and 24" long. So she's my "little chunk"! Cant wait to kiss her cheeks. Everyday we get closer.

Still Waiting......................

It will be 9 weeks tomorrow that we have been in the Guatemalan Court System called PGN. We expect to get news of our approval any day. The wait for the official news is hard at times, but we are confident that God has answered our prayer and we believe that Bella is Approved with PGN. Upon approval, our birth Mother will sign final declaration and Bella will legally be our daughter.

We should receive new photos next week as well as the medical update report, however, the camera's at our private orphanage were stolen during the Christmas season and there may be a delay in photos. No worries, were heading to Guatemala soon to bring Bella home...

Please keep our process in your prayers and all the families in Guatemala who are also waiting to bring their children home. Especially our good friends the VanZantens, Culps and Buwalda's. We all have girls at the same orphanage.

Blessings to all, thank you for checking in on us. We will have amazing news very soon.

More Changes and Prayer Needed!

"As I've mentioned in previous posts, the Guatemalan Congress voted to require Hague compliance for all international adoptions effective January 1, 2008. Our original concern (back in September 07) of whether or not our case would be allowed to finish under the effective law at the time we started the process was alleviated when an appropriate grandfather clause was approved by the Guatemalan Congress December 21st.

However, Hague compliance in Guatemala requires that all cases, even those protected by the grandfather clause, be registered with the Central Authority on Adoptions within 30 days of January 1, 2008. While this doesn't sound like a difficult or unreasonable requirement, THERE IS NO CENTRAL AUTHORITY ON ADOPTIONS. Cases are now required to register with an entity that does not exist. It has not yet been created. PGN, the current approval authority of adoptions has stopped processing cases until they are registered with the Central Authority. The Joint Council on International Children's Services posted this statement today":

January 4, 2008
Joint Council can confirm that PGN is no longer processing adoption cases with the exception of those that have already been approved. All other aspects of adoption processing have been stopped.
This is a result of the new adoption law requiring the registration of cases with the Central Authority prior to cases being reinitiated. Joint Council continues to advocate for a position solution to the situation.

We are blessed to say that we are now 7 weeks in PGN and Praise God....NO PREVIEWS! It is our understanding that all adoptions PGN approved with no previews will not be required to register with this yet to be "Central Authority". We believe with all our heart, soul and minds that God has answered our prayers and Bella is PGN Approved today. But we ask for your continued prayer and support, not only for us, but for the 1000's of families stuck in this situation. Although the changes being made in Guatemala are for the best in the long run, it is hard on those of us that are going through the transition. As you know, it has been almost daily changes since we received our referral of Bella in September.

Your prayers are felt and we remain strong in the one who promised to "finish the good work He has started".

A Year in Review

May you have love that never ends, lots of money and lots of friends.
Health be your's, whatever you do, and may God send many
blessings to you! - Irish Blessing

It's been an amazing year, we look forward to celebrating the great things God is doing in 08'!

Merry Christmas Little Princess!

Merry Christmas Princess Bella! A year ago, we thought that we would have a new baby home, and although she is not physically in our arms, we know our God has already done it and that she is on her way home.

We received our December update today. What a wonderful Christmas Gift. Bella will be 4 months old on Dec. 28th. She now weighs 13 pounds and is 24" long, and although she has grown so much, I am reminded by these pictures just how tiny she still is. The outfit Bella is wearing in these photos is the same outfit we brought her when traveling to Guatemala and took photos of her in when she was 3 weeks old...and it still fits. I have struggled with the fact that I am missing days with our daughter, sad that she is growing to quickly, yet I was quickly reminded how tiny she still is. She is still our baby girl.

Our report told us that she is happy, alert, playful, sweet, slightly extroverted and loves to imitate others. That's my Girl! She is giggling now and cooing....we cant wait to get our update DVD and expect to be blessed with that little laugh. We take great comfort in the love and care she is receiving at HH.

It has now been 5 full weeks in the Guatemalan Government PGN. We believe everyday for her PGN Approval with No previews. Again, after that point, she is legally ours and we will enter in to the Guatemalan Civil Registry to have her name changed to ours....oh I so love that! There are some issues with the Civil Registry right now, but we are confident that God has already resolved that issue and praise Him for it.

Please continue your prayers and support. It means so very much to us and we truly can feel it.

