Eventful Day

July 1st

Yesterday seemed like a blur. It was a series of highs and lows. That was the day that it was unlikely that we would be able to do everything that we had hoped to do. Rather than doing less then we hoped we actually did more. Reflecting back makes us truly grateful for God’s protection and provision.

We woke early to get a notary signature. That is a much longer and more expensive process in Russia than the US. We then went back to the original orphanage to formally decline the referral. We were ambivalent about the trip there. On one hand we did not want to see the girl again and hurt her feelings in any way. We also did not want to offend the orphanage workers who loved the girl very much and who seemed to want her to impress us at our first visit.

On the other hand we wanted to greet her again and give her a gift and our love. The visit could not have gone better. The orphange personnel were gracious and appeared understanding. The girl (we can not give her name) was chearful and enjoyed our visit. She accepted our gift and our love and we said goodbye. That was very hard but we did have peace that we made the right decision. We pray that she will find the right forever family soon.

We then went back to the ministry of education to ask that they give us another referral. They didn't seem very happy but told us they would "try" to get us one. No guarantees! We had a relaxing lunch, prayerfully expecting God to intervene on our behalf.

We were called and aked to rush back to get information on a referral. Her name was Daria (Dasha for short). She was born in August 2000 (4 months younger than Anjaela) and lived in an orphanage 50 kilometers out of the city. She was at camp as well which would involve more driving. We were given a limited amount of information about her and asked if we would like to see her. We accepted, trusting God to work out the details.

We traveled to her town, picked up an "inspector" (a local social worker for the community who would later go to court with us if we officially accept the referral). Then on to the orphanage. We were given her social history (reasons for becoming an orphan, etc.) and medical history. Then on to the camp, another hour away.

The area reminded us of many Central American towns that we have been in, including the roads. The car we drove in was a Daewoo. It was the smallest car that we have ever been in. Russian potholes nearly swallowed it whole. Miraculously, we did not get lost or destroyed by the roads and arrived at her camp.

It is apparently typical for Russian children, whether orphans or not, to attend a camp during part or most of the summer. They get out of the city and into the fresh air. They have activities that are not an option in the city. It was not at all plush, but it was outdoors and clean and the children seemed to be enjoying themselves.

By this time it was 5pm. We wouldn't have long to spend with the girl, and she was not expecting us either. We met her and were struck by her resemblence to Anjaela. She did not smile much but was lovely and seemed very smart. She has a similar complexion to Anjaela and small dimples. Her hair is brown and she has dark eyes. We did our best to make her feel comfortable and visited with her. She liked taking photos with our digital camera. We had brought a sticker book, coloring book, doll, blanket, crayons and carrying case to give her. She seemed to like the doll the most, naming it Alena after the new daughter of one of her orphanage workers.

We were then asked if we wanted to accept her. What could we say? Her medical and social information was acceptable to us, at least what we knew about it. We had all of one hour to visit with a nearly 8 year old girl who did not speak English and who was completely unprepared for our visit. Our decision was not binding if we accepted her and so we did in faith believing that she would fit into our family. We said goodbye and headed back to Nizhny to eat and catch an overnight train to Moscow. Finding sleep was easy.

We write this on our plane back to the US. Our trip was not at all what we thought it would be. We experienced many highs and lows. We truly lived on God’s sufficient grace day by day. We were encouraged to know that you were following along with us on this journey and were praying for us. We believe that Daria (or Dasha, we’re not sure what we will call her yet) is to be our daughter.

We would have loved to spend more time with her to see how we connect. We prayerfully believe that the connection will come soon and that the transition for her and our family will be brief. We always wanted a younger sister for Anjaela, but expected her to be years, not months younger. What we are getting is almost a twin sister for Anjaela. I guess we are qualified to raise a family with children of such similar ages.

Please continue to pray for us in the transition process. Pray for her as well as she tries to understand what it means to join a new family from a different country who speak a different language. She is leaving everything she has ever known.

We love you all. Dasvidanya for now.

Weekend in Russia

Saturday June 28th

We took your advice and had a wonderful day in Russia. Yesterday we had moved to another hotel which was across the bridge on the other side of the river. Our translator told us we would need to take a taxi to get to the main street in town that takes you to the Kremlin. Well, we decided that if we could get across the bridge, we could just walk there. So we set off down the river and when we got closer we noticed that people were indeed walking over the bridge. It is a car bridge but has sides for pedestrians. We walked across, got some good pictures, and then went up 250 stairs up the side of the bluff. From there we knew exactly how to get to the main street. It took us about an hour to walk and it was a beautiful day to be outside.

