Something that we learned over there and in this whole process, is that one must never count on anything too much. Actually this is just a little "hiccup" as the 10 days ended on Sunday and so the court needs to provide a letter explaining the court order, which is used by Kim to go to get the birth certificates. Since it's Sunday, the court needs Monday to get the letter ready and so a departure for Odessa to get birth certificates is now scheduled for Tuesday. This means she'll be able to get the kids out on Wednesday and head off to Odessa with them. But it also means a potential delay to getting to Kiev till after the weekend. Please pray that there won't be any other delays if at all possible and that she can get the passports by Friday and get to Kiev by the weekend.
One particular encouraging theme that I was reminded of while I was there, and it's something that has continued to be on my mind, is that when we face adversity and changes in our expectations and plans we are still called on by the Lord to "be strong and courageous". It was a fitting encouragement by the Lord for Joshua and the people of Israel as they were about to move into the promised land for real. But, something greater than the need to be strong and courageous, which God told them to be 3 times (see Joshua 1:6-9), was that He promised them that He would be with them (verses 5 and 9) just as He was with Moses. He told them that He would not forsake them. It gives one great confidence and security to know they are cared for no matter what the circumstances. We hope to pass this on to Kaitlyn and Broden as well. Lamentations 3:23 tells us that the Lord's faithfulness is great and He is the source of our hope. This truth gives confidence and security. When we have this we can be strong and courageous and we will be able to stand against those feelings of fear and dismay (Joshua 1:9). Dismay has some helpful synonyms to help us know what we are talking about here: shaken, rattled, offbalance, shocked, unnerved, unsettled and alarmed. Usually when these are not brought under control it leads to thoughts that are out of balance with biblical truth, such as feeling sick and tired, impatience, fear of the unknown, etc. Of course these are definitely out of tune with the fruit of the Spirit.
I write all this to ask you to pray for Kim, Pam and the Vanderburgs. Kim has been there now for over 4 weeks (having arrived on 10/23) with potentially 2 more weeks to go. It's of course not a time to grow fainthearted, but one does become weary, so please pray for her/their stamina, endurance and total dependence on the Lord. Also, that she'll be able to fight well by applying the Word of God from those specific verses of the Word that will give her strength and victory. Ask the Lord to give her discernment and insight related to helping Kaitlyn and Broden during this time of change and feelings of uncertainty. It's hard to know exactly what we need to give to them to help them through this time of change. Pray for wisdom as well.
I had intended to download some pictures onto our blog, but my computer is now in repair since last Wednesday. As soon as I get it back I hope to download some newer shots. If you have Facebook and want to be our friend :) then you can see the albums we've managed to get onto there. Kim has other pictures, but she can't easily download using the Ukrainian server (1/2 hour for one picture to download - if it doesn't disconnect).
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