SDA Appointment ~ Letter of Referral

Sunday morning we were finally able to connect by phone with Yulia, our facilitator in Kiev.  Yulia informed us that she would be able to find out our exact time for our SDA appointment on Monday morning and that we should be ready for leaving at 8:30am in case we were the first on the list.  She then called us at 8:30 to tell us that our appointment was scheduled for 3pm.  This was fine because it gave us time to work on other things and to catch up on some sleep. 

We were ready to go and waiting on the corner at 2:20 when Sergei, our host at the bed and breakfast, came running outside to tell us that Yulia had just called.  She had arranged a taxi to pick us up and she would meet us at the SDA.  We had just been commenting on a taxi that had made a U turn near to us, but he was just sitting there.  Sergei went over and determined that he truly was the taxi on call for us.  Off we went through the city towards the SDA, which is located in the downtown area.  It was quite congested with traffic and we truly wondered if we would make it there in time.  We did make it with 10 minutes to spare and Yulia saw our taxi and came running over to meet us.  Since we had never met her before, we just figured the young lady running after our taxi and waving and smiling was there for us. J 

We were taken to the SDA and waited until the 2 couples before us were finished.  Other facilitators began showing up with their couples and they were all obviously from Italy.  Yulia informed us that this shouldn’t be a long meeting because we know the children and don’t have to look at any listings/pictures or make phone calls to get a referral going.  So, we went upstairs to talk with the SDA representative.  She was a very friendly representative and I mean that sincerely.  Her whole demeanor put us right at ease and she asked us to tell her about the kids and their visit to us 15 months ago.  We pulled out the only pictures we have of them and told a couple of stories and then it was essentially enough.  She and Yulia pulled together our official dossier and told us what was to transpire.  We are scheduled to receive our SDA referral letter on Tuesday at 5 to 6pm.  If the facilitator that is on our power of attorney is in town tomorrow, then that person will get the letter for us earlier.  Otherwise we will go at 5 to get it. 

Following that we’ll be taking another night train to Odessa and a facilitator for that region will pick us up and drive us there or we’ll go by train if that proves a possibility.  So, we are on our way and should be able to visit with V and B on Wednesday.  We’ve managed to secure a room at a clinic in the town of Belgorod at a substantially lower rate.   We don’t know if we’ll have internet, but we hope so.  Stay tuned…

Budapest ~ Odessa ~ Kiev

Friday we took a quick hop from Budapest to Odessa. We were the last ones to get through customs, except for the Brazilians who were being escorted back onto the plane to Budapest for lack of visas. In spite of the commotion related to them (I counted 7 border guards handling this situation) the border guard helping us was very focused and handled our situation fairly quickly. Our bags were waiting and we departed.  As soon as we came through security, there THEY were! The taxi driver “vultures” and they came at us from all directions wanting to “serve” us. We changed some money and hired one of these aggressive guys to take us to the train station. We managed to talk him down a bit, but we found out later we probably paid 5 times what was necessary. We’re chalking that one up to “live and learn”. 

Our driver became very jovial along the way since the traffic jams he promised (and the reason for the higher price) were not to be seen. He kept referring to the policemen in the middle of every intersection and saying, “O, no traffic!  Policejty!  Tuk, tuk, tuk!”, and waving his hands like he was directing traffic. Upon discovering that we are from California, he became more jovial. He rambled for several blocks about Schwarznegger, the Terminator, but we have no idea what he was saying about him. He drove very fast and recklessly, bordering on lunacy as he zipped along.