Specific Prayers Needed:

God Bless and Merry Christmas,

3.5 Months!

We are blessed to have new photos of our Elisabella so early! Our friends the Buwalda's traveled to Guatemala and to meet their daughter, for the first time last Wednesday. They took the time to not only visit with our daughter and hold her, but too also take photos of her. They said "Bella was so responsive and happy and smiley! She smiled very quickly when I was interacting with her. Her special mother was very loving with her. I went & saw her both of the days we were there and each time she was very content and happy. She is nice & chubby, too! So cute!!" We cant even express our gratitude for the time they took to love on our girl. And having pictures of her HH "sister" is pricesless. Not only do we take comfort in knowing that our Lord is with our daughter, but also that our baby girl has forever friends with her at HH.

There are so many blessings we have experienced in the international adoption process, the greatest being that "we are new creatures in Christ", but one of the other is the gift of the incredible families God has brought into our lives throughout this process...the Harkemas, Vanzantens, Culps and Buwaldas. Adoption is a journey, and although the unconditional love of the child is no different than the love of our biological children, we can never express the sincere love and connection we have with these 4 families. We will forever be connected with these people and we are excited at to get all these girls together very soon, home with the families God intended for them.

We continue to ask for you prayer in our adoption journey. On Thursday, we will have been in PGN 4 weeks! This is good news...as we know that God has already approved our Bella in PGN with NO previews TODAY!!

The Ortega Law was passed today, and as of yet, we have no idea what that means for us....but we are not worried. For we stand on the Word of God and we know that God "will complete that which He has started" not to mention that "All things are possible with God"! We live on the scripture:
" Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the (action of His) power that is work within us, is able to (carry out His purpose and ) do SUPER ABUNDANTLY, far over and above all that we (dare) ask or think (infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes and dreams)! Eph 3:20 Amplified Bible

PLEASE continue to pray with us that Senior Barios will sign Bella's PGN Approval today, that our new Birth Certificate with be signed immediately by the Mixco Civil Registry and that the US Embassy will schedule our 2nd DNA and FINAL US Embassy Apt's immediately! We must be present at our US Embassy Apt's and will return a day later will Bella in our Arms in Michigan a day after this appointment. The VanZantens need your prayer as well for Civil Registry approval and the Culps just received their Family Court Approval and need PGN Approval with NO preview as well.

Thank you all for your love, prayer and support. You will never know how much it means to our family.

Blessings to all,

3 Month Update!

Wow! Our baby girl is growing, she is now 11 lbs. and 22.8" long....growing beautifully, but too quick for me. They say she is "sweet, peaceful and serious". What? Serious? How is a 12 week old "serious"? :) We are so anxious to see her again.

FC Approved on to PGN!!

We received word that we were officially approved with Guatemala's Family Court on November 5th, on the 15th of November, we were registered in to the PGN of Guatemala which is the "biggy" in the world of Guatemalan Adoption. What is PGN? As summarized "PGN or Procuradoria General del Nacion is essentially the solicitor general's office. They have an adoption unit which reviews and approves or rejects adoptions. When a file is submitted, it will be reviewed by reviewer # 1 to ensure that all the information required is present. This generally takes 1-2 weeks. Once you pass the 1st reviewers approval, you move on to the 2nd reviewers desk. The 2nd reviewer will review your file to ensure that it is in compliance with Guatemalan law. If they don't like what they see, they can issue you a "previo" or "kick out" and ask that corrections be made. The length of time to correct a previo ranges from 1 day to several months. Generally, a file is approved or kicked out by the second reviewer within 6 weeks. There are three 2nd reviewers for all of the cases in PGN. Once you are approved by the 2nd reviewer, your case moves to Senor Barrios who approves your adoption as final through the PGN. Typically, Senor Barrios will take 1-2 weeks to sign off and approve. He can also issue a kick out for corrections but that is rare. Once you've made it to him, there is a good chance you will be approved soon. At any point during this process, if you receive a previo, you start back at the 8 week timeframe again. We are almost 2 weeks now into our PGN wait-- so the longer we go with staying on the 2nd reviewer's desk without a previo- the better likelihood we have of being approved through PGN in 8 weeks." Now understand that these are just the FACTS! As believers of Christ, we know that "all things are possible with God" and that the Lord "will complete the good work He has started", this is the TRUTH!

