Another Blessed Day with Elena and Her Friends!

 

Elena eating sunflower seeds at the lake

We started the day at the lake with Elena and many of the children. Once again Elena spotted us first and ran to us screaming "MAMA" and we exchanged big bear hugs.  Before going to the lake we made a quick stop at the local market and bought water and sunflower seeds.  Elena and her friends LOVED the sunflower seeds!   Our friend, Natalia, encouraged us to try the sunflower seeds.  The children are accustomed to eating them shelled. Elena enjoyed her inflatable water ring float and pink towel. We are thrilled that today as soon as Elena ran over to us, many other children flocked around us with little and big grins, "hallo's" and bright eyes.  

We decided to walk back again with the children rather than drive.  We can see how meaningful this is to the kids and the workers. On the way back, we stopped and a childcare worker sent  3 children to help her fill up empty bottles at a well.  Later on in the day we learned that the water is shut off for a day or longer at a time this time of year.  Then the worker filled up one cup which was then passed from child to child to take a sip. Soon it was time to continue our walk back to the orphanage.  We walked through an outdoor small market with fresh produce and the kids started laughing when they saw a loose baby chick. It's owner ran after it and held it up for the kids to see.  Elena urged me to give her the camera and she took a great shot (see below). Another little incident which occurred is that a little boy named Daniel (he is 6 but looks about 4 years old) was walking and his plastic sandal broke.  The caretaker held the shoes and he walked back without any complaining with his bare feet.  We were impressed since it is very rocky and hard ground.  Lauren asked the caretaker for the shoes and before lunch we stopped at a store and bought him new ones.

Elena takes a picture of baby chick

The children went for lunch and we headed to lunch with another family from America who is also adopting an older girl.  We went back to the cafe on the lake and enjoyed the fellowship and break from the heat. It is such a blessing to be here with another family with similar values!  They arrived after us but with the delay we experienced, we are at the exact same point in the process.

A wonderful cafe on Lake Lutugino about 5 minutes from the orphanage

After lunch the other family went to the orphanage and we spent some time visiting with a local family here in Lutugino.  That was a really blessed time! To preserve their privacy, we will refrain from going into further detail.  After a short visit we returned to the orphanage.  It was a laid back day since it was Saturday.  The kids get up from naps around 4 pm so we got there just in time.  We asked a boy to please go get Elena and in a couple of minutes, she came down running to us with an ear to ear smile.  

We played ball with a new soccer ball, played games, and talked via the Google translate site and movements.  Elena played with mama's hair and we broke out the sidewalk chalk and then all the kids came down.   We just played with them-jump rope, tic tac toe and hopscotch with the sidewalk chalk, tossing the ball, etc.   Jay and Scott engaged the boys with thumb wrestling, bop it, and other boy oriented activities.   We were especially glad for the boys since it seems that Ukraine (and Russia) is dominated by and oriented toward women. The boys seem to be sorely lacking in interaction with men and especially God fearing men of strong leadership. The kids are looking forward to seeing us each day and seem to be so happy that we want to spend time with them!  Little Daniel was given his new shoes and what a thrill it was to see his face light up!

 Elena braids Mama's hair

They were each given an apple and a cookie (some even shared their cookies with us).  We bought each of the children ice cream and then it was time for a show the workers and children had been preparing for.  The show was right outside in the play yard and we stayed for over an hour watching it.  Elena and her friends recorded most of it and we have a little video of it as a sweet memory.

Jay and Scott play games with the boys

It is going to be hard to leave all these precious children behind. Our hearts melt and break more for these kids each day!

We piled into the car with the other family and our driver took us over to a restaurant for dinner.   We ate and then stopped at the market and then walked back with a few groceries to our apartment.  Thank you God for a truly blessed day in every way!

DA, DA, DA (YES, YES, YES)!

Da (yes) were the precious words we heard without hesitation 3 times in a row from Elena in the official meeting with the regional director, orphanage director, and others this afternoon.  Elena is not officially our daughter yet until after the court date though.  Thank you all for your prayerful support through the roller-coaster rides this week!  Elena was required to verbally respond as well as write the answers in paragraph form.  When Elena was asked why she said no initially, she responded that she was afraid to leave  and afraid to overcome obstacles such as learning English.  We learned today that Elena was born in Lutugino.

