Monday

This morning we met with the Videographers and journalists who have put together a video of Israel,s history. We saw clips of his home area, an interview with his mother, details of her relationship with the birth father and many other emotional things. I cried and went mute. Thank goodness Allison was there to ask many poignant questions.

Went back to guest house and had the best meal so far-- injera and true Ehtiopian food-- seriously my new favorite. I will post more on the food later.

Afternoon back to CHS office for meeting w Israel's soical worker to discuss his development in more detail. Later a meeting with Maarta, who is adoption division-the process person. We all met around a big conference table on the 4th floor. Marble floors! Nice table with leather chair and an old sharp television sitting at the end.
Could see a schoolyard with  boys in blue sweaters playing hoops and soccer. Saw a kid doing an inverson crossover move!

Meeting with Maarta is fantastic, more concrete information than we have had cumulative in three years. We learned about MOWA and why they don't like adoption, about how court dates are assigned, that Mussie lost its license, that the "care center" is help for the needy orphanage, that they have added Ebeneezer orphanage and that Ebeneezer is where our kids will be going. It's a one month old relationship which makes all of us nervous.
We learned that if a birth parent's whereabouts are unknwn then the court will want to see a Police Report. Ours have been requested but not delivered whch is concerning. We learned the order of the process, MOWA letter, court date, birth certificate, then passport, then immigration, then embassy date. We never knew ANY of this. Furthermore this informattion, and specifics , are being communicated to Jan Simon.
When I say the meeting was fantastic, I mean that our group had formed a bloc that said we are not leaving until we finally get the answers that people using from other agencies are getting.  Tell us about the MoWA letters.  Tell us the process. Tell us how long it takes to get the embassy date. What agency is responsible for what?  These types of things.
Marta knew all and shared all. Our driver was pacing in the hallway, we had been allotted 15 minutes and we went over and hour! Firing questions left and right.

Bottom line-- we think it will be 6-8 weeks until second trip.

Specific prayer--
1- our letter from MoWA is at the court tomorrow
2- the judge approves our petition in the spot
3- our meeting with Israel,s birth mother tomorrow is covered with grace