We did some shopping and found a very nice restaurant that had a menu in english. The food was great as we sat outside, talked, and watched the many people who walked by. Finally, we walked back to our hotel.

We woke up today with a new look at what is ahead and what we need and will try to do. It's amazing what some time and a good night's sleep can do. This morning I read Psalm 100. Starting with verse 4 it says; "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." It was a good reminder to me to continue to be thankful to the Lord in our circumstances and that He is always faithful.

Sunday June 29th

We had a wonderful day meeting new people and worshiping at a Russian evangelical church. We learned about Pastor Vlad from friends of ours in Grand Rapids. Vlad graciously gave us a wonderful tour of Nizhny on Tuesday and we thought we would not see him again this trip since we were to leave Thursday night. We called him last night to get the details of his church service (time, location, etc.) and he quickly arranged for us to be brought to the church and to have a translator at the church for us.

After church we went out to eat with a family from the church. The wife teaches English to students studying Economics at the local university. We enjoyed talking with them and hearing their testimony, and learning more about the ministry of their church. We now have people in the US and Russia praying for us about our adoption. God is so good.

This church was started in the late 90’s due to the missionary work of our friends in Grand Rapids (Wade and Connie). It grew and became self-sustaining and Wade turned it over eventually to be pastored by Vlad. It is now is a growing church of 150 believers.

Vlad spoke on Mark 10: 13-16. Christ was exhorting the disciples to have a child-like faith. Children believe in people that they trust. They don’t need to know all of the intellectual details in order to believe. As people grow in Christ, they learn more of the details and their faith is strengthened.

It was an appropriate message for us. Putting our faith in the details of what is going on and in what we know is not at all encouraging. Trusting God to work out the details as He knows is best gives us hope. That really summarized this whole adoption process for us thus far. It has all been about faith. Faith that we were supposed to adopt Anjaela in the first place. Faith that we should adopt again. And faith that despite the many delays and hassles and expenses that we have experienced that we should continue in the process.

Tomorrow, plan A for us is to go early to the ministry of education to try to accomplish all that we had hoped to do on Friday (see previous blog entry). We would then travel to Moscow by train in the evening and out of Moscow on July 1st. Based on the track record that we have seen thus far, plan A is not likely to occur as we would hope. We don’t know what plan B is yet. The bottom line is that God is in control and we can trust that whether it is plan A, B, or whatever that it will all work out for the good.

Thanks again for your prayers for us.

We miss America

We miss America. In America you can call on the phone without trying to understand a foreign operator. Also, there is a high likelihood that you will get through, regardless of the language of that operator. You can go into any governmental office Monday through Friday and expect to be helped. People are likely to understand why you would wrestle with the decision to adopt a charming little girl who likely faces severe challenges. Mostly, we miss America because that is where our family and friends are. Not that Russia is bad, it just isn't home.

Today we were supposed to be able to go with an inspector back to the same orphanage we went to yesterday. After that we were to go to a notary to officially decline the referral. After that, possibly back to the ministry of education to get another referral. Although the visit to the orphanage could easily have been ackward, we welcomed the chance to visit with her and show her love. We purchased her a gift and waited to hear from the inspector. Unfortunately, the inspector could not go today.

Now we have to hopefully do all of that on Monday. We also have to decide if we come back on July 1st or July 3rd. Those are our only options right now. If we purchase a ticket for July 1st we leave Nizhny Monday night, with or without another referral. If we stay until the 3rd we still have no guarantees. We have a family back home, and responsibilities. We really don't know exactly what to do. In America, the decision would be much easier.

The good news is that this weekend no one is telling us what to do. We can make our own plans. We are enjoying a book that Ryan recommended ("Blink" by Ted Dekker). We are walking lots and enjoy a DVD each night thanks to loaners from the Patton family. We are enjoying spending time together. We hope to worship at the church of a Russian pastor that we met who speaks excellent English and who gave us a wonderful tour of this interesting city on Tuesday.

Right now we are reminding ourselves that after we finally bring home our new daughter this will all seem very trivial. We are enjoying one day at a time and surviving by God's sufficient grace. Thanks for your prayers and love. They mean very much to us.

ps. Thanks for your comments about the weekend. We couldn't agree more.

Waiting

We have no official referral as of yet. We plan on leaving July 1st and our hope is to see another child next week. This is a brief post and I will post later. We are not having a good day, but there is always tomorrow. What we need the most is wisdom.

