if the link below didn't work

Try this link:
http://threeriversnews.com/articles/2010/09/17/news/local_news/doc4c937b86b3cb0608881015.txt</HTML>

Jon and the "little fella"

A story about our adoption journey is in todays paper. Here's the link:
http://threeriversnews.com/articles/2010/09/17/news/local_news/doc4c937b86b3cb06
08881015.txt For some reason some people are getting "error" but if you
click the button "return to home page " it should take you back to the
article. Just a note a couple of mistakes were made, Jon and Andy get switched at
one point. Jon is beyond annoyed that it says he's our "little fella" with
growth problems! Take it from me Jon definitely NOT "a happy go lucky" guy
tonight. In case you don't know, Jon is 13~~~ so everything annoys him these days!
He'll live it down, hopefully his buddies don't read the paper~~~~in between
video games that is. </HTML>

Will

If you've been reading along from the beginning this post might seem a little redundant. I thought I would just reintroduce William Jilei Knisely to those who are new to our blog and bring people up to date as to where we are in the adoption.

We first saw Will over a year ago. We had begun working with our adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, some months before. An opportunity came up for us to view some profiles and video of a group of special needs children from Shanghai, China.

Bethany had sent two of its social workers to take part in a special camp called "The Journey of Hope", which had taken place in June 2009. The social workers were able to interact, take video, pictures,view medical records, and interview children and caregivers. The children put on a talent show at the end of the camp. The social workers then returned to America, where they put together both their own personal observations, video, photos, and records, making a personal profile for each individual child. Not a small task considering there were 40+ Kiddos at the camp. NOW these angels had to try and find forever families for each child.

This is what the worker's shared about Will. Of all the children he had the strongest desire to come to America. He is the youngest in his class but the smartest. His best subject is Math. We have since learned he scored well on some placement tests and is now attending a school outside of the orphanage(only a handful of students meet the requirements). He gets along well with others but is shy with adults.He speaks a little English and loves to play on computers. He likes the outdoors and nature. Will knows he is being adopted but we do not know if he has our letters and photo albums we sent yet. Will just turned 10 in June and has now started 6th grade in Shanghai.

We viewed some of the children on Bethany's secured website. We were struck by Will right away, however like all adoptions things move slower rather faster. But this past week we finally got travel approval. Keith will leave for Shanghai, Oct.22nd. He will get Will in Shanghai 10/25. Because of requirements both from our government and China, Keith will be staying in China for two weeks. Once all paperwork is complete he and Will will return Nov. 5th!

yesterday

Yesterday started out very stressful but ended on a high note. I forgot to mention in yesterday's post this game of "Who has the Grant Money?" had been going on for about a month. I was quite concerned the check might have gotten in the wrong hands and with travel now looming it was imperative it get resolved. So at last the mystery got solved. Our Social Worker was on vacation a while back and apparently someone thought they would help out by going ahead and posting the money in my Bethany account. However, they forgot to tell our S.W. when she got back. But now it is found and was were it was supposed to be.

We also got Keith's flight scheduled. He will leave South Bend,In. the morning of Oct. 22nd, fly to Detroit and have a nonstop flight from there to Shanghai. We had a nice surprise as well. His cost and Will's ticket were both significantly less than I had set aside for. In fact, Keith's ticket was a little less than when he flew to Hong Kong in 2003. Will's one way was $150.00 less than Andy's in '03. Go Figure!A great ending to a rough start and back on track again all in one day. God is great in all His Mercies!

prayer request

Dearest Friends, I ask if you could raise our situation in prayer today. As
you might remember back in July we were thrilled to learn we were approved
for a $3,500 grant. This grant covered the exact amount we needed to
complete our son's adoption. Our problem is this, the grant people say the
check
was sent out 2 weeks ago, our social worker says they never received it and
frankly I'm getting a little frantic on my end! My S.W. said give it one
more
day before contacting the grant people that the check did not arrive. So
there you have it, Please pray this check shows up today, and we don't have
to
go through the process of getting it reissued! Thanks I know what a great
group of believers this is! Yours in Christ, Jane</HTML>

Finally~Step 4 is done. We are going to China!

See all the happy Knisely's? Will is coming home! Just not right away, of course. But having a date is soooo wonderful! So Keith will travel to Shanghai around Oct.16th. Plans with the agency's people in China is still a work in progress. Keith may arrive a day or two early to give himself time to adjust. China is basically 12 hours ahead of us. Once in Shanghai he would get Will Monday the 17th, do a lot of paperwork, actually adopt Will while there and try to get to know his son. At the end of that week he and Will would fly to Guangzhou (formally Canton), and apply for Will's Visa (at the American Embassy) to enter the U.S.. Will will also take the Oath of Citizenship the next day. Then 4 days later the Visa is picked up and they come home. We are so Thankful to be to this point, Praise God for all His Mercies!