Elena writing the official letter saying she wants to be adopted

Today was special since it was so much more relaxed than the previous past few days. We were able to spend most of the day (7 hours) at the orphanage with Elena today.  We had a quiet visit with Elena throughout the morning and then another family joined us with their new daughter in the afternoon. We played with the kids, had lunch, and then went back to the orphanage and hung out with Elena and LOTS of other children in the play yard.  Elena ran all over the orphanage taking photos of all her friends.  In the play yard, Elena took many more incredible photos of her friends. 

We took a big bag of silly bands and passed them out to each of the children.  Then we showed some of them how to play bop it.  That was a huge hit!  We got the kids ice cream and enjoyed hanging out with them.  We introduced ourselves and smiled at the children all the while praying that God will make a way for each child to be adopted in a loving and God fearing home.   Since we were out there with them for so long, we also showed those who were interested the videos of Elena and her visit with us (on Jay's computer).  They were all very curious and intrigued and surrounded us. 

The kids enjoyed the silly bands

Ksenia our Ukraine Facilitator

Elena surprised us when she said here is my cousin and introduced me to a 12 year old boy.   Then she introduced us to her 14 year old cousin, Natasha!  We took a few photos of Elena and her cousins, but Elena took many more on her own.  We didn't know until then that she had any relatives in the same orphanage.  Pray for Elena's cousins.  Maybe God would have you host or adopt them!!!!

Elena and her two cousins

Our notary work was not completed by 6:00 pm, so it was time to return to Lugansk back to our apartment. Thanks for sharing in our fullness of joy!  

Glory to God/Hallelujah!

Since you all have been praying, we want to give you a real brief summary first and then go into detail. Praise God, by the end of the day today (Thursday) Elena said YES to us privately about being adopted.  Tomorrow afternoon (our time- about 6 or 7 am East Coast Time), Elena will be asked before several officials and us if she wants us to adopt her.  This is the 'make it or break it' meeting so please keep up your prayers. 


"For you shall go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off". Isaiah 55:12-13


Now for a more detailed summary of today:


We greeted the sun early this morning knowing that we had been held before God's holy throne of grace and mercy in deep intercession.  Additionally, we had full confidence that the Holy Spirit has been interceding with groanings. What a deep comfort that is to us! We had a calm assurance and readiness to accept whatever outcome the Lord would accomplish.  On the drive to Lutugino, Lauren listened to Arise and Shine as this song keeps coming to mind. May  the glory of the Lord shine upon the people of this desolate land.  We were both praying silently as the driver, Oleg, likes his Russian music LOUD!   Being able to listen to great worship music through an ipod was a wonderful blessing. 

We stopped to buy the ice cream we promised Elena yesterday and then walked to the orphanage. Did we mention that we have been putting miles on our shoes and getting sorely needed exercise?  We found out the children were taken to a lake to swim this morning.  Since the government assistance could not provide the funding for most of the children to attend camp in the Black Sea area, they try to let the children go swimming at least once a week.  You cannot imagine our fullness of joy when we were trying to spot Elena among the many children and she ran screaming "Mama!" up to Lauren and gave her a huge hug with an ear to ear smile!  Then she gave Jay a really big hug too and was obviously very happy to see us.  She also stayed with us the entire time when it wasn't her turn to swim.  


Elena took great delight in showing the other children who gathered around us the photo album we had brought.  Many of the photos were from the time we hosted her over the winter but we had also added photos of her room which is ready for her, the new bunk bed, and the garden with the prolific crop of lettuce God granted this Spring.  She preferred to sit with us and not with her usual friends, however she did enjoy introducing us to several of the children. 


When it was time to go, the caretakers had each child hold hands with a buddy as they walked back to the orphanage.  However, Elena preferred to hold Lauren's hand the entire way back.   She also told one little girl that she lives in Georgia and asked us the name of the city where we live.


