No...it's not Ukraine that the title speaks of. It's Omaha! Our flight is scheduled to take off out of here right in the middle of a raging ice storm. So, if it's too backed up I suppose we'll miss our connecting flight in Cincinnati. That, of course, causes us to miss our flight in New York to head to Kiev. Hmmm...
Worst case scenario has us leaving Monday morning and arriving in Ukraine Tuesday morning just in time for our Wednesday appointment at the State Department of Adoption! Best case scenario is the weather-guru's are wrong and we head out without a hitch tomorrow at 8:25 a.m. and arrive in Kiev Sunday morning at 10:10 a.m.
It's been a challenge to get to this point with lots of spiritual struggle, lots of paperwork, piles of cash, and now it's here. It will be nice to finally place a face with all the challenge to this point to see that it was all VERY worth it.
Here's some specific prayer requests:
* Please pray that we have a healthy referral on December 5th.
* Please pray that Yuri is our translator on our trip to the region where our little daughter is b/c he seems to understand Westerners and how we best cope.
* Please pray for Davi. She's developed a little cold and traveling when you're sick is never very cool!
* Please pray for our safety! We're carrying around ridiculous amounts of cash and it's a bit unsettling to say the least!
* Please pray for all of us while we're there that we stay physically healthy and can rest well. We want our minds to be sharp so we can make wise decisions.
* Pray that our 10-day waiting period could either be eliminated or shortened to allow us to be able to come home faster.
* Pray that our new little girl's passport waiting period would be expedited as well so we're able to get back home. Anyone who has been out-of-country understands what I'm asking here. Hey...we have 3 people's goods for a month packed into one big suitcase...it's a miracle!
We'll keep the blog posted as much as possible to keep everyone in-the-know as best we can. Thanks for charging to the front-lines and bringing these requests to God. We're excited to see how He moves and know that we'll be stretched in ways we never dreamed.
Next time we blog...Kiev! Or maybe here...if we get stuck in the ice!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Christmas in Kiev
We finally got our travel date! Our first appointment in Kiev is December 5th, so we'll probably fly out of Omaha on December 1st or 2nd.
The next couple months will be filled with planning and delegating for several weeks-worth of church stuff, hopefully raising more funds, trying to finish projects on the house, filling out more adoption paperwork, learning to speak some Ukrainian, and looking for crisp $100 bills with no marks or cuts (we have to use cash only, and it has to be "nice" cash).
Unfortunately, Ukrainian and American holidays fall over the end of December and the first couple weeks of January, which means delays. We anticipate being able to return to the States in mid to late January. There is a possibility that we will end up taking two trips b/c of these delays, but we don't know yet.
Another hurdle that could cause delays: as of late, several families have been first referred a child that does not fit their request (primarily due to health). Obtaining a second referral adds one to two weeks to the time in-country. Please pray that we are referred to our daughter the first time around.
We would also appreciate your prayers. Pray for us as we continue to try to raise money, learn some of the language, and get all our details in order. Also, we are dreading such a long stay in Ukraine without many of the things we're used to and without kids for Davi to socialize with. And we know that there will be many unexpected turns along the way, which will add to the stress. We are hoping to be able to enjoy the journey as much as possible.
On the day we got the call with our travel date, I was in the middle of a Bible study I've been working on. When I returned from talking on the phone, the study had me read Psalm 146:5-9:
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the LORD, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
We are so excited to see how God provides for our new little girl.
For anyone interested and living in or near Omaha, our agency is offering an international adoption seminar on October 13th. Check out the America World link to the left for details.
The next couple months will be filled with planning and delegating for several weeks-worth of church stuff, hopefully raising more funds, trying to finish projects on the house, filling out more adoption paperwork, learning to speak some Ukrainian, and looking for crisp $100 bills with no marks or cuts (we have to use cash only, and it has to be "nice" cash).
Unfortunately, Ukrainian and American holidays fall over the end of December and the first couple weeks of January, which means delays. We anticipate being able to return to the States in mid to late January. There is a possibility that we will end up taking two trips b/c of these delays, but we don't know yet.
Another hurdle that could cause delays: as of late, several families have been first referred a child that does not fit their request (primarily due to health). Obtaining a second referral adds one to two weeks to the time in-country. Please pray that we are referred to our daughter the first time around.
We would also appreciate your prayers. Pray for us as we continue to try to raise money, learn some of the language, and get all our details in order. Also, we are dreading such a long stay in Ukraine without many of the things we're used to and without kids for Davi to socialize with. And we know that there will be many unexpected turns along the way, which will add to the stress. We are hoping to be able to enjoy the journey as much as possible.
On the day we got the call with our travel date, I was in the middle of a Bible study I've been working on. When I returned from talking on the phone, the study had me read Psalm 146:5-9:
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the LORD, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
We are so excited to see how God provides for our new little girl.
