Today was a very emotional day! We sorta hit the "hump" day and got very emotional.
We went to see sasha and noticed that he was a little bit "off" again today. little did we know that the guy who kelsey had been praying for is still working against us. He is so very kind to us and tells us about how he is the american history teacher...but yet he doesn't teach american history in his world history class. He said they won't let him....not sure if maybe he just doesn't want to teach that. Anyway, Sasha was a bit different again today because of pressure from him and others.
Jeff and he had sooooo much fun again on the playground playing with guns and getting a few other boys involved. The other little boys were having a great time too, chasing and playing with papa and sasha. Jeff told Sasha that he was giving his gun up and to let the other little boys use them to come and capture papa. They chased him and got him....jeff walked up with his hands behind his head....haha. Soon afterwards, a teacher came and began yelling at the other little boys. They don't like the kids to have fun here.....and they get mad when they act like kids..... it seems like. Anyway, little did Jeff know that while he was playing outside, his wife was having an anxiety attack in the bathroom. We had heard the assistant administrator talking about a "crazy bathroom." "You can get in but you can't get out." Well, Misty got stuck in there...for 40 minutes. I was actually texting my kids and was asking kyle and karley to call daddy to see if they could call him and get him to come help me. Anyway, finally after i was knocking softly, began banging on the door. The Assistant Administrator came to the door and was yelling in "ukrainaian." I was crying at that point....had actually been talking to you too brenda perrill.....via international texting..but didn't want to upset you and tell you i was locked in bathroom. haha. Karley and Kyle had tried to call Jeff since I couldn't get through on my American phone ...but to no avail. Finally I was rescued.
The mean stepmother...I mean Assistant Director, took me back upstairs to our sweet Ksenia...our adorable little girl who may truly be our guardian angel. She yelled at Ksenia for not being a "good worker." She said she should have kept an eye out for me. omg....what a nutty place!
So we had a very sad day....skyped with my sweet little karley and then couldn't stop crying! I was sooooo homesick. I tried to stay focused today but actually went to the bathroom to have a good cry. Little did I know that I would be in this stinky little place for 40 minutes.
I miss our kids and family and friends so much. I asked Jeff if he was okay...he said, "I just can't go there." It is very hard and making us very weary! We will be strong and I think about how strong Sasha has to be....so we can endure.
Sasha is still getting a lot of resistance. He is lying to people saying that he hasn't decided yet, because he doesn't want to have to explain and say ,"Yes, I'm going to America." Anyway, we will say good bye to him next Thursday or Friday and return to America for a short time.Sasha is so strong and God is giving Him such strength....it has to be God. OMG, these kids have so much against them. There is one little boy and girl who have been hosted 3 times but will not agree to adoption because they think their mom is still coming for them. Someone is lying to them, because their parents are not on the birth certificate and once the mama had the daughter or son (I'm not sure which) they left the hospital and have never been found. No one knows who their parents are and will never know...but they are being fooled by a person at the orphanage who doesn't want them to leave...saying...."you're mom will come back to get you." I know .....I am crying too!
Well, we met a little girl who Sasha "likes"...the one I told him that looks like Karley. He said,
"Mama, America....sister." He gets the cutest little grin around her. After I realized that he "likes" her, I said...."Sasha, if she is your sister and we adopt her, you can't marry her." haha..he just smiled his cute little smile.
We truly are asking if we can adopt more...but our dumb dossier says only one child. We are looking into some things. If you were here, you could never go home with just one child.
When we said good bye to Sasha today, we tried to take him directly to his "sleeping quarters," but we had to leave him in the hands of the enemy.....the guy who is completely against us, intercepted him and took him. We said, "Good bye Sasha....we love you." Then walked away shaking our heads in disbelief. Two steps forward, three steps backwards.....but God is in Control.....
Thank you Lord for getting us through this day....we love you all!
m and j
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
LONG DAY
We left early today about 10:30 and got to Lutugano at about 11:00. There was much paperwork for our sweet Ksenia (translator, lawyer, friend) to do so we sat in the one cafe in town to have breakfast. She had to go with us so that we could order....it is ridiculous for Jeff and I to try to communicate what we would like to order. We waited for Sasha to get out of class at 12:00. He was the first one out and we sat with him and had a fun day playing, laughing and enjoying just being with him....dreaming of the days to come. Jeff and Sasha played WAR outside and in with a couple of guns we bought for him. We heard a child come up to Sasha to try to get his gun on a "trade" deal.....but Sasha resisted and we stepped in to say....Sasha, those are mama and papa's. We didn't want the kid to bully him. We heard him say, eeehhh mama and papa. The boy walked away.
