Since our original testimony was written, there have been several changes to our adoption. The most important change has been the choice of country from which we are to adopt. We began our adoption with the idea that we would adoption from the country of Kazakhstan. It took me (Patrick) several months just to learn how to spell it. As we submitted our application we discovered that there had been some changes to the country’s adoption requirements. It seems they were looking for families that had a specific yearly income. Since we didn’t meet the requirement, we began praying about what country the Lord would have us to look at.
The next stop was the country of Panama. We decided on Panama mainly due to financially issues. However, it wasn’t long after making this decision that we discovered that the children coming out of Panama were older. Our desire has been to try to get two children, one between 0 – 24 months, and one 12 to 36 months. Because there haven’t been many infant referrals from Panama we decided to look else where.
Next was the country of Guatemala, which we discovered very quickly was going to be out of our reach. It seems that Guatemala takes very good care of their orphans in private orphanages throughout the country. The fees involved in adopting from Guatemala was very expensive and put this program out of reach.
Finally we arrived at Colombia! The first evening after we finalized our decision we went to Barnes & Noble to do some research on travel to Colombia. Guess what? There aren’t any travel guides to Colombia. The general thought was, if you don’t have to go there, don’t. Colombia is frequently featured in the news for it’s drugs, crime, and kidnappings. In spite of this, the Lord has given us a real peace about adopting our children from this war torn country. In fact, it has added a sense of urgentance to the process. It is our hope and desire to give two children a home that will be free from the influences and troubles of their home country. Though helping them to understand and know their hertitage will be important, at least they will have a chance to grow up with the freedoms that we share.
So, we find ourselves planning for an adventure in Colombia. An adventure in which the treasure will be our new family.