At this time, we are asking for prayer on the following:
1. That the Lord will continue to bless our adoption process in an expedient and efficient manor.
2. That the Lord will and has guided our file to the PGN case workers who have a heart for God, adoption and our family as well as bind His mind to the mind of these caseworkers.
3. That the mind of Christ will be bound to Senor Barios and that our file will be signed immediately upon it appearing on his desk.
4. That God's perfect will and plan will be carried through.
5. For strength and joy in all things as we move forward in the end of our journey to bring Bella home to her Forever Family!

Thank you for all your love and support, we will continue to keep you updated. Please check back soon as we are expecting our photo updates of Bella any day who will be 3 months old tomorrow!

USE Pre-Approval!

We received our USE Pre-Approval on M0nday, Oct. 29th! It took only 3 weeks.....good news as it has been 60 days. We are now waiting on our Family Court Approval from Guatemala and expect that this week as well. Upon our FC Approval, our file will then be turned over to the Guatemalan PGN, it will be given to a PGN advisor who will then review our file of over 300 documents to determine that we meet all the requirements to adopt a child from Guatemala. They will review all documentation that has been gathered on our adoption. Once reviewed, the advisor can either give their stamp of approval or ask for clarification on any document thus "kicking" families out of PGN. We are praying for NO "previews" and believing that we will be out out PGN by Dec. 31, 2007! One thing we are confident in, God is bigger than all of this.....

Thanks for checking in, we are rejoicing in the journey of bringing of Bella home!

Blessings,

Missing our Girl

It's very late Sunday night, 2 am in the morning. I am up ,not because I am sad, but because I desire to draw close the Lord. I cant express yet this entire adoption experience, I pray that the Lord will give me the encouragement and grace to write what we have expereinced through Jesus Christ. The utter joy, humility, and awe that comes from following God's leading. Not everyone understands our journey or even supports it, and at times, it can hurt. But we are so steadfast and confident that "He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion".

When we started our adoption journey, we knew their would be tough days, we knew the wait would be difficult...we had no idea the pain that would be associated with leaving our daughter back in Guatemala and the absolute anxiousness in not knowing when we will be allowed to bring her home. It's hard to miss all those precious little moments, her first burp, her first hick up....her first smile. Yet we know that the Lord will still bless us with those, for when we are united, her smile will be a first for us. Its just that we know how very much she sill change over the months, how much she will grow. OUr update this week said she is already 9.2 lbs and 21" long! I should be recording that info, but this journey is different, the pain is different. It's not pains of labor or delivery....its perseverance pain, its having faith greater than a mustard
seed pain, it's the pain of learning to trust a God that is so much bigger than we could ever imagine and then BELIEVING Him to hold true to his promises. It's a true walk of faith.

Yet I can say with the utter most confidence, the pain is subsiding, the Lord's strength is taking over and we are truly in a place where we BELIEVE! We have no reason not to, for we have experienced his miracles in the referral of our daughter. From her picture, to meeting with our birth Mother, the travel plans and the time spent with our daughter. It is so evident to us that God's plan is at hand and we are lucky enough to be gift receivers.

The uncertainty of the Guatemalan Govt. is not an issue for us. We know that God is already there and he has already answered the prayers of thousands of families and children. For He is the children's one and true Father, and it is not his will for these children to sit in foster homes or institutions. The Lord said to "father the fatherless" and we will do just that. There is no devil in hell that can stop the love of the Lord....did I mention the love of a Mother through the love of the Lord! Look out Satan, you are stoppable now!

When I have those brief moments of doubt, I think of a scenario my Mother shared with me.
Imagine dropping to your knees in front of Jesus and looking up in to his beaten and bloodied face, tired and exhausted from the weight of his cross and see him look down in to your face and say "My sweet child.....Do you believe I will do this for you"? Although my tongue would be swollen and the words would be difficult to mutter out, my response will and could only be "YES Lord, I believe....I believe"! How could I not. This is the same Jesus that was beaten, bullied and humiliated and then went to the cross for me so that I may have life. And He didn't just do it for me, but for anyone who chooses to believe. You see, that's overwhelming, that's a love that no human can ever fathom....except a parent. As parents, we would willingly lay down our lives for our children. walk the ends of the earth to find them. So why would our Jesus not do the same? The point is, He would do the same and he does it everyday. The good news is, He's already there, you just need to ask.