We had some resistance and difficulty with getting signatures today. No cooperation, so we may be delayed in our return to America. Ksenia and Nastya are doing everything in their power to keep us on schedule. This seems to be a very difficult orphanage for adoption. Every child that a family has tried to adopt has said "no" the first day.....lots of pressure from teachers, etc. to stay. We hope to have court by next Thursday or Friday and will try to catch a flight that same day back through Munich and finally Charlotte. It's absolutely emotionally exhausting to be with thesse precious children. A smile or hug or piece of candy totally lights up their faces.They are just like everyone else in this world...they just want someone to love them. Today was hard for Jeff and I....we are struggling with the pain these kids are having to endure on a daily basis.
By the way, I forgot to mention the day that Sasha said "yes", we had the most amazing thing happen. Our sweet daughter Kelsey had prayed specifically that the teacher who was giving Sasha a hard time would soften and that his heart would change. We had the opportunity to talk with him and laugh with him...we tried so hard to "befriend" him. God is so good! He told us that in Ukraine they can only have one child because of finances. We were also able to walk back with him and the other students to the building where the children sleep. The kids dress up in their nice clothes for school and at noon go back to change into play clothes. We talked with him while they were changing and I asked if I could see the bathrooms. He said, "Your not going to like it." He was right....I didn't!!!!! Too much emotion to put into this blog...but let's just say, it wasn't pretty!!!!!!!!!!! When we left him he trusted us enough to walk back with Sasha alone to the school building across the street and he murmured, "good luck" to us. WOW!!!! amazing!
We cannot watch tv, as it is all in Ukrainian, but last night I saw Jeff watching James Bond and he said he just knew what was going on...he had seen it before. Also, we have a decent shower, but we found out that the kids at the orphanage only get to shower once a week. Now we know why Sasha splashed around like a fish in his shower/bathtub the first night he arrived at our house. It is very likely that he has never enjoyed a bath.
These kids are so precious and it is so difficult to not reach out to all of them. We just want them to have a family and we want to say to them....God loves you and is a Father to the Fatherless! Many of them have been abandoned as a baby or been left someone by their parents. They have truly never experienced "family." Many of them just accept life for what it is....living with lots of other brothers and sisters who are in the same boat as they are.
We are sooooo tired and emotionally drained! We have a long ways to go but we know that God will give us the strength. It is getting extremely hard to say good bye to Sasha. He said, "Mama, Papa, America...two days, five days, what?" We showed him on the calendar that we will be here everyday next week, but then we are going home but will be back the following week to take him home to America to be Jeffrey Sasha (Batman) Nyman. haha...he wanted Batman in his name.
We always say to him.."Ukrainians, Crazy!" He says, "Mama and Papa crazy." Make sure you roll your r's when you say all of that...haha. He is definately right....we are crazy! feeling nutso! haha
love to you all!!!!! duck spit on ya.....remember.......good bye
Misty and Jeff
We had some resistance and difficulty with getting signatures today. No cooperation, so we may be delayed in our return to America. Ksenia and Nastya are doing everything in their power to keep us on schedule. This seems to be a very difficult orphanage for adoption. Every child that a family has tried to adopt has said "no" the first day.....lots of pressure from teachers, etc. to stay. We hope to have court by next Thursday or Friday and will try to catch a flight that same day back through Munich and finally Charlotte. It's absolutely emotionally exhausting to be with thesse precious children. A smile or hug or piece of candy totally lights up their faces.They are just like everyone else in this world...they just want someone to love them. Today was hard for Jeff and I....we are struggling with the pain these kids are having to endure on a daily basis.
By the way, I forgot to mention the day that Sasha said "yes", we had the most amazing thing happen. Our sweet daughter Kelsey had prayed specifically that the teacher who was giving Sasha a hard time would soften and that his heart would change. We had the opportunity to talk with him and laugh with him...we tried so hard to "befriend" him. God is so good! He told us that in Ukraine they can only have one child because of finances. We were also able to walk back with him and the other students to the building where the children sleep. The kids dress up in their nice clothes for school and at noon go back to change into play clothes. We talked with him while they were changing and I asked if I could see the bathrooms. He said, "Your not going to like it." He was right....I didn't!!!!! Too much emotion to put into this blog...but let's just say, it wasn't pretty!!!!!!!!!!! When we left him he trusted us enough to walk back with Sasha alone to the school building across the street and he murmured, "good luck" to us. WOW!!!! amazing!
We cannot watch tv, as it is all in Ukrainian, but last night I saw Jeff watching James Bond and he said he just knew what was going on...he had seen it before. Also, we have a decent shower, but we found out that the kids at the orphanage only get to shower once a week. Now we know why Sasha splashed around like a fish in his shower/bathtub the first night he arrived at our house. It is very likely that he has never enjoyed a bath.
These kids are so precious and it is so difficult to not reach out to all of them. We just want them to have a family and we want to say to them....God loves you and is a Father to the Fatherless! Many of them have been abandoned as a baby or been left someone by their parents. They have truly never experienced "family." Many of them just accept life for what it is....living with lots of other brothers and sisters who are in the same boat as they are.
