Still in Veracruz!

Greetings from the state of Veracruz! Victor and I left Refuge Ranch on Sunday morning at about 9:30 a.m. after greeting the last three members of this week's work team that had arrived late the night before. (The work team consists of Dale from Indiana, Kerstin from Wisconsin, Lorraine and Ivan from Ohio, Dave and Jamie from Kentucky, and Zach's mom, Kris, and her friend Carole from Ohio.) Victor and then stopped in the city of Puebla to eat one of my all-time favorite Mexican foods - stuffed chiles with pomegranate seeds on top. Just as we were leaving Puebla the engine temperature suddenly shot way up! Victor, always very in tune with the cars he drives, immediately slowed down and then pulled over. One of the radiator hoses had burst! He poured in the rest of the radiator fluid that we had with us, which cooled the engine enough to get to a gas station with a mechanic next to it.

Of course, the mechanic didn't have the right hose, so we spent the next two hours flagging down a taxi, returning to Puebla, going to two auto parts stores, buying the hose and putting it on the car. We thank the Lord that the hose blew so close to a major city so that we can even get the part and that Victor noticed the temperature right away and no damage was done to the engine.

We arrived at John and Maria's house at about 8:30 and Maria was just getting ready to lay Daniel down for bed. Of course, he got to stay up for awhile longer to get to know his new parents! He came right to us and we spent an hour or so visiting and playing with him. Victor and I then went back 40 minutes up the highway to the nearest large city to stay at a hotel to get some good rest.

We went back to John and Maria's this morning at about 8:30 and Daniel ran to the door when he saw me and ran right up to me! We did not get the papers we had hoped to get today, so that is why we are still in Veracruz, but we had a great day with Daniel! We went to go pick up Daniel's mother to go with us to the DIF (Child and Family Services) office. His mother is 21 years old and lives in a village about 40 minutes from the main town of Hueyapan, Veracruz. We took a paved two lane road that turned into a dirt two lane road, which turned into a one lane rock road(?). It was a beautiful drive thorugh lush tropical scenery and over a bubbling little river, but extremely bumpy and hot. Daniel's mother already gave away her three older children, ages 7, 5, and 3, as all four of her children were a product of incest by her step-father. She has escaped his home and is now living with a young man she hopes to marry. She is a very small young woman, with an extremely sad face and was quite ill when we arrived today and has been suffering fainting spells lately.

When we arrived her husband was not home, so it took some convincing for her to come with us as she is part of an indigenous community in which women cannot leave the home without their husband's permission. Her husband's 70 year old grandmother (barefoot and in traditional indian clothing) finally agreed to come with her so that her husband would not get mad at her.

We went to the DIF office where the director called the state office and informed us that the DIF could not do anything about Daniel because we did not want to pursue his adoption. (It's not that we aren't willing to pursue it, but adoption is so difficult, drawn out and uncertain it's really not worth it!) She sent us to the city lawyer. This is a picture of Daniel and his birth mother in the DIF office. Shortly after this picture was taken, Daniel's mother fainted! After she came to, she was taken in the DIF director's personal truck to the community health center as Victor and I waited for the director to get the return phone call from the state.

Victor and I went on to see the city lawyer, while Daniel's mother was at the doctor. The lawyer informed us that he could do the paperwork for us to have legal guardianship of Daniel, the only thing that the state of Veracruz would allow us to do, but this process would take several months! In the meantime, we couldn't take Daniel because we would have no documents to proove that his mother had given us permission to have him and we could get arrested at any one of the several military checkpoints we must go through on the way back to Refug e Ranch if they realize that Daniel is not ours and we don't have permission to have him with us.

We basically implored him to think of an idea for someway to get us a document showing that Daniel's mother has given him up to us so that we could take him back to Refuge Ranch while the guardianship court case was in process. He finally, after several hours, suggested that he contact a friend of his who is a notary public and that maybe he could draw up such a document. So, we finally took Daniel's mother home around 5:30 p.m. and then hung out at John and Maria's house with Daniel.

We are now at a hotel in the larger city, Acayucan, about 40 minutes from John and Maria's place and I have internet access! Yeah! The lawyer informed us late this evening that the notary is out of town! So, plan 3,725 (or so it feels!)! Tomorrow, Maria is going to pick up Daniel's mom in the morning and we will meet them, and the city lawyer, in Hueyapan (where John and Maria live). The lawyer will draw up the letter that we need and take it to the city judge for his stamp of approval. HUGE PRAYER REQUEST- that the judge is actually present, available and willing to stamp the letter! Of course, the lawyer is not available until noon - so this won't be happening as early as we would like!

We pray that Daniel's mother shows up (she wants to give him up, but is kind of tired of coming and going all the time); that the lawyer shows up on time; that the letter can be written; that the judge is present, available and willing to stamp the letter.

We trust that all that will happen and we will be able to leave for Refuge Ranch, with Daniel, tomorrow afternoon and arrive home late tomorrow night! Our other kids need us too!

The awesome part about today was that Daniel really started to bond with us! For the last month and a half, Maria would ask Daniel: "Where is Mommy?" And he would just point out into space. This morning, Daniel was on my lap and Maria asked him, "Where is Mommy?" He immediately turned around and pointed at me! He did this three times consecutively! Throughout the day, on about 4 different, unrelated occasions, people commented on how content and attached Daniel seemed to be with us - including the DIF director and city lawyer who were shocked to know that we had met Daniel in person less than 24 hours ago! He even slept in my arms about an hour and a half this afternoon. We left him with John and Maria tonight because he has a crib there and is used to the routine there and I think they are enjoying every last moment that they can have with him. But, we left him crying for us and stretching out his arms saying, "Mama! Papa!" Heart breaking! But, Lord willing, I will take him in my arms and never have to leave him again!

Thanks for your prayers and sharing this adventure with us!

May God's power be displayed for the world to see!

Julie