busyness

So many things have been happening these last few weeks! wanted to catch you all up on it.

Vitaliy had two evangelism trainings for youth in our church. They covered all the material, memorized, and went out witnessing all in about 4 days. Now about 15 people in the church are trained.

Marika and Egor, two of the first class’s students, went out witnessing today on their own–how encouraging. They were fully able to present the Good News to one person!

Vitaliy is happy about seeing the gospel being “preached” so often; his heart beats with it.

Then, we have been trucking along on Paul’s adoption. I turned in my last paper today and the home visit is planned for tomorrow. After this, I think we are given the “status of adoptive parents” and can start seeing Paul–and I will have pictures! Pray this will continue to move forward quickly. We have some time contraints.

Been teaching a sweet Belgian couple childbirth classes. Sheesh, teaching birth and reading these books makes me want to be pregnant and give birth again, no joke! Remembering the 18 years to follow is a more sobering factor, however

Skyla and Victoria are doing great. They love playing with each other, and they have their fights and meanness, too. I wish I were a “perfect” example for them. I am starting to cringe hearing my tone of voice coming out of Skyla’s mouth. So educational for moi!

Please continue to remember our support raising–I keep forgetting, but this really needs to stay on one of my front burners Pray that God will burden the right friends to help us live and work here.

I will try to blog more often now that I have my computer back a little more. The evangelism classes and adoption had me out of the house a lot, and now the girls want to play computer games and watch cartoons all the time So . . .

ОПП

That means “O.P.P”–it stands for the time we spend out witnessing to people. Today at 4pm, I went out with Egor and later Marika joined us. Many people were too cold and in a hurry, but two ladies listened to the gospel and prayed! How encouraging

i am still alive

maybe . . .

it’s a stressful time of life, trying to work hard and fast at adopting Paul. It requires one or more tasks a day right now.

Also, Vitaliy is hosting a 5-day evangelism training in our 2-room apartment, so the girls and I have to find somewhere to be gone to. . . . the mall, errands, Danya’s house (small friend), McDonalds . . .

And Mother’s Hope has moved to another building, so I have a limited time to get a mock-up floor plan laid out, deciding what rooms we need, lay-out, how many girls, etc. . . .

Been way to crabby with the girls these days, so I’m trying to lighten up and not let the stress get to me. Spiritually, that means I’m trying to roll the burdens on the Lord and not carry them on my head so I become task-focused and a total grump.

God’s been leading me to think about our spiritual wealth, like what Paul sometimes mentions in the NT epistles. I used to think our “spiritual riches” were pretty mysterious. But maybe it’s not so. I made a list of my wealth: forgiveness, sanctification, indwelling Spirit, the power of God in me, redemption, the will of God for my life, prayer, . . . and several other amazing things.

For example, I need patience and joy during these days. . . . And I have it! I mean, I have it fully, completely available to me! GOD’s very own patience and joy is mine for the having, and He WANTS me to have it! I am so wealthy!

“We’re RICH, baby!”

documents for adoption

Does this look intimidating?

This is Vitaliy’s medical clearance form for adopting Paul.

I helped him by driving here and there picking up results, etc.

There are signatures from 6 doctors on this form, and the results of 2 tests (other tests were required for the doctors’ signatures).

It’s all great.

Love those stamps, too!

So official.

And now I have to do it, too.

Yup.

They informed me of this just today.

My prayer? Lord, help me be able to do it faster than Vitaliy!

Maybe it won’t be so, but . . . . maybe it will!

He sets the prisners free

Vitaliy is working as a trainer this week at an evangelism training seminar, and yesterday he was out with his trainee, and they ended up talking to one particular man.

At first, the man wasn’t very friendly, but Vitaliy has such a skilled and gentle way of being used by the Holy Spirit to help open people’s hearts so they want to hear the gospel, and this man really softened up and listened to the whole gospel presentation. He even prayed to accept God’s gift of eternal life.