We are sooooo tired and emotionally drained! We have a long ways to go but we know that God will give us the strength. It is getting extremely hard to say good bye to Sasha. He said, "Mama, Papa, America...two days, five days, what?" We showed him on the calendar that we will be here everyday next week, but then we are going home but will be back the following week to take him home to America to be Jeffrey Sasha (Batman) Nyman. haha...he wanted Batman in his name.
We always say to him.."Ukrainians, Crazy!" He says, "Mama and Papa crazy." Make sure you roll your r's when you say all of that...haha. He is definately right....we are crazy! feeling nutso! haha
love to you all!!!!! duck spit on ya.....remember.......good bye
Misty and Jeff
Thursday, October 7, 2010
HE SAID YES!!!
It is 37 degrees here in Ukraine this morning, but the son was shining.. I feel like the last two days have aged us and Jeff says, "We can't afford to age anymore." I felt a peace come over me this morning, but the car ride was completely quiet. Well today was a total opposite of yesterday. We drove our wild drive to the orphanage this morning, Jeff reached out and touched three cars...(just kidding) When we walked in our hearts were racing. We sat until Sasha's class was out at 12:00. When we saw Sasha we knew instantly that he was Sasha again and was completely back to himself. He greeted us with a huge hugs and sat on our laps. The very first thing that he did was folded his hands in prayer fashion and said, "moma and papa...I prayed last night and said.....thank you God for mama and papa. Oh our hearts melted!!!!
We gave him some toys and other presents to pass out to his friends. He was so excited to go share all of the gifts with everyone. We also gave him a KitKat which is his absolute favorite candy and he said , "Oh thank you momma and poppa." He opened it up and of the four sections, gave one to me, one to popa and one to ksenia. Only one piece left for him. He is so giving and loving and wanted to give us back a present but obviously couldn't buy anything for us, so that is his way of giving us a gift.
We waited until 1:00 for our meeting and when the meeting finally began, he wanted mama and papa to sit next to him on the couch. He was very confident and firm on his answers. He said..."dah, dah, dah." that means yes, yes, yes. I love that word dah! :) Also it was more of the same....are you sure sasha. you haven't seen them in awhile...maybe we should wait, you are making a quick decision, are you sure these are the poeple that you want to be your parents, are you sure you won't change your mind next week....blah blah blah. The Chief Inspector who runs the childrens services was there and he was definately our advocate today. He had heard about this yesterday and got angry so he showed up for the meeting. He put Sasha by his side after he said yes and told sasha to tell them again.....I love these people and I want them to be my parents. Yes, I am sure!
Jeff and I then watched him sign the documents and write out that he wanted Michelle and Jeffrey Nyman to be his parents. Jeff was crying and said to me later, "our little son just became a man." That was a huge step to stand up to those people and tell them that he knew that he wanted to move to America and be our son. The had asked him also, "How will you continue your studies." He replied, "I'll learn English and study there." He also mentioned in the meeting that his grandmother, (babushka) had come to visit him this summer after he got home from our house. He told everyone in the meeting that when his grandmother came to visit him that he told her he wanted to move to America and that he had a mama and papa there. She told him to go! By the way, we are trying to locate her so we can stop by in two weeks on our way out of the country to say good bye to her. I want to thank her for her blessing and tell her that we will take VERY GOOD care of Sasha. She is very poor and although she cared for Sasha for a year after he was taken from his parents, she gave him up because she could not provide for him.
While we were taking pictures at the orphanage he told us that he holds the flag and puts it up and down. we said, let's take a picture in front of it. He said.....no, America!
God is soooooooo good and He is so good to us! We feel so blessed and thankful for everything. We have so many praises...including the fact that with such little sleep we have not been sick. Thank you for all your prayers and notes! God has blessed us with the most amazing family and friends....and we are so thakful for our sweet Ksenia! We have felt the prayers and we know that God is working.
I wrote devotions for our children before we left and we brought a copy for ourselves....little did I know that I wrote these devotions for us. Here is Day 5:
Trust me and don't be afraid, for I am your strength and Shield. Do not let fear dissipate your energy. Instead, invest your energy in trusting Me and singing My Songs of praise. The enemy is trying to control your mind. He is telling you to think negative thoughts and to dwell on them. It is a fierce battle for your mind. When you allow your mind to focus on the negative, it begins to get planted in your heart and then comes out of your mouth. No one likes to be around a negative person. Your constant need for Me creates an intimacy between me and you, which makes it all worth it. You are not alone in this struggle or battle. The enemy wants to destroy you and make you feel hopeless, but I am God and I can give everything you need....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control. The fruits of the spirit are all signs that I live in you.
WE LOVE YOU ALL....going to dinner...may write later
misty and jeffy
We gave him some toys and other presents to pass out to his friends. He was so excited to go share all of the gifts with everyone. We also gave him a KitKat which is his absolute favorite candy and he said , "Oh thank you momma and poppa." He opened it up and of the four sections, gave one to me, one to popa and one to ksenia. Only one piece left for him. He is so giving and loving and wanted to give us back a present but obviously couldn't buy anything for us, so that is his way of giving us a gift.
