Frustration and a small light

As you have guessed, the visa situation did not go well. To say I am not pleased with the consulate is way understated.

I will start by saying that I do understand their rules and I do understand that they follow them, to some point. But what has gone on is way beyond my understanding of what they are doing. Here is a short explanation of what happened.

Last year, Abbie was not given a visa because I was not there. I have legal custody and they said I needed to be there. This year, I went along and was NOT ALLOWED to go into the consulate with them. The man said with the mother there, the paper was not valid. THEN when Vero went in, she was told they couldn't give Abbie a visa because I was NOT there. She told them I WAS there, but they would not let me in. No response to it. I was SO angry when I found out.

They took Vero's phone away on the way in. I do understand they can't take a phone in... BUT they charged her $5 to get it BACK when she went out!!! That is robbery in my book!

But they simply refused Vero's visa again, WITH NO EXPLANATION at all.

I know their guidelines and that some of them don't work for Vero.

She has to have a huge amount of money in the bank here, to assure her return. Vero takes all of her money and helps people. Her family is her responsibility. She has a brother in school, who also has regular doctor visits because of severe problems with his leg. She pays those bills. She helps a lot of families who have no income, and no money. She gets food for them and helps them with doctors bills. She cannot justify keeping money in the bank when so many people are hurting. So, IDADEE put money in her account for this visit, to show she had some there.

Then they require she have land and family here. She does. She owns land in Limbe. And she has a lot of family she has to support.

The situation with her husband is another problem area I think. He abandoned her over 3 years ago and has not been in touch or helped her in any way since that time. She does not know where he is. She has tried to get a divorce, but the lawyer stopped working on it when they couldn't find her husband....just quit, after taking all her money. And she doesn't have any more to pursue it with another lawyer.

I can produce letters from pastors and business people here to verify her honesty and reliability. But the consulate won't even look at them, because that is not part of the "paperwork" they require. The point of this whole situation is, they do not want to listen to anything said by anyone...they only want what they can SEE on the papers they have. You are required to bring along documentation of things, but they never even asked to see these documents.

We know of people who have lied, and gotten visas, we know of people who have purchased visas outside of the consulate without ever entering it (to the tune of $5000 US). And they want us to believe that Vero cannot get a visa because she doesn't meet the requirements. She would be with us 24/7 in the US and only there for 2 to 3 weeks max...because of work. But that has no bearing on anything.

Can you tell I'm frustrated? Well, maybe a little. But let me share that tiny bit of light with you, too. The president of MFI is not pleased with this outcome either. He has asked for all her paperwork and is contacting people to try to get a reversal on this. I'm not sure it will change, but the thought that others are as upset as we are helps ease my feelings some. It isn't just a selfish desire on my part... although I DO want them to go to the US with us, it's for more reasons than for them to be with us. It IS for sharing with others the dreams and plans of IDADEE. The future of this orphanage depends on having the right people come and teach and help out. They need people to understand what this orphanage is planning and seeing the vision from one of the founders is so important. Yes, we could share, but coming from a former orphan, who has dreams of seeing other children given better chances than most have in this country has a much greater impact. Our desire is to see the youth of this country trained up with truth and honesty at the front of things. With a Christian background, they will become leaders who have the country's best interest at heart. Not money hungry, power hungry people. But God fearing, God loving, God serving people who can lead the country to victory over poverty and decline.

I guess I need to apologize for getting carried away. But you can tell this is a heart thing for me. To help the Haitians help other Haitians is the way this country will change. And we need strong Christians to do that. And the way to get there is through the training, as they will be doing in the IDADEE organization.

Okay, back to our AWESOME God. We know He can do things we can't even dream of, right? So, now, we place this whole thing in His hands and ask Him to intervene and take it over.

"Lord, we do lift this whole thing up to you. Calm our hearts, give us Your peace and show us Your desires here. Help us to step back and let You work things out in Your way. Give us the strength to continue in what You have for us. Guide and direct us, and keep us from getting in Your way. We do praise You. We do love You. And we do want to serve You. Be with us in all we do. In Jesus wonderful name, Amen!"