(When people pray, we don’t say they repented; it’s still not visible what is happening to them, we just say they prayed a prayer of confession. Anyway . . . )

His trainee listened quietly and prayerfully to all this (as they are taught to do early in the week), but at the end of the entire conversation, he asked the man if he’d ever been in prison.

. . . ? . . . ! . . .

Ends up, he recognized the man because they had been prison mates together.

And the trainee is now a believer, and God is reaching out for the other man, too . . .

Brings tears to my eyes.

first snow

the view from our kitchen window

just beyond those buildings is our huge mall, that I’ve been avoiding lately because of whatever is going around here.

 

 

raising friends

We are raising new support right now, and we’ve made a presentation of our ministry. You can view it here, as a FaceBook album.

If the Lord burdens you to become involved in our lives and ministries, we’d love to get to know you more!

the fierce tiger in my kitchen

oh my!

skyla and i were the victims:

i just want to say that

we have the most awesome, wonderful supporters in the universe I love you–churches, people, everyone. You are a pleasure and blessing to us!

fathering the fatherless

I sat outside the head doctor’s office praying, and here’s where my thoughts went: “Lord, help this woman be in a good mood; give Vitaliy favor with her. Have her sign Vitaliy’s paper with no issues. . . . God, honor Vitaliy before this doctor; he is fathering a fatherless boy; he is imaging You by becoming a father to the fatherless. Please honor him before this doctor. . .”

My eyes were tearing up as I thought about this, that my husband is fathering. Of all the social and cultural attacks on fatherhood that go on currently and have gone on through past centuries, here is a huge proof that fatherhood is alive, strong, and thriving: A man takes an orphan and fathers him. A man takes legal, emotional, spiritual, parental responsibility of a helpless, moneyless, fatherless child.

That’s a man: a brave, courageous, fathering MAN.

We’re working towards adopting a little boy named Paul. He is two years old. About a month ago, we put the pedal to the metal to adopt him, and God’s been giving us green lights all the way. (There are so many factors swirling around, it’s too much to write out here.)

Vitaliy leaves this Sunday for a week of evangelism training, so I wanted to get all his medical tests done before that, so I can turn in all the papers to the regional govt while he’s gone.

Today Vitaliy went out to try and get his last signatures–two. We wondered if the last doctor (called “terapevt”) on the list was the same doctor to sign the final paper, but when he went to see her, she signed her line, but then said that the final signature is from the head doctor in the polyclinika–and, the terapevt informed him, the head doctor wouldn’t sign that paper unless he also had about 3 more blood tests and a cardiogram.

Vitaliy came home and we talked. We came up with a plan. He could go tomorrow and get all those tests done at a private clinic (we called them for prices), I could get the results (while he’s gone at the seminar) and take them to the head dr for her signature.

But we have also become rather experienced about this type of thing: each person (doctor, official, etc) tells you what the next person requires, then you do those things and go to the next person . . . who really doesn’t require those things and actually requires other things . . .

It’s Ukraine.

It’s not only Ukraine, I’m sure, but it’s certainly not America. There is no word for “efficiency” in this language.

So we end up just driving to the polyclinika with a plan. He’ll just go in with the papers he has, act like nothing is missing, and see what the head doctor says. If he has to get other tests done, he can then ask if I can bring the results next week and get the final signature without Vitaliy being present.

We go. And after waiting forever, he goes in. . . . I sit outside still praying. . . .

And he gets the signature. . . . .

PEOPLE, HE GOT THE SIGNATURE!!!!!

PEOPLE, HE GOT THE SIGNATURE!!!!!

PEOPLE, HE GOT THE SIGNATURE!!!!!

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God; Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever; Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free. The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous; The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow; But He thwarts the way of the wicked. The LORD will reign forever, Thy God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD! Psalm 146:1-10

So here’s to all the great MEN who have fathered the fatherless. You are imaging God.

P.S. I just got our last document tonight, flown in from the States today. Just need to get it translated and off I go to the regional office to turn everything in. We still have miles to go, but . . . we’re speeding!