Please join me in praying for a fellow AHO family, the Alonso's. Charity Alonso and a friend of hers will be travelling with us to Liberia. They received some bad news today. The following is what Charity posted in her blog today. (www.internationalmommy.blogspot.com) Thanks for keeping them in your prayers.
Today we were hit with a bombshell. Apparently "Alma" does not believe that the girls' mom is their mother. Apparently she now thinks that the "mother" may be their grandmother and is requesting a dna test. In Liberia this could take MONTHS. After the dna test, if this woman is NOT their mother-they will have to go find their mother-which could take a long time.I am in tears.
We have purchased our tickets, and my friend that is flying with me has already purchased her tickets to here (NC) and to Africa. We are packed- my husband has already gotten his adoption leave applied for. My girls have doctors appointments. Our fingerprints are expiring the beginning of October.
Charles is meeting with the consulate on Tuesday, and I am praying. I AM praying.
I am asking please for your prayers...if you have ever prayed for us before, please pray for us now.Please pray that by some miracle Alma will let this go.
Things are happening in Liberia that show how strong of a hold Satan has on this place....something is happening in Liberia.
I am not giving up.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tickets are booked!
Today I booked our tickets for our trip to and from Africa. We will leave 14 days from today! I still can't believe it. We will fly out of Chicago have a short layover in New York. In New York we will meet up with another AOH family who is traveling the same week that we are. I'm so excited that the Alonso's will be on this journey with us. Not only has this journey brought us a new child, but it has allowed us to develop lifetime relationships with other families. I consider it one of the perks of the adoption. We will then leave JFK and arrive in Brussels the following morning. We are going to spend two days in Brussels to do some sightseeing, maybe a train trip to Paris, and get rested for the rest of the trip. On September 16 we leave for Monrovia. We should arrive there that evening.
We are scheduled to leave Monrovia to come home on September 21st. We will have a short layover in Brussels. Then on to NY and then to Chicago. I know that none of this is written in stone and we have prepared ourselves as much as we can for the unexpected. Our prayer of course, is that all will go smoothly.
The kids are getting excited. They are planning a welcome home party with grandma who will be taking care of them while we are gone. They're talking cupcakes, streamers and balloons. It brings me so much joy to see their enthusiasm. I know that we will all be exhausted when we get back, but I can't imagine how glad we will be to see their smiling faces when we return. What a day it will be!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
WE ARE GOING TO AFRICA!!!!
After almost a year and half of waiting we found out this evening that in 19 days we will be in Liberia to get our son!! It almost feels surreal. We will be arriving in Liberia on September 16th. What is so cool about that is that God has worked this all out so that Alan and I will be in Africa on out 15th wedding anniversary. Who would of thought 15 years ago that we would be celebrating our 15th anniversary in Africa with our new son? I'm so glad that God is in control of all of this. What a way to celebrate! God has given us a precious gift.
As ecstatic as we are, we still have the reality of the shortage of financial resources to face. Please pray for a financial miracle. We have had a tremendous response with our one dollar adoption fundraiser. http://thekettelkamps.onedollaradoption.com Many people have been quite generous on Kenneth's behalf and we are touched deeply by their generosity. But we are still in need of quite a bit before we reach our goal. Supporting Kenneth after he is here is not a problem, it is coming up with a large sum of money to complete our adoption that is the issue. Please pray and share our link with anyone you can.
We are so blessed to be able to share this journey with each of you. I know that it would be quite a dull trip if we didn't have all of you along side us cheering us on and at times holding us up. I thank God for all of you!!
As ecstatic as we are, we still have the reality of the shortage of financial resources to face. Please pray for a financial miracle. We have had a tremendous response with our one dollar adoption fundraiser. http://thekettelkamps.onedollaradoption.com Many people have been quite generous on Kenneth's behalf and we are touched deeply by their generosity. But we are still in need of quite a bit before we reach our goal. Supporting Kenneth after he is here is not a problem, it is coming up with a large sum of money to complete our adoption that is the issue. Please pray and share our link with anyone you can.
We are so blessed to be able to share this journey with each of you. I know that it would be quite a dull trip if we didn't have all of you along side us cheering us on and at times holding us up. I thank God for all of you!!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Still Waiting...