I enjoy sharing our ministry of adoption with all of you. Believe us when I say, it's been an indescribable journey for our family as well.

May God bless all of you and thank for you checking in on us. We expect news this week from Guatemala on many counts. The Joint Council Announcement on Grandfathering current cases as well as a possible Family Court Release Date of our case and a US Embassy Pre Approval! Please stay tuned.

God bless all of you and may he hold you in the palm of his hand.

Family Court Complete!

Today we received word that our Family Court went through with flying colors! We are currently awaiting our DNA results which will send us in to the US Embassy for Pre-Approval. The Family Court Study will be done in 4-6 weeks and when complete will be submitted in to Guatemalans PGN which can take 6-8 weeks with out any previews. Previews are when the Guatemalan PGN case worker questions a document in case file which is over 300 pages! Please be praying for God's mind to be bound to our US Embassy Caseworker and that our Pre-Approval will be processed quickly and efficiently as well as for the PGN case worker who will receive our referral that he/she will have a heart for adoption and our family. That the mind of Christ will be bound to his/her mind and that they will process our file to approval with out any previews.

No word yet on the results of the Guatemala 5000, please continue to make your calls, emails and faxes. Leaving a message is just fine to the senators, congressman and UNICEF!

Thank you for all your love and support,

CALL TO ACTION, WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Dear Friends and Family, It has been 2 weeks now since we first laid eye's on our new daughter. In the 10 days we have been home, we have received numerous emails regarding the possible threat of a Guatemalan Adoption Shutdown. The pages of information basically stated that President Berger (the president of Guatemala) has made a formal announcement of his plans to “indefinitely suspend all adoption cases which are not completed by December 31st” – including pending cases. The information we received was the best that our agency had at the time, but not very specific as far as what exactly this would mean for Bella and for the other friends we have at various stages in the process. Since Friday, we have been able to learn more information about the situation in Guatemala, and while it definitely is not good – it quite possibly could be just an outgoing president (his term ends January 14th) trying to leave his mark. Realistically, he does not have the power to pass such a law on his own. It needs to be voted on by the Guatemalan congress. Additionally, the attorneys in Guatemala are huge advocates for adoption – not always for the right reasons, but they have an enormous amount of power in Guatemalan society. And, on top of everything else, Guatemala has no way to care for the estimated 3000-5000 children that this proclamation could potentially leave orphaned. That being said, we have been asked by our agency and the Joint Council (oldest and largest child welfare organization for International Adoptions) to participate in a “Call to Action” in response to the current situation. I have included this as an attachment in hopes you will participate with us in making a few calls or sending a few emails to help not only bring our daughter home, but our friends children as well as the 5,000 current orphaned children in process to families right now!

All of you ask, “How are you doing with all of this?” And the honest answer is – “We are doing well.” While it is definitely heart-wrenching to think that Bella may have to stay in an orphanage much longer than necessary, we also feel that God’s hand has been in this journey from before we even began our first paperwork. We truly believe that it is God's will for Bella to be home here with us and not sitting in an orphanage. Although her care is amazing and her surroundings beautiful, we know that no one can love her like her Mom, Dad and Big Brothers.

We continue to be amazed at the DAILY blessings her adoption has been to our whole family and trust that what God has started, he will bring to completion.

Please pray with us that God's mind will be bound to President Berger, All Guatemalan and US Government Officials who are handling Bella's Paperwork, Our Legal Team at AGCI, the US Embassy Case Workers and PGN Case Workers. Please also pray for Bella's continued health and growth development and for the VanZantens and Culps whom we have become good friends with and also have baby girls waiting to come home from our Agency.

