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Sunday, August 29, 2010 11:40 PM CDT
Dear Karina,
Today is our five year “Mahy Day” anniversary. We knew having a daughter would change our world …and it has… but what we weren’t prepared for was how God is changing the world through you. Yes, through you, HE is changing lives! Whether you are carrying groceries at our Isaiah 58 [Gadsden] Food Distribution or delivering a bag of food to the villages of Ukraine, playing with young girls at a Cabaret GNO or being a counselor at Kompas Park, taking older girls from an orphanage to lunch to encourage them and give them hope, and even by translating for Mom and Dad during our times in Ukraine… God is changing lives.
We love you, Karina! Happy “Mahy” Day!
Mom and Dad
Saturday, August 29, 2009 11:29 PM CDT
Today the Mahy family celebrates four years since Karina officially became our daughter. I ponder in amazement in remembering the magnitude of blessings and miracles God released to bring Karina into our family. It's now hard to even imagine life before she was with us. This day I am overwhelmed to see before me a magnificent picture of God's love and grace in this beautiful girl we call "our daughter" and am filled with gratitude that God granted us the awesome pleasure of being her parents. We experience each and everyday the revelation of Jeremiah 29:11-13 for our children... Nathan, Jordan and Karina!
We love you so very much, sweetheart, and thank Jesus for the jewel you are to so many and believe each and every day you will grow more and more to be a brilliant light for the Kingdom of God and to shine as a child of the KING!
It's been a another wonderful MAHY DAY!
We love you-
Your Mom & Dad
Friday, August 29, 2008 2:36 PM CDT Karina,
Monday, September 4, 2006 1:24 AM CDT A YEAR OF BLESSINGS!
Monday, September 5, 2005 4:31 AM CDT
Thursday, September 1, 2005 1:14 PM CDT Wednesday, August 31, 2005 7:32 AM CDT Well it has been an awesome adventure again here in Ukraine. To start off, the flight to Ukraine was great. No comlications and arrived in Ukraine safe and sound and ready to see our new daughter and sister. When we arrived we had to take a train to Yellow Water which is where Karina lived. Once we arrived it was already Sun. morning so we had to get ready for the day. Within a few hours of our arrival we were able to go see Karina. Tuesday, August 30, 2005 6:33 AM CDT *****OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*****
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 6:48 AM CDT Monday, August 1, 2005 5:30 AM CDT
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 11:42 AM CDT Friday, July 22, 2005 1:48 AM CDT Wednesday, July 20, 2005 1:52 AM CDT WE HAVE A COURT DATE......... Sunday, July 17, 2005 12:25 AM CDT Wednesday, July 13, 2005 2:16 AM CDT Monday, July 11, 2005 6:17 AM CDT
Saturday, July 9, 2005 5:12 AM CDT Wednesday, July 6, 2005 2:28 AM CDT The last 48 hours have been extremely busy - full of joy along with some frustration. Now that Karina has stated her desire to become our daughter, a new trail of paperwork has begun. We hope to send our package of documents requesting NAC approval of our adoption to Kiev today and are meeting with the judge at 1:00 [our time] to find out our court date. We were going to request the end of next week but were told this morning that we would be assigned a date and could not request. Sending documents to Kiev is not as easy as dropping them off at FedEx...Inna will travel 2 1/2 hours by bus to Dnipro, then find a reliable bus service traveling to Kiev, she'll pay the driver to take our package to Kiev [where Oksana can only pick it up with her passport identification]. If all this happens as planned, Oksana will deliver our documents to the NAC on Thursday. Please continue to pray that all of this goes smoothly, that we will be granted an early court date and that the judge will waive the 30 day waiting period! It is understood in this region that waiving the 30 day waiting period is not possible - but we know, with God, all things are possible! Karina was dissapointed yesterday when she realized we weren't going to be able to travel home this week:) Monday, July 4, 2005 11:06 AM CDT Saturday, July 2, 2005 2:05 AM CDT Our meeting with the director and Karina was inconclusive yet hopeful. Karina, at least this time, did the talking. She was very solemn and nervous and asked if she could please have until Monday to give us her decision. We encouraged her to tell us what she desired or what direction she was leaning. Cris shared with Karina, "..We understand this is a huge step for an eleven year old girl and that for her it is a step to the unknown. But also that these decisions are best made, not with the mind only but with the heart. The certainty is that we offer Karina a family, and the love, security, values, experiences, heritage, and faith that make up our family." She began to cry. Our hearts were hurting as we watched her struggle between what she knows and the limited future it holds or choosing the unknown with the hope of a wonderful future [Jer. 29:11]. So we told her she is worth waiting for and we will wait until Monday. After our decision to wait....she was like a different child....more herself. We remaineded at the orphanage for three more hours and had a GREAT visit with Karina and many of the middle aged and older children. Please continue in prayer - we meet together to hear her decision at 4:00, Monday, [8:00am CDT]. Until that time we will visit with her each afternoon from 4:00-7:00. Thursday, June 30, 2005 11:51 AM CDT The last 24 hours have brought difficult and trying developments. Yesterday [Wednesday morning], started off with administrating paperwork to adopt Karina. This went well and we were encouraged. In fact, it looked as if the documents could be completed and sent to the NAC in Kiev by Friday a.m. for processing and approval of a court date. The only thing that remained was for Karina to go before the Guardianship Council and express her desire to be adopted by us. We were not able to spend time with her before this meeting [4:00 p.m.], but met her just before walking to the Gaurdianship office - she did not seem to be herself. Arriving at the meeting location, we sat in the hall for over an hour waiting for the council to talk to Karina. At 4:55 p.m., Karina was asked to enter the room where 7-10 officials were waiting to interview her. A couple of minutes later, our interpreter, Inna, was invited to observe the meeting. About 10 minutes after that, Karina came out of the room crying. Inna followed her and said to us that the atmosphere was intimidating and stressful and Karina could not state that she did or did not want to be adopted by us. Karina did say that she enjoyed her time with us but that she wasn’t sure she wanted to leave her friends. It is our observation, after meeting with the director of the orphanage earlier in the day, that most, if not all of her friends and caregivers may not want us to adopt Karina and take her home to the United States. Today, [Thursday], we were only allowed 2 hours with Karina and 1 1/2 of that time was spent with all of the orphanage children. While the time spent with the children was a great blessing to us, we would have loved to have spent more individual time with Karina. Monday, June 27, 2005 4:04 PM CDT Hello Dear Friends! Saturday, June 25, 2005 3:29 PM CDT There lives a young girl named Savochkina Karina Sergiivna. Karina had a very difficult life for a little girl, especially around the ages of 5, 6, & 7. When she was in the 1st grade, she went to live in the Zhovtee Vodi Orphanage. While there she had caregivers who were kind and helpful. She lived with 60 other boys and girls between the ages of 2-18. Karina's sweet demeanor helped her to adjust and make friends easily. She is loving and playful with the younger children and kind-hearted and gentle with her older friends. Little did Karina know that her life was about to change forever!
