by Katie Garrett | Sep 22, 2017 | Prayer request
These two little green chairs and the swing Corey and Wheaton hung on our flat roof are just waiting for William and Jacob to come play!
The courts in Guinea, as in many countries around the world, closed for summer break during the month of August, but we have now been told that our file has been submitted to the court system in Guinea, Conakry. Our adoption agency says it usually takes 2 – 3 months for the Article 23 to be issued which indicates that the adoption is legally complete according to Guinean law. Pray that the Lord will intervene to make things go quickly and that we will get the Article 23’s for Will and Jake soon! Even though it is a long shot, we are asking God to let us bring the boys home before Christmas. Thanks for praying with us!
| Step |
Date |
| Discuss, research, and pray about adopting |
1997 to present |
| Homestudy completed |
Oct. 2013 |
| Received I800A (US approval to adopt, valid for 15 months) |
April 2014 |
| Homestudy updated |
May 2015 |
| Received extension for our I800A approval |
Sept 2015 |
| Referral from Guinea! (We were matched with the boys) |
Nov. 2016 |
| Homestudy updated again |
Nov. 2016 |
| Received another extension for our I800A approval |
April 2017 |
| US approved us to adopt the boys (I800) |
May 2017 |
| Visa applications submitted to the US Visa Center |
May 2017 |
| US Embassy in Dakar issued Article 5 letter stating US approval for adoption to proceed |
July 31, 2017 |
| Article 23 issued in Guinea after adoption is finalized in Guinean court |
?? |
| Certificates of Non-Appeal and Non-Opposition issued in Guinea |
?? |
| Affidavits in lieu of birth certificates (with the last name Garrett!) issued in Guinea |
?? |
| Guinean passports issued for the boys allowing them to travel |
?? |
| Corey and Katie travel to Guinea to get custody of the boys!! |
?? |
| US Visas for the boys issued after medical exam and interview at US Embassy in Dakar, Senegal |
Immediately after getting the boys from Guinea |
| Short trip to the US to activate the boys’ US citizenship and get them US passports |
Within 6 months of their visas being issued |
| Post-adoption reports sent to Guinea |
At 6 months and 1 year after adoption |
| The boys are no longer orphans, but Garretts! |
Forever! |
by Katie Garrett | Jun 21, 2017 | Uncategorized
Today is the 26th day of Ramadan. Every year during the 30 days of Ramadan, Muslims around the world abstain from all food and drink and redouble their efforts to be holy. Laylat Al-Qadr, the Night of Power, may be tomorrow night. Laylat Al-Qadr is the night when Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad. It occurs on one of the odd-numbered nights during the last last ten days of Ramadan, most commonly the 27th night. It is said that God did not reveal the exact date, so that His servants would perform extra acts of worship throughout the ten days and so attain the reward of them.
There are different beliefs and traditions surrounding Layat Al Qadr. Some Muslims believe that on this night, the fate of creation for the coming year is determined and that prayers are more powerful, sins are forgiven and the blessings and mercy of God is more abundant. It is a night to expect a special closeness to God and many reports of Muslims having dreams or visions of Jesus on this night.
Muslims observing Ramadan will increase their prayers and reading of the Quran during these last ten days. In this way, they hope to earn extra divine favour.
Laylat Al Qadr is translated variously as the Night of Decree, the Night of Power, the Night of Value, the Night of Destiny, or the Night of Measures.
**How Can We Pray?**
* Pray for Muslim families in Senegal and around the world to have a special awareness of the Presence of God as they pray through Laylat Al Qadr.
* Pray for God to supply the physical needs of Muslim people. In Senegal the rainy season is about to begin; pray for good rains this year and a good harvest with plenty to eat for the whole year.
* Pray that on this night, the Holy Spirit will give dreams and visions to those who are seeking revelation.