Highs and Lows

Yesterday was a roller coaster ride for us. It started with an urgent call for us to rush to the Ministry of Education to get our referral. We received brief information on four girls, ages 6-7. We selected the girl that we had brief information about already.

We needed to be accompanied by an "inspector" to the orphanage. The inspector is a social worker who works with the Ministry of Education who's job is to see how we interact with the girl and to give testimony about that at court as we finalize the adoption. The inspector was not available until today, so we went to see the girl yesterday without her, knowing that we would have to go back today.

We first met with the orphanage's social worker. She gave us fairly extensive information about the girl's social history. Including her family of origin and the reason that she was placed in the orphanage. We then met with the Pediatrician who works at the orphanage. She gave us extensive medical information about the referred child.

We had a delightful visit with the girl. She immediately started playing a game of Animal Bingo and helped us put together a fairly complicated puzzle. She colored for us and drew a nice picture. She smiled and communicated with us very nicely. We left there very pleased.

Back at the hotel we forwarded photographs and medical information to an international adoption medical specialist at the University of Minnesota. They quickly replied to us with concerns about the girl's head circumference and facial features. Basically, the specialist feels that she has a high likelihood of having mental impairments, probably severe.

We had a difficult night searching our hearts and praying. It has not been our objective to adopt a perfect child. We know there are limitations to the medical certainty of the adoption specialist. We also know that God can supply the grace we need to parent a child with extreme difficulties. We went to bed not knowing what we would do.

This morning we had the peace to not accept the referral. We also learned that we won't be able to return to the states until July 1st because of flight availability. We hope to get another referral today, but there are no guarantees. If not today then likely on Monday.

We do appreciate your prayers for us and for the girl. We appreciate your interest in this journey of ours. It is not going how we would have planned but we are moving forward. Thanks again.

Another day to wait.

Hello Everyone,
It is 9:00pm Wednesday night. We unfortunately did not get our needed signature from the Minister of Education. We waited all day in our hotel room and finally found out at 6:30 that it did not happen and we would have to hope for tomorrow. Disappointed and slightly discouraged we headed to town to walk and get a bite to eat. We had a nice meal out on a covered patio. We know God is in control and continually have to trust Him. As Tom put it, "I am having to surrender my agenda every hour." We do not understand, but know that when everything is done and we have our daughter, this will all seem insignificant.
We did talk to someone in the department and hopefully will be able to get the Minister's signature and a referal tomorrow. We are supposed to be taking a train late tomorrow night back to Moscow so we can fly home Friday. We might have to extend our stay depending on how things go tomorrow. We are definitely ready to go home, but will wait to see what happens.
We would appreciate your prayers for us and that we would be able to meet our daughter tomorrow. We also pray for wisdom for the decisions we will have to make the next couple of days.
Thanks

Computer dificulties

We've had computer problems for the last day and a half and have been unable to post on the blog. We do appreciate your prayers for and interest in this journey to add to our family. They mean more than you can imagine.

As far as the adoption goes, we met Monday morning with the ministry of education. The meeting went well. They accepted our application and officially have 10 days to get us a referral. Obviously, we asked them to expeditie the process. Realistically we hope to have an official referral by tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon. We'll post more as we move along in the process.

We've had an interesting and eventful day and a half since meeting with the ministry of education. Today we met the pastor of a local evangelical church in Nizhny Novogrod (Nizhny). We have mutual friends from the states. He graciously gave us a wonderful tour of his city and shared with us his testimony and about his ministry. We learned much about the Russian culture and history in order to share with our Russian born children as they grow up. We hope to worship at his church tomorrow night, time permitting.

Nizhny is the 3rd largest city in Russia, home to 1.2 million people and 550 km north and slightly west of Moscow. It dates back to 1221 AD. In 1917, at the time of the Communistic Revolution, it's name was changed to Gorky (as was St. Petersburg to Leningrad). Gorky (which means "Bitter") was an influential writer at the time who favored the teachings of Marx and Lenin. After the fall of communism in 1991 it was renamed Nizhny Novogrod.

We toured the Kremlin in Nizhny. Each large city in Russia has a Kremlin (or Fortress). The local Kremlin houses several governmental and military buildings as well as a 15th century Russian orthodox church and military cemetary memorializing the Russian equivalent to Medal of Honor recipients who fought in WWII. This Kremlin was originally constructed with wood in the 13th century and subsequently with bricks between 1508 to 1511 AD. It overlooks the Volga River. The Volga was once the eastern border of Russia and hence the need for a fortress for protection from invading Mongols from the east.

