Trip Notes#2 - More Court and Waiting

The first night with Caleb wasn’t what I expected.  He slept ALL night long.  Poor guy – he was probably exhausted after his ordeal in jail.  Problem was he wouldn’t take a bottle or eat.  The next morning at breakfast, he ate a piece of bread and a little fruit.  We were told that I would have to return to court to “sign papers”.  Now, Folks, in America, if one goes to “sign” papers, it takes about – oh - maybe five minutes.  I knew in the Congo it’d take a little longer than that.  I packed a bottle and some bread in my bag and headed off with the driver and bodyguards around 9:30.  I was totally unprepared as this “signing of papers” took until 4:00 in the afternoon!!  It gave me a new appreciation of why adoption paperwork in third world countries can take so long to process.

First, we were in a room smaller than our bedroom at home.  It had four desks with men working at them.  Around each desk were four chairs for people like us to sit.  I was with “M” (Caleb’s birth mother).  We were in a court room different than the one where our hearing had been held.  This one was not as scary, but it was so crowded!  It was hot and we were not able to leave the room ALL day.  I sat (and stood when Caleb cried) the WHOLE day.  We watched the judge HAND-WRITE nine pages of documents with CARBON paper!!  There were no computers, no typewriters, nothing electronic.  There were cardboard boxes stacked to the ceiling that were smashed, hanging open, etc.  These boxes housed all the previous court records.  I was praying my documents would never get lost because I knew what they would have to go through to find them as I watched a worker dig through several boxes without success. 

I was unprepared as I hadn’t packed much for Caleb.  The bread was gone by 10:00 and he wouldn’t take the bottle.  I had no way to console him at that point; he was plain HUNGRY.  “M” left court and returned with some kind of drinkable yogurt.  Caleb drank it fast and furiously.  I asked another man to get two more for him.  I then noticed that even though it looked like yogurt, it said, “Energie” on the side.  I couldn’t read the other French words, but when I went the to the yogurt section at the market the next day, this drinkable yogurt was not there.  Instead, I found it with the “Monster” drinks.  YIKES!!  Anyhow, it proved to be a good  “transition” drink as I put it in Caleb’s bottle a time or two mixed with some formula until he was drinking only formula. 

...........Here's a photo of a VERY KIND gentleman helping me entertain Caleb during the LONG court day.  This man holds a special place in my heart as he was also the one who had handed Caleb to me for the FIRST time in court the night before.

After spending the whole day in court on Saturday, I was anxious to have a “normal day” with Caleb.  On Sunday, we spent the day getting to know each other outside of a court.  While we didn’t actually attend church, we walked outside and listened to the music of the churches at St. Anne’s (AWESOME!).  Vickie thought that maybe we’d leave the DRC the following weekend.  We expected to get our visas within a few days, go to DGM for a few days and leave the D.R.C immediately after. 

Well, the first day after getting Caleb that the Embassy was open, we were there bright and early.  And, it wasn’t for our visa appointment.  We went because there was concern that more arrests or re-arrests were occurring.  Our coordinator feared she’d be thrown in jail (that would NOT have been good as we needed her help to finish paperwork to leave the DRC).  The thought crossed my mind that maybe we’d ALL get put in jail (REALLY not good for two White women in the Congo!).  Accusations went away as the rumors circulating were PROVED FALSE.  But, the result was that the Embassy had to launch a FULL investigation before issuing our children’s visas.  And this process would NOT be easy!  It would take a LOT longer than a few days and would have many twists and turns. 

During the visa process, there were several days where we seriously wondered if our children would EVER come home.  One day in particular, I actually called George and told him that Caleb would NOT EVER be able to come home with me, so I needed to bite the bullet and arrange care for him in the Congo and return home.  His and the kids’ responses were “NO!  Stay longer – Keep fighting!  You HAVE to bring him home!”  I was willing to stay longer, but only if progress was being made, giving us SOME glimpse of hope for a happy ending.  I needed at least a glimpse of hope because every day Caleb and I were bonding more and more.  I knew how difficult it would be if I’d have to put him back in the orphanage and leave for an indefinite amount of time.  He was quickly learning who mommy is and would cry if I left to go to the bathroom for two minutes.  Just imagining what it would be like to say, “Good-bye” to Caleb and Andi was more than Vickie and I could bear!

............................................This little man and I were BONDED!!  :)

As difficult as this waiting was, when I would pray, I would be reminded of verses like, “Be still and know that I am God.”  “They that WAIT upon the Lord shall renew their strength….” etc.  At the time, I was thinking, “Really, God?  Wait longer?  UGH!!!”  The answers weren’t what I wanted to hear and I often wondered why the days were passing by.  I also KNEW that people at home were praying for us.  George would tell me about the emails, phone calls, meals, etc. from our supportive family, church family and friends and I’d be SO encouraged!  I have said to some of you that I’ve never “felt” people praying before, but I’m telling you – in this case, I “FELT” people praying!  I knew that we were supported and that in itself gave me hope. 

Our original “worst-case scenario” plane tickets were booked for the 21^st of November.  When the day we thought would be the LATEST we’d leave came, I knew why God had not allowed us to leave.  Caleb was really sick and we were hospitalized during that time.  We could NOT have left if we wanted to and it would have been BAD to have been on a plane with him as sick as he was.  God KNEW what He was doing and His timing was all for a reason (of course!!)

I will write more about our hospital stay in the next post…..

Happy Monday to you all!  Have a great week!