Friday, June 24, 2005 2:58 PM CDT Hello everyone and greetings from Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. Thursday, June 23, 2005 3:36 PM CDT What a great but exhausting day it has been! We are using public transportation to travel between Dnipro and Yellow Water - this takes about 3 hours each way. Therefore, we left at 6:30am and arrived back after 10:30pm. Our visitation times have been set from 10:00-12:00 and 4:00-6:00 each day. We will have the same schedule tomorrow and possibly over the weekend. One huge prayer request is to find housing in Yellow River so that our travel time and expense will be better. Tuesday, June 21, 2005 1:41 PM CDT Last Friday we took the referral to visit an 11 year old girl named Karina, in the small town of Yellow Water in eastern Ukraine. Today we had the opportunity to "unofficially" meet her. A committee will meet tomorrow to decide if we will be allowed visitation rights but until then they did approve a short meeting to see if we wanted to proceed with the process. They also have given us a time to return for an offical visit on Thursday. Friday, June 17, 2005 12:25 AM CDT Guess what?....We are staying a little longer! An eleven year old girl just became available today for international adoption and we feel God is directing us to visit her. Her name is Karina and she is in the city translated as "Yellow Waters" in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the same region we were in a week and a half ago. Though we aren't looking forward to traveling cross-country and working in a difficult region, we are looking forward to meeting Karina. We do not, however, plan on swimming in the "Yellow Waters." :) Thursday, June 16, 2005 1:33 PM CDT Greetings to all our friends and family! Tuesday, June 14, 2005 2:53 PM CDT Sorry it has taken so long to post. We did go to the NAC yesterday but were not allowed to speak with anyone. We did find out that we have been assigned an appointment with them for this Friday, [6/17], the exact time will be listed on Thursday afternoon. Though we are extremely tired and ready to come home, we believe it is right for us to remain here through this appointment. Your prayers for continued wisdom, encouragement and endurance to finish the race strong are coveted by us. Sunday, June 12, 2005 11:54 AM CDT Tomorrow, Monday, will be a very significant day with the National Adoption Center here in Ukraine and in seeking God's purpose and direction concerning our adoption. Please pray we will be granted an appointment and that we will find favor with the officials. Thursday, June 9, 2005 9:27 AM CDT After a day of submitting and having documents approved on Tuesday, we headed back to Kiev by bus...a hot, all night ride. We were happy to be able to check in at our apartment when we arrived at 7:00am yesterday. We had a little time to explore the area and rest before we went back to the NAC to submit another petition for our 3rd appointment. Monday, June 6, 2005 3:12 PM CDT The Bible says God can move mountains as well as speak in a still small voice. In His timing and His ways, both are wonderful! We have been awed by seeing Him move in both ways. Friday, June 3, 2005 10:57 AM CDT Praise God for another blessed day here in Ukraine. We have been encouraged to see His moving in different ways each day. Some of these we are fortunate to understand but many we don't. Yet we still abide in His hope in all things. Thursday, June 2, 2005 1:54 PM CDT After a good nights rest we were happy to recieve a call this morning that we had a 3:00 appointment at the NAC. After waiting for more than 2 hours we were called into the office for our 2nd appointment. We looked through books and asked questions for a while and then were told that it was too late to check on specific information about children. We will go back tomorrow at 11:00am [3:00am USA central time]. Wednesday, June 1, 2005 12:27 AM CDT We were not able to get an appointment with the Uman Government officials until Wednesday morning. Since we had no other plans for the day, Inna's Dad graciously took us 2-1/2 hours to Cherkasy to spend time with the Hope Now staff at the Alpha House. This was the Ukrainian ministry headquarters where Cris stayed last year on his mission trip to Ukraine. It is also the office where Inna works. We were blessed to be with those he has talked of and prayed for over the past year. Monday, May 30, 2005 2:49 PM CDT The events of the last week have been truly amazing. Nevertheless, it has not turned out the way we had hoped. Today we visited Bogdan, Raya and Ksyenya briefly to say good-bye and to express our love. They have families in Spain who love them as well and who are planning to adopt them. They have spent the last two summers and one month in winter in Spain and want to be a part of these families. It is hard, yet God has given us peace. Sunday, May 29, 2005 3:06 PM CDT As this is written, Nathan and Jordan are on their way home. Our time with them was so wonderful but went by too fast. This week they travel to California to direct a Continental Singers summer tour. Friday, May 27, 2005 5:35 PM CDT Thursday, May 26, 2005 5:56 AM CDT Today has not happened as expected…then again, that is becoming the norm for us in Ukraine. :) Before leaving Uman for Kiev, we wanted to try and make contact with Bogdan, Raya and Ksyenya’s older sister, Anya [age 19], whom we heard lived in Uman and attended a technical college here. This would be like finding a needle in a haystack so we prayed while Inna went to look for her. Inna was only going to talk to her about the situation and then return for our departure. About thirty minutes later, Inna phoned to say she was returning with Anya. Anya wanted to meet and talk to us because she had a dream last night that caused her to think something out of the ordinary was going to happen today. We also found out that she is a Beliver. Our 2 hour visit together was tremendous! As I write this, Inna has returned to the orphanage one last time to see if there is any hope for change in the current situation. What I am writing is just part of the whole story, but know that God is doing something far greater than our eyes can see. We have seen many miracles unfold already so we continue to “walk by faith and not by sight.” Thank you for praying…Matthew 21:21-22…the mountains are rumbling! Wednesday, May 25, 2005 3:17 PM CDT The last two days have been exhausting: mentally, physically, and spiritually. Monday, May 23, 2005 9:17 AM CDT Our appointment was at 10:00 this morning [2:00am central time]. We understood this was a good time for an appointment to be given. Though we waited for a while to be called back, once inside the process was amazing - very clear and fast. In fact, Oksana, our legal translator, said it was the quickest process she had seen. Praise God! Sunday, May 22, 2005 6:52 AM CDT We are in Ukraine! Our flight went smoothly and all is well. Our apartment is in the center square of downtown Kiev. This square is known as Maidan Nezalezhnosti and is where the Orange Revolution protest took place. A huge festival, Eurovision, is going on this weekend. This is a great way to enjoy a true cultural experience....all night long. [LOL] Thursday, May 19, 2005 10:03 PM CDT This has been a busy but exciting week. Jordan graduated from high school on Tuesday and had an All-Star Baseball game Wednesday night. Afterwards, he and some friends left to enjoy the beach for a few days. Jordan and Nathan will join us in Ukraine on Monday. Saturday, May 14, 2005 6:17 AM CDT
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Today is "MAHY DAY,"... our family celebration of the moment we left the orphanage with you... officially our daughter! As I awoke this morning my heart was more than full ... it was OVERFLOWING as I recounted the miracles that have unfolded over the last three years. Karina, YOUR LIFE IS A MIRACLE and through you God has continued to minister to so many people, both in America and in your beloved Ukraine! One major highlight for me this year was the Bible camp our mission team was allowed to lead in your orphanage. Watching you minister to your peers, through skits, dances, crafts, games and especially by sharing your testimony totally rocked my world! Then, on the last day of camp when the majority of those precious children prayed to recieve Jesus as their Savior... Wow! THANK YOU, LORD JESUS!!!
Dad & i have claimed Jer. 29:11 over your life from the very beginning and, though God has already revealed so much of His plan through you, we know it is only a small amount compared to what lies ahead!
We love you, Sweetheart!
