Update

Just wanted to check in with an update.  Uganda has passed a new law that is making this a little more difficult, so all prayers are appreciated!  We are still working with the Ugandan attorney on the specifics of it.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Update on the process

Hello everyone!  I know it has been a while since we have posted anything; but that's because there has not been a whole lot of "updating" to do!  We did get our home-study update scheduled, and that is going to take place this Saturday, July 16th, so be in prayer that all goes smoothly with that!  It is the same sweet lady that did our original home study, so I'm sure it will all go just fine.  As soon as that paperwork is complete, we can re-submit our application with U.S. Immigration and our Ugandan attorney can submit it to the Ugandan Court. 

We are still raising funds to finish paying off our U.S. attorney that is our Hague-Accredited Primary Service Provider.  After that, we will need to put money away to have on standby for us to travel to Uganda as soon as we get a court date.  We have been told that sometimes the notice they give is relatively short.  :-)  The puzzle is almost complete, but there are still a couple of rows left if you want to donate and have your name on a "piece of the puzzle to bring Shakirah home"!  Below is a picture of the puzzle.You can make a tax-deductible donation throught this website:   https://www.adopttogether.org/adopt-shakirah

Continue to be in prayer for "patience" for both us and Shakirah, and that we find favor with the Ugandan Court and U.S. Immigration.  We understand that everything is in God's timing, but it is also hard to not get a little frustrated at how long everything takes.  Shakirah is 11 years old and very smart, so she understands it is a long process, but sometimes I think that she might get fearful that we have forgotten about her over here in America.  We keep in touch through one of the local pastors on Facebook, but have not been able to talk to her since we came back from there in January. 

Thank you and love y'all! 
God Bless,
Jason & Molly 

On December 26, 2015, I finally got to travel to Uganda with the Living Wellsprings of Life Mission Team (thanks to a very generous couple)!  I met Shakirah for the first time.  She is just as sweet as I imagined and it was a blessing to finally meet her.  While there, I met with the probate officer in Mbale to introduce myself and check in on the status of our case.  As I said in my previous post, we have had to backtrack on some of the steps in the process.  But we did find someone to act as our Hague-Accredited Primary Service Provider here in the United States.  He is an attorney in New York, and only one of three attorneys in the U.S. that can act as a PSP. A helpful lady at an adoption agency in Waco referred us to him since we could not find an adoption agency willing to take our case and work with Uganda.  So, we are now gathering documents and preparing to have our home study re-done.  After our home study is completed, our attorney in Uganda can then submit our file to the probate officer, who will in turn complete her investigation and then it will be presented in the Ugandan Court.  Also, once our home study is completed, we can re-apply with U.S. Immigration as the first step in getting permission to bring Shakirah into the United States after the Ugandan Court approves the adoption. 

So please just continue your prayers for Shakirah and this entire process!  We still have several puzzle pieces left from our “puzzle fundraiser”, so if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation and get your name on a puzzle piece, you can click on this link:

https://www.adopttogether.org/adopt-shakirah

All of the money that has been donated so far helped pay for me to go to Uganda and meet with Shakirah and the probate officer, half of the fees for our Ugandan attorney, fees for our original attorney that we were working with here in the U.S., travel expenses for Jason to go to Uganda last summer to meet with attorney and probate officer, and several other miscellaneous things that come up that we had no idea about until we started this process (filing fees with immigration, cost of online adoption training classes, fingerprinting, passport/birth certificate for Shakirah, etc…I don’t have my list in front of me).  The next round of fundraising is going to be for our updated home study, retainer for our Primary Service Provider/attorney in New York, and the rest of what we owe the attorney in Uganda. 

Thank you and love y’all!

God Bless!!!