A ministry for adoptive families in need of short-term housing while in Kiev

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Tis the Season...to have an appointment!

Hello adoption friends!  Well the adoption center is back in business and so am I!  Many families have received appointments for the month of December and it is great to have things moving again and seeing more kids placed in families!

I got a chance to host 2 families this week-- one on the way in and headed off to adopt a little boy in Kherson and the other on the way out after a very long journey in country. So glad they'll make it home for Christmas

This Saturday my dear friends Clarke and Kris Stoesz will arrive to complete the adoption of Anna...a girl they've been waiting for since she was hosted first over a year ago!  Anna is in Kiev region and the Stoesz family will be at my apartment for the duration of their adoption.  After doing ministry together for many years, I'm so thrilled I can help them in this way. It works out well, since I am headed 'home for the holidays'- so they will be holding down the fort while I'm away.

This means I won't be able to schedule new families to stay with me till likely the middle to end of January as that is when I will return to Ukraine-- and about when the Stoesz family should be departing home with their new daughter!
 
Sorry I won't be able to assist more families this month.

Enjoy the Christmas season!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Coming full circle...


I've known Illya for a couple years through various ministry we have done in Kherson (Illya grew up in the main Kherson orphanage). However I didn't get to know him better until this past summer at camp, when he was in my English group. I always make kids sing silly songs in English and it seems to make us connect!  He went along with it anyway-- good sport that he is.  We had a lot of good laughs in the process.

Illya is just the sweetest most polite kid! He was one of my 'best' students and I quickly learned it was because he had spent the Christmas holidays in the US, with an American family. I also soon learned that this family was amidst the paperwork process and would soon be traveling to adopt him! I was so excited when I found this out!  A 16-year-old boy-- on the verge of aging out, would be given a family-- just in time.

I knew that Illya would do well in America.  I also knew that a boy who is biracial would be accepted better in the US- then he ever would amidst the racism that is so prevalent in Ukraine.  I asked Illya all about his soon to be family and made a point to remember their names so I could track them down and connect with them.

After camp I searched all over the internet and could not find this couple who Illya said was going to adopt him. It seemed I must have had the name wrong or something!

Well about 2 weeks after returning from camp I get an email from....you guessed it-- Illya's adoptive mom!  Apparently she has been a blog follower of mine for awhile and when she saw Illya's picture posted along with the story I had written about camp she figured I must know her son and decided to write me and connect!  I just love when God allows connections like this to happen-- just too cool.  The woman I was looking for had found me!

So all this back story to say....Illya's family finally got their adoption appointment to travel over and get him this fall.  His parents stayed with me on their way to the region so I got to hear more of their story and how adoption was the last thing on their mind....until they met Illya!  I love when God moves like that!

This past week Illya and his mom stayed with me again as they were finishing up at the embassy and getting ready to head home today. The other night as we were all hanging out in the living room I looked at Illya and I looked at his mom and I couldn't help but smile. I love when life comes full circle like this. A boy I meet and get to work with at summer camp winds up being an adopted child that I get to see placed in a family-- a family that I then am able to open up my home to.

It really doesn't get much sweeter than that! 




Sunday, September 18, 2011

Guests

I'm really bad at updating this blog! I barely can keep my other one going, which I finally updated today!  I knew that doing 'hospitality' for adoptive families was a good idea-- perhaps I just didn't anticipate how well it would take off!  From mid July till today I will say that my laundry machine has been putting in a lot of hours!  It has been so fun though, and even though I don't enjoy getting up to say goodbye to nearly everyone who takes the 5:45 am flight to Frankfurt, I have so loved this opportunity to walk through the adoption process with the 25+ families who have crossed my threshold since this all began in February.

I also had the privilege of having my friend Jenny from England come stay with me for a month, so she helped run the joint while I was doing camps this summer, and with her wealth of experience working with kids, she too was able to add a lot to the families' experiences. 
This week is a bit of a breather before I pick back up to a full schedule next week-- but then again, that could change at any moment! :) 

Here are some of my wonderful families that have stayed as of late....