We were told to return at 2 pm so we explored and found a nice cafe for lunch a few minutes away.  Oleg, our driver, asked several folks walking along the way if they knew where the cafe was that was on the lake.  We drove along many narrow dusty  and unpaved "roads" and found this tiny restaurant with several caribbean style huts outside.  It was very refreshing to be there since we found in Lutugino the townspeople openly stare at us.  Since we are out in "no man's land" we really stand out!  


When we returned Elena was woken up from her nap. All the orphans nap from 1 pm to 4 pm.  We  are allowed to meet with her in the front room area.  We exchanged hugs and then gave Elena a coloring book with markers and showed her the blue nail polish we bought (she said she likes blue). Lauren then asked her if she wanted her toe nails polished and she nodded her head while grinning happily.  Then Lauren polished her own toe nails the same color so they would match.  Elena also wanted Lauren to French braid her hair the same way Lauren had hers done so they could have matching hair styles.  Jay showed Elena more home videos until it was time to go.  Ksenia was able to talk with Elena and ask her again (after we did) if she had made a decision. Elena said YES she wanted to be adopted and agreed to go before the officials and us tomorrow afternoon (Friday afternoon).


Please keep up your prayers as Friday is another big day for Elena and for us.  A local family who knows much about the area and the adoption and orphanage world emailed us this comment which was very insightful:

Know, too, that often these children who can be adopted are made to feel guilty for abandoning their friends, often by those who  cannot be adopted.  Also, they are subject to physical abuse by older kids who are, too, jealous of the potential of being adopted.  Finally, these adoptable children are often filled with lies that the adoptive parents want them only to make them servants, slaves and in some very extreme circumstances will live a life of abuse at the hands of the adoptive parents.  Unfotunately, I don't think the orphanage does a lot to head-off these situations.  I pray that God will break through these demonic barriers so she can think and decide clearly....tha the voice of God's Spirit will pierce the darkness that surrounds her.

Elena, Lauren and Jay at the Lake

Lauren paints Elena's toe nails blue

Lauren and Elena

Elena in front of her favorite Cherry Tree

Urgent Prayer Request

Things today took a very unexpected and sad turn.  Everything was going well, we flew from Kiev to Donetsk,  took a 2 hour car ride from Donetsk to Lugansk (Lauren did not like the ride at all on bumpy narrow roads with our driver passing everyone right and left), checked into our new apartment (very nice) and went shopping, all by 12 noon).  We then went to the regional directors office to pick up paperwork before going to the orphanage, again no issues.  We then walked over to the orphanage to meet the orphanage director and then Elena.  The orphanage director asked a few questions of us, none that were very difficult.

Elena was then brought in.  She was asked in Russian if she wanted to be adopted and she said "NO".  This is a radical change of heart since she was last asked by Ksenia (our regional coordinator) two months ago.  Needless to say we were both in a state of shock and disbelief.  She said that we would like to continue to come visit us but wants to stay at the orphanage.  The regional director and orphanage director both tried to get her to change her mind and at least visit with us before making a final decision.  One thing that stuck out was the orphanage director saying that Elena is confused.

We had a great visit with her.  We gave her birthday cards/gifts, played her favorite game (Connect 4), hugged one another, visited her favorite part of the orphanage, watched videos of her trip to visit us last Christmas and then we video skyped the kids, so she could see Hannah and Micah.

She wanted us to come back tomorrow and visit again.  Based on discussions with Ksenia we will be asking her hard questions tomorrow and having to make decisions that will have a lifetime (and beyond) of consequences.

This is the third time in a row at this orphanage that something like this has happened.  We just found out that the Ukraine coordinator and her husband will be coming to the orphanage next Monday to try and resolve this situation.  While we leave things in man's hand, we are trusting God for His perfect outcome.

Urgent Prayer Requests:

• The the author of confusion (see 1 Cor 14:33) be hindered from impacting Elena's earthly and eternal future
• The orphanage director would not try to stop the adoption
• God's perfect will
• Peace for us during this trying time
• Elena's salvation

 

Video of Elena from Christmas 2009 Hosting

We purposely did not post any pictures of Elena before we got the actual referral for Elena. We are on our way to pick up the referral from the Ukraine government in a few hours, so we are posting a video from when we hosted Elena.  We will post pictures of her tomorrow or the next day.