Nizhny is a very picturesque city. It is located at the intersection of two large rivers (Volga and Ocka). It's climate is similar to northern Minnesota. We've even had the opportunity to swat some Russian mosquitoes. They are less numerous but faster than the Minnesota variety. There are several beautiful onion domed Russian orthodox churches dotting the landscape and seemingly around every corner as we walked through the city.

There is a long cobblestone paved street nearby with several shops and restaurants. It is like an open air mall, where no cars are allowed. It is filled with people enjoying the beautful weather. They have several metal statues of playful animals and of whimsical humans portrayed in victorian era clothes that give the street a lot of character. Most historical statues are of non-soviet figures that celebrate much of Russian history. This includes the Russian equivalent to Charles Lindberg who was the first pilot to cross the north pole by air. He traveled from Nizhny north and then south to Vancouver, BC.

The most eventful part of the trip has related to our accomodations. We were supposed to spend Sunday night on a train from Moscow to Nizhny. Fortunately, or unfortunately (we haven't decided which) there were no seats available so we took a plane and arrived Sunday evening. Our plan A hotel was full so we stayed at the plan B hotel. It was directly across the street from the ministry of education which was ideal. However, it was very pricey.

Our local facilitator/translator found us a comparably equipped but much less expensive hotel (plan C) only a kilometer away that was available for Monday through Wednesday nights. We gladly accepted that hotel, largely due to the price. Unfortunately, she misunderstood the price for a late checkout from plan B and we paid an additional 50 percent to the already steep price. We had the option of either being upset and angry for the misstep, or to give it to God, knowing that He is in control despite things not turning out as we thought they should. We chose the latter option and have never looked back.
Once again, we thank you for your prayers. We are honored that you are interested in this journey of ours. We'll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

We're here!

We are at our hotel in Nizhny Novogrod. We are tired but had a fairly uneventful trip. We had a very nice brief tour of Red Square today in Moscow after arriving there and while waiting for our plane trip to Nizhny. We toured inside St. Basils cathedral, which was built in 1492. It was amazing walking in a building that was build the year Columbus came to America. We meet with the Minister of Education in the morning (Monday am) and expect to be offered an official referral on Wednesday.

Our 11 hour flight from Chicago to Moscow seemed to go very fast. We had exit row seating and so had extra room to stretch out.

We appreciate your prayers for safety and wisdom and for our kids back home.

Russia, here we come!

Wow, I can't believe the time is finally here. We are leaving tomorrow morning for Minneapolis to catch a flight to Moscow. We are so excited! Our bags are packed and we have our visas and passports in hand.

Our camera broke today so we are taking our son's new camera. We brought the manual with us so we can learn how to use it. This will give us something to do on our long plane trip. We are going to try to learn some Russian on the way there and get some reading done as well. We have big plans for our time in the air.

We miss our kids already. Thank you to everyone who has wished us well and who are praying for us. We really appreciate it.

Getting ready to go......again.

Well, we finally got our appointment date with the Director of Education (DOE) confirmed for Monday, June 23. That means we will be flying out of Minneapolis on Saturday, June 21 and arriving in Moscow Sunday, June 22. Our visas should be here by Tuesday. We are gathering everything we need to take. We are making a little photo book of our family to give to our daughter. We are bringing a doll and a blanket for her as well. We will also bring some things for us to do with her when we visit. We are a little nervous but excited to finally meet our daughter.

A Slight Delay

We are sad to say that it looks as if our visas will not get here on time for us to leave on the 14th. They should have arrived on time, but the visa service didn't realize that the Russian Embassy would be closed for two days next week, delaying the time they could pick it up. We told them we were willing to pay the fee to have it expedited, but it does not look like the embassy is going to process it any earlier. We are disappointed, but realize that this is in God's hands. We are still praying that it will work out for next weekend, but if not, we will be leaving the following weekend. We will keep you updated. We appreciate your prayers.

Getting ready to go.....

This is my first post on a blog. We are leaving for Russia on June 14 to meet our new daughter. We are adopting from the region of Nizhny, Novgorod. I wanted a way to keep our family and friends up to date and let them share in our adventure and joy while we are in Russia and throughout this process. So for now, our visas are ordered (hopefully they will get here on time, but that will be another story which I hope I will not have to write about) our plane tickets are purchased, and we have a week to finish whatever else needs to be done. We are excited and a little nervous, but know that God is in control and will be with us. We appreciate all of your prayers and will love to see your comments. I will write again before we leave and try to post most days we are in Russia.