Some Very Important People CARE About our Kids!!

Last month, I took a trip to Washington D.C. so that I, along with around 59 other parents could meet with Congress to request that they ACTIVELY get involved with getting our children home.  If you haven't read the recap of my trip, it's in this post, please read it here.

Since then, we have seen much progress as far as Congressional involvement. 
As I stated in my D.C. post, Senator Feinstein showed tremendous support and her office continues to follow up with us.  

Soon after we came home, the House voted on House Resolution 588 concerning DRC adoptions and it passed unanimously!

Shortly after that, a Senate resolution was introduced and we were able to get more than half of all the Senate to sign on as co-sponsors!  That hasn't even gone to a vote yet, but has a huge head start with the Senators on board already.  We do have Senator Feinstein as well as Senator Boxer down as co-sponsors, so California has our back! ;)

In addition to the House and Senate Resolutions, there was also a Congressional Letter addressed to President Obama that was sent to the White House yesterday.  You can read the letter here.  We were able to get the support of over 160 members of Congress by having them sign the letter requesting Obama to personally reach out to DRC President Kabila and press for this exit letter suspension to be resolved.  We now await his response.

If THAT isn't enough, the Congressional Coalition on Adoptions Institute invited adoptive parents to participate in a conference call that was held this morning.  We were greatly encouraged by the support received from the Senators on the call and their staff.  Like another adoptive parent mentioned, it is REALLY nice to end a conference call more hopeful than when it started (this is NOT the case with the usual DOS conference calls!). 

And I almost forgot that today, we had a national "Call the White House Day"!  We shared with 25,000 people - our family and friends, instructions for calling the White House and leaving a message for President Obama to directly engage President Kabila.  We are told by those answering the phones that our message was HEARD!

 

On top of that, last week we got the privilege of watching (online) our own Kelly Dempsey from Both Ends Burning testify in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on African Adoptions.  You can view part of the hearing here (there are a couple different clips of the hearing that can be seen on the right hand side of the video player)


We as adoptive parents were so encouraged to see that the Committee cares enough about orphans in Africa to hold a hearing dedicated to it and then to invite Kelly to testify.  She is a wealth of knowledge and has a deep understanding of adoption as an adoptive mom.  You can read her written testimony in this document. (We love her :)

One thing has rang true through this entire process unfortunately...and that is that the Department of State has not been the advocate that we thought they would be for adoptive parents.

You'll notice that they were invited to the African adoption hearing above, but they did not attend.  There are numerous questions we have for them and we have yet to receive answers.  

Thankfully, Kelly led us in our trip to D.C. and as a result, we have HUGE support from our Congressmen and our Senators.  So now, we have very important people heavily involved with this issue.  And many members of Congress are now pressing the Dept of State for the answers that we believe should have been given long ago.

We know that it is Congo that has issued this suspension and is preventing our precious Tobias from coming home.  However, it has taken WAY too long for the appropriate governmental office to get involved.  We have been told multiple times that we are to go to the Dept of State and/or the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa with the questions regarding the issue.

Well, I think that I can speak for MANY adoptive parents in saying that we have gone to them over and over and for whatever reason, we are getting robotic, un-empathetic responses.  We are not seeing passionate intervention for the lives of these children and are not seeing the sense of urgency that they deserve.

I was personally looking forward to seeing what they had to say at the hearing last week, but they did not attend!  If you listen to the hearing, you'll see that Mr. Smith mentioned they'd like to have a "Part 2" of the hearing so that they can have the Ambassador present and give us some information as well as hear more testimony regarding this situation.

I hope that they convene again soon while this matter is very visible and on the forefront of many offices of Congress.

This is an exciting time in that I am able to witness our lawmakers at work.  It is very easy nowadays to become discouraged when we sit back and look at how our country has changed.  However, it has been refreshing to see our country actively intervening for the human rights of people all over the world.  It sure isn't perfect, but I am definitely thankful to live in a nation where I am free to reach out to my elected officials and make matters that are important to ME become important to THEM.

I just pray this is important enough to President Obama as well...praying for a miracle.  Praying that Tobias will be home by my birthday in September (prayed that last year too).  Praying that he will celebrate Christmas with his family this year (prayed that last year as well).

