She's Gone!

After a great week of simply relaxing and enjoying our family and friends, and one day of severe sunburn pain, we were able to get Dezi to the St Louis Airport on time. As I type this, her plane should be landing in Taipei. I had called the Skiles after she left and they said the final appointment with the American Institute in Taiwan (the equivalent to the U.S. Embassy in countries that are recognized as such, Taiwan is still recognized as a renegade province of China) is going to be at 8am on Monday morning which is 7pm Sunday evening our time. This is where they interview Dezi with Raena present. It will be the first time Dezi sees her! Misti Jennings, a student at Central on her internship with the Skiles will be bringing her up from Lo-Tung where the orphanage is located. Please pray for Dezi & Raena as they get acquainted for the first time. After this meeting, I am told, Raena will be officially adopted. We will still have to apply for her Social Security card and other stateside documents, but the waiting is over.

I do want to mention someone who has worked very hard on our behalf. Wendy Coryell of Gateway Travel in Dallas, Texas, has worked overtime on getting the best possible flight and ticket prices for Dezi's trip and Raena's return. We have had over 5 different itineraries trying to get Dezi there as soon as the process was complete. At the highest season to fly she found relatively cheap tickets and a very direct flight. In fact, it is the shortest amount of time we have ever been able to get to Taiwan and direct from St Louis, to L.A., to Taipei. If you ever need a trustworthy travel agent, contact her at 1-800-878-2828. We have used her for many years and Team Expansion & Formosa Christian Mission always check with her first on most flights. Thanks Wendy!