Praise the Lord/1

This picture was taken our last night in Kiev with Tim before we attended our first opera. I enjoyed "Madame Butterfly" much more than I ever imagined, but my two companions were not as enthusiastic. Katya is sporting her new, white boots, which she just loves! Oh, the joy to watch her touch them and thank us!

It’s Sunday evening, March 15, and we just got back to the hotel after dropping Tanya back at the orphanage in Gorodnya. About 3 inches of snow fell early this morning, but changed to rain later and mostly melted. Needless it’s gray outside and inside even a little.
As for the adoption, we did much running around Friday—From Kiev to Chernigov and then to Gorodnya in the hopes that the judge would allow us to obtain the Court Decree on the tenth day (instead of the eleventh which is Saturday and the courts in Gorodnya are closed all weekend). Oles was able to obtain some type of decree which he hoped would allow us to obtain Katya’s birth certificate from the office in Shorc which is open Saturday and Sunday, but not Monday. Unfortunately, that plan failed as well.
The amazing thing was listening to Oles barter with these people. What a negotiator! While it didn’t work with these folks, he was able to talk the orphanage lawyer and Tanya’s caregiver to allow her to leave for an overnight trip to Chernigov with us from Saturday until Sunday (after much negotiation and promises and a written petition). What a praise! We were able to take a taxi to the museum for church—I can’t believe I remembered how to get there—another praise! Everyone we had met the last time was there and we were able to connect Tanya to Valya, who we hope will teach her English. She seemed to like church but was very intimidated by the crowd (only around 50 people). A nice young woman from Chernigov translated the sermon for me: it was about compassion and the pastor gave an example from each of the gospels of Jesus showing compassion to different types of people. I was asking Olya (the translator) if she knew where the trade school for baking is that the orphans get sent to. She told me and then pointed to a handsome young man who looked to be around Billy’s age--20. She said that he went there and also was working, but lost his job because of the economy here. Now he couldn’t pay for the dormitory so they kicked him out. He has no one to help him. This example really touched me because it’s these young people that are so vulnerable. He was praying with a woman from the church after the service and I was able to discover his name was Oleg. How many more Olegs are there in this country?
After lunch, we walked to the market so I could buy Tanya underwear, socks, and a pair of jeans. She told us at dinner yesterday that since the economy has turned bad, they are feeding them much less (it is rare to find a piece of potato in what they call soup). They justify this by raising their monthly stipend to 30 grivnas—less than four dollars. Well, she was saving her money to buy underwear and such necessities. Most of the time, the older children use their money to purchase phone cards so they can keep in touch with each other.
I took a picture of Tanya’s head above a rack of clothes as she was trying on her jeans with the salesperson holding a cloth over the other side. Unfortunately, I had left the camera card in the computer (I miss my husband who usually handles these technical things!) so you’ll have to imagine trying clothes on in the cold, damp weather where everyone walking by can see your face and head.
After shopping, we enjoyed McDonald’s for lunch and I saw how the gospel and sermon today affected these girls. About halfway through lunch, Katya told me that there was an old grandmother behind me who was watching people eat, but had no food. She asked if she could give her the French fries she had ordered (if you know how much this child likes French fries, you would realize that this was a supreme sacrifice for her). I said “Of course.” She said she was scary (she always says this when she means “scared”.) I said I understand, I always am afraid in these situations, but refused to do it for her. We talked about how she should approach the woman and she did it herself. I was so proud of her and the compassion she showed and told her. After a few minutes, Tanya gave the woman her soda! The woman was so grateful and thanked us before we left. God’s Word is so powerful! This Sabachka has completely captured our hearts and Oles now routinely stops at the Gas station in Gorodnya where he lives. He tried to jump into the car with me today even though I had no food to feed him the last couple of days. He just wants love. Oles says for only $100 (for medical) we can bring Sabachka home. Ahhhh.
Please continue to pray for us. Oles told me that when he overheard Tanya talking to someone on her cell phone in the car, she referred to me as her “Mama”.

The sisters at dinner in Chernigov.

Charlene and Katya
SDG