– adapted from material written by 30 Days International (https://pray30days.org/)
by Katie Garrett | May 3, 2017 | Prayer request
The final proofread of Luke and Acts is underway! At 9 am this morning, our Wolof friend and co-worker parked his horse and buckboard in front of our house and now he and Corey are sitting at the table in our living room hard at work. Our Mslm friend is reading the Wolofal (Wolof language written in Arabic script) text out loud in the sing-song chanting style that is traditional for religious reading here, while Corey follows along in the original Wolof text (Wolof language written in Roman script a, b, c’s) to make sure every word is the same. The transcription and typesetting are done. This final proofread should take about 5 full work days. Then Luke and Acts will be ready for the printer! It will be published as a single volume. Please pray that God will shepherd this process, protecting every dot and letter of His Word and allowing these Scriptures to be printed perfectly.
This morning as I was praying for God to use this format of His Word, I thought of the millions of Wolof people who have never yet had the opportunity to read any part of the Bible. I remembered Romans 1:16 where it says that “this Good News about Christ is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes” and I suddenly pictured someone standing on a boat throwing a lifesaving ring to a person thrashing and drowning in the water. Pray with us that many will grab hold of the lifesaving news about what Jesus has done. There is power – power sufficient to bring a corpse to life – in the message of this book!
by Katie Garrett | Apr 22, 2017 | Uncategorized
- Recently, along with some others, we were able to visit three different villages on three different evenings and show movies that point people to Jesus. In one of the villages, an elder gave a speech that surprised and touched us, saying that even though he is a Mslm he knows that we Christians are living in the light. Pray for many from these three villages to be drawn to the Light!
- Praise God for two young Wolof men who say they are ready to be baptized. They have studied God’s Word for years but have hesitated to proclaim allegiance to Christ because of their Mslm relatives. Pray for conviction leading to boldness.
- Pray for the two little boys we are working to adopt from Conakry, Guinea, and for our adoption process to move forward quickly. We got to talk with the boys via Skype for the first time ever during Easter break while Emma and Molly were home from school – what a joy!
- Pray for our family’s witness in our neighborhood and for our little church’s witness in Kaffrine. Katie continues to write new Sunday School lesson plans each week and teach the children. Pray for the Word to take root in the kids’ hearts and minds.
- Continue to pray for the Wolofal Luke/Acts publication that Corey is working on. Pray that God will shepherd the whole transcription, proofreading, and printing process and use this format of His Word to draw many Wolof people to the Light.
by Katie Garrett | Jan 30, 2017 | Event report, Praise report
All-camp picture with camp t-shirts
We praise God for the third annual Christmas camp which took place Dec. 29-30 here in Kaffrine and which was a great success! I even heard a few kids who have attended all three years say that this year’s camp was the best!
Teaching time
After the camp was over five of us were praying together and we realized that God had answered all of our prayers for the camp that are visible! No children got sick or hurt, the power and water stayed on the whole time, the message of Jesus, the Light of the World, was clearly preached, and everything went very smoothly.
We trust that since the Lord answered our prayers about these visible things, He is also answering our prayers for those things which are invisible: that each child He wanted to come was there, and that seeds were planted which will bear fruit in time…. Thanks to all of you who prayed!
Small group time
It was especially encouraging to see the older students leading the small-group discussion times after each teaching session as it was obvious that the children clearly understood the message.
A highlight of the two days for us was during free time when a few of the camp counselors, teenage guys, spontaneously started drumming on the two djembes and singing Wolof praise choruses and a whole bunch of kids gathered around and joined in singing for a long time.
Free time = worship time
There were many activities which helped reinforce the theme of Jesus as the Light of the World: the kids made star decorations and got glow bracelets after dark, and of course, the camp t-shirts were bright yellow and had the words “Jesus is the Light of the World” on the front in Wolof and on the back in French.
(You can see more photos of the camp in my Facebook album “Kids’ Christmas Camp 2016” if we are Facebook friends.)
Camp t-shirt
The camp ended on Saturday afternoon, and I thought it was really sweet to see that on Sunday morning four of the children who come to church with us arrived wearing their yellow camp t-shirts! And in Sunday School when I handed out the Wolof New Testaments for the class to study a parable of Jesus, one of the girls immediately turned to John 8:12 and read out the camp verse!
Please pray for the children to remember the message about Jesus and to be drawn to His light!
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