Final Closure in Uganda

I wanted to put the final closure on our failed attempt to adopt a little girl named Agnes from Uganda Africa. Your support and prayers have meant so much to us over the past month, so I wanted to tell what finally happened. After the board of directors changed their minds, we left a message asking them to reconsider. They told us they were no longer assisting in adoptions. We waited a week and still felt compelled to fight for this child. We wrote an email last weekend to several key people explaining our situation and requesting that they relinquish guardianship to us along with all paperwork and we told them that we would take care of all other details. Three days later, one of the workers called me and informed me that all of a sudden Agnes has a sister and if we wanted Agnes, we had to take both girls. We talked for a while and I told her we would get back with her the next day. Drew and I felt like we needed a few days to really pray and consider all of this as we were in complete shock from that phone call!! The next day I wrote the lady telling her that we were still praying and considering things and that we needed a few days. An hour later, I got a phone call and for 10 minutes listened to a woman try to convince me that I was telling her we weren't a good match for these children, on and on and on about how "unfitting" we were. When I did not respond in frustration and kept telling her the same thing, she finally confessed that the organization was being investigated for child trafficking. And that they were no longer allowed to do adoptions. THE TRUTH CAME OUT! I had heard of this possibility and had been advised to ask for a few days to see how they responded. What we determined is that this organization saw an easy way to make some fast money and they would have involved us in a situation that in the eyes of the Ugandan government, would have been viewed as trafficking. We had a closing email where she again tried to accuse us of saying things and we responded with an email back "correcting" her conclusions. So, we grieve that this child or children cannot be brought home. We are angry over the corruption that keeps innocent children from having families. But we praise God for His protection over our family- protection from deception, possible financial ruin and protection from illegal activities. We praise God for His wisdom and for shutting the door in a way that was completely out of our control. We thank God for the amazing support and acceptance of this child from our families and dear friends. We prayed all along simply that God would prevail. And even though there is an emptiness to our guest room now, we rest knowing that God knows the whole situation in ways we probably will never know. And we ask that as Agnes comes across your minds in the future, you will say a little prayer for her. We pray God will use her in mighty big ways in Uganda and that He will protect her heart and somehow in the dark nights, she will feel a love she cannot describe.