We are still waiting to hear how Kenneth's pre-visa interview went and what our travel dates will be. We should be hearing at anytime. As soon as I know something, believe me I will post it. Donna from AOH is currently in Liberia and I believe she is returning this weekend. I hope we know something before then, but if not I know she will update us when she returns.
The kids and I joined daddy in Milwaukee last week. While he was working, we were out having fun. We "quickly" checked out the art museum, visited the children's museum, and the zoo. We ate lots of yummy food and had some awesome family time. It was great being with daddy and spending the last remaining days of our summer break with him.
The kids start school on September 4th. Chris will be in the 5th grade, Clayton will be in 1st grade, and Sophia will be in kindergarten this year. They all say that they are ready to go back. That is half of the battle right there. It should be a fun learning year for them. They all have awesome teachers at a great school. We're looking forward to what this school year holds!
Chris, Clay and Sophia in front of the Milwaukee Art Museum
My little giraffes.
Look at those lions!!
Inside the art museum with Lake Michigan in the background.
The kids and I joined daddy in Milwaukee last week. While he was working, we were out having fun. We "quickly" checked out the art museum, visited the children's museum, and the zoo. We ate lots of yummy food and had some awesome family time. It was great being with daddy and spending the last remaining days of our summer break with him.
The kids start school on September 4th. Chris will be in the 5th grade, Clayton will be in 1st grade, and Sophia will be in kindergarten this year. They all say that they are ready to go back. That is half of the battle right there. It should be a fun learning year for them. They all have awesome teachers at a great school. We're looking forward to what this school year holds!
Chris, Clay and Sophia in front of the Milwaukee Art Museum
My little giraffes. 
Look at those lions!!
Inside the art museum with Lake Michigan in the background.Thursday, August 16, 2007
Dance With Me...
I just found out from Donna at AOH that Kenneth's pre-visa appointment is scheduled for next week!!!! That means that we will be traveling to get him in September!! I'm dancing!! After all of this waiting, I can't believe that the time to hold our son is so close. I mean, we're talking weeks now. WOW! I'm also a little panicked because I need to get my booty in gear and get organized.
I also found out that in regards to his visa being issued, AOH only needs to contact his father again since he is the one who relinquished the parental rights. His mother abandoned him when he was an infant and locating her may have been difficult.
Thanks for dancing with me and I'll let you know more soon!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
ENCOURAGING VISA NEWS!!!!
Below is the e-mail that Patty Anglin sent out after meeting with the Consulate in Liberia yesterday. The meeting was a success and I believe that things will progress in regards to the visa situation. At this time I do not know what this means for us and Kenneth. I hope to find out more specifics this week. But I am relieved to know that things will be improving for all of the children of Liberia. Patty and the AOH staff are amazing. They give it all for the kids. I can honestly say that of all of the orphanages in the world, I'm so glad that Kenneth is at Acres Of Hope.
I'm honored to serve such a big God!! Thank you to all of you who have been praying and fasting for this.
___________________________________________________________
"I know you all have been anxiously awaiting news about my meeting with the Embassy today. I am happy to report that our discussions were positive and the Consulate took several suggestions I made about making the process perhaps a little less stressful. She acknowledged the unfortunate families who have been caught in this new transition and express that she hoped not too many more families would be in this position. One of the concerns shared was the increase in adoptions and why that was happening. My explanation was simply...... ...20 years ago before the war Liberia was a peaceful and relatively prosperous nation and with the African culture that supports extended families caring for each other, adoption was a rare occurrence. Then with the many years of war the nation was left with thousands of orphans. NGO's and Organization like our saw the need to respond. Now while the orphans may be for the most part semi orphaned or children with single mothers, the need for these children to find loving forever families is just as great. The war left poverty at such a all time high, that extended families in many cases are no longer able to care for the vulnerable children. I had the opportunity to share what Acres of Hope was all about and the many programs we have that are serving the children of Liberia. That we are committed to serving all the children of Liberia. In the big scene of things only a few will be lucky enough to find the loving arms of adoptive parents, but because of those few......... . thousands of others will be served in Liberia. They were impressed with the humanitarian outreach Acres of Hope and that was a real plus. The Consulate was quite socked to see the 22 page album that we put together just showing our special needs miracles. She assured me she would consider the needs of some of the most fragile children and applauded Acres of Hope in meeting the needs of this special group of children. After