May and June 2006

For Chronological viewing, read at from the bottom of this post....

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006 10:43 PM, CDT
Wow! What a busy last few weeks we have had! Just when I think that it MIGHT slow down, BAM! Another flood of "BUSY" comes flying through! :-) Just to get you up to speed. We heard from Oleg finally and he is 90% sure that we will be okay with the adoption. So, onward we go. Now it is just a matter of finances as the United States scrutinizes where every penny ever has gone, is going and will be going. Hopefully that is the next and final hurdle we will have to go over. Keep us in your prayers please as Sasha turned 15 on May 30th and therefore we have less than a year now to bring her home. The first weekend in June I was able to go to my first Women of Faith conference. WOW! It was wonderful! Tammy Trent was one of the guest music artists, and if you haven't heard her music please visit her website at www.tammytrent.com. You will be amazed by this woman's voice and her story. Anyway, I felt compelled to tell her our story. So I e-mailed the story to her office and the next day got a response back from her! She offered us one of her songs to use on our upcoming website and slideshow/video we are putting together! It is called Is Anybody Willing? It is an incredible song and it is in the post I made before this. The next incredible thing that happened, President Bush was visiting Omaha, only about 4 blocks from my house. So, on a whim, I e-mailed him about our ministry and then offered him cake and icecream after he spoke. :-) I knew full well the cake and icecream wouldn't pan out...but hey, you never know unless you try! Anyway, I received a response back from the Vice Presidents office that he was interested in what we were doing and to await further mail. I did receive a letter today offering us assistance (not financial) if needed in the adoption and a pat on the back for what we are doing. I was hoping for a bit more, but they did put their phone number on the letter...I will probably use it! Those of you who know me KNOW I WILL use it! :-) I also recently had a Mary Kay Booth at our Papillion Days. During a slow time I went around to the different church tables and spoke to them about our ministry and adoptions. Several people were very interested and a couple had been considering adoption for some time and were thrilled to hear from me! Isn't God good?! On the pictures page you will find a filthy bathroom from the Cerebral Palsey Orphanage. It is their ONE bathroom for 200+ kids! Also on the photo page are three more teenagers needing sponsorships. If you are interested in sponsorship, I have about 9 teenagers in need. Just let me know you are interested and I will e-mail you their letters and pictures and you can choose from there. One final thing, we have a VERY rough draft of our website up. You can check it out, but for now, our updates will still be here. The address is www.youthofukraine.org. That is the update for now!

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006 10:33 PM, CDT

Is Anybody Willing? -Tammy Trent
There's a hunger in the soul for a love that we can know
From a God who really cares And that His people everywhere
Would row against the tides of life And take a stand for what is right
This is the hope of every boy and girl Is anybody willing...to give a helping hand
Does anybody have the time just to be a friend
'Cause there's a world of children and they all need our love
There's so many if you're willing enough
There's a voice that's calling peace to the poor and to the weak
From a God who gave His Son To gain the world and not lose one
So let's unite and let's agree to be His hands and be His feet
This is the hope of every boy and girl.
From New York City down to Mexico From Moscow,
Russia to Korea's Seoul From the North to the South,
East to the WestHeaven is calling to you...

TUESDAY, JUNE 06, 2006 09:19 PM, CDT

Good evening! Our adoption is still up in the air. We haven't heard back from Oleg yet, so your prayers are still greatly appreciated. We really can't move forward until we get his yay or nay. This past weekend I was able to attend the Women of Faith conference that was here in Omaha. It was an extraordinary experience! The musical group that was there was Avalon. They sang a very touching song that is on thier new album. Orphans of GodWho here among us has not been brokenWho here among us is without guilt or painSo oft’ abandoned by our transgressionsIf such a thing as grace existsThen grace was made for lives like thisThere are no strangersThere are no outcastsThere are no orphans of GodSo many fallen, but hallelujahThere are no orphans of GodCome ye unwanted and find affectionCome all ye weary, come and lay down your headCome ye unworthy, you are my brotherIf such a thing as grace existsThen grace was made for lives like thisO blessed Father, look down upon usWe are Your children, we need Your loveWe run before Your throne of mercyAnd seek Your face to rise above I thought that was so appropriate. Again, your thoughts and prayers are so appreciated! We couldn't do any of this without you! We still have plenty of sponsorships available, and there are still plenty of kids in need of good homes! Blessings to you all!

TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2006 09:49 PM, CDT

Hello! Boy...when it rains it pours let me tell you! Our daughter has Chicken Pox...even though she has been vaccinated...so it has been a crazy week! Forgive me for not updating like I should be! Couple things that need prayer. First of course, the ministry. Again, there are 5 girls on the photo page that need sponsorship. They are all 16 or older, so are no longer available for adoption, but they are part of the Bible Study that Sergey and Julia are teaching. Getting these girls sponsored however, would help free up Julia and Sergey's time so that they could do ministry work full time. More information on the ministry will be coming soon. We spoke to our pastor today and he is very interested in getting this ministry up and running with us. That is very encouraging. Secondly, Sasha's other good friend Masha, is no longer going to be adopted. She is in need of a good home as quickly as possible, as are all of these kids. Your prayers for her, Sasha and all the other children are so appreciated. Finally, we have run into a couple snags with our adoption process. Who knew it was so hard to adopt from Ukraine? Goodness. It is not looking good, but we have calls into Oleg, the facilitator of adoptions over there, and hopefully he can pull some strings for us. Keep us in your prayers please, as we really want this to work. We do understand though that it is in God's hands and all we can do is pray and wait. Thank you again, so much for your prayer support and e-mails. Keep them coming...we SO appreciate them. And they always seem to come at just the right time. God Bless you all!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2006 11:18 PM, CDT

GOOD EVENING!! Well, it has been a few days since I last updated! So sorry! Things can get so hectic around here! Jeff is gone again, but this time he has stayed in the United States! :-) He is in New York/New Jersey for a couple of days for his work! Well, to update all of you, we have gotten all of our referrals in. Now we await the homestudy, fingerprinting, etc. Such a lengthy process! We take one day at a time though! We are making some progress on the ministry front! I have had contact with several churches and are just awaiting the final "okay" on that. I spoke at one of our churches MOPs groups last week and had a great response, and tomorrow I speak to the other MOPs group at our church. And then I believe that we will be speaking later in the month to our two church services! That will be exciting! I ask that you continue to pray for the progress of this ministry and our adoption as well as other pending adoptions out there! On the photo page I have pictures of 5 girls who are involved in Julia and Sergey's bible study. I am unsure of their ages, but it is always nice to put faces on God's children that are being nurtured by these wonderful people. Keep the prayers coming and we love the guest book entries! Also, we will be sending another package to Ukraine in the coming weeks. If you have a penpal that you would like to send something to, give us the gift with $5 enclosed to help wtih shipping. We will make sure it gets to the right child. Finally, if you are considering sponsorship of any of these children, especially the ones in photos on the photo page, please contact us as soon as possible as we want to begin the sponsorship process immediately. Thank you once again for your prayers and support!!

TUESDAY, MAY 02, 2006 11:37 AM, CDT

Hello mighty prayer warriors!! Thank you SO much for your prayers, your e-mails, your thoughts, your phone calls! All are SO very helpful! Make sure if you haven't been here for awhile that you read all the past journal entries as we are still desperately trying to find a family for little Tolik and also help a family here in Omaha adopt Nastia. Pictures of them are in the photo album. We are working on setting up a different website that will allow many more pictures and better updates, etc. I am looking forward to it, but until then, keep coming back and checking it out! We have our paperwork done and turned in to bring Sasha home. Now we just have to wait on our end for the homestudy. Once that is complete, we are so much closer to bringing her home! Her best friend Alyona who lives not far from Fremont is EXTREMELY excited to see Sasha once again! I got the opportunity to meet LuAnn, Alyona's adoptive mom last Thursday night! What a blessing that was! My heart still aches for all of the children that are soon to turn 16. As you know from other entries, once they turn 16 they can no longer be adopted and are often times asked to leave the orphanage. Please consider prayerfully your place in one of these young peoples hearts. Whether you are to just continue in prayer, seek adoption possibilities, or if you know someone who could help in anyway. These young people have little to no hope once they are 16. Please also prayerfully consider your part in sponsoring their Christian education. If they are to leave the orphanage at 16, we want them to at least have a good relationship with the Lord. Thank you so much for all of your prayers! Keep on checking for updates!