The Greens with the new additions Daniel & Lydia
Jenny & I with Ian
Ian's Mom and Dad, Matt and Kristin

The McPeeks, currently in Donetsk region adopting a sweet 8-year-old.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Busy Summer

Well both my apartment and I have been quite busy this summer!
I'm heading out of town tomorrow to run a camp in the Kherson region for an orphange there. I will be out of reach until the 28th of August and a friend of mine is managing my place while I'm away.  As of now I'm booked through the end of the month and have a few tentative things scheduled for September. It will be best to email me with requests closer to the end of this month!
Now off to finish packing for camp....

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Presidential order expected to allow SDA to continue processing adoptions in Ukraine

This is the latest from the US Embassy in Kyiv....

"On July 8, 2011, the president of Ukraine signed an order which extends the State Department on Adoption’s (SDA's) authority to process adoptions. We have been informed by the SDA that the order will not take effect until the order is published, likely within a few days. The SDA currently is not accepting adoption applications. According to the order, the SDA will have the authority to continue processing adoptions until the Ministry of Social policy is ready to take over as the new adoption authority in Ukraine. The Ministry does not yet know when they will be prepared to take over adoption processing.

We will continue to ask the Ukrainian government to resume adoptions as quickly as possible. We will also continue to encourage the Ministry of Social Policy to protect adoptions where U.S. prospective adoptive parents have already been approved by the SDA to adopt a particular child.

According to the SDA, there are approximately 139 U.S. families registered with the SDA, some of them already in-country. We will be following new developments closely to understand how they will affect the families currently in process and will be posting relevant updates. In that respect, we recommend that all American families that are currently in Ukraine or have appointments with SDA during the next few weeks send their contact information to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine's Adoption Unit at:
kyivadoptions@state.gov
Families should contact their local adoption service provider for further updates and details

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Booked!

Hello adoptive friends!  I'm headed to southern Ukraine to do a camp for the these last two weeks of the month and while I'm away I've got two sets of adoptive friends staying at the hospitality house-- so I'm booked through about July 3rd at this point!  Email me after that if you are interested in July dates...I'm headed to no email access for the next couple weeks!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

New Ukrainian Adoption Statistics

Below are recently given adoption statistics for Ukraine.

These are the official Government stats on adoptions in Ukraine for the year 2010.  You will first see a break down of adoptions by foreign families in the first grouping of numbers, and then a break down of adoptions by Ukrainian families in the second grouping.  The left hand column is the region of Ukraine that the adoption took place.  The first list of numbers is the total adoptions in that region (grand total at bottom) and then the following columns break it down by age of the child that was adopted.  

Unfortunately the statistics do not provide information to special needs kids, HIV+, downs syndrome and other health issues.  In my opinion, these cases would make up most of the foreign adoptions of children aged 3 year olds and younger.

You will also notice the large percentage of adoptions from the eastern regions and low numbers in the western regions.  The main factor in this is the socio-economics in the two sides of the country.  The east side of the country has a higher percentage of drug users, alcoholics, prostitution, broken homes and as a result more orphanages and orphans.  In contrast the economy and life style in the west are a bit better and as a result, so is the family unit.  There are also more families in the west that are willing to take children into care.

Here are the numbers.....

