Feeling Quite Helpless

Well, I wish I had some great news to tell you, but instead we're still waiting and wondering when we'll ever get to leave for home. Yesterday we waited all day and the only news we received was that for some reason the USCIS office in Bangkok did not receive the cable Visa 37 which was sent by the Denver CIS office to update the I-600A. So, again it felt like another wasted day with nothing much we could do in a hotel that hadn't turned out to be what had been advertised. Today (Tuesday)we're at a nicer hotel. There are pros and cons, like internet that works, but which is more expensive. We went into downtown Bangkok today to go to the USCIS office thinking by now they would have gotten the cable and we could soon get our interview. Instead we were told that they did not go over to the Embassy to get it yet and we had insufficient evidence for her birth certificate and that her parents and foster parents had relinquished rights. We weren't quite sure what to do so we called our social worker with the DSDW, assigned to us by WACAP, Khun Nuantip. She told us to go over to the Embassy and have them call her. By that time their offices were closed for lunch. So, we went out to the Sizzler for lunch, ourselves. We were all struggling. Jay about lost it with the woman at the DSDW. I had frantically played the helpless "farang" (foreigner) game in order to get a working phone to call Khun Nuantip. The heat, smells and noises of Bangkok are really starting to get to us. I haven't had much appetite and both Jay are having a few digestive issues. Our sweet little girl just officially became a woman over the weekend. Those that's made life interesting. But, thankfully, it occurred right when we staying at the friends' home where they could speak Thai and help explain everything to her. What an answer to prayer!

Back to Tuesday. After lunch we went to the Embassy Visa Consular area. We went to the wrong spot at first. They told us to go to windows 4 or 5 where they process immigrant visas. We had no appointment and there was no once showing up at either counter for a LONG time. So, finally I caught one man leaving the office and asked what we should do. He suggested I cut in line where the endless number of college students were applying for non-immigrant visas. I did this, explaining our situation, and the man did eventually get someone to come out to listen to us. The woman was a very kind Thai woman who spoke good English. While she said they don't normally deal with cases like ours, especially since we haven't been approved by the USCIS, yet, she would be willing to call Khun Nuantip, directly, to let her know what we are still lacking and to see if she could acquire the necessary documentation. We were literally the last people to leave the room at 3 p.m. Then we caught a taxi back to our hotel. It's tough to be stuck in rooms for hours on end, separated from our bags, where we stash our dictionaries/electronic translator, etc. We have no good way to communicate with our daughter who is just stuck there, bored and wondering what's going on. But, she's really hanging in there and not throwing any fits. She was so exhausted when we headed back to the hotel that she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder while still in the taxi. Since, she and Jay are napping, I thought I'd take the chance to come down to the business center to let everyone know about our latest news.

Right now all we can do is wait for Kun Nuantip to collect whatever documentation she can to try to satisfy the CIS. If she can't find it in her file, she'll need to go back to the Udon Thani Girls' Home for more. What's maddening is that the Embassy said that the form she gave us looked to them to be sufficient documentation certifying her birth. They have seen such forms before and not encountered this problem. So, please pray for all the right forms to come through and for our patience as we will need to reschedule our flights once more for who knows when will be good. After all, there is the Christmas break coming up for the US government. They'll be closed on both Thursday and Friday. And the following week everyone will be closed for New Years'. Meanwhile, we worry about the finances of being away from our jobs, unpaid. The only possible thing I can see in this is that perhaps the Lord really wants Penny to experience a Christian celebration of Christmas in Thailand first. We don't know His plan. Please pray for encouragement, hope, peace and health. Thanks a million!