We waited until 1:00 for our meeting and when the meeting finally began, he wanted mama and papa to sit next to him on the couch. He was very confident and firm on his answers. He said..."dah, dah, dah." that means yes, yes, yes. I love that word dah! :) Also it was more of the same....are you sure sasha. you haven't seen them in awhile...maybe we should wait, you are making a quick decision, are you sure these are the poeple that you want to be your parents, are you sure you won't change your mind next week....blah blah blah. The Chief Inspector who runs the childrens services was there and he was definately our advocate today. He had heard about this yesterday and got angry so he showed up for the meeting. He put Sasha by his side after he said yes and told sasha to tell them again.....I love these people and I want them to be my parents. Yes, I am sure!
Jeff and I then watched him sign the documents and write out that he wanted Michelle and Jeffrey Nyman to be his parents. Jeff was crying and said to me later, "our little son just became a man." That was a huge step to stand up to those people and tell them that he knew that he wanted to move to America and be our son. The had asked him also, "How will you continue your studies." He replied, "I'll learn English and study there." He also mentioned in the meeting that his grandmother, (babushka) had come to visit him this summer after he got home from our house. He told everyone in the meeting that when his grandmother came to visit him that he told her he wanted to move to America and that he had a mama and papa there. She told him to go! By the way, we are trying to locate her so we can stop by in two weeks on our way out of the country to say good bye to her. I want to thank her for her blessing and tell her that we will take VERY GOOD care of Sasha. She is very poor and although she cared for Sasha for a year after he was taken from his parents, she gave him up because she could not provide for him.
While we were taking pictures at the orphanage he told us that he holds the flag and puts it up and down. we said, let's take a picture in front of it. He said.....no, America!
God is soooooooo good and He is so good to us! We feel so blessed and thankful for everything. We have so many praises...including the fact that with such little sleep we have not been sick. Thank you for all your prayers and notes! God has blessed us with the most amazing family and friends....and we are so thakful for our sweet Ksenia! We have felt the prayers and we know that God is working.
I wrote devotions for our children before we left and we brought a copy for ourselves....little did I know that I wrote these devotions for us. Here is Day 5:
Trust me and don't be afraid, for I am your strength and Shield. Do not let fear dissipate your energy. Instead, invest your energy in trusting Me and singing My Songs of praise. The enemy is trying to control your mind. He is telling you to think negative thoughts and to dwell on them. It is a fierce battle for your mind. When you allow your mind to focus on the negative, it begins to get planted in your heart and then comes out of your mouth. No one likes to be around a negative person. Your constant need for Me creates an intimacy between me and you, which makes it all worth it. You are not alone in this struggle or battle. The enemy wants to destroy you and make you feel hopeless, but I am God and I can give everything you need....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control. The fruits of the spirit are all signs that I live in you.
WE LOVE YOU ALL....going to dinner...may write later
misty and jeffy
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Hello All,
Today was a very difficult day. We had waited so long to see Sasha and hear those words that he wanted to be adopted, but then our world came crashing down. All I kept thinking about is Lord, I know you are in control. Then I thought I was giong to throw up and then again thinking, God I know you are in control...all the while trying to keep my composure.
This is how our day unfolded: Woke at 3:30 a.m. rode 30 minutes to Kiev airport for a 6:45a.m. flight to Donestk. The flight was easy, only about 1 1/2 hrs. We landed and took a shuttle and then graabbed our luggage and met a driver outside the Donetsk airport...thank goodness our wonderful Ksenia was with us. She speaks fluent English, Ukrainaian and Russian and is an amazing Godly young woman. After getting in the car at the Donetks airport, we drove for 2 hours to the region of Lugansk. Once in Lugansk, we unloaded the car and put our suitcases into our apartment, which by the way is beautiful by Ukrainian standards. To get into our apartment, we have to unlock the outside gate, unlock a central door and our apartment door has 6 deadbolts on it We then got back into the car for for another one of the wildest rides of our life. From the front seat, Jeff literally could have touched the cars in front of him. We sped around trucks and cars, passing in a lane which we somehow created, with enormous pot holes that a smiall child could fit into. Anyway, the ride was very scary to say the least. Our driver passed cars in the left lane and we were headed right towards another car, basically playing chicken....only to see who would swerve away first. OMG! Jeff was in the front seat and had a white knuckle grip on the handle on the inside of the car.. I kept squeezing Ksenia's thigh. I forgot to mention that when I went to buckle up, it didn't work so I was "free." We were also stopped by a cop and was told that cops only stop you to see if they can get some of your money.