Adoptions in Ukraine by Foreign Families by Region
Total Children
Under 1
1-2 yrs
3-5 yrs
6-10 yrs
11-17 yrs
Crimea
70
2
11
11
33
13
Vinitsa
22
0
2
2
12
6
Volyn
0
0
0
0
0
0
Dnipropetrovsk
86
2
12
13
43
16
Donetsk
187
1
48
46
66
26
Zhitomer
31
0
3
6
18
4
Zakarpatia
17
0
2
6
9
0
Zaprozhzha
101
4
19
17
40
21
Іvano-Frankivsk
0
0
0
0
0
0
Кyiv
102
3
9
21
48
21
Kirovograd
56
4
9
12
18
13
Lugansk
94
6
15
12
33
28
Lviv
8
0
2
2
4
0
Mikolaev
44
0
13
12
15
4
Odessa
108
4
23
25
36
20
Poltava
29
3
7
7
8
4
Rivne
4
0
2
2
0
0
Sumy
31
0
7
2
4
18
Ternopil
4
0
0
0
4
0
Kharkiv
54
2
8
13
28
3
Kherson
16
2
4
2
6
2
Khmelnytski
23
1
11
4
6
1
Cherkasy
29
1
3
6
12
7
Chernivtsi
6
0
1
2
2
1
Chernigiv
39
1
11
10
11
6
Kyiv city
27
1
3
5
7
11
Sevastopol city
14
1
3
4
2
4
Total adoptions:
1202
38
228
242
465
229



Adoptions in Ukraine  by Ukrainian families
Total Children
Under 1
1-2 yrs
3-5 yrs
6-10 yrs
11-17 yrs
Crimea
145
55
42
33
12
3
Vinitsa
64
22
17
16
7
2
Volyn
45
19
10
10
4
2
Dnipropetrovsk
200
95
52
38
10
5
Donetsk
279
133
78
44
17
7
Zhitomer
52
18
19
13
1
1
Zakarpatia
77
26
17
24
7
3
Zaprozhzha
111
60
28
13
6
4
Іvano-Frankivsk
24
9
5
4
4
2
Кyiv
118
47
26
23
19
3
Kirovograd
84
33
24
17
8
2
Lugansk
163
87
41
25
9
1
Lviv
62
30
10
13
9
0
Mikolaev
52
18
20
8
5
1
Odessa
143
59
48
27
5
4
Poltava
68
28
15
20
5
0
Rivne
50
11
15
17
7
0
Sumy
38
16
16
5
1
0
Ternopil
20
4
5
6
5
0
Kharkiv
105
58
30
13
4
0
Kherson
79
36
21
12
9
1
Khmelnestsky
27
9
13
4
1
0
Cherkasy
57
33
13
6
4
1
Chernivtsi
23
5
9
5
3
1
Chernigiv
45
14
18
8
3
2
Kiev city
78
40
15
9
10
4
Sevastopol city
38
19
7
7
4
1
Total adoptions:
2247
984
614
420
179
50

Hope you found these helpful and interesting.



Sunday, May 29, 2011

Kiev Days




This weekend was the annual "Kiev Days" here in the city. Which means the streets were jammed packed with artisans from all over the country displaying their goods.  I have never seen so many people on Andrevsky Spusk in my life!!  I've been here a long time, but this is my first experience with Kiev Days.



 I have Rachel and Tim Harris staying with me at the moment, who are awaiting an SDA appointment this week-- so after church and a yummy lunch at the Irish Pub down the street we hit the 'hill' where all the goodies could be found and had quite a bit of fun-- and tried to endure the HEAT!
Tim and Rachel


We seem to be having a bit of a heat wave in Ukraine at the moment!

SDA appointments seem to be popular for the first and second weeks of June-- and I have people it looks like almost all month at the hospitality house. We are still awaiting to hear if things will close down for awhile in mid-June. As of now, everything is still just rumors and nothing is officially confirmed. But for now, my home has been kept busy with many dear couples starting out their adoption journey here in Kiev.




Friday, May 6, 2011

Crazy May

 The flowers are in full bloom here in Kiev.  I am tempted to buy a bouquet just about every day!  I bought these tulips from a sweet Babushka the other day...just couldn't resist!  I truly love the spring here, and I've always thought it is the best time to visit this country. Obviously the SDA has the same opinion and they are giving out a ton of May adoption appointments....and I've received a ton of emails and inquiries about staying at the hospitality house !! :)

For those of you who are following and interested in accommodations, I am 'booked' through May 26th at this point and have several 'tentative' families for June.   Please feel free to email requests, just know that there will be nothing free till the end of the month.   It is going to be a busy next few weeks!