Again, thank you for all your love and support. And Please, help us make a difference in the lives of all these children by pariticpating in the CALL TO CATION Oct. 8, 9 & 10. SEE BELOW

Blessings,

GUATEMALA 5000

Dear Friends, Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to suspend all intercountry adoption with American families on January 1 2008. The Joint Council on International Children’s Services strongly opposes such a suspension and asks for your support in their efforts to ensure that all children retain the right to permanency through Intercountry Adoption. President Berger’s plans also call for the suspension of adoptions currently in-process. Such a suspension would be extremely detrimental to the children referred to adoptive parents. If President Berger’s plan is actually implemented, up to 5,000 will unnecessarily remain in foster care or orphanages indefinitely. This situation represents a pending crisis for the adoptive families who have lovingly chosen to provide permanency, safety and love to a child in need and most importantly a crisis for 5,000 children of Guatemala. What can you do? Make six simple phone calls and one email. 1. Call your U.S. Senator. · You can find your Senators’ phone numbers at www.senate.gov · Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff 2. Call your second U.S. Senator. 3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative. · You can find your representative at www.house.gov · Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff 4. Call or fax UNICEF Headquarter · Ask to speak with Ann Veneman, Executive Director · Their number is 212-326-7000 · Their fax number is 212-326-7758 5. Call or fax UNICEF Guatemala · Ask to speak with Manuel Manrique · Their number is 011-502-2327-6373 · Their fax number is 011-502-2327.6366 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls 6. Send and email supporting Intercountry Adoption to guatemala5000@jcics.org · Write briefly or at length · Joint Council will use the cumulative email petition in our advocacy for Intercountry Adoption When should you call? Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (October 9th, 10th 11th) · For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window! What should you say or write to member of the U.S. Congress? Speak from your heart and give them the following information. · Inform them that you are calling regarding Guatemala 5000 · Ask them to sign the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) sponsored letter to President Oscar Berger · Ask them to sign the Joint Council on International Children’s Services sponsored letter to UNICEF · Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. · Inform them that President Berger’s announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. · Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. · Ask that their office get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. Sample Statement Hello, We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. We, as your constituents, are asking that the Senator/Congressperson add their signature to two letters. First, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute sponsored letter to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger. Second, the Joint Council on International Children’s Services sponsored letter to UNICEF. As you may be aware, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. Your office must get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. Sincerely, What should you say or write to UNICEF? Speak from your heart and give them the following information. · Inform them that you are calling regarding the Guatemala 5000 · Ask them to support the right’s of children and lend their considerable influence to ensuring that intercountry adoptions currently in-process be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. · Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. · Inform them that President Berger’s announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. · Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. · Ask them again for their support of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. Sample Statement Hello, We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. As financial supporters of UNICEF (through our tax dollars), we are asking that UNICEF lends its support and considerable influence to the Guatemala 5000 initiative. As you may be know, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. UNICEF must get involved and help ensure that all intercountry adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. Sincerely, Can you explain the problem behind the pending crisis? Here is some additional information… · Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to effectively stop all adoptions into the United States including those children who have already been referred to adoptive parents · Over 5,000 children have been referred · The birthparents for these children have already relinquished their parental rights. As a result, they currently have no family and the Berger suspension will result in these children having no prospect for a permanent, safe and loving family · The government of Guatemala currently does not have the finances or facilities to even provide housing for these 5,000 children · The Berger plan is a crisis waiting to happen

What else can you do? In addition to your primary calls to U.S. Congress and UNICEF, you can call the following. SOSEP (Guatemala) · Director Teresa Echeverría de Bastarrechea Office Phone- 011-502-2383-8400 · Assistant Director- Edin Palma- Same office phone Office Phone- 011-502-2383-8400 · Jaime Tecu Office Phone - 011-502-2239-0000 ext 2766 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls Guatemala Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Minister Gerth Rosenthal Office Phone 011-502-2410-0000, 2410-0010 · Vice Minister- Marta Altoaguirre Office Phone 011-502-2410-0020 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls Procuraduria of Human Rights · Dr. Sergio Morales Office Phone 011-502-2424-1717 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls Embassy of Guatemala in the U.S. 2220 R Street N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Office Phone 1-202-745-4952 Office Fax 1-202-745-1908 Website: www.guatemala-embassy.org/ Best Wishes,

Making Progress!

We have made it through the first step in the process with our DNA Apt being last week Friday. DNA is a US requirement. Next week Tuesday, Oct. 9th, is our Family Court Apt, this is a Guatemalan requirement where our birth mother meets with an apt. court social worker and Bella. This process is to determine that our Birth Mother desires to give her daughter up for adoption. I can only imagine how difficult this apt. is. Please keep her in your prayers, that God may fill that hole in her heart with himself. The next step in the process is United States Embassy Pre-Approval. Thanks for checking in,