Well, it went about as well as everyone else seems to have experienced before us. Lots of sick children with extreme delays, one that will be 4 in a few days with microenchaplitis (small head) and fetal alcohol syndrome, and a little one about 2 1/2 who apparently has a medical condition she's grown out of. We saw a picture of her and we've got some serious questions b/c from the picture it seems like there may be fetal alcohol syndrome, but it's hard to tell.
There are many frustrating parts, but right now we're going to wait and see if our facilitator can get a hold of the doctor in the region where the 2 1/2 year old is to diagnose her medical condition. It's possible that we'll head out to the region tomorrow, but neither of us is at peace with that and we expected God to be a little clearer. I, David, had been praying over specific Scriptures dealing with wisdom, discernment, peace, and God's leadership so you could imagine the frustration and weariness after the events of the day.
So, we'll see what tomorrow morning yields. It's possible we head out to the SE part of the country via an overnight train ride to see the child. After all the travel junk we've dealt with I'm sure you can appreciate our tentativeness on heading out to some outlying area in the country "hoping" that what they (state dept. of adoption and docs in the region) said is true. That coupled with seeing a child and if she has obvious issues then having to walk away rejecting that child...something we have not been relishing at all during this whole process.
So, we'd continue to appreciate any prayers you can fire off for us. It's been an ordeal so far...we were hoping it would yield some more fruit at this stage in the game, but I suppose we'll have to see. If we do not choose a child this time around it looks like we would be coming home this week and would have a second referral anywhere from 1-3 months from now that SUPPOSEDLY matches our request.
We'll keep you posted as events unfold as quickly as we can. Wish we had more good news to tell you, but now we're still in a holding pattern.
We know...
* God has a plan
* He's calling the shots
* He can speak clearly
* We'll wait on Him to do all these things so we know what step to take!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Luggage Has Been Liberated!
OK...we finally made it to an internet cafe!
So, here's the scoop:
Day One: The previous blogs update what happened for us to get to Kiev.
Day Two: We landed in Budapest only to find that our luggage was not on the plane and they could not locate it. When we finally arrived in Kiev it was not there either so we had to file a lost luggage report. That's quite an experience when the people behind the desk don't speak very good English, let me tell ya! After about 1.5 hours we cleared that hurdle feeling like we'd never see our stuff again.
When we landed the experience busting through customs in VIP status...Ask me about it all when we're back home...quite interesting.
When we cleared customs we finally met Yuri and he took us to our Kiev crib (heartlanders...hopefully there's a video to come). It's pretty nice and we feel safe there. We ended up crashing about about 8 p.m. Davi had a little bit of a rough night as she is still battling a cold. She's feeling much better, but it made it much harder. We set her up with a movie (there's a TV with a DVD player) and went back to sleep. After her stint with High School Musical 2 she came back to the room and we slept until....ready....2 p.m.! After about 15 hours of sleep we felt a little better! But, still no luggage!
We got a call from Yuri saying our luggage had made it and there was someone who could bring it by the apartment...we declined and asked if we could go out and get it so there were less hands touching it and we could just head out there and liberate it from the hands of the airlines! Going out there to get it was another slick story that I'll have to tell you about when all is said and done...quite interesting!
When we got back we met another family adopting with Yuri @ TGI Fridays in the middle of the city. We hung out and talked for a while and then headed back to the apartment to hug our clothes and meds! We seriously thought that our bag would be AWOL the whole time and we'd have to make some kind of claim and figure out what to do next.
TODAY: It's just about noon (4 a.m. Omaha time) in 3 hours we head to the SDA. If you're reading this before we go, pray for these specifics:
* That Yuri can come to our appointment with us. They have not been letting the facilitators come, but in a conversation last night with him he asked that we insist that this happens.
* Pray that our little girl is at this appointment. Pray that God would unload unbelievable amounts of wisdom, discernment, and peace during our time there.
I guess that's it for now...we'll head back another time soon to keep everyone up to date on what went down at the appointment.
So, here's the scoop:
Day One: The previous blogs update what happened for us to get to Kiev.
Day Two: We landed in Budapest only to find that our luggage was not on the plane and they could not locate it. When we finally arrived in Kiev it was not there either so we had to file a lost luggage report. That's quite an experience when the people behind the desk don't speak very good English, let me tell ya! After about 1.5 hours we cleared that hurdle feeling like we'd never see our stuff again.
When we landed the experience busting through customs in VIP status...Ask me about it all when we're back home...quite interesting.
When we cleared customs we finally met Yuri and he took us to our Kiev crib (heartlanders...hopefully there's a video to come). It's pretty nice and we feel safe there. We ended up crashing about about 8 p.m. Davi had a little bit of a rough night as she is still battling a cold. She's feeling much better, but it made it much harder. We set her up with a movie (there's a TV with a DVD player) and went back to sleep. After her stint with High School Musical 2 she came back to the room and we slept until....ready....2 p.m.! After about 15 hours of sleep we felt a little better! But, still no luggage!
