Good Things Happening!

I will try my best to keep you updated in Ukraine via this blog with information on what I am learning and what things I see God doing. I do have a couple things to share with you right now. Dennis, the teen I mentioned in my first letter, is doing well. He posted videos of his dance team on Russian facebook as promised so I was able to watch him work at something he loves. He and his sister also made the best student board at their orphanage school in January!

I have another story to share that demonstrates how powerfully God is at work among the orphans in Ukraine. There is one girl named Julia that I met at the orphan camp during the summer. She sent me a letter last fall that read:

I am getting sad because of different reasons, for example I have been in Georgia, America in one family. And when they offered me to stay, I refused and now I regret it. But I hope that there will be one family that will take me to them at least for one vacation!

She has now been adopted! And just in time. In fact, the US Embassy in Ukraine first turned denied her adoption on the understanding that the paperwork for a child’s adoption cannot be initiated once the child turns 16. Julia’s records contained a typo that indicated her birthday to be May 6, putting her current age at 15. However, further into the adoption process it was determined that the actual birth date was January 6. At the appeal of the American family and friends and connections who advocated their case, the US government clarified that the law could allow an exception in cases such as this where the family was approved by the US for adoption before the child turned 16, even though none of the paperwork filed had pertained specifically to Julia!

If you would like to read more, you can read the family’s blog at http://claypeck.com/adoption-journey/. The blog is also very informative of the environment and difficulties these children face. The posts for Feb 13th through Feb 24th give Julia’s story and describe her situation at the orphanage. You can also go to the blog page of my Nashville church’s Ukraine missions team for more information on how to pray for these orphans: http://midtowninukraine.blogspot.com/. My prayer request for them should be posted there any day now.