Mom & Dad
It hardly seems a year ago we arrived home with Karina as a new member of our family. Now, looking back, "it's hard to think of our family life without her" as one of our boy's puts it. This past year has been filled with joy and challenges, excitement and work, as well as amazement and wonder. All of our family have experienced many wonderful days with Karina as a part of them. We will soon have our family site back online again with our adoption story journaled there. But here, we simply want to thank our Lord Jesus Christ for ALL the marvelous things He has done. We praise you, Lord, and exhalt you. Jesus, you are awesome!
We love you!
Romans 15:13
WE ARE HOME!!!!
Our family arrived home last night [Sunday, September 4th], after two very long travel days... we missed our connecting flight in Amsterdam, were rerouted and all luggage was lost but the important thing was that we all arrived home together! Karina did wonderful on our trip! It was great to have Nathan and Jordan with us not only for family bonding time but they are a constant source of encouragement and entertainment for their sister :)
Very soon we will write the experiences of the last week. Processing all that has happened in our own minds is definately overwhelming and we want to share these blessings with you. Our family will never be the same due to the incredible impact of God's call on us to adopt Karina. The blessings and miracles that have taken place by the hand of our Savior has demonstrated His awsome and powerful love. This has truely been a journey of the grace of Jesus and we'll always be reminded of His mighty works whenever we say her name. KARINA GRACE MAHY, we love you and you are truely a miracle!
Lord, you continue to blow us away. Thank you!
Hi Everyone! We have been even more busy than we expected. There has been little time to rest or do anything else - like updating this site. We are in Kiev and have an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in the morning. It appears we will complete all necessary documentation to leave, as scheduled, on Saturday and arrive home Sunday evening...Praise the Lord! Miracles have truely happened for this to occur! We will be writing the details when more time allows.
Already we see that the adjustments are now and will be difficult for Karina. Please continue to pray for her transition into our family and to her new home in the U.S. We did take her to McDonalds tonight for her first "Happy Meal" which she loved and downed every bite:)
Must go for now. We hope to write more soon. God bless you all!
Karina was so happy to see us and surprised to see Nathan and Jordan. At first she did not say much but throughout the day she lightened up a lot. She was able to go to church with us that day as well which was a huge blessing.
Cris, Nathan and Jordan all were involved in the two different church services that we attended. Nathan and Jordan led worship and Cris spoke. Every minute was amazing that we got to spend in those two churches. The boys were asked to return and to lead worship and speak at both of the churches later on.
We were able to spend time with Karina and here friends later on on Sunday. The kids at this orphanage are so sweet, I wish all of you could meet them.
Monday morning rolled around and this was the day that Karina truly became apart of our family. In the afternoon we gave a party for the kids at the orphanage for Karina. It went great. They loved every minute of it. The kids loved all of the gifts and were very gratefull.
On Tues. we had to get as few other documents done and signed. This was a bitter sweet day. Cris, Oksana and Jordan stayed here in Yellow Water, while Karen, Nathan, Karina and Inna had to go to Ni-Popatrose (spelling not correct). Both had to get different documents submitted and signed. It was a hard day for all of us. But there were many different miracles that took place.
Karen will write more about the different situations that took place and how it came about and about some different details that I might have left out. But Today I can tell you that everything has been done that needed to be done (Praise God) and we will be returning to Kiev tonight. This was a big miracle b/c it could have taken a couple of days. Thank all of you again for praying but please continue because there are still some things that have to be taken care of in Kiev.
Will update soon. Thanks and Be Blessed!
Cris, Karen, Nathan & Jordan Mahy are proud to announce that as of Monday, August 29, 2005,
KARINA GRACE MAHY
has joined our family!!!!
We had a smooth but very long trip arriving to Yellow Waters. Every moment of the day[...and late into the nights] have been filled with no opportunity to write. Thank you for your constant prayers - we have seen the fruits of them! Karina was allow to attend church with us Sunday. The blessing of all of us worshipping Christ together was almost overwhelming! She enjoyed hearing her brothers sing and her Daddy preach.
Monday we were able to pick up the court decree, birth & adoption certificates and have a party for Karina at the orphanage. She left the orphanage with us...unaccompanied and legally ours:) Both the children and the orphanage workers were amazed with the generosity shown to them by so many of you - especially Karina's 5th grade class and Karen's 2nd grade class at Westbrook. Thank you all!!!
***Urgent prayer request***
We are having difficulty with some paperwork in Dnipro. They have said that many of our documents must be redone which could take a lot of time. Pray that this can be resolved swiftly and without too much difficulty.
I'm sorry that this post is not more detailed but there is so much to complete and time is short. We love you all! May Gods blessings be generous to you today!
Only 3 more days until we return to finalize the adoption and bring our Karina home! Friday, August 26th, is the big day. Below is a summary of what the next week and a half holds so you can pray more specifically for us. Remember, we'll be 8 hours ahead of central time.
Thursday, 8/25: Nathan & Jordan fly home from their summer missions. Nathan into Birmingham & Jordan into Atlanta, so we'll split up to get them.
Friday, 8/26: We'll all leave Gadsden around 11:00am to catch our flight out of Atlanta. It will be a great surprise for Karina to meet her big brothers...she has no idea that they are coming. Our flight is direct to Amsterdam then on to Kiev.
Saturday, 8/26: Arrive in Kiev around 3:00 & go through customs. Pray that all luggage arrives safely and customs goes smoothly. Travel into the city to catch an overnight train or bus to Yellow Water.
Sunday, 8/27: Arrive in Yellow Water at 6:00am. Deposit luggage at the apartment and freshen up. Go to the orphange to see our girl... and hopefully take her to church with us! The boys are leading worship and Cris is preaching at 2 churches Sunday morning. These churches are also arranging street ministry teams for evangilism during our time there. Praise God! We also hope to spend some time at the orphanage with the children on Sunday afternoon/evening.
Monday, 8/28: First thing...we'll pick up the court decree declaring that Karina is our daughter...YEAH!!! We then must meet with a man about her passport and then get her new birth certificates. Pray that this goes smoothly and quickly as this is one of the areas where time could drag. We'll spend time at the orphanage and have a party in honor of Karina. When we leave the orphanage gates on this day....she will go with us - unsupervised and all ours!
Tuesday-Friday: These days will be filled with completing all of the paperwork that must be done. We'll travel from Yellow Water to Dnipro to file regional papers and then back to Kiev to go to the American Medical Clinic and the U.S. Embassy. Once everything is done we can come home. Again, pray for favor and speed for each of these documents to be completed.
Saturday, 9/3: Our return tickets are set for this day and we will be so happy to complete everything and all come home together, but...if things could be finished before Friday and seats available on a Friday flight that would be even better! We'll fly Kiev-Amsterdam-New York and have an overnight layover in NYC. Then on Sunday, we'll fly into Birmingham. Again, this is our plan, we will see what the Lord's timing is.
We thank you for the love, prayers and the support you have greatly blessed us with. We love you all!
Hello from Alabama! After a LONG trip, we arrived home Thursday night.
Court ended up being much more intensive than we had expected. Our facilitator, Oksana, had said it could be as short as 20 minutes but to expect a little longer considering the difficult region we were in.....it actually took almost 3 hours just for the hearing! Then we recessed until 2:00 and when we returned, we waited until 4:00 for the ruling. Karina was not allowed in the courtroom except for the half hour she was being questioned. We were grateful that Natasha was there to sit, visit and pray with Karina during the long wait.
