We are the Fraziers. This blog chronicles our adoption journey to our three kiddos from eastern Congo. As I have time, I will also give you some glimpses into my daily life as a mother of six very energetic children.
We are no longer praying for two more; we are praying for THREE more.
Meet our five year old son, S Frazier:
God placed this little boy on DeWayne's heart while he was at the orphanage, and we have been waiting to find out if we could adopt him. We just learned a few minutes ago that we CAN! I know many people think we are crazy (and maybe we are), but we know that God has opened this door for a reason. We are going to be obedient and walk through it. After all, how much harder can 6 kids be than 5!?! We are very excited and still covet your prayers.
It has been one week since my journey to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and I have tried to take some time to process all I saw and experienced. My heart is broken for the people of this region.
A land of beautiful mountains and even more beautiful people but devastated by acts of war and hate. Have you heard of the Hutu Militias (Interahamwe) that systematically murdered the Tutsis in Rwanda? They are not gone, they have just moved to the forests of Eastern Congo. What about the Lord's Resistance Army of Uganda? A group listed as terrorist by the US Government and yes, they are in the Forest of North Eastern Congo. What about the Janjaweed from Sudan, you remember them, the ones who killed the innocent Sudanese farmers and there story is Chronicled in the life of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan. They are also in this Region, but why? The answer is simple, money...money that comes from the worlds largest reserve of natural resources. And yes, we are all guilty with our cell phones and laptops.
In a country where over 90% of the people are unemployed, 20% of the country is accessible by roads, and the per capita annual income is around $189 (Source: US Dept. of State); why do we not do more to help? Last year alone in Eastern Congo, there were over 15,000 "reported" incidents of rape...but we do not hear of this in our insulated world.
Traveling into the "Bush" in this war torn country has a way of touching you and changing you. I have been in over 40 different countries, but this one was different. The people are vulnerable, especially the children and women. You and I in Western Countries cannot fathom not being able to go and get food or supplies at a store, but for many of these people, they have never seen a store. For them, they worry more about their next meal and safety, and for us, we worry about who will be voted off American Idol next week.
I will never truly understand why people are forced to live like this but I have a good idea. What I know is that it is not the question so many ask, "Why did God let this happen?"....the real question is "Why did you and I let this happen?". God has given us so much and there is no reason anyone on Earth should live in this type of environment. In the words of the great Christian leader Augustine, "In All things you do preach the Gospel, if necessary, use words".
I urge each of us to pray and learn what we can do to help this area. Pray for our children that soon they will leave this place and be with us....but someday, together, we will continue to work to make DR Congo a safe place for the next generation of young people. There are no accidents in God's world...my life is a testimony to this fact.
Well, DeWayne took tons of pictures on his trip. There are so many good ones, but I'm only going to post my favorites of the kids.
This is our daughter, S Frazier.
And another of DeWayne wiping her nose:
She was a little afraid of the scary, white man.
But she was really happy when he gave her a toy car.
This is our son, M. Frazier.
M with his daddy:
He was much more comfortable with the scary, white guy.
This is M with one of the lovely mamas who take care of him.
Needless to say, we are madly in love with them both! We can't wait to get them home. We still have a lot that has to happen before we go get them, but we are definitely on track. We have a few more consents to get, and then we should be in court in the next few weeks. Please pray that all continues to go as well as it has already gone and that we will have no snags along the way. We want to bring them home as soon as possible so that we can all begin bonding as a family. DeWayne will be posting about his trip later in the week and will add some more pics from the orphanage and other places he visited.
Sitting here while DeWayne is in Congo has been very difficult. God has been so present in this journey though that it makes it all a little easier. There is still a lot to be accomplished before we bring them home, but we have learned a lot already. Hopefully, we will have a court date in the next couple weeks. Once we go to court, it is possible that we could have custody of them in two months. Then, there are still details to be worked out before we bring them home, but it's finally coming together! Please continue to pray. I should be able to upload some pics in the next few days.
We received approval from the head pastor in DRC to adopt. This is huge, no bribes, no difficult situations, just a very gracious man. So, now we have officially hired our lawyer and are moving forward. Hopefully we will go to court in the next couple weeks!
I also received a text from USCIS that our I600a was received. Hopefully we get our fingerprint appointments soon. Everything is going very well and God has shown up in so many ways! I'll post lots more details in the next week or so.
We've been very busy the last few weeks! DeWayne is getting ready for his upcoming trip to the DRC. I just packed one large suitcase full of bottles, toys, medication, coloring books, crayons, etc... that were donated by our wonderful church family. It will be such a blessing to the kids at the orphanage. They have been so focused on making sure they have food and formula (which they are able to buy regularly now) that there is not one toy there. Collecting these items was Blaine and Zac's project. We feel it is very important for them to be invested in all of this. DeWayne will meet with our lawyer, the head pastor, the orphanage director and our sweet babies! We are so excited to begin moving forward. Hopefully we will be able to start the court process very soon after his trip. There are several things that you can be praying for over the next few weeks:
Pray that God is in every detail of our adoption
Pray that DeWayne has a safe and productive trip
Pray that our "tentative" referrals are made official very soon
Pray that DeWayne's meeting with the head pastor goes very well (this is extremely important as he makes the decision as to whether or not we are allowed to adopt)
Pray that everything works out with our lawyer
Pray that DeWayne has no trouble getting the much needed scabies meds through customs
Pray for his time with our children
There are so many things you can be praying for, but these are probably the most important at this time. This is a very important trip for us!