We just came back from SDA with the official paperwork that we will bring to the orphanage.  We leave tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM to catch a 6:45 AM plane.  With car travel we should be at the orphanage by 11 am or so.  We will be meeting with another government official, then the orphanage director and then finally with Elena.  This should be about 1:30 pm (or 6:30 am east coast time).

More Pictures

Here are more pictures from us walking around Kiev:

We Were So Blessed Today!!!

Entrance to SDA Office

We showed up for our appointment with the SDA (Ukraine government) to receive the approval to adopt Elena.  Everything went great.  The woman from SDA brought out a large red folder with our names on it in Ukrainian.  She then pulled out Elena's file, the moment we have been waiting for.  She showed us her file and told us a little about her background.  She comes from a single mother family and has a younger brother that was adopted by a Ukrainian family.  She told us that she has minor psychological delays (very common in orphanages) and mild scoliosis.  Both of these are not major issues considering that she has been in institutional care.

Now for the real blessing.  The woman asks us (via Nastya our translator) how did we know Elena.  We told her that we had hosted her last December.  We did not think anything of the question until she said that several other families had gotten referrals for her and Elena said no to other families that wanted to adopt her.  In Ukraine while you can request a child you can't put them "on hold" until your meeting with SDA (which for us was today).  During the time we were finishing our paperwork she was available for anyone to adopt her.  Also in Ukraine, Elena has the right to say no to any adoption request.  It was such a blessing to realize that not only did we choose Elena, but Elena chose to be part our family.  The SDA worker wondered why Elena wanted to be with us when she could have already been adopted by several other familes.  She then offered another girl for us to consider adopting in addition to Elena.  This is highly unusual as they are not related.  Given her age (15) we felt that the age differences were too great for us.

We see the hand of God and answered prayer.  Every night Micah would pray "Lord please let us adopt Elena".  God was so gracious to answer our prayers and Micah's simple prayer from his heart.  Elena seemed to really bond well with Micah when she was here and Micah really liked her.  It turns out that Elena's biological brother is the same age as Micah.

On a lighter note, we are really enjoying the wonderful weather.  Today is another sunny day in the mid 70's.  Everyone seems to be out and about enjoying the weather.  We are typing this post from a cafe called "Double Coffee", which is one of the few (besides McDonald's) places in English.

Highlights of Our Second Day

The Lord gave us great rest today and wonderful blessed sleep last night, praise Him! Neither one of us has jet lag (yay)! Looks like the homeopathic remedy worked which is a huge help in getting acclimated.

As we were leaving, we heard a man in the apartment across from us and down the hallway a little bit speaking English.  Jay asked him if he was from America.  He said yes and asked us if we were adopting too?  Terry and Jennifer are from Virginia and adopting the 14 year old girl they recently met on a missions trip here!  They had just arrived to their apartment with their facilitator when we met them.  We hope to share a meal with them in the next day or two.  Their appointment with the SDA is exactly one day later than ours.  Our appointment is at noon tomorrow (Monday) which confirms we are getting a referral for Elena. The following day we return to get the official referral needed in order to adopt.

Once outside we did a lot of walking and exploring. The weather was delightful-sunny and mid 70's. When you look at the video and slideshows you may capture the many sights we were able to see today. It was wonderful but since we were on our own, we really don't know about the history of much of what we saw. Directly up the street from us is a large Catholic Church and the church bells rang quite a bit earlier in the day. We observed the famous arch, cobblestone streets, a monastery, many government office buildings, stumbled across a tram with a steep incline, a riverfront area, and lots more.  We were intrigued with and tried to absorb the experience of meeting and seeing lots of Ukrainian people in their rich very rich culture.

Jay had a strong sense to go to this one restaurant though we really didn't know anything about it.  Many Americans prefer to eat at TGIF or McDonalds, but we really prefer good Ukrainian food!  Well, we were not at all disappointed!  The borsht along with all the traditional food was fantastic!  The workers were very authentic and so were the "turkish toilets"!  We even picked up the popular carbonated water by accident which is very popular here and in Europe.

That's all for now.

Second Day in Kiev Video

Pictures of our Apartment

Here are some pictures of our apartment in Kiev. As you can tell it is very small by American standards. However it does meet our needs for the few days we will be here.