For anyone interested and living in or near Omaha, our agency is offering an international adoption seminar on October 13th. Check out the America World link to the left for details.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
We're In!
We were notified this week that our representative in Ukraine was finally able to submit our paperwork to the SDA (State Department for Adoption)! Ukraine only accepts 8 dossiers from Americans each week. We were really glad to get the news, especially since this means we likely won’t have to update any of our paperwork. It’s estimated that we will be traveling to Ukraine in October and/or November.
In the meantime, things in Ukraine continue to be unstable. The following 3 paragraphs contain info we got from our adoption agency:
Due to changes in procedure, there are delays in getting passports for adopted children. The Kiev office said they expect wait times for processing passport applications to be 10 days, but some parents have reported waiting more than a month!
They are also seeing increasing timeframes for submitting dossiers [ours finally got in, woo hoo!]. Some political fighting within the SDA has slowed down the submission and review of paperwork. Ukraine has always been a volatile country to adopt from based on the close ties to the country's politics which have lacked stability.
This summer there have been more families requiring second appointments because they were not referred young, healthy children. The wait time between appointments is currently 2-4 weeks. They expect the number of children available for adoption to increase in the coming months.
So now, our original 4-6 weeks in Ukraine is expected to be closer to 6-8 weeks! Fortunately, we will probably have the choice of either staying the entire time in country (I think NO!) or taking one, 3-to-4-week trip, then one or both of us returning a month later for 1 week.
Please continue to pray for our journey. It’s all a little crazy, but we really believe God is calling us to this.
Davi started all-day kindergarten this week, so I’m anticipating being able to get a lot of preparations done before we bring our other child home. We’re thankful for how God has provided for us in ways like this and others (like supportive friends/family and financial gifts—thank you!!!).
We’ll let you know when we receive our travel date!
In the meantime, things in Ukraine continue to be unstable. The following 3 paragraphs contain info we got from our adoption agency:
Due to changes in procedure, there are delays in getting passports for adopted children. The Kiev office said they expect wait times for processing passport applications to be 10 days, but some parents have reported waiting more than a month!
They are also seeing increasing timeframes for submitting dossiers [ours finally got in, woo hoo!]. Some political fighting within the SDA has slowed down the submission and review of paperwork. Ukraine has always been a volatile country to adopt from based on the close ties to the country's politics which have lacked stability.
This summer there have been more families requiring second appointments because they were not referred young, healthy children. The wait time between appointments is currently 2-4 weeks. They expect the number of children available for adoption to increase in the coming months.
So now, our original 4-6 weeks in Ukraine is expected to be closer to 6-8 weeks! Fortunately, we will probably have the choice of either staying the entire time in country (I think NO!) or taking one, 3-to-4-week trip, then one or both of us returning a month later for 1 week.
Please continue to pray for our journey. It’s all a little crazy, but we really believe God is calling us to this.
Davi started all-day kindergarten this week, so I’m anticipating being able to get a lot of preparations done before we bring our other child home. We’re thankful for how God has provided for us in ways like this and others (like supportive friends/family and financial gifts—thank you!!!).
We’ll let you know when we receive our travel date!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
God Continues to Provide
We got a letter today from Shaohannah's Hope (a ministry of Steven Curtis Chapman--see link to the left), letting us know we qualified for a $3000 grant! We are so thrilled. We know that the people on the board at Shaohannah's Hope pray a lot about where the grant monies go. For us, this is more confirmation that this adoption is what God wants. We're still waiting to hear back regarding two other grants we applied for. Thanks to all of you who are praying for us as we continue to raise funds.
We received notice last week that Ukraine has reached their dossier quota for the quarter, so they won't be accepting any new dossiers until July. We hope that ours will be submitted soon. All of our documents have to have at least 6 months left (based on when they were completed and notarized) when they are submitted, so we're already having to update some because of this delay.
Thanks for your prayers and support!
We received notice last week that Ukraine has reached their dossier quota for the quarter, so they won't be accepting any new dossiers until July. We hope that ours will be submitted soon. All of our documents have to have at least 6 months left (based on when they were completed and notarized) when they are submitted, so we're already having to update some because of this delay.
Thanks for your prayers and support!
Monday, June 4, 2007
It's Out of Our Hands!
For the past month we've been thinking we were nearly finished with our paperwork, but we ran into snag after snag that prolonged the process. We got our last document notarized and apostilled last Tuesday.
Finished. Finally. Phew!
We overnighted our complete documents (a.k.a. dossier) to our family coordinator, expecting her to take a few days to examine them and call for any corrections from us. However, on Wednesday afternoon, we got an email stating: I am happy to report that I received your dossier today...it looks perfect. I will now send it on to Yuri in Ukraine for translation and submission. She Fed-Exed our documents to Ukraine that evening. Woo hoo!