Along the way we saw packs of dogs: stray dogs, big dogs and mangy dogs. (like a bad version of the ‘Go Dog Go’ book!) There were dogs eating out of trashcans and dogs eating out of a McDonald’s bag in the gutter. One lady was either holding her groceries above her shoulders in order to keep the dogs away from them, or she was trying to feed this group and there were too many wanting food for her to handle. We’ve heard stories of the packs of stray dogs in Romania and perhaps it is the same way in Odessa. It did remind me though of one of the most beloved characters of Czech literature, Good Soldier Svejk. Svejk played the town idiot, though he wasn’t at all. He just was lazy and loved beer, gossip and to make the establishment look bad. He was famous for making his beer money by forging pedigree papers for stray mutts and selling them as rare breeds with classy credentials. He could make a lot of money in Odessa this way! ;)

We bought tickets for sleeping quarters on the overnight train and then waited 8 hours to leave at 23:09.  Most of that time, we sat and tried to learn some Ukrainian. We only met one person who spoke some English, so we have mostly relied on our Czech.  Although they don’t speak Czech, it seems to be that we can all recognize some words, which are common, or at least common enough. We are a couple of steps above ‘sign language and grunting’ when communicating J. Most of our time ‘learning Ukrainian’ meant learning the alphabet so we can read the signs.

We found a waiting area for ticket holders. As the wind kicked up and the temperature dropped outside, homeless people began to come in.  They can pay the equivalent of about 20 cents to stay inside and sleep on the benches. One homeless lady sat on benches directly across from us and stared non-stop at us. Finally, she came over asking what time do we leave. We told her and she decided to sit one seat over from us. She gave Kimi a part of a newspaper and was saying something about ”read and understand our politics”!? Later the lady was enjoying watching this one small girl and her father walk around and gave the girl her orange. However, when some other children were just kind of playing around, she got up, started yelling at them, told the guard, and even went to the parents and yelled. Finally, the guard told her it was none of her business, to sit down, shut up or leave. She sat but continued to grumble! When we left for our train the lady was quite glad because it turns out, she really just wanted our spot where we were sitting!

We made it onto the right train and found our compartment. We both slept some but not well. I counted 10 times that we stopped in 9 hours in order to let another train go by. We were able to lock our room and that was comforting.

We arrived at the Kiev train station at 8:44am and promptly tried to find a phone booth. Of the 4 phone numbers we had for contacting our facilitators, nobody answered any of them.  Hmm, frustrating.  We would have called the night before, but the phone we brought with us would not unlock with the pin code our server had given us. We’ll keep working on that. 

We called the people we are staying with in Kiev. They told us to use the metro (subway). The metro experience was like no other. Pushing our way through mobs of people, just following the mob to buy tokens and pay (cuz we had no idea how it works), cramming onto the extremely fast escalators, and trying to figure which subway and direction to go! Kimi asked some mothers standing with their children for directions. They pointed us in the right direction and then went part way with us. We made the transfer to another subway and our host was waiting for us. Perfect, like clockwork!

We slept all afternoon on Saturday, had dinner with our hosts and a pastor friend who is here from St. Petersburg, Russia. They just finished a Bible conference in Kiev.  Pastor Roman helped start a publishing house in St. Petersburg as well as a church ministry. Tomorrow is a day of rest and then we’ll appear at the SDA on Monday. 

The Lord is always good, no matter the circumstances.  Lamentations 3: 19-23 says, “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.  Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down (humbled) within me.  This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.  The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness.”

LAX-London-Budapest

We are in route to Odessa and then Kiev, Ukraine to begin this final phase of adoption. We thought it would be good to send a quick update now because we don't know the internet situation at the home we will stay at in Kiev. 

The Lord has been so good to us along the way. We were able to spend time with all of our children before we left, including Tiffany who caught a ride with her roommate, Lacey, at Master's College and met us at LAX. There, along with our friends Sue Weaver and her daughter Amy, we all enjoyed In n Out together. The rumor of 25 cent hamburgers for their 60th anniversary was truly a rumor!  

We managed to sleep fairly well on a flight that was probably less than 1/2 full to London. We arrived on Thursday night at midnight in Budapest and the owners of the Pension Alex were there to meet us. It is a nice old manor with the upper level prepared for guests. Our hosts here, the Romanov family, speak Czech as well as many other Slavic languages, and English. It was enjoyable to speak the Czech language again. As I am writing this, Mr. Romanov has come up to take breakfast plates away and handed me a Czech picture book of southern Moravia, which is where we lived and served in Brno for 10 years. The pension is just 10 minutes or less from the airport and so we'll get a ride there in less than an hour.  

