On Katy’s birthday (last Saturday), we finally received the I-800 approval, which is the child-specific immigration approval allowing Jojo into the United States. It is on its way to Madison to get the state seal before we send it to Bethany Christian Services who then sends it to South Africa. Since receiving this approval, we have begun correspondence with the National Visa Center and this week, we will complete an online application needed by them. Once the application is completed and the I-800 form arrives in South Africa, Wandisa will begin working on setting up a court date. Once a court date is set, our travel dates will be set for about 2 weeks prior to the court date. Also, once a court date is set, Jojo will be given a photo book and a children’s book with our voices recorded in it. The first two weeks in South Africa, before the court date, will be spent visiting Jojo in his home, in increasing amounts of time. After these two weeks, the adoption will be finalized in court. The remaining time will be spent completing paperwork in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

At this point, we expect to travel late September or early October. We hope to have a 2-week notice of travel; however, some families have only been given 3-4 days’ notice. Most likely, we will be staying in South Africa for 6 weeks.

This process has proceeded smoothly and we are very grateful for your prayers. Please continue to pray that the remaining paperwork is processed efficiently, that the travel notice is reasonable so we feel prepared to leave, and that God continues to prepare us and Jojo for this huge transition.