Tuesday May 29 at 9:30 pm
Got Jon writing this time...Janell will return soon :)
We were off early this morning at 6:00 am on our way to the orphanage. We arrived to see the last day of school ceremony take place. It was quite a presentation. The ninth grade class graduated as well. We then waited for Seroge and the Deputy Director of the orphanage to go and get the court decree signed. We have a story about that to tell when we get home. All went well and after they returned to the orphanage we packed up Lienna and Tanya's things. Mostly toys. They did not have many clothes with them. Another story to tell when we get home. The girls said their goodbyes and it was tough for us to know the reality of that situation for our girls and for the other kids still at the orphanage.
We headed to Bilivka, about a two hour drive, to get their birth certificates. We were there for over two hours as they checked every detail of the court decree. We then raced to Odessa trying to get to the passport office before it closed. We missed it by about an half hour. We did make it to the Odessa vital records office, just as they were closing, for another stamp on the birth certificates. We will get the passports first thing Wednesday morning and then board a train to Kiev at 11:47 am.
Thank you for the prayers today. We waited around for many hours but the girls have done well. We are hoping things in Kiev will go smoothly and quickly so we can make it home soon.
All for now.
Journey with our family as we travel to Ukraine to adopt.
July 2007
WHY?
You may wonder where our blog title came from. It is based on Jeremiah 29:11 in the Bible. Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
When God called our family to this mission of adoption, it was to give a future to two children - a future of a family. God mentions many times in scripture how we are to take care of widows, the homeless, and orphans so we knew that it was in line with scripture.
We will be leaving Ukraine soon with two children and hopefully offering a better future for them. We also want to leave hope for the many children behind. Andriyevo is not just a place but it is many faces and young lives to us. It will be hard to leave them behind. But those who work with the children here say as hard as it is to be left behind, adoption gives them hope. We pray for other Christian families to be called to adopt and have the means to do it.
The future is uncertain for children who “age out” of the orphanages here. Andriyevo has classes until grade 10 and then the children leave… and to what…. No money for future education, no home, no job, no life skills like managing money, cooking, or doing their laundry, no family to come home to. Many of the adult children in Ukraine live with their parents so they can make it. Orphans do not have that. The reality is that many orphans resort to stealing and prostitution to survive. After seeing these normal, fun, seemingly happy children at the orphanage it is so hard to comprehend that some of them will resort to these things for survival.
We hope this blog site will inspire you to help orphans around the world.
When God called our family to this mission of adoption, it was to give a future to two children - a future of a family. God mentions many times in scripture how we are to take care of widows, the homeless, and orphans so we knew that it was in line with scripture.
We will be leaving Ukraine soon with two children and hopefully offering a better future for them. We also want to leave hope for the many children behind. Andriyevo is not just a place but it is many faces and young lives to us. It will be hard to leave them behind. But those who work with the children here say as hard as it is to be left behind, adoption gives them hope. We pray for other Christian families to be called to adopt and have the means to do it.
The future is uncertain for children who “age out” of the orphanages here. Andriyevo has classes until grade 10 and then the children leave… and to what…. No money for future education, no home, no job, no life skills like managing money, cooking, or doing their laundry, no family to come home to. Many of the adult children in Ukraine live with their parents so they can make it. Orphans do not have that. The reality is that many orphans resort to stealing and prostitution to survive. After seeing these normal, fun, seemingly happy children at the orphanage it is so hard to comprehend that some of them will resort to these things for survival.
We hope this blog site will inspire you to help orphans around the world.
