Please Pray

When we started seriously looking into International adoption we called the only two agencies we knew of that were working in Uganda. We had heard from others that before you decide on an agency call them and ask for some references of other families that are using the same one. They will always give you their contact information and you can call them to see what their experience has been with the agency. So, the one we liked the best was in Texas...we called and talked with the caseworker who was awesome and we asked if she could put us in touch with some other families who were also trying to adopt.
We met the Via family who were adopting a little girl from Uganda. We emailed several times and it was so great to be able to ask her questions about what they were going through.
Well, they have now been in Uganda for 9 weeks...their entire family actually went which is so cool! But yesterday, Tasha and the kids came home without their dad and their new little sister and they don't know when or if she will ever be able to come home. Josh stayed to continue to plead their case with the US Embassy, but without a miracle, 3 year old Alethia will never know what it's like to have a mom and dad. She was surrendered by her birth parents to a babies home when she was 9 months old. The Via family and everyone involved, including their agency have been under the impression that her father had died of AIDS. They just found out this week that is not the case. Both of her parents are alive although unwilling and unable to care for her. However, under the US or Uganda court system (I'm not sure which), she no longer meets the requirement of being an orphan, therefore she is unable to be adopted. The sad thing is that this is a brand new policy, so new that had their judge shown up to court when he was supposed to several weeks ago for their original court date, everything would have been fine and they would already be home by now with their daughter.
I know the entire family is heartbroken, but they know God is bigger than what they're going through right now. They don't understand, but they know He has them right where He wants them. Please though if you're reading this stop for just a second and pray for them, they need prayer. Pray not only for them, but for little Alethia. She has known what it feels like to have a loving family surround her for the last 9 weeks, and there is a chance now that all of that will be taken away and she'll be sent back to the babies home.