Saturday, November 3, 2012

October 2012 Prayer Letter

October 2012 Dear Praying Friends, Well, we finally have some wonderful news to share about Elijah’s adoption! A little over one month shy of two years since he was found abandoned under a tree, Elijah officially has a family. Of course, in our hearts he has been part of our family since we laid eyes on him. Though there have been long periods of inactivity—at least from our point of view—during this adoption process, when things started moving, they really moved quickly. It seems that we have accomplished more in the last 5 or 6 weeks than we had in the more than 1½ years prior to that. Over the past 5 weeks, I have taken the 12-hour round trip to the capital Lusaka 5 times. All but one of the trips, I took public transport and stayed from 3 to 8 hours before heading back home. A couple of times I took the night bus and would arrive in Lusaka about 4 a.m. I would then mill around the bus terminal until daybreak. As I walked around the un-walled terminal, which housed scores of buses from all over Southern Africa, I was amused to read the rules of the terminal posted in huge letters. Though I did not understand all of the rules, of the ones I did comprehend, all were being broken with multiple being broken by me! “No loitering and no idle standing.” The biggest terminal commandment that was being broken by nearly everyone was “No sleeping,” as hundreds of people were sprawled out anywhere and everywhere on the hard cement floor. I could barely find foot space to step around and over them, hence my “idle standing.” Though it has seemed unnecessarily long at times, we can say most assuredly that it has been worth it to see God’s guiding hand as He has led us through this often frustrating and confusing process. After breaking off this letter about a week ago, I will now continue this writing from America. We all made the 36-hour trip very well. Preetika and I were very pleasantly surprised with how well Elijah weathered the nearly 24 hours in the air. He made many friends among the flight attendants and fellow travelers. It seems all are touched with his story, which so wonderfully illustrates God’s protection and personal involvement in the lives of people. So far we have thoroughly enjoyed having Elijah meet many of his relatives for the first time, as well as so many who have been praying for him and us over the years. We look forward to many more such meetings during our furlough. If you would like to have us pass through your church to update you on our family and ministry, please e-mail me at jpwarner@hotmail.com, and we will endeavor to schedule as many churches as possible.

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