Anyway, we finally get to Lutugano...sasha village! We walked into an office full of women and sat, while they talk and talk Ukrainian talk. We wait and wait and Jeff says to me, "this is taking me to a whole new level in patience." Finally, they are ready to talk with us.
..... "Do you have other children?" "What do you do for a living Jeff?" Where does your oldest daughter live if not with you?" etc. etc. This is all translated to us. So we get a stamp of approval and move to another office where The Inspector proceeds to ask us a few questions...."What is Rock Hill known for?" What is the population of Rock Hill?" Oh my gosh...who the heck cares...okay, we just want our son!!! Then we get another approval from The Inspector and walk across the street to the schoolhouse. We literally got chills and our adreneline was pumping so fast, just knowing that Sasha was in that building. So we sit in another office waiting for the Assitant Director of the Orphanage to show up. Finally she comes and takes us to another room with 4 other women in it besides me, Jeff and Ksenia.
Then. in comes Sasha.....I jumped out of my seat to run to him and said, "SAAASHHHHA" He gave me a huge hug and said , "Hi mama." then Jeff's turn....Jeff picked him up and said, "SAAAASHHHHAAA."
He said, "Papa." So immediately we were told to sit down. Sasha was escorted to the room by a man who looked truly evil. He sat in a chair and starred at Sasha the entire interviewing process. Sasha was asked several questions.....in Russian and Ksensia was trying to translate to me in my ear as fast as possible.
These are some of the questions they were firing at him as he sat there stunned....
Sasha, do you know these people?
Sasha, do you know what they are doing here?
Sasha, did you know they were coming?
Sasha, do you want to be adopted by these people?
Why do you like them so much sasha?
What else sasha?
Do you want to be adopted....
anyway, it was horrifying. The answers he gave were not consistant with the conversation we had with him the day before on the phone. He had said...mama papa, when you come here? yes yes yes, come mama papa!
So here were some of his responses....ummmmmm. I don't know why they're here? no i didn't know they were coming? i like the dog....
do you want to be adopted by them....."I want to think about it for a couple of days."
All the while this man is glaring at him....a teacher who escorted him down to the "Adoption Stage."
Jeff and I couldn't hardly breathe. this was the moment we had been waiting for and it was fleeting away from us and we didnt' know what to do. the meeting was ended quickly and we all walked out. Jeff and I literally in shock!!!!!!....Our heads were spinning and it left us with the feeling of, "Really....did that just happen?"
So we walked upstairs to talk with Sasha, all the while being starred at by this teacher who had walked in with him to the meeting. As soon as he left the room, Ksenia spoke to Sasha and said, "Sasha, are you scared...? Sasha said yes! Ksenia said, "Sasha you can't be scared and you have to do what is right. Do not let this man intimidate you."
We texted karley to see if she could make a quick phone call to us so sasha could here her voice. She talked with him and it was sooooo cute! Then she got off the phone in tears and told us that it completely made her whole day.
Then Jeff got down on his knees to get eye level with Sasha and said, :Okay Sasha, here's the deal......I'm not messing around. Mama and Papa came here to get you to take you back to America to be part of our family. Do you want to be in our family.....HE SAID ,"yes."....Then Ksenia pulled him over for a chat and she told us that she said to him, do you want to go to America and be a Nyman. He said "yes and I will be ready to say yes tomorrow."
Jeff and I had spent about 2 hours with him, taking pictures, feeling like we were going to burst and finally at the end, he said yes....he was being bullied by this teacher to not go to America. He said to ksenia..."Please don't let him come to the meeting tomorrow."
When we walked out, I had already started to cry and didn't feel like I could keep it in another second. He introduced us to a couple friends and said, "This is my mama and papa." and then looked back at me twice while I was crying and said..."mama."
Our adoption facilitators are both Godly people here in the Ukraine...they are actually sisters. They said to us....you cannot leave him here. You cannot give up on him. He has no chance here and you have to fight for him.
This was our devotion today: ! Peter 1:6-7 "for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved geniune and may result in praise, glory and honor, when Jesus Christ is revealed." ......In everything thing God works for the good of those who love Him. Even in our difficult times, God is directing us for good....and to bring glory to Him. God uses our trials to strengthen our faith and our faith can sustain us.
I am sooooo tired and didn't even read over this blog....so please pray with us for Sasha to have courage and for us to have the right words tomorrow. We want Sasha to come for no other reason than he loves us as much as we love him....we feel like he does. But today was a direct attack by the enemy and we feel tired and worn down.
If he agrees to this tomorrow, he will sign off and then we will have court by Monday or Tuesday and then come back 10 days later to get him..
Thanks for your prayers...love you !!!
Today was a very difficult day. We had waited so long to see Sasha and hear those words that he wanted to be adopted, but then our world came crashing down. All I kept thinking about is Lord, I know you are in control. Then I thought I was giong to throw up and then again thinking, God I know you are in control...all the while trying to keep my composure.