We expect it to take about a month for our dossier to be translated and submitted. We think we'll be going to Ukraine around October, but that's just a guess. We're just so glad to have all the documents out of our safe!
As we wait to travel, we're also waiting to see how God is going to provide for this adoption financially. We've paid roughly $4000 of the estimated $27,000 and are waiting to hear back regarding some adoption grants we've applied for. We're so grateful that God is raising up people to build assistance programs so that more orphans can be rescued. Click our links to Shaohannah's Hope and Hadassah's Hope to check out a couple.
We have sent out letters of request to help with this adoption. Thank you so much to those of you who have contributed. For many people, it may seem strange that we're asking for financial help with this adoption. This might seem like a plea to help us build our family, but this is not at all about that.
We believe that adoption is on God’s heart. The Bible describes God as the Father to the fatherless, explains that He delights in setting the lonely in families, and has much to say about caring for orphans. We chose to adopt from Ukraine because of the lack of Christian influence in that country. Not only do we have the opportunity to provide a child with a loving family, but we also get the privilege of helping her understand God’s plans and purposes for her life.
If anyone is interested in partnering with us financially in this mission, please contact us. We can let you know about different tax-deductible options. The plight of the approximately 100 million orphans is larger than any of us can handle on our own, and we hope that many will play a part in helping save this life and others.
Finished. Finally. Phew!
We overnighted our complete documents (a.k.a. dossier) to our family coordinator, expecting her to take a few days to examine them and call for any corrections from us. However, on Wednesday afternoon, we got an email stating: I am happy to report that I received your dossier today...it looks perfect. I will now send it on to Yuri in Ukraine for translation and submission. She Fed-Exed our documents to Ukraine that evening. Woo hoo!
We expect it to take about a month for our dossier to be translated and submitted. We think we'll be going to Ukraine around October, but that's just a guess. We're just so glad to have all the documents out of our safe!
As we wait to travel, we're also waiting to see how God is going to provide for this adoption financially. We've paid roughly $4000 of the estimated $27,000 and are waiting to hear back regarding some adoption grants we've applied for. We're so grateful that God is raising up people to build assistance programs so that more orphans can be rescued. Click our links to Shaohannah's Hope and Hadassah's Hope to check out a couple.
We have sent out letters of request to help with this adoption. Thank you so much to those of you who have contributed. For many people, it may seem strange that we're asking for financial help with this adoption. This might seem like a plea to help us build our family, but this is not at all about that.
We believe that adoption is on God’s heart. The Bible describes God as the Father to the fatherless, explains that He delights in setting the lonely in families, and has much to say about caring for orphans. We chose to adopt from Ukraine because of the lack of Christian influence in that country. Not only do we have the opportunity to provide a child with a loving family, but we also get the privilege of helping her understand God’s plans and purposes for her life.
If anyone is interested in partnering with us financially in this mission, please contact us. We can let you know about different tax-deductible options. The plight of the approximately 100 million orphans is larger than any of us can handle on our own, and we hope that many will play a part in helping save this life and others.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Forms, Forms, Everywhere There's Forms!
OK, so we thought we were done with forms! As it turns out there's one left that we need! The agency we used to do our home study just renewed their license with the state. We're waiting to see if that's ready to go on Monday, the 14th over in Lincoln. If it is, we hope to have all our forms FINALLY done! Please pray for the whole paper-chase situation. Just when we get ready to cross the finish line, it keeps moving!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Guess What?
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent us a letter today. In the opening paragraph it says, "It has been determined that you are able to furnish proper care to an orphan or orphans as defined by Section 101 (b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act." Some of you may be thinking..."Yeah, that applies to Gina...but how'd Dave get by?" Hey, I'm just thankful Gina's normal and we'll just leave it at that! So...
Tonight we get all our paperwork notarized and hopefully tomorrow head over to Lincoln to get them certifiied by the Secretary of State. From there is a short certified insured mail hop to Virginia to our adoption agency followed by a trans-Atlantic airmail to Kiev, Ukraine for translation!
As I write, we are in the process of preparing for her arrival. What has been our guest bedroom is rapidly becoming a pink wonderland. The bed frame is assembled awaiting a mattress, wallpaper is stripped, the holes spackled, and the paint is moments from coat one.
Tonight we get all our paperwork notarized and hopefully tomorrow head over to Lincoln to get them certifiied by the Secretary of State. From there is a short certified insured mail hop to Virginia to our adoption agency followed by a trans-Atlantic airmail to Kiev, Ukraine for translation!
As I write, we are in the process of preparing for her arrival. What has been our guest bedroom is rapidly becoming a pink wonderland. The bed frame is assembled awaiting a mattress, wallpaper is stripped, the holes spackled, and the paint is moments from coat one.
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