Back in the UK

We're back in the UK, after our Africa adventures. Had a great time as well as some hairy moments. I am still nursing a whiplash injury following an encounter with a mountain gorilla - how's that for an interesting injury? And Andy still has a swollen elbow following his encounter with a careless minibus driver in Kampala. I think my injury is more exciting!!

We rang Staffordshire adoption service when we got back. They still haven't got an answer for us from our medicals, which we had done in February. Andy was asking what the timescale would be if we were to pass the medical. They couldn't possibly tell us. Ho hum.

There is a new voluntary adoption agency appeared just down the road from us. Actually it's a re-incarnation of an old agency, called Father Hudson. Father Hudson was a Catholic agency and Catholic adoption agencies over here got into a bit of bother a while back because they were unwilling to consider gay couples. Discrimination on the grounds of sexuality is now specifically outlawed in the UK. So I suspect that's why they disappeared and have re-appeared in a different form. I'm only guessing mind. They now state that they accept applications from (amongst others) 'couples who have a civil partnership.' All their material looks very professional and I had a good conversation with someone. I'm very tempted to jump ship and try them. Andy just looked really tired when I suggested it and said "but we'd have to have a CRB check done again." I pointed out that actually we've only had a CRB check done with Birmingham (not counting the countless ones we've had for various work purposes). But I understand how he feels.

Andy did say the other day that if nothing has happened in a years time, he thinks we should call it quits. And for the first time, I said I agreed. We really can't carry on this waiting for nothing to happen forever. I think something will happen in the next year or so, if this is part of God's plan for us. And when I think of the children we met in Africa, and the times we were tired, and just spending a bit of time with some kids, fired us up again and gave us energy it makes me think we've got something to offer.

Andy fell in love with quite a few kids. Including a 14 year old girl and a 2 year old that Andy kept threatening to take home in his suitcase. And both our hearts were touched by a 17 year old girl we met in Uganda who we would happily have adopted. Then there was the day we were at a church service in South Africa (typical African, very loud and lasts about a week) and Andy got bored. I found him outside at the end, playing with a load of kids he'd befriended. He quite obviously felt much closer to God playing with the kids than he did in church. I know none of this is anything like having full time responsibility for children...

Anyway, we have information from Adoption Focus and I have written a rather pointed letter to Staffordshire, telling them we need to know what's happening and how long things are likely to take. So we'll see. In the meantime we're settling back into life on our home continent and getting on with things. Missing Africa but loving the warm showers and indoor flushing toilets!!!!!

Flights are booked!!!

We booked our flights to Africa yesterday. How exciting!! We leave on the 30th June and will return on the 4th October. We're spending 4 weeks with Youth for Christ in South Africa (Mpumalanga), about 3 weeks in Pemba, Mozambique, with Iris Ministries and around 5 weeks in Uganda, with a little charity called the Kabanda Trust. Then we're finishing with a week's holiday in Cape Town, South Africa.

Andy found me this picture of the beach at Pemba.

Today we've been buying mosquito nets and quizzing my well travelled sister and brother in law about the best insect repellant and other handy hints. (They are exceptionally well travelled and have a blog to prove it: www.travbuddy.com/nidge76 Loads of fab pictures.)

Afirca - decisions decisions

We decided, before Christmas, that we were going to spend this summer in Africa (July, August, September) to work with kids and young people. Andy had been asking whether as a Christian one should be living to work or working to live and God said, basically, the answer is neither. Live to give. What a fantastic mission statement for life!

So from that came the decision to take some time out and go to Africa.

It all seemed fairly simple, once I came to terms with leaving my fledgling business for a whole 3 months. Particularly as Andy's employer has a sabbatical policy, whereby employees can take a period of unpaid leave of up to 2 years so long as they give a months notice and negotiate it with their manager (how incredibly generous is that!!!).

The drugs service Andy works for, however, has just lost its contract and department is being taken over by a different organisation in May, which doesn't have a sabbatical policy and only allows unpaid leave in emergencies.

Tricky decisions to make then. Andy felt called to go away to serve. I thought it would be a great thing to do. Left with the prospect of Andy having to give up his job in order to do it and therefore neither of us having secure employment when we come back, ups the stakes a bit. We're going to need to raise a lot of money just to go and to keep things in order here whilst we're gone. If part of our life's mission is to adopt children, I really don't want us to jeopardise it by throwing away our financial security at the beginning of the process. That would seem irresponsible. Not going to Africa just out of fear about money would seem equally dumb. We don't know for sure that God wants us to adopt. Perhaps he has another plan entirely.

Anyway. We've thought and talked and prayed. Don't know what God's plan is. We've decided we will go to Africa, unless God makes it clear that we shouldn't.

After we'd made the decision, Andy's current manager told him that she has been negotiating on his behalf to see if the new organisation will allow him to take a sabbatical. No promises yet, she says. The fact she's negotiating at all is really encouraging.

So here we are trusting God and trying to be sensible!