Promises, promises... - 06/27/08

This week our congressional representative has been trying to get a response from USCIS Detroit (immigration) as to whether or not they processed our I600 on Monday as promised. They had asked for additional copies of some documentation after letting our original documentation sit in our file untouched for 9 1/2 weeks. She got nowhere with them, so she finally called the immigration office in Washington DC and asked them to get involved. Today they helped us to discover that the Detroit office signed for our package on Monday and then promptly lost it, letting our case sit dormant for another week. We are deeply disturbed, unspeakably frustrated, and very angry. They committed to us that if we sent our package via Express Mail, they would intercept it and process. They did not keep their commitment.

We now have new instructions to redo what we sent last week and drive it to Detroit, which we were previously advised not to do. We have specific people to whom we're to give our package, then we're to call our congressional representative to let her know we've done the delivery. The Washington DC office is now overseeing the processing of our I600, and Detroit has been instructed that they are to process it immediately upon receipt Monday. We shall see what happens. This is increasingly amazing with each day that goes by.

We praise God for:

• Belinda, our caseworker. She came back from a very brief vacation on Wednesday and dove right back into our case with the grace that characterizes her. She is a treasured confidante and has soothed many tears of frustration and bewilderment today.
  
• Our church family who continues to pray for us and is planning to give us a baby shower on July 20 so that we will have some things for Jude before we go to Haiti.
  
• God's plan. As my sister so gently reminded me, according to Romans 8:29 while we do not know why this all is happening, it means that if we are listening, still of heart, and open to God molding us and shaping us then Jude's Momma and Poppie will be more like Christ by the time he comes home. That's not something you trade in for any amount of ease.
  
• Our congressional representative, Mitzi. She has been very helpful, kind and gracious as she has sensed our frustration. We appreciate her!

We pray for:

• God to move the hands of the people in Detroit, and then at the National Visa Center, and then at the US Consulate in Haiti, so that we can go get Jude and bring him home.
• Us to remain still of heart and clear thinking, and to continue to respond to these challenges with grace and kindness to those at fault.
  

Thanks for praying. Stay tuned!