discussions of the latest venture my staff had to make driving 200 miles on terrible roads with life-threatening conditions, crossing bridges washed out by the rains and needing to be re-built, I informed the Consulate I would not ever put my staff in that position again and that her request certainly appeared as if she was trying to put blockades in the process. Again she assured me her intentions were not to stop adoptions. At that point I suggested we pre-approve the children for visa at the beginning of the adoption process at the time the parent signs the relinquishment. That way the investigation should not be so involved as the part of verifying the orphan status would already be complete. She agreed to this. So what does this all mean?There will be a new order to adoptions that would include a pre-approve of the orphan for adoption by the Embassy much like the I 600A is for the adoptive parent. This should eliminate the fear that at the end something could go wrong. Time wise........ .well that is still yet to be known, but I truly believe that this will improve what has already been in place and probably cut the process down in the end. We also discussed that it was necessary to allow processing to be 2 days per week with Thursdays being the day to drop off papers and schedule appointment. The result will be much more order, still the same amount of time, but with some strick guidelines. In conclusion, our new Consulate is very willing to work with us to improve the system. She encouraged me to meet with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to discuss all these issues and concerns I have in educating others in the country on adoption including NGO not in favor of adoption. I gave her a stack of information on articles you all were so good to research and I know she will have lots of reading materials and hopefully learn alot.All in all it was a positive and productive meeting and I went away with good feeling realizing that changes are always hard and take time to get use to, but in this case I am convinced it is for the better. Too many agencies have done short cuts or been dishonest and this is what has caused the issues we are dealing with now. Acres of Hope is committed to setting the standards for how adoptions should be and with all of your help I believe the Lord will bless our efforts.Thanks you all for your many prayers and patience through this growing experience. I want all of you to know I personally along with our wonderful staff are here to do everything in our power to remain a voice for the children and support to you as adoptive families. THREE CHEERS FOR YOU ALL!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! *Note: I will give each of your children a big hug and kiss !"
Blessings, Patty Anglin, Exective Director
I'm honored to serve such a big God!! Thank you to all of you who have been praying and fasting for this.
___________________________________________________________
"I know you all have been anxiously awaiting news about my meeting with the Embassy today. I am happy to report that our discussions were positive and the Consulate took several suggestions I made about making the process perhaps a little less stressful. She acknowledged the unfortunate families who have been caught in this new transition and express that she hoped not too many more families would be in this position. One of the concerns shared was the increase in adoptions and why that was happening. My explanation was simply...... ...20 years ago before the war Liberia was a peaceful and relatively prosperous nation and with the African culture that supports extended families caring for each other, adoption was a rare occurrence. Then with the many years of war the nation was left with thousands of orphans. NGO's and Organization like our saw the need to respond. Now while the orphans may be for the most part semi orphaned or children with single mothers, the need for these children to find loving forever families is just as great. The war left poverty at such a all time high, that extended families in many cases are no longer able to care for the vulnerable children. I had the opportunity to share what Acres of Hope was all about and the many programs we have that are serving the children of Liberia. That we are committed to serving all the children of Liberia. In the big scene of things only a few will be lucky enough to find the loving arms of adoptive parents, but because of those few......... . thousands of others will be served in Liberia. They were impressed with the humanitarian outreach Acres of Hope and that was a real plus. The Consulate was quite socked to see the 22 page album that we put together just showing our special needs miracles. She assured me she would consider the needs of some of the most fragile children and applauded Acres of Hope in meeting the needs of this special group of children. After discussions of the latest venture my staff had to make driving 200 miles on terrible roads with life-threatening conditions, crossing bridges washed out by the rains and needing to be re-built, I informed the Consulate I would not ever put my staff in that position again and that her request certainly appeared as if she was trying to put blockades in the process. Again she assured me her intentions were not to stop adoptions. At that point I suggested we pre-approve the children for visa at the beginning of the adoption process at the time the parent signs the relinquishment. That way the investigation should not be so involved as the part of verifying the orphan status would already be complete. She agreed to this. So what does this all mean?There will be a new order to adoptions that would include a pre-approve of the orphan for adoption by the Embassy much like the I 600A is for the adoptive parent. This should eliminate the fear that at the end something could go wrong. Time wise........ .well that is still yet to be known, but I truly believe that this will improve what has already been in place and probably cut the process down in the end. We also discussed that it was necessary to allow processing to be 2 days per week with Thursdays being the day to drop off papers and schedule appointment. The result will be much more order, still the same amount of time, but with some strick guidelines. In conclusion, our new Consulate is very willing to work with us to improve the system. She encouraged me to meet with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to discuss all these issues and concerns I have in educating others in the country on adoption including NGO not in favor of adoption. I gave her a stack of information on articles you all were so good to research and I know she will have lots of reading materials and hopefully learn alot.All in all it was a positive and productive meeting and I went away with good feeling realizing that changes are always hard and take time to get use to, but in this case I am convinced it is for the better. Too many agencies have done short cuts or been dishonest and this is what has caused the issues we are dealing with now. Acres of Hope is committed to setting the standards for how adoptions should be and with all of your help I believe the Lord will bless our efforts.Thanks you all for your many prayers and patience through this growing experience. I want all of you to know I personally along with our wonderful staff are here to do everything in our power to remain a voice for the children and support to you as adoptive families. THREE CHEERS FOR YOU ALL!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! *Note: I will give each of your children a big hug and kiss !"
Blessings, Patty Anglin, Exective Director
Monday, August 13, 2007
SUMMER FUN!!
Wow, what a week we had. My sister, Staci and her 5 kiddos were visiting us from Virginia. We went to the water park, swam at our neighborhood pool, watched movies, rode bikes, played at the park, ate until we hurt and laughed a lot. I love it when we are all together. When we are together there are 8 cousins ages 11 to 12 months!! I only get to see my sister 2 to 3 times a year, so when we are together we make the most of it. We probably won't see them again until Christmastime. Hopefully by then Kenneth will be here to meet them.In regards to our adoption, Alan and I have set up a web site called the $1 adoption. The link is http://thekettelkamps.onedollaradoption.com/. It works like this...if each person who reads the link donates $1 toward our adoption fees, when 9,000 people have donated, we will have Kenneth's fees completely paid off! The key is to keep it in circulation... meaning that when you see the site forward it on to all of the people on your e-mail list and ask them to forward it on to all of the people in their e-mail list and so on. Our prayer is that this can reach all the way around the world with your help! We are excited to see what God does with this.
In the near future I will post a donation thermometer so you can track our progress. We thank you in advance for your generosity and your prayers. It means the world to us.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Discouraging Visa News
Here is the newest information concerning the issuing of visas in Liberia:
The consular is requiring adoption agencies to make an appointment for a pre-visa interview. That can only be done on a certain day and only for a couple of hours that day. After the petition has been filed, the consular requires 3 weeks to conduct a mandatory I-604-Determination on Child for Adoption. Due to security concerns, the consular staff is requiring that agencies bring in the relinquishing birth parent for an interview with the consular. This can be very difficult due to the fact that some birth parents live many hours away. DNA testing will be required for all cases which consular staff cannot determine parentage by interview. Adoption providers can drop off documents pertaining to adoptions on Thursdays from 2-4:00 p.m.. Parents cannot meet with the consular unless they have a visa interview which can only be Thursdays from 2-4:00p.m.
Here is the part that gets me...the embassy gets its directions from the state department in Washington. The same government that approved our adoption is now trying to slow it down. Go figure! They don't want to stop adoptions, they just want to slow them down to such a point that parents will be discouraged and not adopt from this country. They are now considering requiring parents to stay in country for a month. If the agency cannot locate the parent to a child, then no visa will be issued.
Patty Anglin (AOH) is making plans to go to the embassy early next. Please, please continue to pray for this situation and the many children who will be affected by this. Also, if you would consider writing to your senator, representative, and the state department concerning this issue and reminding them about the Geneva convention and a child's right to be adopted. Lives are at risk.
At this point I do not know what this means for us and Kenneth. The last time I spoke with Donna at Acres of Hope (two days ago) she said that Kenneth should have his pre-visa interview scheduled in September. As soon as I know anything I will post it.
