Amazing announcement and prayer request!

Amazing Announcement/Prayer Request!
 
Most of you know that we were not able to bring our foster child Mukelo with us on our recent trip to the States and that we had to find someone to care for her while we were gone.  Two amazing families stepped up to help us out.  Kenny and Katie Fawley were able to come from Indiana for the whole month of December to stay in our home and care for Mukelo.  They took off work, bought their own tickets and missed Christmas with friends and family in order to allow us to be able to be with OUR family and friends for the holidays this year.  We are so thankful and grateful to them.  I think they fell in love with Mukelo (as everyone does) and we hope they will come back to Swaziland someday soon when WE are here so that we can spend some time with them.  Such amazing obedience to God’s calling!  A real example of the body of Christ working together to accomplish His plans.
 
Jen and Eric Peterson and their kids: Claire and Jake, were the other family that offered to keep Mumu for us.  They are also AIM staff in Swaziland and serve in the southern part of the country, in Nsoko.  They have had a special love for Mukelo ever since we brought her home and have always wanted to hold her and love on her whenever we were together.  They were excited to keep Mukelo for us for all of November and the couple of weeks after Christmas until we got back on the 16^th.  While we were gone it was so obvious that they, too, were falling more and more in love with Mukelo. 
 
Now to back up a bit, when Steve and I agreed that God was asking us to try and get Mumu out of the hospital we both felt like we would be a temporary solution for her situation.  I felt confident that I would be able to find someone in Swaziland who would take her in to an abandoned baby facility or orphanage.  As it became apparent that there is absolutely no one in the country right now who is equipped to take on a baby with special needs, we began to talk about the possibility of finding someone in the States who might be willing to adopt her and be able to provide the kind of medical care and therapy that would improve her quality (and duration) of life.
 
Of course I have really struggled at times with wanting to keep her forever.  We have all come to think of her as part of our family and leaving her for the 10 weeks over the holidays was even more difficult than I had thought it would be.  But God has consistently made it clear to me and to Steve that He has other plans.  We realize we are just taking care of her and loving her until He says to give her up.
 
So with that in our minds (and sometimes in our hearts, but sometimes not) we were amazed but not surprised when the Peterson’s first spoke to us about the possibility of THEM adopting Mukelo.  They have completed their two-year term with AIM and are planning on returning to the States permanently in February of this year.   International adoption is not currently “open” in Swaziland.  Technically, this is not even a viable option.  But Mukelo’s Social Worker seems to think that it might work, that it might be a possibility.   He is the very beginning of the officials who would need to approve, so there are many other hurdles that God will have to help us over (or through, or under) for this to work.  But because there is no other option for Mukelo, it has been suggested several times that adoption might be considered in her situation.
 
So, we are taking the next steps in pursuing the adoption of Mukelo by the Peterson family.
 
We love her and are heart broken to think of letting her go.  But we also know that there is so much that can be done for her in the States that we just can’t give her here in Swaziland.    Before we left Swaziland in October I felt like God was really just telling me that she is not “mine” but His, and that I needed to ‘let go’ and let Him use others in her life.  Okay.  So that makes even more sense now than it did before.
 
Obviously, this is not something that is likely to happen quickly although God is a mighty God and perfectly capable of working a miracle here!  So we are asking for your prayers.  For the Peterson’s as they long to have her as part of their family.  For us as we prepare to let her go.  Most of all for favor with the Department of Social Welfare and all officials involved.  And that Mukelo will continue to thrive and grow stronger and healthier.
 
Thank you for praying and for loving her and us!