Home!

One last post for anyone who hadn't heard through other channels. We made it out of Colombia and home yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. We are very appreciative for everyone who helped us. There were many who made sacrifices and worked very hard to get us home. We especially thank all of you who prayed for us these past days. It's good to be back!
The Clelands and the Weesners

Jason has arrived

Just a quick update to let you know that Jason has arrived. We fly out at midnight tonight.

The doctor said Kay is doing much better and sees no reason she cannot travel.

We are very thankful for answered prayers! Keep us in your prayers as we work our way through immigration.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

On the good front, Jason is on his way to Chicago. He will arrive here around 5 AM. This is our best option for getting out. Please pray for his safety, smooth sailing through Chicago, and that there would be no delays or cancellations in the flights. Nasko is doing much better and seems back to normal.

On the bad front, Kay is still sick and there is the concern of dehydration. The doctor is coming by at 4 to follow up. As for the papers we spent all day yesterday working on, the Colombian consulate has refused to send them to immigration because they were authenticated (apostilled) in the US. The best we can do is to get them here by FedEx on Thursday which is after our flight. So we very much need Jason to get here.

On the ugly front, we heard that another family has been delayed for much the same reasons. It seems that the Colombian immigration is very strict about the children of US adoptive families who return to Colombia. We learned yesterday from a US missionary friend here at the house that the US embassy in Colombia has a hands off policy for Americans if they have any kind of legal trouble. Basically they have been told that they are on their own. In our experience so far, we have had some good help in the way of advice from the embassy, but it seems that at a certain point, they back off. Our congressional state representative has contacted the Colombia Country Desk Officer at the State Department who is contacting the Colombian embassy. We’re not sure that will accomplish much at this point.

Keep the kids in your prayers as well. They are very frustrated and lacking sufficient attention as we work to get out of here. It is difficult to go anywhere as Kay and Nasko are restricted. This is a small house with nothing to do and you can’t just send them outside to play. I am sitting outside now writing this so some of them can play in a park next to the house. I will drag myself out to take them to get ice cream later.

This is all very unfortunate as our troubles are not representative of the Colombian people. We run into extremely few who are not kind, caring and always wanting to and looking for ways to help you. This is a bureaucratic issue that seems to be aggravated by the bad blood between our two governments. I would love to find a way to change that so that we can have better relations between our countries.

There’s no place like home…There’s no place like home…

We have spent the morning trying to cover every possible avenue available to us to make sure we can leave Wednesday night. There are many in Colombia and in America with the courage to help us. People are driving all over to get the paperwork to Colombia. Our embassy friend is working and has been available 24 hours a day. The doctor just left and only charged 200,000 pesos (a little over $100) for seeing both Kay and Nasko. She is returning tomorrow to follow up, no extra charge. And yes, you heard right, it’s a house call. Rep Tim Walberg’s office is following up with the embassy to make sure they are doing everything possible. We were denied an embassy person to accompany us through immigration, but his office will also make the request. The guest house is allowing us to stay for free which saves about $450.

Jason is flying back here Tuesday night. As a backup, the documents are being transmitted to the embassy. Another backup would be for war to break out between the US and Colombia and then the embassy would have to get us out. Keep Jason in your prayers as he has had very little sleep or food and will be working again tonight before flying Tuesday night to Colombia.

Kay and Nasko are on medication now. Nasko does not have chicken pox. They are on bed rest until tomorrow. We just need them past the vomiting and diarrhea phases so they can get on the plane.

Now that the paperwork is completed things have settled down a little here. Sara is doing better as well.  We appreciate all your prayers and your many offers to help. You have said you felt helpless, but trust us, we know that feeling. It’s just really good to know that God is in control. Our theme last week at CRAN was “strong and courageous” and we’ve been leaning on God a lot for strength and courage. Next year though, let’s make the theme a little easier. Something like “fun and games.”

Nightmare on Calle 116

We have some prayer requests for you. One is for Nasko. He is throwing up. We have also noticed that he has a few bumps on his stomach. The concern is that he has chicken pox. We are trying to get into a doctor tomorrow. Kay had some stomach issues this week, but was free of it for 36 hours. However, the symptoms have returned. No one else has any serious concerns except for the stress Sara is under.

