Hit the ground running!

Our time in Ukraine has been very busy since our arrival Saturday December 10^th.  We were picked up at the airport with the CBN van and our kind driver Nikoli took us to Fozzys (a grocery story much like Wal-mart) to pick up some snacks and lunch items.  After that quick shopping trip we went to Karen’s apartment.  Clarke and Nikoli made several trips with our 10 plus bags of luggage (half of them being donations for orphans/widows). 

It was a lovely welcoming at Karen’s apartment.  Although Karen was not there to greet us personally because she was at her church performing “Christmas in Flight”, sweet Karen left freshly baked muffins, notes, a care basket filled with goodies and a beautifully decorated apartment and Christmas tree.  We soon settled in, ate some yummy sandwiches and muffins and hot tea and then rested for a few hours. 

At 6:15 pm we took a taxi across town to Karen’s church (ICA) and were invited to watch the 7:00 performance in the play “Christmas in Flight”.  Karen was not only the main character in the play, but she also directed it.  The performance was heartfelt and I did pretty good holding back the tears.  It is surreal being here in Ukraine; we finally made it after a long wait of our desires to adopt Anna.   Now here we sit watching our dear friend Karen perform a special Christmas message, singing Christmas carols and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ with fellow believers here in Kyiv. 

Although Clarke and I have known Karen since 2007, we have not had a chance to spend much time with her in person.  We were blessed with Karen’s visit at our home in Berthoud a few years back when she was stranded at Denver International Airport.  We quickly jumped on that opportunity to host her for a night, but then had to get her back to the airport by 7:00 am the next morning!  Karen has been a huge part of the success of past UOO camps and her heart for orphans is contagious to all!

By this time of the late Saturday night, Rhya and Natalie were fading fast.  We took the Metro back to Karen’s apartment and prepared for bed.  Clarke, Karen and I stayed up till midnight, talking and talking, a lot to catch up on!

Sunday morning we enjoyed the French pressed Starbucks coffee, yogurt, and poppy seed rolls (my favorite) and then took the Metro back to church.  Pastor Paul welcomed us again and we sat two rows back on the left side, just as we do at Grace Place!  Worship music started the service off with Christmas songs; one of my favorites being “Oh Holy Night” Pastor Paul’s message was about being truthful and having a well-established ethical compass. After service we talked with Steve Weber and his wife from CBN as well as many other Americans living in Kyiv doing mission work.  It felt great to be among fellow believers with passion for the least of theses! We even met someone from our hometown of Arvada!  Jessie is the youth Pastor at ICA and went to high school at Faith Bible Chapel!

Sunday afternoon flew by; we went to eat at Mafias (known for it’s “family values”) Italian and Japanese cuisine and then to the open market to by salad items for dinner.  That evening Karen hosted a dinner party and invited Tara (an American who’s husband is stationed in Kiev for language study and attends the same church) who is also hosting Matt and Ginney Mooney.   This couple is here to adopt a 5-year-old special needs girl from the Donetsk region.  Matt and Ginney have a non-profit called 99 Balloons and we were touched by their story of loss turned into triumph and awareness for reaching children with special needs.  Our dinner was delicious!  Homemade lasagna (thanks to Tara), salad, bread and yummy brownies that Karen whipped up! 

Monday we found ourselves on the Metro Blue line, transferring to the Red line to the end of town.  We popped up out onto the street and hopped on the Marshrutka (bus) for a 2 hour ride to Zhytomyr.  We headed straight for the “Shelter” provided by Last Bell Ministries.  I wish I had prepared for the greeting we received by Yana at the front door.  Her squeal from behind the metal door could be heard blocks away, and when she burst the door open, she jumped up and down for 5 solid minutes holding a poster she had made saying “Welcome to Ukraine”.   The hugs were long and hard and we had at least 20 of them in the first 20  minutes!  Oksana who was very hospitable to all of us gave the tour of the “Shelter”.  It turns out that Oksana means “host” and she honored her name well.  We sat around the kitchen table, visiting, crying, laughing, enjoying tea, coffee, cookies and eating a big bowl of ice-cream.  Yana has such a giving heart, she handed us Christmas presents.  Presents for every member of our family, including our soon to be adopted daughter Anna as well as “oma and opa”.  When Yana handed me the present for Anna, I lost it and I could not hold back the tears.  Here is our sweet Yana, a girl we met back in 2005.  She reached out to us the summer of 2005, with her warm smile, happy laughter and positive outlook on life.  I will never forget the letter Yana slide into my coat pocket as we said our goodbyes back in 2005.  I had forgotten about the note and found it in my pocket as we were heading back to Borispol airport the summer of 2005.  I found the note, opened it and could not read it.  I asked our translator George to read it as we were driving, and in it, Yana was pleading for us to find her a family too.  She then went on to tell us that she can cook, sew, clean, dance, write poetry and would be a very good girl for a family.  I pray for Yana and stay encouraged that she has so far survived and beaten the horrible statistics of what happens to beautiful young girls who age out of the orphanage. Currently she is living in a dorm and attending the University in Zhytomyr.  Today we will tour her dorm and see where she is going to school.  She is studying to become a social worker.  She is a very hard worker and stays focused on her studies.  Please keep Yana in your prayers to continue to be an aged out orphan that beats the odds.

After our reunion with Yana, she escorted us via bus to our  “ Hotel Ukrainia” and helped with the check in process.  And when I say process…it is a process, standing there filling out paperwork, signing agreements, being questioned and scrutinized by stares among the locals.  I truly do love Ukraine!  We packed in the 3x3 size elevator and headed to the 8^th floor. 


 After unloading we continued our venture to the Kyivstar store and waited for our ride for our next engagement, dinner with Alex B and his family!

Alex Brzhezytskyy from Zhtomyr is our friend that we met back in 2005.  We met Alex B. and Donald Miller in our hotel restaurant, as we were eves dropping on an English speaking conversation.  Don has done mission work for widows in this region for 15 plus years.



Enjoying a wonderful Ukrainian meal with our Friends,
Evilyn, Alex Violet, Victoria, Rhya, Yana, Kris and Natalie

   Now that we are back in Ukraine in 2011 we will be heading with Alex B (who is the local foot on the ground contact) to tour the widow home as well as the rehabilitation center for drug & alcohol abuse.   Monday night we were blessed to be invited to Alex B. home and eat dinner with his lovely family.  His wife Vika and daughters Violet and Evelyn.  We had a traditional Ukrainian homemade dinner of Verinicky, chi and poppy seed strudel.  It was wonderful to learn more about their ministry and how things have progressed in 6 years and to tell Alex and Vika a little about Ukraine Orphan Outreach and its founding grass roots.  We had very interesting conversations about politics, the state of the “union” in Ukraine, as well as hearing about the widow homes and rehabilitation centers.  We touched briefly on greenhouse gardening and aquaponics and wanted to find out if Alex B. was familiar with aqaponics.  His eyes lit up and and he is quite familiar with aquapnoics and has already been looking to see how both the widow and rehab home can become self sufficient by having such a system. 

So here we are today, December 13, 2011 and soon are heading off for tours with Alex.  We hope to stop by Rhya’s old orphanage sometime along the way today. 

We are blessed that we have had time to do UOO business before our SDA appointment on Thursday.  We are excited to get the adoption process rolling and can’t wait to see Anna!