Referral News

Hi Everyone,

The moment we've been waiting forever for (it seems) is here. We have an official referral.

Introducing Hanh Phuc Thi Phan. She was born June 11, 2008 which is also my niece's birthday. Kamber just turned 10 so that's really cool.

Hanh Phuc (first name) means Blessing from above, also Happiness
Thi (a very common middle name for baby girls) means Poem, but also baby girl

Her American name will be Haven Aviella. You can figure out the last name for security and privacy sake. Haven means preserved in a safe place. Aviella is Hebrew and means God is my Father. It's pronounced like Ariel (think Little Mermaid) but obviously with the v sound and with an a (uh) sound on the end.

Thanks so much for all who have prayed for Haven and our family over the months. We'll let you know the next steps in our process another day.

Blessings,
Shae

We're not in the Clear yet.

Hi all,

We do not have an official referral yet. However, we are still hopeful. We have NOT been told that are chances are 0% of receiving a referral by Sept. 1 like many of the other families waiting even within our own agency.

So please keep praying.

1) Pray that we would receive an official referral very soon....long before Sept. 1 would be nice.

2) Pray that once we have our referral that we can file our I-600 quickly with the US immigration and that they'll acknowledge it's receipt quickly. This step can take almost a month. The I-600 is asking immigration for approval of the baby's case to get a visa to bring her to the US.

3) Pray that our I-600 would be processed quickly. This approval from immigration is what will determine when we get to travel. After getting a referral, the I-600 is the last big hurdle to clear before going to Vietnam. USCIS and the State Dept get up to 60 working days (3 months) for perfect cases. Any issues can delay your case longer. Average seems to be about 2-3 months right now.

4) Pray that the officials in Vietnam would still grant an extension of the Sept. 1 deadline. We know many families that this would help not to mention the many orphans that are still in Vietnam.

5) Pray for any older children that are waiting for their forever families. Pray that they won't be affected by the shutdown. That they and the special needs orphans would be the exception, and that their cases would be unaffected which is not uncommon in shutdowns. We have prayed extensively about this even for ourselves, but are not being led there at this time. Our hearts are willing though.

6) Pray for the children in Vietnam. They are the ones that truly suffer in a shutdown. In some provinces there is more than one country working, but like in ours the Swedes have now been licensed, but aren't doing anything. No adoptions taking place, means no dollars coming in as humanitarian aid for those orphanages.

And a Praise:

The family that was #1 on the boys' list that received their referral on July 3rd, just received their I-600 approval on Thursday, August 14th. Their approval came in less than 2 weeks which is a miracle. They will travel as soon as the family mentioned below gets back.

Another family from our agency is traveling Sunday to go get their little girl and little boy. So that's 3 more children that are going to be united with their forever families very soon.

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily,
surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it
seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be
late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3

Thanks for Praying,
Shae