Monday, May 2, 2011

A Picture of Restoration

Ever since I moved into my new apartment, this ugly piece of furniture has been staring at me in my bedroom.  I had goals of doing something to it-- but didn't quite know what...or how to begin!  Well, my best-friend in Seattle has been blogging lately about all her 'restoration' projects-- where she finds seemingly useless or ugly stuff and revitalizes it into works of art.  She was the beginning of my inspiration. 


 I too love the idea of taking something meant for the good-will (which by the way doesn't exist here) and seeing it repurposed with beauty....  


On Easter morning I had new house guests arrive to my hospitality house (aka my apartment!).  Rhonda and her newly adopted 16-year-old daughter Kasey, arrived at my home a little weathered from their lack of sleep on the over night train. It was clear from the moment Kasey walked in that she was a girl in grief. Though excited to be adopted to America (where she had been hosted 3 times) there was a deep sadness in saying goodbye to her homeland and her friends--everything that was familiar.  We sat through a silent breakfast of sorts, Kasey doing all she could to hold back her tears...which ended up flowing by the end of the meal.  Her mother also struggled, not knowing what to do to comfort her daughter, who so clearly was struggling with a variety of emotions.   I told Kasey that what she was feeling was normal and in reality really healthy, as it means she had real relationships-- and that was a gift.  I told her she could cry as much as she wanted....and she took me seriously.  We got through the day and by the end of it things were looking a little brighter than they had in the morning.


The next day I had off work, and decided it was time to tackle the 'restoration' project.  I hadn't anticipated having help, but before I knew it, mother and daughter were by my side helping me sand down the wood and then begin painting.  


Something amazing happened as we began to strip away the layers of the old shelf.  Kasey began to relax and talk. Before I knew it, we were laughing and joking and she was asking me questions about my life and sharing a bit about hers.  As we worked together throughout the morning I began to see life being restored to the sad girl who had entered my apartment the day before--it seemed a full transformation.  With paint brushes in our hands I saw an old Ukrainian bookcase being transformed into something lovely and I saw a glimpse of what God intends for an orphaned Ukrainian girl-- full restoration.




Restoration is an interesting process-- it isn't just one quick paint job to fix something.  After we had finished the coat of paint and let it dry, we pulled out the sand paper and then sanded it again. The second time that we sanded allowed us to strip the bookcase again, to give it an antique look, and to make it porous to absorb the final gloss I would then apply to give it the final finish.  And when we added the gloss it filled in the gaps beautifully. The roughed up parts that remain have this unique quality- giving the whole piece character.


With adoption, I think sometimes we see the restoration part as taking the kids out of the orphanage. But in reality that is just the first coat of paint.  You can fool a lot of people from the outside with new clothes and a happy family photo-- but it is the deeper sanding, or refining that needs to take place-- the layers that must be stripped away so that restoration can take place.  And sandpaper really doesn't sound very good when it is in your hands...in fact it really hurts my ears. But it is amazing the difference it makes.




I love that the Lord allowed me to work on this project with Kasey. I didn't know she would be with me that day, and yet it worked out that she was.   As we painted, it was as if God was giving me a picture of what adoption is about....what it means to see beauty from the ashes. And it really does take work- and time.  I only wish it could be as quick as restoring  an old bookcase.


As I walk into my bedroom now, the first thing I see is this  beautiful piece of furniture.  A piece of furniture that many would have discarded. But I am glad I gave it a chance. It will forever be a visual reminder of one girl, on her path to restoration.




The LORD will guide you always; 
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land 
and will strengthen your frame. 
You will be like a well-watered garden, 
like a spring whose waters never fail. 
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins 
and will raise up the age-old foundations; 
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.