All day today I've had kind of a sick feeling in my stomach about our adoption. I thought it was because I was so hoping to get our I600 receipt this week. But I think God was preparing me for what I was going to find out tonight. Adoptions between Vietnam and the United States will not continue after September 1, 2008. Since (God willing) we will be home long before September 1, this should not effect our adoption of Molly. However, this makes me very sad for the children currently waiting for families and the families currently waiting for children. One quote from the US Embassy website has given me hope that this will be a temporary situation:
"The United States is strongly committed to processing legitimate intercountry adoptions from Vietnam if possible. Our primary concern is to ensure that the children and families involved in the adoption process are protected from exploitation. The Government of Vietnam shares this concern. Both countries acknowledge that more needs to be done to address deficiencies in the current system."
My prayer is that those deficiencies will be addressed and that adoptions will resume at some point.
There have been several times through this year long adoption process when I've thought "what are we doing and why are we putting ourselves through this?" and I have to say that thought crossed my mind again tonight. All of the uncertainties are so scary and I get so tempted to throw in the towel. But one year ago, God called us to adopt and we chose to take a step of faith. Never did I expect the rollarcoaster ride we've been on, but I've learned a lot and God is still teaching me a lot--mostly about putting my hope in HIM. And on the other side of the world in Vietnam, there is a little girl who is waiting on us. THAT is the reason.
To read more, go to: http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/adoption_warning0408.html
