Good News from Ukraine

Well, we got a call from Kate at America World. Apparently Yuri's meeting with the assistant director went relatively well. Of course, the SDA did not want to be confined to a timeline, but that response was expected. From what Yuri was told, when a child becomes available who matches our request, Yuri will be contacted and given information about the child. Yuri will then contact America World, who in turn will contact us, and then we will decide whether or not to accept the referral. At this time, it is not clear what will happen if we reject the referral, so we don't know whether or not we will be referred another child at a later time.

Basically this is the same method that we were initially told about, however over the last couple of weeks, it became apparent that the SDA was considering bringing all 125 waiting families back to Ukraine over a month and a half period to basically consider the same sick children that we were all shown before, so this is absolutely great news for us! We will feel a lot better about traveling for a child or children that we know at least something about. Once Yuri finds out about the possible child or children, then he can contact the orphanage and other facilitators who may have seen the child or children in an effort to gain more information about the true health conditions. Even if we do not specifically know which child we will be shown, at least we will have an idea of the conditions that we need to consider.

Of course, in Ukraine things can change at a moment's notice, however right now this is the way that the SDA plans on conducting 2nd appointments. Please, do not stop praying for Ukraine, SDA, the orphans, and all the families waiting for their children! God has definitely moved mountains, and we are positive that He won't stop now!

For some of you, it may seem like nothing really came of this meeting because we really don't have a timeline or guarantees, however if you went through the pain of meeting and then rejecting a child, then you would consider this method a huge improvement. Jason and I never want to go through the pain of our first orphanage visit again - the emotions we felt could never be fully explained or understood unless you too walked out a heavy metal door that banged behind you, knowing that for some children they will age-out of the system and never know how wonderful childhood can be. We will NEVER forget those children and the longing in their eyes to be loved and to have a real family. Although they were not the children for us, it broke our hearts to reject the referral.

Yuri did state that after reading our letter, the SDA can better understand our request not to be invited until a child is available. Hopefully, the next trip will be significantly more productive and heart-warming (not heart-wrenching) than the last! Actually, I am beginning to get excited about returning. The translator at the SDA said that Kyiv is beautiful in early spring, so maybe we will find out soon!