After leaving court, we had to tie up some loose ends before leaving town. We were also able to spend a couple more hours with Karina at the orphanage [they still were not allowing her to leave the grounds alone with us]. Our overnight bus to Kiev left Yellow Water at 10:00pm and then we caught a taxi to Oksana's apartment arriving at about 8:00am. We were able to freshen up and eat before heading to the airport at noon. Our plane landed in Amsterdam at 6:00pm and we had a 15 hour layover ahead of us. Fortunately, American citizens can enter the city without needing a visa so we bought trains tickets into Amsterdam and enjoyed the city center until midnight. We were even able to tour the Anne Frank house and museum! When we arrived back at the airport and went through passport control, we found a spot, [you know-airport chairs...] to sleep & wait for our flight back to Atlanta. It was great to finally land on American soil!
We would have LOVED to bring our Karina Grace home with us but having the 30 day wait will allow us to organize some things to hopefully make her transition a little easier. Our plans are to return to Ukraine on Friday, August 26th. She will be allowed to leave the orphanage on Monday, August 29th. We will still have several days of paper work to complete in Yellow Water, Dnipro, and Kiev, but we hope to return home the following weekend [Labor Day weekend]. We will, of course, continue to add journal entries until we have our girl home and even through our adjustment time.
We stand in amazement at our Lord Jesus Christ and His faithfulness in our family over the last year as we have traveled this unexpected journey! We can't wait to see what lies ahead!
Court is over.....we have been approved to be the proud parents of Karina Grace Mahy! The adoption will not be finalized until we return to pick up the court decree on August 29th and then Karina will be allowed to leave the orphanage with us. Praise God!!!
Cris, Oksana & I leave Yellow Water in an hour to travel overnight to Kiev. We will fly out of Kiev tomorrow and return home on Thursday evening. Though it may take a few days to adjust to the time change, we look forward to seeing you and being able to personally share the miracles God has done!
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13.
Since last summer the hope, joy, peace, guidance, and endurance that only the Holy Spirit gives has been our anchor as we walk in faith and trust!
We continue to see the impossible and unimaginable become reality before our eyes! When we begin to question our circumstances, ...timing, difficulties & generally things not happening according to "our" plan..., God answers with miracles!
It was sad to say good-bye to "our" Inna Wednesday night. Inna had become very precious to all three of us and we have traveled a great distance together - both physically and spiritually! Cris & I had been praying about what to do in her absence and God led us to call one of the girls who had translated for him in church last Sunday. Inna & I were doing emergency document work and couldn't go to church, otherwise she would have translated and he would not have met Natasha. Cris shared with Natasha that we were adopting and asked if she could go with us during visitation time to translate - never mentioning the name of our child. Natasha agreed to meet us for the Thursday afternoon visit.
Our morning visit began at 10:00 and though we have spent several visits without a translator, this time the frustration of the language barrier was evident and Karina was upset. We told her that Natasha, a translator, would be with us in the afternoon and then went on playing games and doing some of her favorite activities. Before we left, she asked us if Natasha had long, curly hair. This was the 1st glimps of the miracle ahead...maybe she knew Natasha.
Cris & I left the orphanage and went to tour and visit the local Christian orphanage. This is like a halfway house supported by the two churches we've been with. Karina had been involved with this ministry before entering the public orphanage. After touring the center, we sat down for tea. My eyes filled with tears when the director handed us a picture of Karina taken 3 years ago at the age of 8...the earliest photo we'll have of her. Then, Pastor Roma told us he'd heard about our arrangement with Natasha for translation and asked if we knew about her relationship with Karina. Of course, we had no idea, so he began to tell us. Natasha, who is now 21, has worked with the children's ministry at her church since she became a Christian 4 years ago. She had gotten to know Karina through this ministry and grew to love her. For the last 2 years, Natasha has been specifically praying not only for Karina, but for her to be adopted into a Christian family. Yes, we were blown away! How encouraging to know God had someone sowing seeds into and praying for our daughter long before we knew her...and God is answering Natasha's prayer too! She had only found out yesterday morning from her pastor that we were adopting Karina and she was overwhelmed as well. God not only has honored her prayer but is blessing her with a part in Karina's adoption process. The reunion of Karina & Natasha was a sweet thing to watch! In hind sight, if our court date had been scheduled for today, Friday, like we had hoped...all of this would not have happened because we wouldn't have needed another translator...God's timing IS ALWAYS perfect!
While our visits are unsupervised on the orphanage grounds, we are still not able to take Karina out. So, yesterday it was also our pleasure to be allowed to take her shopping for a "court" outfit. The orphanage psychologist went with us along with Natasha and a precious, Godly 13 year old named Ula, [one of the pastor's daughter]. We accomplished what we set out to do and still had an hour and a half to visit and play cards [Uno & Slamwich]. Ula stayed with us the whole time. We hope this new friendship between her and Karina can continue through e-mail when we get home. It will be important for Karina to maintain Russian/Ukrainian contacts with her new friends, Inna & Ula, for encouragement during her time of transition and to retain her language skills.
This has been a long post - but condensed compared to all that has happened. Please continue to hold us in prayer...we are living testimoniest to "...the prayer of the righteous availeth much!"
Court will be Tuesday morning at 9:30. Oksana will be arriving Monday morning from Kiev to serve as our official translator for the completion of our time. Pray that the loose ends will be tied and all will go smoothly. If the 30 days is waived, we'll remain a few more days & bring Karina home, if not, we will fly out of Kiev Wednesday and arrive home Thursday evening [this is also a prayer request since KLM has told us there are no seats available until Aug. 3rd]. We'll return to Yellow Water in a month to bring our daughter home.
Praise God - He IS Faithful to completion!
Tuesday, July 26th, 9:30am. This was not as soon as we had hoped for, but we are very happy! Inna will leave this afternoon so we will be without a translator. We will talk to Oksana later today to find out if she will be able to come and translate for court on Tuesday. If not, we will need to work something else out. The mission team that went to Russia has returned and there were 3 people from Yellow Water who are adequate translators for general help. We will try to contact them to see if one of them can visit the orphanage with us each afternoon.
We love you all and know you will continue to pray for our court appearance - that we will officially be approved to adopt Karina. This will also be the last opportunity for us to request the waiving or reduction of the 30 waiting period. To this point we have been given no hope of this happening but we continue to pray and hope.
Have a blessed day! To God be all glory!
Nehemiah writes, "The joy of the Lord [the joy that comes from knowing He is present with you and has gone before you to work things out in your favor] is your strength" [Neh 8:10]. If you look to your circumstances to find joy you'll live on an emotional roller coaster. But if you look to the Lord of your circumstances and rejoice in His unfailing goodness, you'll move from weakness to strength everytime! When we feel locked in by circumstances, we are reminded of Paul and Silas and the praise that came from them...opening doors and breaking chains! As our devotion said this morning....sometimes we have to shout praise when: a] we're up against a brick wall, b] we feel like we're going in circles, c] the enemy seems to stand over us mocking, d] our rational mind thinks "this is no way to fight a war," e] it's the last thing on earth we feel like doing. There wasn't one thing listed that we haven't felt like this week but we WILL Praise and glorify our God! His ways and timing are perfect and we will trust Him completely!