We got a call from Yuri saying our luggage had made it and there was someone who could bring it by the apartment...we declined and asked if we could go out and get it so there were less hands touching it and we could just head out there and liberate it from the hands of the airlines! Going out there to get it was another slick story that I'll have to tell you about when all is said and done...quite interesting!
When we got back we met another family adopting with Yuri @ TGI Fridays in the middle of the city. We hung out and talked for a while and then headed back to the apartment to hug our clothes and meds! We seriously thought that our bag would be AWOL the whole time and we'd have to make some kind of claim and figure out what to do next.
TODAY: It's just about noon (4 a.m. Omaha time) in 3 hours we head to the SDA. If you're reading this before we go, pray for these specifics:
* That Yuri can come to our appointment with us. They have not been letting the facilitators come, but in a conversation last night with him he asked that we insist that this happens.
* Pray that our little girl is at this appointment. Pray that God would unload unbelievable amounts of wisdom, discernment, and peace during our time there.
I guess that's it for now...we'll head back another time soon to keep everyone up to date on what went down at the appointment.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Ahhhh!
The snow has followed us to New York! We can't outrun this storm! Please pray for wisdom for us as we'll likely have to make some decisions on what to do next and how we can get over to Europe. Our flight from New York arrives in Budapest and then we have an 1.25 hour layover and head to Kiev. If we're late out of NY we're going to miss the flight for sure. Maybe they have other alternatives to fly into Paris, Frankfurt, or Amsterdam. We'll see! Thanks for praying!
We'll keep you posted as best we can. It was nice to have a great nights sleep at the hotel here in Boston.**MANY THANKS to our brother Curtis for putting us up with your Hilton points...you have no idea how thankful we are! You're awesome!**
We'll keep you posted as best we can. It was nice to have a great nights sleep at the hotel here in Boston.**MANY THANKS to our brother Curtis for putting us up with your Hilton points...you have no idea how thankful we are! You're awesome!**
Saturday, December 1, 2007
We're Here!
Well...we're not in Kiev, but we're staying the night in Boston at the Hilton thanks to my brother-in-law cashing in honors points for our stay!
Anyway, we sat at the gate in Omaha for 2 1/2 hours in the middle of that lovely ice storm and were finally cleared for takeoff. When we finally arrived in Cincinatti we missed both possible options for the next leg to New York and then on to Kiev. So, we were re-routed and now tomorrow we head to NY, then the Budapest, then to Kiev.
There's one small piece that I forgot to mention...our bag is lost and no one knows where to find it! I'm heading back to the airport in the next few minutes to file a claim for lost baggage. Apparently the first time around the lady didn't follow procedure and was supposed to do this, but didn't! So, now I'm a little lit up for having to go back to do what should have been done in the first place! Everyone on the phone is so assured that our bag will arrive in Kiev. Me and Gina...not so sure.
Please pray for us...this has been a hard day of jockeying around trying to figure out how to get where we need to go. We were going to come home and hit it again on Monday with the same itinerary, but couldn't get a flight back to Omaha. We were going to go to Paris and then Kiev and then they re-routed us when the ticket was re-issued. Now we fly all over planet earth to get to our destination somehow hoping our bag catches up with us at some point!
So, hopefully it does. All our meds, clothes (yes...including underwear) are in there and we'll have to wear the same thing over and over until our stinkin' bag gets there. Which, based on our current luck on the trip could end up being about when we're ready to leave!
Oh...and when we left our house I forgot my cell phone so there's no way for us to get a hold of anyone! How'd we ever get along without cell phones?
Anyway, we sat at the gate in Omaha for 2 1/2 hours in the middle of that lovely ice storm and were finally cleared for takeoff. When we finally arrived in Cincinatti we missed both possible options for the next leg to New York and then on to Kiev. So, we were re-routed and now tomorrow we head to NY, then the Budapest, then to Kiev.
There's one small piece that I forgot to mention...our bag is lost and no one knows where to find it! I'm heading back to the airport in the next few minutes to file a claim for lost baggage. Apparently the first time around the lady didn't follow procedure and was supposed to do this, but didn't! So, now I'm a little lit up for having to go back to do what should have been done in the first place! Everyone on the phone is so assured that our bag will arrive in Kiev. Me and Gina...not so sure.
Please pray for us...this has been a hard day of jockeying around trying to figure out how to get where we need to go. We were going to come home and hit it again on Monday with the same itinerary, but couldn't get a flight back to Omaha. We were going to go to Paris and then Kiev and then they re-routed us when the ticket was re-issued. Now we fly all over planet earth to get to our destination somehow hoping our bag catches up with us at some point!
So, hopefully it does. All our meds, clothes (yes...including underwear) are in there and we'll have to wear the same thing over and over until our stinkin' bag gets there. Which, based on our current luck on the trip could end up being about when we're ready to leave!
Oh...and when we left our house I forgot my cell phone so there's no way for us to get a hold of anyone! How'd we ever get along without cell phones?
Friday, November 30, 2007
The Land of Ice and Snow
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!
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!
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!
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