We leave tommorow (Sat 6/7) at 7:30 a.m.

Sorry we are placing this post so late, we have good news.....Maria got her Visa today.....God willing we are coming back to Roanoke tommorow. Wow this has been quite a journey, we can't wait to share the finer details with all our friends and relatives when we see you. Maria is so excited she says she is ready to meet all her relatives and her amigos she remembers from the Dale Ridge mission trips.
We were on edge all morning as we had an "interview" with Immigration about Maria's visa applicatioin scheduled for around 1pm....would there be some little fine detail that we had forgotten to submit? or are our pictures the right size?....do we have everything signed?, will there be someone there that just doesn't care if it gets finished today?.....etc etc....we just had to take a breather and lay it before God......the process couldn't have gone smoother we were the only ones dealing with a Visa this afternoon and they had plenty of time and willingness to get it done. As much as we deeply and I mean really deeply wanted to come home we can see that God knew what was best. We really needed a little more time for bonding and working out some discipline issues with Maria....He knew far better than we did as far as what would be best. Besides this, we befriended a taxi driver.....invited him to church (which he says is something he has not been involved with in a long long time and now says he would like to meet with the brethren again), we gave him our Spanish/English Bible, another driver a week early was taught about the gospel while we visited Maria's house parents.....so its really really awesome to see how God can work in so many different ways. Sena and I both really realized today, just why we had to wait 2 and a half years.....it took time to get all the people in the right places in Panama to make this happen. The Judge over Marias case noted that Maria had been lost in the system and she should have been placed in a family evironment over 4 years ago.....she even told us that maybe this is God's way of taking care of a great injustice and of giving Maria what she needs. I am still in awe that this phase of things is finished.
We thank God for his answer to our prayers over the past 2 years......Hannah, Adele, and Lilly thanks for your nightly prayers about this....God said YES! You get to meet your new sister tommorow! Thank you Lord for your answer. We thank you Lord for loving us and for giving up your own child on a cross. We thank all our family and friends who have helped in so many ways and we thank you for all the prayers....which I fully believe have kept our spirits up. God bless you all We love you and we can't wait to see you real soon!

Greg and Sena