And I'm praying that every one of these beautiful dark skinned, bright eyed children will be in the warmth of their parents embrace SOON.  

I think we will have some thank you notes to send to our members of Congress when that happens. 

***Reminder, I don't tolerate hateful comments :)  They'll be deleted.

Washington D.C. Trip

Well, I'm home.


Thank you SO much for the support that so many of you have offered by prayer and encouraging words regarding my trip to D.C. (posted about it here).

It will be hard to summarize our trip in one blog post. 

But I'm going to try!

So I arrived in Washington D.C. Monday night.  A sweet lady named Mary hosted me and Emily while we stayed there.  She lives just outside of the city so each morning and evening we'd take the metro for transportation.

Me and Emily on the Metro for the first time!

Mary made us breakfast each morning and made our stay FAR more comfortable (and cheaper) than staying in a hotel.  I will always be so grateful for her grace and hospitality!

So Tuesday morning started our advocacy with our Senators.  We were in a group with 5 California moms and a sweet couple from Nebraska.  We went with them to meet with a staffer for a NE Senator, then went to meet with Senator Feinstein from California.


We were greeted by 3 of her staff members as we started our meeting.  Then 2 more joined us...all very interested in our problem.  Senator Feinstein was on the "floor" voting and finally was able to make it to the meeting after about an hour of a very engaged conversation with her staff.

When she arrived, she made it clear that she wanted to see this situation resolved.  To be honest, it left me with tears as soon as she started talking to us.  At that point, we had not heard anyone with her authority want to see our kids come home as much as she did.  

She requested more information of us and has a plan to follow up with us later and personally meet with the Congolese Ambassador (if he'll agree to it) and present to him our cases.  

She also wants legislation in place immediately that will put a plan in place to communicate with Congo and negotiate the release of the children who are adopted.

By the end of the meeting (longest meeting of the week), we were encouraged to say the LEAST.  I don't care what party she represents, if she helps get my son home, she's getting my ultimate gratitude and respect for life! (doesn't mean I'll vote for her, but she's getting a Christmas card!)

Tuesday we also met with a staffer from Barbara Boxer's office.  While he seemed very concerned about the children and sympathetic for us as parents, we didn't feel like anything would actually be DONE by their office for us.

After that meeting, we headed to meet with 5 staff members of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  These women showed great concern for the children and genuine sadness for what we were going through.  They had some ideas for us and also some explanations for why we might be having such a hard time with the State Department.

After the meetings were done, we got ready for the candlelight vigil on the lawn of the Capitol Building.  This proved to be as emotional as I expected it to be.

Looking around at the beautiful dark faces and white eyes of those that are stuck in Congo as well as those that have been lost during this wait was beyond moving. 

There was something special about being surrounded by parents who TRULY understand what we are going through...not from hearing facts or stories, but from experiencing the same frustration and sorrow that we are.

Parents held signs of their children and told some of their stories of loss, sadness, and hope.  

CNN was there covering the story of a couple adoptive families and Christian Post covered the vigil as well.

Here is CNN's story:




And here is The Christian Post's article.

Wednesday proved to be another great day, meeting with Congressmen/women.

We met briefly with a Wyoming Congresswoman's staffer, who represents another family, CA Congressman Campbell's staffer (NOT a good meeting), and Congressman McClintock himself.

Tom McClintock proved to really care about our situation and looked into the eyes of our children in the pictures we provided.  He made it clear that he would do what he could to bring our kids home.  He said he would be co-sponsoring the House Resolution 588 that was drafted by the Foreign Affairs Committee as well.

A very productive meeting was held with Congressman Costa's (CA) staffer as well.  He showed extensive knowledge of his congressman's involvement and interest in this situation and provided future resources for us if needed.

Another huge highlight of Wednesday was the last minute meeting that was arranged with Congressman Royce (CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  He met with all the parents that weren't in other meetings and showed how much information he had regarding this situation.  He is heavily involved in Africa, has taken several trips there including multiple trips to Congo.  He has met personally with President Kabila and his father, former President Kabila.

He knows the context, the politics, and the culture of Congo well and offered tremendous support to us as parents.  He offered ideas and accepted comments and questions from us as well.

