LOI in Hand!

Wow!

From waiting and wondering right to over-whelmed! Our LOI arrived via e-mail today and it appears to have run through the wringer to get here, but here it is!

The next two weeks will be pretty busy as we make final arrangements and prepare to travel. Details to follow soon!

And the wait goes on...

Where has the month of August gone? I guess it has passed quickly since we've been hiding from the record-breaking heatwave in Memphis.

We knew August could be hot, but it's to the point where it's hard to be outside for any period of time except in early morning or late evening. I've added a Memphis "Weather Sticker" next to the Petropavlovsk one so we will be able to compare conditions during the course of our travels.

Cathe has started back to school. If it were not for air conditioning, there's no way they could do it!

Meanwhile, our country coordinator is on vacation in Kazakhstan, so we hope to have some good updates soon as well as our elusive Letter of Invitation (LOI). Like Europe, August is a big vacation month in Kazakhstan, so things have been slow "over there." The good news is that we know of another couple who just received their LOI, so the machine is grinding along, even if it's slower than "normal."

Keep us in your prayers.

Region Assigned - Petropavlovsk!

Latest update is that our paperwork has officially been assigned to the Petropavlovsk region in the far northern part of Kazakhstan. The next step in the process is issuance of a Letter of Invitation (LOI) from the Minister of Education for that region. We need the LOI in order to obtain travel visas and before we can purchase plane tickets.

August is a big vacation month in Kazakhstan and many government agencies practically close down. Keep us in your prayers and keep your fingers crossed that our paperwork is quickly processed and the LOI is issued soon.

At this point, all we know is that there are children in the orphanage in that region who closely match our expressed preferences. Due to Kazakhstani law, there is no pre-selection allowed so we won’t know any specifics until we arrive. It is a bit scary, but it does not obligate us to any specific children and it does protect the children as well. Pray also that there are two children out there anxiously awaiting our arrival.

Our coordinator is still confident that we will be traveling mid-late September. Although it will still be quite warm in Memphis, it will already be cooling down in northern Kazakhstan. For any geography nuts out there, Petropavlovsk is almost 55 degrees north of the equator, the same latitude as the southern edge of Hudson Bay in Canada (Memphis is 35 degrees north latitude). We’re going to look odd going through the Memphis airport with heavy winter coats, but we have to be prepared for the weather in November. According to MSN Weather, November’s average high is 23 degrees, average low is 13 degrees… December is even colder, so please pray that the process goes smoothly and quickly so we can be home by Thanksgiving. Ever heard of a place called Siberia? The Trans-Siberia railway goes right through Petropavlovsk!

Here is a link to some quick facts about Petropavlovsk: http://www.travelpost.com/AS/Kazakhstan/Soltustik_Qazaqstan/Petropavlovsk/2510417

Interested in the current weather conditions? Go to MSN.com and enter Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan in the weather block on the home page. You might also want to check Almaty, in the southern part of Kazakhstan, where we will be doing all of our immigration paperwork with the US Embassy on the way out.

It’s hard to believe that we have been working on this since last April! It has been a roller-coaster ride for the last 16 months, but now we’re getting close, and your prayers are greatly appreciated.