As we write this post, Inna [our good friend and translator] is on her way to Dnipropetrovsk to ship our remaining documents to Kiev. Our facilitator there should recieve them about 9:00 Monday morning and submit them to the NAC. Our prayer is that the NAC would give our written approval tomorrow and ship it back to us overnight Monday night. This would allow us to submit the approval to the court and recieve a court date. Please pray that all of this happens smoothly and that a court date would be granted this upcoming week.
During court, we will again request that the 30 day waiting period be waived or maybe even reduced. This would truly be a miracle! If that happens we will complete everything and come home together. If not, as of right now, Cris and I would come home and return to bring Karina home in 30 days. Please continue to pray for us as we walk through these final days of legal and emotional events. We desire that His strength would be magnified and glorified through our weakness.
There are as many obstacles in this adoption journey as there are potholes in the roads of Ukraine...did we mention how horrible the roads are here? We conbtinue to come across one thing after another that need to be done by someone other than us and these people are not willing to help very much. This, combined with the fact that not many people trust each other and the lack of standardized adoption proceedures, continues to make the process difficult. The language barrier also becomes frustrating at times. Even though our translator does an excellent job communicating on our behalf, we are used to being able to speak directly and it is simply more difficult to speak through translation.
Some particulars that are happening... We found out that the NAC in Kiev needs more documents and additional information on some of the previously submitted documents before giving our adoption clearance for Karina. One person to help with this is out of town until Friday. The most important papers must come from the orphanage director who won't even speak to us until Thursday and then has said she will not provide any more info unless we have a legal paper stating the need from the NAC. The NAC says they will not provide this - they have never done so before. We were hoping court would be by this Friday and now we still don't even have it scheduled - the Judge refuses to give us a date before we recieve the NAC approval to adopt. We really don't mean for this to sound so disheartening, but we wanted to be honest with you concerning our situation. We had planned on being in Ukraine 3 weeks...6 weeks at the longest, and here we are approaching 2 months and still no court date. Inna can only remain with us 7 more days and Cris, obviously, needs to get home to work. We realize more each day that our struggle is not against flesh & blood [Eph. 6:12]. There is great spiritual warfare battling over this city, the adoption process and Karina! Pray that through all of this we will "...be strong in the Lord!"
Thank you to so many of you who have written to Karina through e-mail. Her eyes light up each and every time we bring out the letters and Inna translates them to her. Also, thanks to those who have responded to Snizhana's need for glasses. The Deputy director is checking on the exact details and we will respond personally to you in a few days.
We have just recieved word that the mission team in Russia has been released to come home after paying a fine. They were also restricted to any further evengelism.
Fun news.... Cris has really been rubbing it in [and counting the times each day] that Karina calls him "Daddy." Yesterday, Karen was finally able to leave the orphanage bragging over hearing "Mom" 3 times AND Karina told us both at separate times..."I love you" ...very sweet words to hear!
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!!!
On July 1st, a team of 18 believers, including the pastors from the 2 church bodies here in Yellow Waters who have taken us in, left for a small Russian town near the Mongolian border. They are ministering with a small group of Americans from Colorado. Last week we recieved word that the Americans were not being aloud to minister in any way and that things were becoming difficult for the whole team. This morning as Cris, Inna & I were at one of the churches, they recieved a brief call from their pastor. The entire team has been arrested and are currently in jail. We do not know the charges but do know that even the Ukrainians have refused to speak with anyone else until the Consulate comes to resolve the issue. There is concern that they will be deported. This small town, Ulan - Ude [Buryatrya Republic in Russia], still operates heavily under Communism. We were touched at how God had both nationalities represented as we gathered with the church staff to intercede. We ask you to also pray for the safety and ministry of these brothers and sisters in Christ. Please pass this along to all you know who will join in prayer with us.
An additional item we wanted to share with you concerns a 13 year old girl at Karina's orphanage. Her eyesight is very poor and she does not have proper corrective lenses. In fact the glasses she wears are magnified lenses placed in old frames that someone found and gave her. For about $50.00 she could have a proper eye exam and new glasses, which includes the cost of two trips to a larger city about 2 1/2 hours away [both for the exam & a return checkup]. If God lays it on your heart to cover the expenses for this little girl, please e-mail us at mahy@bellsouth.net and we'll make the arrangements.
It is lunchtime, Saturday, here in Yellow Waters. Cris & I have just been interviewed for a Christian radio program that airs across Ukraine. The program centered around our Christian faith and our call to adopt in Ukraine. The program will air sometime after our court date.
Wednesday afternoon we met with the judge who had been assigned to our case. We are only the 2nd international adoption to ever take place in this city, [the other was a Spanish family - 2 years ago], so every detail is being processed "by the book," and going a little slower than we had hoped for. We will not be assigned a court date until our adoption approval forms have been returned to us from Kiev. The judge did, however, promise a speedy date as soon as we recieve those papers.....we hope by the end of this coming week! When we mentioned to him our request to waive the 30 day waiting period he didn't even allow us to finish our statement. Refering to his legal books, he told us that this would not even be an option. Now, of course, we will continue to pray for a miracle to take place and God to change this circumstance, but if not, we have some difficult decisions to make....1]Should we both come home and return to get Karina in a month?...[a very expensive choice], or, 2] Should Cris come home [Inna will also have to leave due to her work schedule] but Karen stay and bring Karina home at the end of the 30 days. Please join us as we pray through this decision and if God gives you personal insight, please share it with us!
Everyday we grow to love the people in this town more. They are not used to seeing Americans and even that opens the door for us to show Christ's love daily. We pray for our focus to remain Christ centered and not self-centered when timing issues do not go as we had hoped or planned. God's timing - not ours - is always perfect!
tomorrow, Sunday, Cris will be preaching at 2 churches...one at 10:00am and the other at 12:00. Pray for both he and Inna as she translates. May God's Word touch lives through both of them!
Now, backing up several days, we wanted to share some incredible things that have happened. We stopped to ask directions to an internet place last Thursday. The man gave a big smile to us...one that made the Spirit within Cris jump. Cris asked where he went to church and his grin became bigger as he said he was the pastor of a local church and continued to tell us that he was leaving that afternoon for a mission trip to Russia. On Sunday, we attended his church and were blessed as we worshipped with this precious body of believers. At the end of the service they asked us to share our testimony of why we were here - then they had special prayer for us and Karina. They have also asked Cris to preach this coming Sunday. On Monday, we recieved a call from them offering us an apartment to live in - at the cost of utilities! Praise the Lord! The walk is a little farther than the hotel, but we'll all be in great shape after maneuvering 8 flights of stairs several times a day. :) We also met some other believers who invited us for lunch. They have a "Focus on the Family" style radio program that airs all over Ukraine. Cris enjoyed visiting their studio. The wife is involved with a local Christian children's home where children stay before entering the orphanage. She knew Karina and was very excited for all of us. This family also surrounded us in prayer before we left. We know you all were and are praying for us back home in the U.S., but for God to bless us with local prayer was encouraging.
