March 19, 2009
WE’RE BACK!!! Can you believe it? We didn’t think this would happen for a long while. Konstantine, our adoption facilitator, worked his magic once again and he got us a “continuance.” That means we are starting over – as if December didn’t happen (We think) We, Bill & Rebecca only, got on a plane early Wednesday morning out of LAX and flew to NY. Then we got on another flight and landed in Kiev Thursday morning. Boy how time flies. We are grateful for smooth travel, all our luggage is here, Bill’s back is doing ok after the long flights, easy customs experience, quick contact with our driver at the airport and it is probably 15 degrees warmer than our last arrival (today it is in the high 30’s we think).
We are hoping to get in & out of the State Department of Adoptions (SDA) today, Thursday the 19th, and head to the region on the train tonight. This may or may not happen. The SDA could take an hour or a day to provide us the referral paperwork we need and even if we get it today, train tickets are hard to come by, so we will know tonight. Most likely we will need to spend the night in Kiev. Many of you are wondering what has happened to us over the last 2 months. Well here is the condensed version:
We returned to the states at the end of Dec. ’08 without any success of adoption. It was a sad time for our family. Bill worked diligently trying to get our little guy here on a medical visa, but that also was not progressing. We continued to look at every option we could, and prayed constantly for guidance and understanding. Then, about 3 weeks ago, one of the facilitators in the region was finally able to talk to our little guy’s sister – alone. After they talked, the sister changed her mind and she decided she would consider coming to the U.S. with her brother. We were surprised, shocked, concerned, elated and felt the full range of these emotions simultaneously. We got on the phone and talked to all parties involved and decided to give her a chance. We spoke to her and we felt that she was sincere. We decided to step out in faith and invite her to consent to being adopted by us. She accepted and we started the formal paperwork to make that happen. And here we are...back in Ukraine, back in Kiev at O’Brien’s Irish Pub, listening to Motown, classic rock and eating fish and chips and steak. (If only we were here two days ago for the biggest Irish party in town!!)
Flash forward:
Now we are writing on Friday Night at 10:30p.m. Chernitvsi time. (1:30p.m. L.A time -9 hour time difference) We were able to get in & out of the SDA yesterday afternoon, and also get a room on the train. We travelled all night and arrived here in the region at 9:30am. We were met by our facilitator, and a taxi whisked us to our apartment. It is comfortable and and they gave us one hour to clean up before they took us to our appointment at the inspector’s office. There we had to formally ask permission to go and see the kids. We were successfully approved and made our first supervised visit to the Child’s House orphanage. While there we got to see our little guy and get reacquainted, as well as give hugs to an older girl at the orphanage that another family hopes to adopt. We wanted to also see the sister later on, but she is in another area and we need to get permission from a different inspector. Unfortunately, both the 2nd inspector and the sister are sick. We’ll have to wait to see them till Monday but she is aware we are in town. We returned to town, purchased a wireless modem and some local internet time, groceries and made our first video skype call with the kids. Thanks to all of you (you know who you are) who supported us in understanding this technology which lets us stay in touch with the three kids back home. It is wonderful! To round out our day, we had a nice dinner with the Barkers at the German restaurant called, Haus, here in town. It was great to see all of them (7 in all) and see familiar faces and talk about our common experiences. They are also in the process of adopting 3 boys. Successfully approved and made our first supervised visit to the young child’s orphanage. The first day of Spring in Chernivitsi included rain, snow and freezing rain and even a little sun!! We are going to fall over asleep now. Travelling is exciting and exhausting.
We are hoping to get in & out of the State Department of Adoptions (SDA) today, Thursday the 19th, and head to the region on the train tonight. This may or may not happen. The SDA could take an hour or a day to provide us the referral paperwork we need and even if we get it today, train tickets are hard to come by, so we will know tonight. Most likely we will need to spend the night in Kiev. Many of you are wondering what has happened to us over the last 2 months. Well here is the condensed version:
We returned to the states at the end of Dec. ’08 without any success of adoption. It was a sad time for our family. Bill worked diligently trying to get our little guy here on a medical visa, but that also was not progressing. We continued to look at every option we could, and prayed constantly for guidance and understanding. Then, about 3 weeks ago, one of the facilitators in the region was finally able to talk to our little guy’s sister – alone. After they talked, the sister changed her mind and she decided she would consider coming to the U.S. with her brother. We were surprised, shocked, concerned, elated and felt the full range of these emotions simultaneously. We got on the phone and talked to all parties involved and decided to give her a chance. We spoke to her and we felt that she was sincere. We decided to step out in faith and invite her to consent to being adopted by us. She accepted and we started the formal paperwork to make that happen. And here we are...back in Ukraine, back in Kiev at O’Brien’s Irish Pub, listening to Motown, classic rock and eating fish and chips and steak. (If only we were here two days ago for the biggest Irish party in town!!)
Flash forward:
Now we are writing on Friday Night at 10:30p.m. Chernitvsi time. (1:30p.m. L.A time -9 hour time difference) We were able to get in & out of the SDA yesterday afternoon, and also get a room on the train. We travelled all night and arrived here in the region at 9:30am. We were met by our facilitator, and a taxi whisked us to our apartment. It is comfortable and and they gave us one hour to clean up before they took us to our appointment at the inspector’s office. There we had to formally ask permission to go and see the kids. We were successfully approved and made our first supervised visit to the Child’s House orphanage. While there we got to see our little guy and get reacquainted, as well as give hugs to an older girl at the orphanage that another family hopes to adopt. We wanted to also see the sister later on, but she is in another area and we need to get permission from a different inspector. Unfortunately, both the 2nd inspector and the sister are sick. We’ll have to wait to see them till Monday but she is aware we are in town. We returned to town, purchased a wireless modem and some local internet time, groceries and made our first video skype call with the kids. Thanks to all of you (you know who you are) who supported us in understanding this technology which lets us stay in touch with the three kids back home. It is wonderful! To round out our day, we had a nice dinner with the Barkers at the German restaurant called, Haus, here in town. It was great to see all of them (7 in all) and see familiar faces and talk about our common experiences. They are also in the process of adopting 3 boys. Successfully approved and made our first supervised visit to the young child’s orphanage. The first day of Spring in Chernivitsi included rain, snow and freezing rain and even a little sun!! We are going to fall over asleep now. Travelling is exciting and exhausting.
Train
Taxi
Apartment
Bill and Rebecca
Awesome! You both look pretty bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after all that travel! Will keep praying! Love, the Reinharts
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you. You've been on my mind for days. We love you both.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill and Rebecca
ReplyDeleteThis is Alma Medina writting to let you know that you are all in my prayers tonite,(it's actually 2:15 a.m. on Tues. March 24,2009.) You have been in my thoughts and prayers and it also does my heart well that you have seen the Barker family there too! I will cont. to pray for both families. The Lord is Good, Great and Our Heavenly Father. May he grant you all, many blessings.
Love
Alma and Anthony
p.s. stay warm and may he grant you much joy!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog last year during your first trip. I am so glad to see things have worked out for you. We have a 13yo daughter we adopted last year. She will be here 1 year on April 15th. We are also almost finished with our dossier to go back again to adopt another 13yo girl.
Best wishes,
June