More favor!

Good morning all! Or, I should say Bon Jour! It is a language frenzy here, as we work between english (which few speak), French (which is coming back to me from the ancient days of high school), and Lingala, the local dialect which is a bit of a mystery to me. Then in comes Francis, who knows all of the above and is helping us, with a greeting of "Ola, que pasa"? Oi. I have not idea what language I am speaking anymore.

Still no words fram Davina, however she talks a lot in her sleep, so we know it is just a matter of time. She is exceptionally well behaved. She continues to eat well, and will eat whatever is put in front of her. Last night, she ate two plates of rice, bread, chicken, beef & french fries. Today, I believe he stomach is trying to process, as that was likely a lot for her. It was funny last night for dinner, there was a power outage, so we were sitting at a coffee table in the front room where there is the most light. We made her a plate, but she would not eat. Michael suggested perhaps she liked eating at the regular table better, so we moved into the relatively dark dining room, and she chowed! She has really good table manners, which has surprised us. We keep hoping she will talk to us, but feel a bit comforted that she wont talk or react to anyone. In fact, when other Congolese try to talk to her, she will reach for us, or grab onto us tighter. So at least she is beginning to understand that we are safe, and consistent. She has been through a lot for a three year old. Please continue to pray for her transition, that she will have peace in her heart. I think tday is the day her mother was considering coming to say goodbye. I really pray that she does not, but understand that she may need to. Davina is currently sitting next to me, drinking all my water with the peach iced tea mix. Just switched her to guava juice....

Yesterday our attorney met with great success on her birth certificate. We were given an attestation of her birth, as there was no birth certificate we were told. The attestation is not enough for her visa, as apparently those are pretty easily come by, so we had to go to the tribunal to get a judgement saying the birth information was valid. To get that done quickly involved quite a bit of $. In their research they found that there had been a birth certificate issued, however it had been lost, but they had an electronic copy in Kinshasa. Our attorney was able to get it, and Michael took it to the embassy immediately and they gave it the ok. I was surprised to hear that with that, we may actually get some money back from te tribunal! The folks at our embassy have been truly fantastic, so helpful and really kind. They wrote us a letter of recommendation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and set up the opportunity for Michael to meet with the Ambassador there personally, which he is doing right now. It is our understanding that their intention is to issue a passport immediately. With that, we can proceed to get her medical exam done, then we will have all we need. Voila! as the Congolese say. We understand the medical takes 4-5 days, so we will need some favor there as well...

God has been incredibly kind through this whole journey to date. The travel here was very difficult, leaving Nate was much more painful than I expected. Had God not made it so very clear that Davina was His plan for our family, I would have likely turned back at the first opportunity. Being here, and meeting these wonderful people has been a real blessing.

Davina and I are spending much of our time on the compound. I find that when we venture out, walking, we get a lot of wierd and some bad looks. The moondeli (white people) are a little more common here, but we are not supposed to be holding a congolese child. The men seem ok, but the women are not pleased. I did not go to the Ambassador today for that very reason, we do not want to draw attention to this that we do not know is positive. On our first day the Commisioner (SA) advised us to keep it low, and referenced the Madonna situation in Malawi. We obviously do not get the press she does, but are looking to heed his wisdom. I do not have fear here, but it is wise to lay low...

We have been unable to post pictures here, due to slow connection speeds that keep timing out. We have emailed some pictures, and asked that they be forwarded, so hopefully they will make it to you soon. For PW, Kenny has them. For SVS, Linda has them, for family, we sent them to Cathy. There is one with me reading to Davina, you will notice the stark difference between her skin color and mine. I believed I was tan prior to seeing that!

Look at me being long winded! I will sign off now, and wil try to update later with news of the passport and medical. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Natey my love, I miss you very much. I am certain that you are going to have a lot of fun with Davina when we get home. Have a very fun half birthday, be super good for Jeanette at Disneyland, don't scare her on the rides too much! We love you and we miss you, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Love, Joanna, Michael & Davina