On Monday, we learned that there was absolutely no way that we would be able to make any legal progress on this upcoming trip. Because of the strike, and the fact that we didn't seem to be a priority to the officials, our case would not be reviewed or given a court date until January. The social welfare officer claimed that they could not get the necessary people together in the same room until then and there was nothing we could do about it.
So many of you have reached out to us lately to let us know that you've been praying for the hearts of the Ghanaian officials. Friends, your prayers worked!
We just found out this afternoon that the wonderful and highly respected social welfare director who works in the capital (6 hours from the orphanage) will be taking over our case!!! Everyone we have talked to is completely confident in him and has great hopes for what he will accomplish for us and Baby E. In fact, he has already (in the midst of a strike!) found a new lawyer and new social welfare officer to represent us. Not only that, but all 3 of these essential people will be meeting with us ON TUESDAY!!! All of the critical people will be together in the same room just one week after they told us it would be impossible to do anything before January. AMAZING! This will also allow us to attend court in a region that is known for processing things quickly and with fewer holdups. We are completely blown away by this unexpected blessing!
Here's the summary of our trip:
We will fly out of Grand Rapids on Sunday and arrive in Ghana on Monday night. Mary (the director of the orphanage and our power of attorney) will meet us at the airport...with Baby E!!! The 4 of us will stay together in a hotel room on Monday and will meet with all of the officials on our "team" in the capital on Tuesday. After the meeting, we will drive to the orphanage where we will spend the next 5 days. We will spend our nights with Baby E in a hotel just down the road. We will fly out of Ghana next Sunday night and will arrive back in Grand Rapids on Monday night.
Praying friends: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray for another miracle. It is a huge stretch, but we would love nothing more than to be able to attend court while we are in Ghana. At the very least, we would love to receive a court date so that we can leave Ghana knowing when we'll be coming back. Also, please continue to pray that God will release the finances that we need to make all of this possible. We are still holding onto our dream of staying for a longer trip next time, and we need a lot of things to fall into place in order for that to be a possibility. Thank you so much!!!