He informed us that the House Foreign Affairs Committee was going to be meeting the next day (Thursday) in a markup where they'd be discussing several House Resolutions on the block.  He invited us to attend and reserved seats for us.

We ended the day feeling extremely optimistic!

After all the Wednesday meetings, us California moms ran over to the Capitol to catch Congress in session!

There was a SUPER cool cop, Officer Steve that took our picture and gave us some preferential treatment in the Capitol...he took us to the back entrance of the House Gallery so we didn't have to wait in the long line!!

We witnessed the House of Representatives vote on an amendment....to some bill...LOL.  Can't remember what it was!

That night, we went to see the White House and saw the absolutely beautiful Eisenhower Executive Offices Building.

We then took the Metro and planned to walk several blocks to the Capitol Mall so we could see the monuments and memorials all lit up at night.  Well, our plans changed as we were waiting for a friend and were surprised by a sudden D.C. storm!!!

It went from dry ground to flooded in an instant and thunder and lightning followed quickly.  It really was beautiful and strange to me as a Californian...it was WARM!  Needless to say, our plans changed.  We decided to instead walk just a couple blocks to find a place that would allow us to dry off at 10pm at night!

It proved to be a very eventful and unforgettable WET last night in D.C!

Thursday was our final morning and we had to be at the Rayburn House Building at 9:00a.m.  So it was an early morning for us as we had to get ready and be completely packed in time to get on the Metro and ride it into the city.

We made it 5 minutes late but there were still just enough seats left for us in reserved seating.

The meeting was really interesting as we got to see members of Congress discuss several human rights issues presented in different foreign affairs House Resolutions.

When it came time for our bill to be discussed, we were surprised to hear Chairman Royce ask us to stand as he personally addressed us all.

Each time a Congressman gave his opinion on the resolution, he directly spoke to us as well.  And each time, it made me cry!  These men of Congress are ready and willing to fight for our children!  

Here are my favorite quotes from the committee that were made IN SESSION:

• "Thank you for what you're doing, this is God's work." - Rep. Poe (TX)

• "The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world." - Rep. Salmon (AZ)

• "We owe it to these children and their parents to bring this to a resolution." - Rep. Perry (PA)

• "The prophet Isaiah said...'Take up the cause of the orphan,' that's what you parents are doing." - Rep. Meadows (NC)

• "Congress has your back!" - Rep. Smith (NJ)

Needless to say, we felt overwhelmed with Congressional support from this group.  Our experience with Congress ended on a very high note to say the least!

Us with Chairman Royce

 You can see video of the committee meeting here.  Start the first video at the 2hr mark and you'll catch all these comments listed above and more.

I'm proud to say that Chairman Royce represents California and we look forward to seeing what changes will come about as a result of our efforts this week.

We are eternally grateful to Both Ends Burning (see their Congo page here) for helping us organize this trip and advocating for us and our children.  There is no way this would be possible without you guys!!!

They helped 60 families from 43 states gather to be our childrens' voices.  They helped us meet with 99 elected officials and their staff.  Those are 99 Senators and/or Congressmen that have constituents in their district with children stuck in congo.  And those officials now KNOW about our kids.  Their voices have been heard and now those that have much larger voices than ours can speak for us.

I said it in many of our meetings this week - We are PASSIONATE about bringing our kids home.  We are their voices, but ours are small voices that not many hear and we NEED others with loud voices to be passionate with us and FOR us, speaking on our behalf.  I believe we met many who are now passionate about these children and who will make their voices heard. 

Before I had to be at the airport on Thursday, we had a little time to spare and did make it to Capitol Mall to see the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial.

Seeing the Lincoln Memorial reminded me of how thankful we should be for the courageous men that did what was radical in order to give people with a different color to their skin the same rights that we have.  My son would not have been able to join our family unless he was a slave had we lived 175 years ago.

I'm very thankful for my time in D.C. and so thankful for those that made the trip possible.  

We are forever connected to these Congo parents, and especially the California mamas that I spent 2 1/2 days with.

 We pray that this trip will change the lives of our children very quickly by allowing them to come home to their families.

Thank you for continuing to pray for Tobias and for us here waiting for him.

Perhaps the wait won't be much longer....