On Monday, when Karina entered the director's office, she was smiling and peaceful, [that was not the case on the previous 2 decision days]. Though you could tell she was still nervous, she confidently gave her answer, "I agree. I want to become your daughter and be part of your family." It took time for this moment to come but since her statement, there has been no hesitation only confidence in her decision! Several of you have written e-mails to Karina and we have printed them and taken them to her. Her face lights up in delight as Inna interprets the letters to her. If you would like to write her, please use mahy@bellsouth.net email address.
So much is happening so quickly that it is difficult to convey the details in this post. We know that God knows all and trust His Holy Spirit will encourage you to pray effectively on our behalf. Thank you and we love you all!
Karina gave us [and the officals] her answer today.....
"I agree, I want to become your daughter and be a part of your family."
Slava Bogu!
Praise the Lord!
Romans 15:13
We will write more about this amazing weekend soon. We love you all and are grateful for your continued support and prayers!
The children here have blessed us tremendously! A few American activities that have been big hits were: Uno, Thumb Wars, hand games, bracelet making [with hair bands], rhythm games, and Karina's favorite...sharing her big brother's Young Continental music with all of her orphanage friends [and dancing to it]. It is great to hear some of the kids singing with the music - words they don't understand but words that speak life over them. Definately, a favorite song is "In The Name of Love!" We did laugh yesterday when we heard Karina singing over & over "....I've got a chicken...." then I realized she was singing the words to "J Train," "...I've got a ticket to ride on the J [Jesus] train." :) It filled and encouraged our hearts to share a joyful afternoon with these precious children.
No matter what Karina's decision is, God has taught us many lessons during our time in Ukraine. One is seeing first hand how the love of God is greater than any language barrier and that these children are in such need of that love!
What we understand is that Karina has been given until Friday to make her decision and convey it to the director. Under this pressure and difficult circumstances it will be even harder for her to decide to come into our family. We know and trust that our Lord Jesus Christ is greater than any circumstances that we face and that He can calm the storm and quiet the wind when He chooses. We are praying that the Lord will speak to Karina’s heart and will give her the courage to decide her future contrary to the influences around her.
Please pray and pass this along to others who would also intercede for Karina as well.
The last two days have been exhilarating! Our Sunday visit began with Karina reading the Bible Story, "One Lost Sheep" to us from a Russian Bible Story book that had been given to us for her. Inna translated the story into English for Cris & I and we had prayer together...a beautiful time indeed! Afterwards we spoke with Karina about the importance of names and shared her knew name with her.... Karina Grace Mahy. Her face lit up with delight as we gave her a paper with her name and meanings written on it. Later in the day she showed us her notebook, she had been practicing writing her name - in Ukrainian. She had translated it perfectly on her own and shared it with her friends. She told us they really liked her new name too.
We also had a marvelous time playing Uno with about 15 kids at the orphanage. They had to play in English saying all the colors and numbers as they played each card. It was a blast!
Today we were allowed to take Karina to lunch. We did, however, have an orphanage worker accompany us. The time was very good! Karina also stated to us her desire to become part of our family - a WONDERFUL anniversary gift! Our time ended today with her stopping Cris & I and motioning for us to look seriously at her, then she said..."Jordan, Nathan, preveet [hello]." Her first message to her brothers - I'm sure they are busting at the seams proud!
Tomorrow we will move to Yellow Water. We do not know what the internet service will be like, but we will write again as soon as possible. Monday and Tuesday were national holidays here in Ukraine so we will begin serious paperwork on Wednesday. Pray, pray, PRAY! This is the point that others must be willing to work on our documents and expedite them quickly rather than to let them sit and wait.
These last days have been filled with joy in seeing how God has brought us together with Karina and the marvelous ways He has touched all of our lives.
Friday, June 17th, the orphanage director recieved a call from the National Adoption Center concerning the 11 year old girl whose documents became available for international adoption only that morning. The information given by the director was that Karina was a sweet girl, very diligent and enjoyed art, dance, music and sports. That one phrase was what God used to plant the desire to meet Karina into her new Mom and Dad's heart.
On Tuesday, June 21st, Karina met her new Mom & Dad for the first time. They have been able to spend about 4-5 hours together everyday since and each moment is better than the previous. Mom & Dad have watched [and videoed] Karina and her friends performing skits, dancing, playing outside and swimming. They've taken long walks together, sat and visited, taught her Uno, shared Jelly Bellies and had fun drawing together. She isn't shy in attempting to communicate, in fact, the whole family will be masters in the game of Charades:) Inna bought her a small notebook and began an English journal [words & phrases written in Ukrainian, Russian & English]. This was done by Karina's request. A sweet moment happened Thursday afternoon when Dad gave Karina a rose - most likely the 1st flower ever given to her.
Mom and Dad prayed for their child for over a year. They even painted the bedroom pink -but all of this is new to Karina...only a distant dream she dared not think of. Only one child in the last several years has been adopted from this orphanage.
So...What awaits Karina? ...A new Mom & Dad...new brothers...new family...new home...new friends...new school...new teachers...new country...new church...and days filled with hope and promise! For Karina, God is unfolding a new chapter in the book of her life...one He has written personally and one, as her new friends and family, we will stand in amazement and watch as it happens!
*Check the photo page*
*Prayer request*
1. We have had awesome witnessing opportunities both with the children and the staff at the orphanage. Pray that those times will be blessed and effective.
2. Monday is our anniversary. We have requested permission to take Karina to lunch without supervision. The answer will be given Monday a.m.
3. We are still looking for housing at a closer location. Right now we take the bus 2 1/2 hours each way for our daily visits.
4. Document work is moving slowly. We need accuracy & speed. Monday & Tuesday are holidays here so pray much will be accomplished on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday!
There is so much we would like to share but am having problems staying awake (it's juat about midnight). We will post details of our time with Karina and the orphans of Yellow Waters orphanage tomorrow. A photo of Karina has been added to our photo gallery. We will post more Saturday. Thank you for caring and praying for us. God continues to bless our time in Ukraine and has always shown Himself faithful in EVERY situation.
Our visit with Karina went very well. We hope to post photos over the weekend. The highlight today was in our afternoon visit when some of the children performed skits and dances for the other children in the orphanage. Karina was among the performers. We not only were able to watch, but were allowed to video. The children all enjoyed seeing themselves replay on our tiny camera screen. When it was time to leave, Karina and the psychologist walked us to the bus station [a 30 minute walk]. We were glad to have this additional time to visit and discuss life in Rainbow City. She says that all of her friends are asking questions about us and where we live....we told her that all of our friends were asking us about her and her home too:) Sometimes it is easy for us to forget that we are asking her to leave the only life she has ever known for a completely new way of living that she can not even imagine.
The time is late and we have an early morning. May God's blessings be with you all!
We sat in the Orphanage Directors office along with an Italian couple and their translator waiting to meet the children we had referrals for. Karina was the first of the children to enter. Precious is the best way we know to describe her. She is tall and trim with shoulder length, fine, sandy colored hair. Her demeanor seemed quite and polite. We loved the way she made eye contact with us and smiled. She said that she enjoys music, dance and sports and that her favorite subjects in school are math and P.E. We were able to give her a small stuffed teddy bear, friendship bracelet and a family photo with all of our names written in Russian so she could read it.