This is how our day unfolded: Woke at 3:30 a.m. rode 30 minutes to Kiev airport for a 6:45a.m. flight to Donestk. The flight was easy, only about 1 1/2 hrs. We landed and took a shuttle and then graabbed our luggage and met a driver outside the Donetsk airport...thank goodness our wonderful Ksenia was with us. She speaks fluent English, Ukrainaian and Russian and is an amazing Godly young woman. After getting in the car at the Donetks airport, we drove for 2 hours to the region of Lugansk. Once in Lugansk, we unloaded the car and put our suitcases into our apartment, which by the way is beautiful by Ukrainian standards. To get into our apartment, we have to unlock the outside gate, unlock a central door and our apartment door has 6 deadbolts on it We then got back into the car for for another one of the wildest rides of our life. From the front seat, Jeff literally could have touched the cars in front of him. We sped around trucks and cars, passing in a lane which we somehow created, with enormous pot holes that a smiall child could fit into. Anyway, the ride was very scary to say the least. Our driver passed cars in the left lane and we were headed right towards another car, basically playing chicken....only to see who would swerve away first. OMG! Jeff was in the front seat and had a white knuckle grip on the handle on the inside of the car.. I kept squeezing Ksenia's thigh. I forgot to mention that when I went to buckle up, it didn't work so I was "free." We were also stopped by a cop and was told that cops only stop you to see if they can get some of your money.
Anyway, we finally get to Lutugano...sasha village! We walked into an office full of women and sat, while they talk and talk Ukrainian talk. We wait and wait and Jeff says to me, "this is taking me to a whole new level in patience." Finally, they are ready to talk with us.
..... "Do you have other children?" "What do you do for a living Jeff?" Where does your oldest daughter live if not with you?" etc. etc. This is all translated to us. So we get a stamp of approval and move to another office where The Inspector proceeds to ask us a few questions...."What is Rock Hill known for?" What is the population of Rock Hill?" Oh my gosh...who the heck cares...okay, we just want our son!!! Then we get another approval from The Inspector and walk across the street to the schoolhouse. We literally got chills and our adreneline was pumping so fast, just knowing that Sasha was in that building. So we sit in another office waiting for the Assitant Director of the Orphanage to show up. Finally she comes and takes us to another room with 4 other women in it besides me, Jeff and Ksenia.
Then. in comes Sasha.....I jumped out of my seat to run to him and said, "SAAASHHHHA" He gave me a huge hug and said , "Hi mama." then Jeff's turn....Jeff picked him up and said, "SAAAASHHHHAAA."
He said, "Papa." So immediately we were told to sit down. Sasha was escorted to the room by a man who looked truly evil. He sat in a chair and starred at Sasha the entire interviewing process. Sasha was asked several questions.....in Russian and Ksensia was trying to translate to me in my ear as fast as possible.
These are some of the questions they were firing at him as he sat there stunned....
Sasha, do you know these people?
Sasha, do you know what they are doing here?
Sasha, did you know they were coming?
Sasha, do you want to be adopted by these people?
Why do you like them so much sasha?
What else sasha?
Do you want to be adopted....
anyway, it was horrifying. The answers he gave were not consistant with the conversation we had with him the day before on the phone. He had said...mama papa, when you come here? yes yes yes, come mama papa!
So here were some of his responses....ummmmmm. I don't know why they're here? no i didn't know they were coming? i like the dog....
do you want to be adopted by them....."I want to think about it for a couple of days."
All the while this man is glaring at him....a teacher who escorted him down to the "Adoption Stage."
Jeff and I couldn't hardly breathe. this was the moment we had been waiting for and it was fleeting away from us and we didnt' know what to do. the meeting was ended quickly and we all walked out. Jeff and I literally in shock!!!!!!....Our heads were spinning and it left us with the feeling of, "Really....did that just happen?"
So we walked upstairs to talk with Sasha, all the while being starred at by this teacher who had walked in with him to the meeting. As soon as he left the room, Ksenia spoke to Sasha and said, "Sasha, are you scared...? Sasha said yes! Ksenia said, "Sasha you can't be scared and you have to do what is right. Do not let this man intimidate you."
We texted karley to see if she could make a quick phone call to us so sasha could here her voice. She talked with him and it was sooooo cute! Then she got off the phone in tears and told us that it completely made her whole day.
Then Jeff got down on his knees to get eye level with Sasha and said, :Okay Sasha, here's the deal......I'm not messing around. Mama and Papa came here to get you to take you back to America to be part of our family. Do you want to be in our family.....HE SAID ,"yes."....Then Ksenia pulled him over for a chat and she told us that she said to him, do you want to go to America and be a Nyman. He said "yes and I will be ready to say yes tomorrow."
Jeff and I had spent about 2 hours with him, taking pictures, feeling like we were going to burst and finally at the end, he said yes....he was being bullied by this teacher to not go to America. He said to ksenia..."Please don't let him come to the meeting tomorrow."