***Disclosure:  Any negative comments will be deleted.  Yes it is a free country with free speech, meaning I am free to delete comments that don't belong on this blog.  I will not argue or allow debate in the comment section and urge my loved ones not to engage with hateful commenters on here.  If you see a comment before I do, let me know so I can delete it!  Thank you!

 

Worlds Collide

Right now, I am taking in so much information regarding adoption, our DC trip next week, and all that the trip entails, that I feel like my head is about to explode!!

In the midst of all us parents collaborating our plans, a fellow adoptive mom made this beautiful presentation for us.

Please check out the slideshow of the beautiful children here.

She is also a singer/songwriter and wrote and recorded the song that goes along with it.  It is called "Worlds Collide".

You can check out her Facebook page here.

Please read the lyrics below.  They are simple and precious...from the eyes of a helpless child.

Lord, bring them home.

 

I am hiding in the corner

I sit and wait for someone to appear

Another day of hopeless dreaming

Will I always be so filled with fear

Hear me now

I'm crying out to you

I have a face I have a name

Be the voice that speaks for me

Take a closer look we're all the same

Side by Side

Now watch our worlds collide

A glimmer shining in the darkness

Love is reaching out to set me free

breaking off the chains that bind me

Love has finally found her way to me

I'm not alone or on my own

Side by side

You and I

Heading to DC!!!

In my last post, I shared some personal thoughts I was having concerning our adoption (you can read it here).

It's getting harder and harder to wait for Tobias to be able to come home.

Our faith hasn't been shaken - we know and trust that our Lord is in control as always...the waiting time is just hard because he's not home.

Something else that makes our situation hard is that we are DONE with our adoption process.  Tobi has a visa and can travel...but Congo is not issuing exit letters at this time.

Well, we are going to DO something next week!

A group of adoptive parents, accompanied by reps from Both Ends Burning will be in Washington DC next week meeting with the House and Senate regarding the exit letter situation in Congo.

I originally thought this trip was completely out of reach...most of all because we can't afford any of it!  But The Lord has provided the funds for my plane ticket and there will be no cost for lodging (explained below).

So we are praising Him for the provision and moving forward with the other parents.

• So next Tuesday, June 23rd we will be meeting with Senators and presenting them with our stories.

• On Wednesday, we will be meeting with Congressmen and Congresswomen for the same purpose.

Our prayer is that this will light a fire of ACTION in our government and things will start moving.  We have found the Dept of State and the Embassy (the ones that have most communication with DGM in Congo) to be lacking in the motivation that we believe is necessary to get our kids home.

We are really hoping this will do the trick.

There has also been an application for a permit to hold a candlelight vigil on the lawn of the Capitol to honor our children waiting for us.

I know...makes me tear up just thinking about it.   We'll have to wait and see if that pans out.

As of right now, there are about 55 parents traveling to DC and we are hoping to add more by the time Tuesday gets here.

We also have meetings with over 65 Senators/Congressmen(women)!!  That's really exciting.

We will soon have an itinerary of what our days will look like.  I will be in a group with other California moms (3 of which are adopting through Compassion For Congo!!) and will likely have more in our group as well. 

We will be assigned several meetings in addition to our meetings with our California senators (or their staffers) and congressmen/women.

We have been told to dress comfortably and be ready for long days.

I will be staying with my friend Emily (she's updating her adoption blog here).  Her sister-in-law's sister is opening up her home to us at no cost!!!  That cuts out HUGE travel expenses for us and we are so grateful.

Emily and I are also hoping to see some DC sights while we're there....if we have time :)

I'm really trying to focus on the logistics of this trip and praying that it is effective....while NOT thinking about the fact that I will be missing my family terribly. 

I have NEVER left them.  The kids will sometimes spend the night with my parents..and we went away for a couple nights before Jackson was born, but nothing like this.  

4 days may not seem like much to some people, but I'm dreading it!  The kiddos are in good hands though, Chris is a 100% hands on daddy and is involved in all aspects of our children's everyday lives.

So I know they'll be fine...they'll have WAY more fun with dad then with me.  I'll just miss them :(

So pray for me and the other parents as we leave our families for a few days while we represent and advocate for our children that are a world away.