The consular is requiring adoption agencies to make an appointment for a pre-visa interview. That can only be done on a certain day and only for a couple of hours that day. After the petition has been filed, the consular requires 3 weeks to conduct a mandatory I-604-Determination on Child for Adoption. Due to security concerns, the consular staff is requiring that agencies bring in the relinquishing birth parent for an interview with the consular. This can be very difficult due to the fact that some birth parents live many hours away. DNA testing will be required for all cases which consular staff cannot determine parentage by interview. Adoption providers can drop off documents pertaining to adoptions on Thursdays from 2-4:00 p.m.. Parents cannot meet with the consular unless they have a visa interview which can only be Thursdays from 2-4:00p.m.
Here is the part that gets me...the embassy gets its directions from the state department in Washington. The same government that approved our adoption is now trying to slow it down. Go figure! They don't want to stop adoptions, they just want to slow them down to such a point that parents will be discouraged and not adopt from this country. They are now considering requiring parents to stay in country for a month. If the agency cannot locate the parent to a child, then no visa will be issued.
Patty Anglin (AOH) is making plans to go to the embassy early next. Please, please continue to pray for this situation and the many children who will be affected by this. Also, if you would consider writing to your senator, representative, and the state department concerning this issue and reminding them about the Geneva convention and a child's right to be adopted. Lives are at risk.
At this point I do not know what this means for us and Kenneth. The last time I spoke with Donna at Acres of Hope (two days ago) she said that Kenneth should have his pre-visa interview scheduled in September. As soon as I know anything I will post it.
Monday, August 6, 2007
I-171H Arrives Today!!!
It is with great excitement and thanksgiving that I announce that our I-171H arrived in the mail today!!! I am ecstatic beyond belief. It is so wonderful when major steps are made toward Kenneth. Thank you all for lifting this up in prayer. We are getting closer to Africa and our child!!!
We now have to get I-171H approval from the state of Illinois. This will take about two weeks after they have received our copy of the approval which is submitted by our social worker. She called me on Friday to let us know that she will be out of town for two weeks and that there is no one familiar with her cases to handle anything that may happen while she is gone. She did elude to the fact that she may be in and out during those two weeks, so I am going to try to contact her to see if she can give this some attention even though she is "gone". We are also still waiting on our foster care license to arrive. We have no idea when this will come. Please pray that it is soon.
I know that all of this is in God's timing and that he sees the big picture. I am doing my best and continually asking him to help me to trust him with it all.
In addition, I would like to request your immediate prayers for some changes that have occurred with the Liberian end of this. There is a new person in the position of issuing visas at the U.S. embassy in Liberia. This person has recently made the decision to only allow 3-4 visas to be issued only on Thursdays for the entire country. This will greatly slow up the process for children waiting to be adopted. Please consider fasting and praying for positive changes to take place in regards to the visa process and also pray for the person (I don't know her name) in charge of this process to have a change of heart in order for orphaned children to be united with their forever families sooner. Also pray for a meeting that is going to take place between Patty Anglin (AOH founder) and this person in the near future. I know without a doubt that prayers can move even the biggest mountain.
We now have to get I-171H approval from the state of Illinois. This will take about two weeks after they have received our copy of the approval which is submitted by our social worker. She called me on Friday to let us know that she will be out of town for two weeks and that there is no one familiar with her cases to handle anything that may happen while she is gone. She did elude to the fact that she may be in and out during those two weeks, so I am going to try to contact her to see if she can give this some attention even though she is "gone". We are also still waiting on our foster care license to arrive. We have no idea when this will come. Please pray that it is soon.
I know that all of this is in God's timing and that he sees the big picture. I am doing my best and continually asking him to help me to trust him with it all.
In addition, I would like to request your immediate prayers for some changes that have occurred with the Liberian end of this. There is a new person in the position of issuing visas at the U.S. embassy in Liberia. This person has recently made the decision to only allow 3-4 visas to be issued only on Thursdays for the entire country. This will greatly slow up the process for children waiting to be adopted. Please consider fasting and praying for positive changes to take place in regards to the visa process and also pray for the person (I don't know her name) in charge of this process to have a change of heart in order for orphaned children to be united with their forever families sooner. Also pray for a meeting that is going to take place between Patty Anglin (AOH founder) and this person in the near future. I know without a doubt that prayers can move even the biggest mountain.
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