We feel God has orchestrated these last four weeks for us to meet Karina. We understand it is hard to make a life assessment with just one short meeting but at this point, we intend on pursuing her adoption. Of course, with Karina being 11, she will also need to express her desire to be adopted by us.
It is hard to express the excitement we feel tonight. Please continue to pray for confirmation during our next meetings with her. What lies ahead can still seem overwhelming but we will face one day at a time and continue to trust God in each step. He has proven so very faithful.
We will be traveling and settling in over the next couple of days but think we will have good internet access by Sunday afternoon as we plan on initially staying at the Canadian missionaries home we stayed in before. When we were in Dnipropetrovsk, the Lord blessed by allowing us to meet many wonderful Christians. Included among them was this precious couple who offered their home to us while they were out of the country. We thank the Lord Jesus for past blessings and we praise Him for the opportunities ahead.
We expect to meet Karina on Tuesday. Please continue to pray that God will clearly reveal His divine purpose for both her life and ours. Also, pray for us to walk in His strength while abiding in His peace.
We have just learned that our appointment time tomorrow [Friday] will be 2:30, [6:30am central time]. We continue to pray for wisdom, discernment to listen to God's voice, and faith to walk the path that He has planned.
Our plan is to ask to see children who may not have been available at the time of our previous appointment. If the Lord does not guide us to visit any of those children, we will request the NAC give us permission to return to Ukraine during the fall to adopt Bogdan, Raya and Ksyenya, if by that time they are not adopted to Spain. In this case, we will depart Kiev Saturday afternoon and return home Sunday.
Tomorrow's appointment will determine so much in our adoption journey and we trust totally what the Lord Jesus is doing and have faith in the good work He has started....He will complete it!
Another couple from our adoption group arrived in Kiev Sunday afternoon. Sean & Cate Johnson are scheduled to meet with the NAC for the first time tomorrow. They are hoping to adopt two children under five. Please pray for them especially over the next 24 hours! We are truely excited to see what God will unfold in their lives! It has been a great blessing to spend time with them the last two days since we had only met through e-mails.
Through all of this... our hope remains in Him, who made heaven and earth.
We continue to trust the Lord our God as He works all things according to His purpose. We will do our best to post an update tommorow evening [Kiev time:)].
As of today [Thursday], we have had no response to our petition. We hope to recieve confirmation of another appointment tomorrow morning. Please pray for this as today we heard of people being given appointments two weeks after submitting their petitions. Now we understand that our 2nd appointment was a miracle when we received it the day after our submission.
Oksana, our document translator and Ukraine facilitator, gave us a nice tour of Kiev today. Tonight, we are going to a Russian ballet.
We know God continues to work on our families behalf even on days we take "off." He has never failed to give us strength and encouragement and we will always praise Him in all things. Thank you for praying for us.
We arrived in Dnipropetorovsk Saturday morning after an all night train ride. My students would have enjoyed seeing how excited their teacher was to ride in a sleeping car. My expectations were "Polar Express." Okay, it didn't quite match up to the ride in the movie, but it was a unique experience. When we arrived at 7:10am we had absolutely no contacts or connections, our plan was to find internet, a hotel and the orphange.
By 9:00 we had found a rundown internet spot. When it finally booted up and we checked our mail there was a message from Angelia [our facilitator in Texas], giving us the e-mail address of a Canadian missionary living here...a friend of a friend. We e-mailed him with our cell number and left to search for food and lodging. Within 30 minutes our phone rang and it was him. Roland & Anita Syens have an amazing ministry with University students! The name...Alpha & Omega. We immediately were drawn to it since our church's college group shares the same name.:)
Roland gave us the name of a Christian taxi driver and within an hour this driver was helping us around town...hotel, food, churches and a Christian internet cafe run by the Alpha & Omega students. The food there was WONDERFUL!
On Sunday, our main goal was to attend the Alpha & Omega service at 2:00 so we went to a 12:00 service at Fire of Revival Church. We arrived at 11:40 and the 9:00 service was still going strong. It didn't end until almost 12:30. Even though we didn't get to stay for the entire service, we were blessed by the worship and passion for Christ by our Christian brothers and sisters here in Dnipropetorovsk.
We arrived at Alpha & Omega just before 2:00. There were probably around 250 there - mostly college students. The worship time was great...we knew all but 2 songs so we sang along in English. Roland preached in English and his translator translated into Russian [the language most spoken here in eastern Ukraine]. We again were blessed by the teaching and fellowship of believers. They have some powerful ministry going on and we will definately be praying that God will open future mission opportunities.
After the service [which lasted 2 1/2 hours...Ukrainians love to seek & celebrate Jesus Christ], we went to the cafe with Roland & Anita. On Monday, today, they were headed to Canada for a while and offered their apartment to us. PTL! We moved this morning...can you believe all this happened in 48 hours? We stand amazed too! We continue to thank God for His miraculous provision!
Concerning the children...much has happened today and it has been difficult. It looks as though we will be heading back to Kiev within the next 48 hours. Do pray for little Vera that we visited today. She is in the hospital with chronic ear problems and also suffers from TB among other things. Our heart is filled with compassion for her and her brother, but we believe in many ways it would be too difficult to bring them home.
Tonight we are traveling by train to the city of Dnipropetrovsk to meet a brother and sister who are in two separate orphanages about an hour and a half apart. We know that so many of you are praying for us and we see the results of it daily. Again, we are walking by faith and not by sight and know all things are possible through our Saviour and King. Please specifically pray that the Lord would reveal to us if these are to be our children and for the processing of our adoption in this region. We understand it is very difficult there.
We are not sure when our next update will be due to the fact that this will be a new location. We are depending on you to continue your interceding for us and all of our children. Thank you!
We know you continue to pray for us - THANK YOU!
Psalms 91
This morning we went to have documents written and finalized so that we could return to Kiev. We were amazed at the favor we found with the Minister of Education [the same man we visited twice last week]. He personally walked us to the office of the Head Official [top official in the Mayor's office], took us in and explained the entire situation. These men were extremely kind and encouraging to us.
One thing we continue to learn and want to pass on to those traveling to Ukraine in the future: be patient, show kindness, and pray that God's love will light your path and will shine through you. When we are doing this for Christ, ours is not to worry how others respond, but we have found everyone to be thoughtful and helpful. This has been God's love in action for us.
We are now in Kiev and as you can tell, we have found an internet cafe. We went to the NAC this afternoon to turn in our petition for a 2nd appointment. We should hear tomorrow when our appointment will be. We hope it will be tomorrow or Friday morning. This will be a time, as was Monday 5/23, when we go into the office, look at photos, and decide if there is a child or children we wish to visit. We know you are praying for us and it is such an encouragement! Thank you!
Tomorrow, we will pick up some local documents and head back to Kiev to seek another appointment with the NAC [National Adoption Center]. Please pray that this appointment will be granted to us quickly.
Romans 8:28
Yesterday we visited Inna's Grandfather. We talked of their experiences as Christians under Communist rule. It is hard for us in the USA to understand the persecution these brothers and sister went through. Today (Sunday) Cris was asked to preach in Inna's church (Uman Baptist) in both the morning and evening services. Inna interpreted for him. It was a great blessing.