When we walked out, I had already started to cry and didn't feel like I could keep it in another second. He introduced us to a couple friends and said, "This is my mama and papa." and then looked back at me twice while I was crying and said..."mama."
Our adoption facilitators are both Godly people here in the Ukraine...they are actually sisters. They said to us....you cannot leave him here. You cannot give up on him. He has no chance here and you have to fight for him.
This was our devotion today: ! Peter 1:6-7 "for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved geniune and may result in praise, glory and honor, when Jesus Christ is revealed." ......In everything thing God works for the good of those who love Him. Even in our difficult times, God is directing us for good....and to bring glory to Him. God uses our trials to strengthen our faith and our faith can sustain us.
I am sooooo tired and didn't even read over this blog....so please pray with us for Sasha to have courage and for us to have the right words tomorrow. We want Sasha to come for no other reason than he loves us as much as we love him....we feel like he does. But today was a direct attack by the enemy and we feel tired and worn down.
If he agrees to this tomorrow, he will sign off and then we will have court by Monday or Tuesday and then come back 10 days later to get him..
Thanks for your prayers...love you !!!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
today was rather uneventful...except that we picked up our dossier from the SDA which is state department of adoption. we saw a few people there that we had met at the airport from new horizons....so cool to see some americans there and speak our language. ha anyway, we are going to bed shortly because tomorrow we get up at 3:30 a.m. to get ready for our 6:45 flight to Donestk region. We will stay in Lugansk region and travel everyday to sasha's remote village of Lutugano..very very rural!. Soooooo excited to see his little cute face. he has to play it cool though. our facilitator called and told him to not talk to anyone....he said, "I got it." it is very street saavy and he is really excited but will have to be careful. we are anxious to see if he only hugs us when the director and inspector leave the room. we found out that when they lose a child at this orphanage that they don't get paid as much and somehow have to replace him...so it's a bit political.
ukrainians continue to amaze us with their very different culture. they totally make an opinion about you before they get to know you based on how you look. they are sweet if you try to talk to them, but no onoe makes eye contact with you. everyone looks sketch and looks like they are running from something or hiding something. haha We found out that 8 million people died during wwII and that is part of why there is a shortage of men around here....well that's jeff and my theroy. we also noticed that no one has wrinkles around their eyes...no laugh lines...haha.... jeff and i can't seem to do it though. try going all day without smiling...wow...it's strange! It would be wonderful to not have wrinkles on your eyes...but you wouldn't be too happy .:)
tomorrow is a big day for us. we are praying for guidance and asked God to help us to glorify Him in everything that we do. We truly want to bring Him glory and let His light shine through us. It's difficult when we don't speak the same language, but we are willing!
we are really busy tomorrow running around getting paperwork signed and we have lots of different things to do. it's all a faithwalk because it's a lot of "playing it by ear." that's what i do best, but it makes jeff very nervous! we think we are setting the court date for monday and will meet with the judge at some point. we will see sasha everyday and anxious to see if he will introduce us to his friends. his friends do not want him to leave and will try to talk him into staying. many kids still believe that once they are adopted the parents will kill them to use their organs for their other children. it's absolutely insane the stories that these poor kids are told. our facilitator told us that we have to get sasha out of there. she said even if he says no from pressure from someone that we must fight for him and never give up. he doesn't have a chance for survival otherwise. we are hoping that all goes well and that no one bullies him or beats him up because they are mad that they are not going or just plain mad that they are losing a friend.
jeff and i want to start a ministry to bring these kids over to america. when the kids get out of the orphanage at 15, they have an 80% chance of being homeless, addicted to drugs and sold into prostitution. we found out also that women in kiev fake their pregnancies , when they cannot get pregnant and then they go to an orphange to get a baby and change their name, etc. No one ever finds out then that the child was an orphan. In God's eyes, it just doesn't matter, but in this society and culture it does. An orphan is at the lowest in the caste system or the socio economical system. they are never accepted into society and orphans are shunned and treated with no respect. they are never able to get out of this status. it reminds me of Moses and how he was adopted by Pharaos daughter to raise him as a king.
Please check out New Horizons for children. This is the most amazing ministrty to bring orphan children over to anerica. Jeff and I can help you in the process and we will guide you through it. it has chancged our life in so many ways. Our kids are continualy telling me, "mom, go get my brother." you don't have to adopt, but God brough the perfect child to us and He said, you are to be a Nyman. haha i love my children with him...it's been so cool to see them give of themselves and grow through itl the website is called: http://www.newhorizonsforchildren.org
check it out....click on the hosting program. their is a fee for hosting but many times people offer scholarships for the kids to travel This is how we got started...we just picked a little one and brought him here. we want to have some of sasha's friends hosted so they can all be in our area. we are going to pay special attention to the kids so that we can pick one out for us to host again.