While waiting in LAX we spoke with a lady who is from Finland. She has traveled extensively in Europe and she provided us with some encouraging tips about Ukraine.  

Please pray for the Lord to provide us with affordable housing in or near to Odessa and the same in the town of Belgorod where the orphanage sits. This is something we've not been able to arrange ahead of time.  

In our devotions this morning we looked at October 24th in the devotional Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. "The trees of the Lord are full of sap", Psalm 104: 16. At first glance one might think what kind of silly little phrase is that? But in the New American Standard it explains the verse as meaning they "drink their fill" or literally "are satisfied". The rest of the verse says, "the cedars of Lebanon, which He planted." It speaks both of finding satisfaction in the source of life, God Himself and in trusting His sovereignty, since it is He who is the planter of and sustainer of our life. Spurgeon writes, "Without sap the tree cannot flourish or even exist. VITALITY is essential to a Christian. There must be life, a vital principle infused into us by God the Holy Ghost, or we cannot be trees of the Lord. The mere name of being a Christian is but a dead thing, we must be filled with the spirit of divine life... Regeneration is wrought by the Holy Ghost entering into a man and becoming man's life... Our root is Christ Jesus, and our life is hid in Him.... As the sap manifests itself in producing the foliage and fruit of the tree, so with a truly healthy Christian, his grace is externally manifested in his walk and conversation."  

May the Lord give us the ability to live the life "full of sap" or in a satisfied way in Him, showing life and bearing fruit.

Travel Prayer Requests

Hi everyone,

We have had a number of people want to know some specific things that they can be praying for, so we have composed a list. Thank you so much for your concern, prayers and support of us in this adoption.

Oct. 22nd - A good day for Kelly (it is her Birthday). A safe flight for us. We fly at 8:30pm.

        23rd - We have a layover in Budapest.

24th - Fly into Odessa. Pray we can find the train station, get our phones up and running as a 'local' phone, and catch a night train up to Kiev. We won't be answering our phones while over there, but we will check our email.

25th - Some friends put us in contact with some Ukrainian believers where we will spend a couple of nights. Pray we can find our way easily. Also that we can meet up with our facilitators.

26th - Hopefully attend a church and familiarize ourselves with the city of Kiev.

Pray for our kids here as they stay with the Calvis and some close friends the Weavers. (Pray for areas like school, healthiness, emotions, drawing close to God for their strength).

27th-  Our meeting with the State Department of Adoption (SDA). Pray this meeting will go well, that they will be favorable to us and  that we can quickly get our Letter of Referral so we can go to Odessa region where the kids are. This letter gives us permission to visit the orphanage with the intent of adopting the children.

We will then go to Odessa, visit the children and wait for the 'OK'. We then must meet with a local judge who has the final word. We have been told that the judges in the region are hardened and can be difficult. Please pray that the process will go smoothly and quickly. 

Pray for the heart of the judge to be kind and favorable to our case. 

Once the judges says 'OK' (Lord willing) then there is a 10-day wait period where the children must remain in the orphanage. We will quickly go back to Kiev, sign some papers at the embassy, go back to Odessa and fly home (depending on the timing of it all).

Pray for opportunities to speak the gospel to people on trains, at the orphanage, with the facilitators, with government officials, in hotels, etc. We want to remember that although we are going for the adoption, God is working in many people's lives, so we want to be available to Him. We don't want to miss an opportunity to be a witness for Him.

Pray we can make our flights or if necessary re-schedule them. The holidays are a factor in finding available flights at this time of the year.

Currently, we both fly back on Nov.15 arriving in LA on the 17th. Kim will then fly back to Odessa on Nov. 25th to finalize things. She has a final return flight for Dec. 23rd arriving in LA on Dec.24th. We are unable to get flights for the children until we have the judge's approval for the adoption. 

 Keep checking here as we will give better prayer requests as it all unfolds. 

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!