Today we woke up early for our U.S Consulate appointment.
Theo was dressed to impress in his Red, White, and Blue. We were nervous about
the documents that were supposed to be sent express mail last night. We had a
light breakfast and met the rest of our group (those with consulate
appointments today) in the hotel lobby. Everyone was nervous as our guide passed
out folders containing information regarding the consulate appointment. When
she came to us, “good news, your documents arrived late last night and you are
ok.” Phew… An answer to prayer! “but… (our hearts sinking) two of the families
did not sign one of the other papers required. I think this may be a problem
for them.” Good grief we thought. Could it get any worse? Just as we are about
to take the last step needed to bring our children home, more issues?
Theo at breakfast
After confirming that we were not one of the families
with a missing signature, we boarded the bus headed for the consulate.
Unfortunately one of our close friends on the trip, who have had a tough time
with their adoptive daughter’s health (coughing and fever), were one of the couples
missing a signature. They have had it rough this trip, and the bad news keeps
coming their way. If not for their strong faith in Christ, they would be a
wreck I think.
Outside the consulate, they decided to press on and hope
that this form would not stop the process for the day. Maybe the department
could start on some of the paperwork while the rest was sorted out over the
next day or so. We were all praying this would be the case.
Outside the Consulate
Line to get into the Consulate
There were hundreds of Chinese citizens waiting in line for
a visa appointment. Some on benches, others crowding the entrance gate. We were
not allowed to bring our cameras, but we did try to catch a few photos on our
phone. Our guide took us straight up to the front of the line, said something
to the guard, and we all were allowed to bring our babies through the masses.
At the next line, our guide explained that she could not come with us but gave
us directions to the 2nd floor, window 7 for all adoptive family
visas. Luckily, we had scheduled appointments for each family, and were able to
bypass this line as well, as the guard looked over our passports and found our
names on the 8:30am appointment list.
Once inside for the security screening, I will admit, Laura
and I had a bit of a tussle. All of our baby supplies for the next 3 hours were
in my backpack, and guess what… no backpacks allowed. We sorted through as fast
as we could to pull out all the necessities as Laura made a case to the guard
that this was all important to bring through and that it made no sense to bring
everything in the backpack inside, but not the backpack. I was just willing to
do whatever they wanted to let us through… hence the “tussle”. Someone from
behind us whipped out a plastic bag, and after loading it up, we were through.
Once inside, now a bit frustrated, I pressed on to the door
pointed out by our guide while we were walking up to the building while Laura
followed. Don’t worry, we quickly made up J.
On the 2nd floor, we could immediately tell something was wrong as
we stepped off the elevator. A man working for the Department of State had a
group of adoptive families sitting down and was reading them something from a
small piece of paper.
“Unfortunately, we are experiencing computer system issues,
and are unable to process any visa applications at this time. We have
rescheduled your appointment for 1:00pm tomorrow. We are doing everything we
can to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”
WHAT??!? I could tell that Laura was seeing red. For any of
you that know us, this is a bad thing for the person responsible.
The next few minutes were literally a blur, the man and now
a woman from the Department of State, with fresh coffee tumbler and a piece of
paper gave us no more information than what was written on the piece of paper.
I am surprised no one threatened him, due to his smug smile and continuous
reading of the piece of paper when asked for any more insight by everyone who
came off the elevator. I know they realize the inconvenience for all of our
families. The possibility of an extra night’s hotel stay, a missed flight, or
loss of deposit for another travel arrangement. But do they really understand?
What about our jobs, the people watching our children at home, the medical
appointments we have with various doctors in the U.S. Do they think of these
things? Luckily, they did allow us to hand over a photograph and a copy of
Theo’s passport at window number 7, which they claimed would start the process
even without the computer system.
We left feeling defeated.
Our guide took us all back to the hotel, and we spent the
next few hours trying to sort things out. What should we do? Do we cancel our
hotel in Hong Kong for tomorrow night? Will the State Department be able to
process our child’s visa within a few hours, or is this a 24 hour process?
Should we call the travel agency or let our agency explore the options for us?
Our guide asked us all to meet in the hotel lobby at 5:00pm to discuss the
options and take a group photo.
We spent the rest of the day taking a trip to the park
across the street and visiting the 5 Ram Statue. Laura went for a workout to
relieve some stress, while Theo and I took a nap (he is already a boy after my
heart). We met up with Laura’s Etsy friend Mallory, her husband, their son, and
newly adopted daughter Norah. It was a nice reunion, but with all the action
from the day, short lived. They are kind, loving and encouraging. We wish there
was more time we could spend with them on this trip, but our hearts are back
home right now. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to spend more time with them.
Five Ram Statue (yes we counted 5)
Laura and her friend Mallory with Theo and Norah
Bethany March 2015 China Families
Our group photos in the lobby were not as joyful as they
could have been, but there are many encouraging families on this trip. We have
all had time to bond in our own ways. God keeps reminding us through other
families that things could be more stressful, more discouraging, more
difficult. Our child is healthy. His personality and physical traits match his
diagnosis on the referral. Some families have not had the same outcome. We continue
to pray throughout this trip for all of our new friends. It is obvious that we
are all ready to get home.
The plan for tomorrow is to wait and see. The first group
leaves for the Consulate at 9:00am. This is when we will find out what our
options are and have to make some decisions. Jokingly, we credited the issues
today to Hillary Clinton’s email account. Seriously, we are praying that this
slight timeframe extension helps our friends get the signed paperwork here
before their appointment. Please pray specifically that the United States will
resolve the computer system issues at the State Department and issue Theo’s
visa before close of business tomorrow.