God is sooooo good and we are so thankful for his continued blessings! He has led us all along this ourney and I know that the journey will truly just begin when we get him back home That's when the journey begins....then so much to think about and so much to do. School, etc.
God will give us answers as we progress on....don't have them all yet. ha
we will have much more to report tomorrow...we can't wait to see sasha's face and hug him....i may not let him go. we saw an adorable picture of him when he was younger with blonde tosseled long hair and somehow or another i am giong to try to get that picture.
taking an ambien so i can sleep tonight...we are so sleep deprived and feel like it's been hurry up and wait...so the waiting will be over by tomorrow. we are definately going to be on a fast track to see how much we can get done so we can speed the process up. we could come home early if they let us pile lots of jobs into one day. we shall see. we will still have the 10 day waiting period when he has to be available for adoption to anyone else....but he will not say yes to anyone at this point. okay, the ambien is kicking in...it's 9:08 and i have to get up at 3:30 a.m.
nighty night....love you all!
we miss our sweet children and friends and our cozy bed!
ukrainians continue to amaze us with their very different culture. they totally make an opinion about you before they get to know you based on how you look. they are sweet if you try to talk to them, but no onoe makes eye contact with you. everyone looks sketch and looks like they are running from something or hiding something. haha We found out that 8 million people died during wwII and that is part of why there is a shortage of men around here....well that's jeff and my theroy. we also noticed that no one has wrinkles around their eyes...no laugh lines...haha.... jeff and i can't seem to do it though. try going all day without smiling...wow...it's strange! It would be wonderful to not have wrinkles on your eyes...but you wouldn't be too happy .:)
tomorrow is a big day for us. we are praying for guidance and asked God to help us to glorify Him in everything that we do. We truly want to bring Him glory and let His light shine through us. It's difficult when we don't speak the same language, but we are willing!
we are really busy tomorrow running around getting paperwork signed and we have lots of different things to do. it's all a faithwalk because it's a lot of "playing it by ear." that's what i do best, but it makes jeff very nervous! we think we are setting the court date for monday and will meet with the judge at some point. we will see sasha everyday and anxious to see if he will introduce us to his friends. his friends do not want him to leave and will try to talk him into staying. many kids still believe that once they are adopted the parents will kill them to use their organs for their other children. it's absolutely insane the stories that these poor kids are told. our facilitator told us that we have to get sasha out of there. she said even if he says no from pressure from someone that we must fight for him and never give up. he doesn't have a chance for survival otherwise. we are hoping that all goes well and that no one bullies him or beats him up because they are mad that they are not going or just plain mad that they are losing a friend.
jeff and i want to start a ministry to bring these kids over to america. when the kids get out of the orphanage at 15, they have an 80% chance of being homeless, addicted to drugs and sold into prostitution. we found out also that women in kiev fake their pregnancies , when they cannot get pregnant and then they go to an orphange to get a baby and change their name, etc. No one ever finds out then that the child was an orphan. In God's eyes, it just doesn't matter, but in this society and culture it does. An orphan is at the lowest in the caste system or the socio economical system. they are never accepted into society and orphans are shunned and treated with no respect. they are never able to get out of this status. it reminds me of Moses and how he was adopted by Pharaos daughter to raise him as a king.
Please check out New Horizons for children. This is the most amazing ministrty to bring orphan children over to anerica. Jeff and I can help you in the process and we will guide you through it. it has chancged our life in so many ways. Our kids are continualy telling me, "mom, go get my brother." you don't have to adopt, but God brough the perfect child to us and He said, you are to be a Nyman. haha i love my children with him...it's been so cool to see them give of themselves and grow through itl the website is called: http://www.newhorizonsforchildren.org
check it out....click on the hosting program. their is a fee for hosting but many times people offer scholarships for the kids to travel This is how we got started...we just picked a little one and brought him here. we want to have some of sasha's friends hosted so they can all be in our area. we are going to pay special attention to the kids so that we can pick one out for us to host again.
God is sooooo good and we are so thankful for his continued blessings! He has led us all along this ourney and I know that the journey will truly just begin when we get him back home That's when the journey begins....then so much to think about and so much to do. School, etc.
God will give us answers as we progress on....don't have them all yet. ha
we will have much more to report tomorrow...we can't wait to see sasha's face and hug him....i may not let him go. we saw an adorable picture of him when he was younger with blonde tosseled long hair and somehow or another i am giong to try to get that picture.
taking an ambien so i can sleep tonight...we are so sleep deprived and feel like it's been hurry up and wait...so the waiting will be over by tomorrow. we are definately going to be on a fast track to see how much we can get done so we can speed the process up. we could come home early if they let us pile lots of jobs into one day. we shall see. we will still have the 10 day waiting period when he has to be available for adoption to anyone else....but he will not say yes to anyone at this point. okay, the ambien is kicking in...it's 9:08 and i have to get up at 3:30 a.m.
nighty night....love you all!
we miss our sweet children and friends and our cozy bed!
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