This morning we went to church. It was nice to get into a routine. We made a dinner of scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, and potatoes of course. Not our usual Sunday dinner, but good. We’ve spent the rest of the day working on details to cover all of our bases to get home. Even though Jason is going to fly here Tuesday evening, we still want to try to get the proper forms from him sent down in case his flight is cancelled for some strange reason (like that never happens). We also talked to our friend at the American embassy. She found a form on the Colombia Immigration web site, but it’s very ambiguous in its questions so she is going to call immigration in the morning. We will have Jason fill it out, have it notarized and apostilled (a trip to Grand Rapids), and see if we can overnight it to the Bethany social worker here. A lot has to work out for that to be successful.

So, there are some prayer concerns for you. Please pass this blog address on to others who want to keep updated and pray.

Update !

Here’s what happened and what the status is…

Jason had to return home a day early because he has a new job and could not take too much time off. He and Sara had checked with Bethany (our adoption agency) as to what Sara would need in order to take the children out of Colombia without Jason. They did what they were told, but the information was not complete. A Colombian child who is adopted in the US maintains dual citizenship. The Colombian government is very concerned for the rights of the child even though the child is also a US citizen. Because we are in Colombia we are under their laws primarily. The problem is that the power of attorney that Jason signed and notarized was in English and that it had not been apostilled (sealed). Other governments do not recognize our notaries without the apostille. The mistake was that even though our government would have accepted such a document, Colombia does not, and would not accept it. The rest of us were already through immigration and security. Sara was able to bring me back to be with her and the children and to try to help her. During this time they kept saying they were working on a solution, but all they were actually doing was making sure they were accurately following their laws. Sara was obviously very distressed and we were trying to find out what we should do. Unfortunately the people in immigration were not cooperative and refused to allow us to contact our embassy or to give us any further information. Sara’s only solution was to remain in country and contact people who could help us. We have many friends here and they are working to help us. I decided to remain in country so as not to leave Sara here alone with four children. The problem with just me staying was that Kay could not travel out of the country with Jenny because I was not with them. It’s the same predicament Sara was in. So all three of us stayed and we all returned to the guest house. It was good to hear that the rest of the team made it back okay.

Now we are trying to figure out what is the best avenue to take. Jason can redo the paperwork for the power of attorney, but there is the risk it would not be sufficient. He could not do anything until Monday and then it would take a couple of days to get the papers down here. We currently have flights for Wednesday night. The next available would be July 6. Because that solution is so tentative, we are trying to get Jason back down here so they can travel back together. That seems to be the only sure way of getting out of country by Wednesday. There are other issues with our Jenny that we are concerned about. We were asked for proof of her Colombian birth which is the passport, but they were requesting her Colombian birth certificate which we did not have with us. We got through without it, but we might not the next time. It is totally up to the agent you happen to get. We are hoping Jason can locate it for us to bring with him. He is working this weekend at night and is exhausted and concerned.

It was a wonderful trip and the others on the team can testify as to God’s hand in the lives of the children we ministered to as well as the adults who were watching us. It was our intent this morning to share our experiences with you, but that will have to wait. When we started the work here last weekend, we talked about how we wanted God to be glorified in our lives and in the work He did through us. We do not want Satan to rob us of the blessings and the victory in the lives of the children. Jenny asked me last night if this was God testing us. I believe it is Satan’s attempt to steal God’s glory and that God is revealing His faithfulness. Trials like this can be used to bring more glory to God if we allow it.

The Colombian people are great and we do not want you to think poorly of them…immigration, not so much.

We appreciate your prayers and look forward to sharing with you in church next Sunday.

Pastor Rick

Friday!

Wow! What a day! After our classes at CRAN they had a ceremony to thank us. It was very difficult saying goodbye to the children and to the adults. It was a great week!

After CRAN we took taxis to Plaza de Bolivar. We walked around the square to the president’s house. We were supposed to have a tour but it was cancelled because the president of South Korea was visiting. Never being one to accept “No” for an answer, we asked at every guard station if our friend in the president’s security team, Jairo Cortes, was there. He’s the one who originally set up the tour. No one knew where he was, but we ran into him on the street. He took us on a tour of the Police Museum. It was really cool! We met his children on the way back from the museum.

We went shopping a little and then took the trans-milenio. It’s their mass transit. It was standing room only and VERY crowded. Not everyone did so well, but we all survived.

We have an early day tomorrow and a long flight. Keep us in your prayers.