We are still waiting on direction from the Lord as to our next step for the children. Please continue to pray for them and us. Thank you for caring.
A Synopsis of the last few days:
Wednesday we briefly saw the children as we toured the orphanage but when we went for our referral and visitation approval the area Director denied it on the grounds that the children had an older sibling who kept in close contact with them. We were astonished with this ruling since we knew the real reason for this conflict was two families from Spain had interest in the children and the children have not only visited with them the last three summers but believe these families were adopting them separately.
After a night of prayer and some encouraging council from our facilitator in the states we found the sister and spoke with her. This story was listed on Thursdays post. She encouraged us to try again to gain visitation rights with the children. Inna’s visit with the orphanage Director went well as she delivered a message on our behalf and we decided to return to the area Director and ask him to overturn his ruling from the day before. The miracle was he changed his ruling! Our first visitation was set for today (Friday) at 1:00 p.m..
We had an incredible one hour visit with the children. Even better than we had hoped. They immediately warmed up to all of us, especially Nathan and Jordan. Jelly Bellies and a sketch pad were a big hit. Of course the boys’ iPod and PlayStation were very interesting too. The children were having a good time and asked if we would come back later in the day and tomorrow. The sad thing was that at the end of this time the Director (who had been in the room the entire time) abruptly ended our visit by asking them if they wanted to go to Spain or America. Though there was a little hesitation, how could they say anything but Spain considering the position they were put in at such a young age (8, 10 & 11) and time. Before asking the children where they wanted to go, we inquired if we could spend more time with them but the Director shut us down and sent the children away. She refused to give us any more time or visits with the children.
Now it is the weekend - God has given us time to pray and wait on His guidance.
We have been staying with Inna’s family since arriving in Uman. This family is more generous and kind than you can ever imagine. The language is no barrier at all and we are blessed to be among them!
Nathan and Jordan will leave early Sunday to return to the states. It is difficult for them to leave when things are not settled yet. Pray that their return flight goes smoothly and is as scheduled!
We know that we are surrounded by grace and that God has a perfect plan for our family. This is only the end of the beginning…
As we walked away Bogan, Raya, and Ksenya waved to us from the second storey window…
Inna just arrived back. We are staying in Uman for at least another day!......
*The journal notes are extremely encouraging and have meant so much to us – Thank you!
Nathan and Jordan finally arrived in Kiev 7 hours after expected. There were problems in Birmingham and this caused them to be rerouted all over Europe – even to Prague. Now, 24 hours later, we received a call that their luggage is at the airport. We’ll pick it up tomorrow.
About the children: We were thrilled with our appointment referral on Monday. These were the children we have prayed for and carried photos of since last summer. Bogdan, Raya, and Ksyenya have truly become part of our lives these last months. When we heard in November of the likelihood they would be going to Spain and then in February that it was for certain – we continued to pray for them but gave up the expectancy of their adoption. Still we felt God leading us to follow through with our NAC petition, appointment and now the referral to meet them.
Today we went to visit the children and discovered the full situation. The children have been with a Spanish family for 3 months in summer and 1 month every winter for the last three years. They have become extremely ettached, calling them “Mama and Papa.” This family does have paperwork in to adopt them in late summer. While we had a WONDERFUL visit with the children, it was evident that they would be devastated if taken from their Spanish family. We have had to make difficult decisions and experienced hardships that we cannot share.
Tomorrow we travel back to Kiev to submit a letter to the NAC requesting an appointment for another possible referral. We continue to seek the Lord in each step.
After asking some simple questions about our family, the psychologist [NAC representative] pulled out our original petition to adopt three specific children, went to a binder, took out three files and said through our translator that these children had been set aside for us from the time our petition was filed. This was because Cris had met them on a previous mission trip. We were OVERWHELMED and BLESSED since we had heard these children were in Spain and no longer available. We will be able to post more specific details tomorrow or Wednesday.
Please pray for favor with all authorities we come in contact with, that all documents will be handled properly and moved along without hesitation and for each step in the process to be clear and productive. Also pray for the uniting of our family when we meet for the first time - probably sometime Wednesday. Pray for the adjust of our children during the transition.
Tomorrow we meet Nathan and Jordan at the airport, pick up our referral letter at the NAC and travel to Uman. On Wednesday morning we will first meet with the Regional Inspector, then the orphanage Director and finally with our children. We will update you as soon as possible.
To our Westbrook Family..especially my students - I know you are praying and today it was evident!
To our Word Alive Family: everyone working at Hillsong Church [praise team, greeters...] wore black - we felt right at home!
To those headed to Ukraine:
1] If traveling through Amsterdam, the airport is English speaking friendly.
2] There are no sugar substitutes [Splenda, Equal...]Pack plenty if that is important to you.
3] We've been eating at a great "home cooking" Ukrainian Buffet Resturant. It is across the street from T.G.I. Fridays near the square. The name is Puzata Hata, translated "Fat House." Funny, that is how we feel when leaving buffets in Alabama [LOL]. The food is good and the price is very fair.
Bless the Lord! We'll write soon.
This morning we went to church at HillSong, Kiev. The service was wonderful and exciting! It was fantastiic to see so many people of all ages worshipping Christ together. God is moving powerfully here in Ukraine. Slava Bogy! [Praise God!] They had special seating with headsets for English translation. We were able to visit with some people of the church afterwards at a little coffee cafe for 1st time guests.
Tomorrow will be our appoinment at the NAC. We have yet to receive our appoinment time. Nathan and Jordan will also be flying tomorrow and arriving here on Tuesday. We will provide an update as soon as possible concerning our appointment. Thanks for praying!
Finally! In less than 12 hours we will be on our way. Thanks to so many of you who continue to call, write and most of all pray! We will up-date as often as possible.
May your day be blessed,
Karen
Thank you for partnering in prayer with us on this amazing journey. It is hard to believe that one week from this moment Cris and I will be in Kiev, Ukraine.
It all began 13 months ago, April 2004.....
Cris traveled to Ukraine with a mission team - HOPE Now - HOPE being an acronym for ministry in Hospitals, Orphanages, Prisons and Education/Evangelism. While there, God birthed the call to raise children through Ukrainian adoption. After much prayer we began the adoption process in July. We were actually naive enough to think we would have the children before school started last fall. LOL! We have certainly learned a lot since then!
Our timeline is as follows:
July 2004: Began homestudy and the endless trail of paperchase and government documents.
December 15, 2004: Recieved our I171-H and mailed our dossier to Ukraine.
December 22, 2004: Dossier submitted to the NAC.
January 24, 2005: Registration approved.
February 8, 2005: Request to travel letter submitted.
March 15, 2005: Travel letter approved and an appointment date was issued to us.
May 23, 2005: Appoinment at the NAC [National Adoption Center], Kiev, Ukraine.
This coming Friday, May 20th, Cris and I leave for Ukraine. The boys will follow two days later. We have a very busy week: Jordan graduates from high school and both Nathan and Jordan are preparing to leave directly from Ukraine to California for a full summer mission trip. Cris is tying up loose ends with his design business and I am completing the school year with my precious 2nd graders.
If you would like more information on our family, please visit our website @ www.mahy.org
----End of History----
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