Just wanted to alert you about a site where a missionary friend of mine posts political news about Ukraine and other former Soviet Union countries. He gathers data from a variety of sources and then posts them in a very readable and understandable format. This information will help you all to pray in a more informed manner. Doug, thank you for pulling the info together!
(Click on the BIG orange in the sidebar)
Sergiy was born 18 months ago to an HIV+ mother. Naturally he also tested positive at birth because his blood contained his mother's antibodies. Sergiy has lived these first months of his life shuffled back and forth between an orphanage and the infectious disease hospital. I first met him last spring and was immediately enchanted! Can you blame me? He and more than 20 other children were living at the hospital while their orphanage was being renovated. You can only imagine how difficult that would be for the staff...it's a difficult enough job to take care of the sick children, but when you also have 20 "well" children on the ward who all want attention, it's overwhelming.
I visited several times a week always with at least one other person. We arrived around 9:30 each morning and helped with the feeding time. Without our extra hands, the majority of the children were fed by propping bottles against small stuffed animals in their beds. There is simply not enough staff to go around. After breakfast we had the privilege of taking some of the children outside in the grass. The youngest children spent some time on a balcony of the hospital in a playpen or in walkers.
The orphanage was finally ready for these children at the end of the summer. Dr. Marina, a loving pediatrician, invited us to visit regularly at the orphanage. This has to be one of the most beautiful orphanages I have ever seen. But again, there is not enough staff to go around. Michelle and I regularly went in and plopped ourselves on the floor with the children...we would play with them, tickle them and generally send them into laughing spells. It was such a delight to hear their playful squeals!
And then, one day, we were asked to not return. We never did quite understand the reasons. We only knew that we missed "our" children. Eventually I was able to get in off-and-on through a Ukrainian organization, but we could only take the children outside...we were not able to visit them inside.
Recently Sergiy was back in the hospital for strep throat (minimum stay: 1 week). I asked a friend of mine why he thought Sergiy had to stay at the hospital for so long. Viktor smiled at me and quietly said, "So that you can see him more easily." Good answer!
The staff of the hospital asked me if I was not coming back now that "my" kids were gone. I was so surprised -- I was sure that they only needed me while so many "well" children were there. I have been invited to come in as many afternoons a week as I would like. I have gone several times. Once to see Sergiy, of course, and then returned to help with the infants. Three young'uns who tested positive at birth. So small, so sweet, and so happy to be held!
At 18 months the children are retested. If they are positive it is no longer because they have their mother's antibodies; it is because they have the virus themselves.
And, hallelujah, Sergiy tested NEGATIVE! Now PRAY for this precious young boy to be adopted by a Christian family. (Preferably somewhere where I can see him from time to time...pretty selfish, eh?) And pray for these other children to also test negative. And that they may be placed in families...
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We are currently experiencing the coldest temperatures that I have ever personally lived through. And I am here to tell you that
It is REALLY C-C-C-C-COLD!
When Jim checked the weather yesterday, the low for the past 24-hours had been -24F. And yesterday, when the temperature registered -13F...the windchill factor made it SEEM like -37F!
Today, mid-afternoon, it's a balmy -6F.
 Fair |
-6°F
Feels Like -15°F |
Rest assured that we have a pot of chili simmering and lots of blankets! This cold front is supposed to last through next week. We're thankful to all those ministries who offer physical aid for those on the street, and we ask you to pray for these workers, that they may have opportunities to share the warmth of the love of Christ. And pray that the homeless may have ears to hear.
Wednesday night a whole crew of us went to TGIFriday's to celebrate together the birthdays of Alice Moore and Jim. Looking pretty American? Well, the prices are, too! We don't often eat there, but, hey, this is a birthday celebration! Wednesday was Alice's birthday, and today, Thursday, is Jim's. May the Lord bless them both with many fruitful years of service! You are loved!
(Click on the image to view a larger picture!)
I just realized that though I am recording most everything going on in our lives in a diary format, I stopped posting events at this site. Sorry! I started making notes elsewhere so that I wouldn't forget details, and then, instead, I simply forgot to post them.
I just finished reading a book authored by Ken Gire called Windows of the Soul, experiencing God in new ways. I originally thought that I would just read a section every week or so, but it totally captivated me. Every single chapter was another challenge to my faith -- in how I understood it, how I lived it, how I shared it. I would love to share verbatim with you some of the sections, but it is copyrighted and I am warned to not post any part without permission.
BUT, I will say that I read a chapter called Windows of Vocation while I was home alone for a period of time. And I spent a lot of time considering what he wrote and I jotted down my thoughts at the time:
Read another chapter in Ken Gire’s book called Windows of the Soul. This particular chapter was realizing God’s vocational choice for you, if that makes sense. That there are some things that make you so happy, glad, energized to be doing them that even though you spend hours at the “job,” you still have energy left over. The author was describing some things from his childhood that SHOULD have been signals to him. As he looks back, he sees these open windows that he hadn’t recognized at the time. It made me stop and think about things in my childhood that I vividly remember. Or those things that make me smile when I think about them. It always goes back to a book that I read called The Family That Nobody Wanted. I honestly don’t remember much about the book except that it impacted me deeply – a couple adopting children from all over the world. Whenever I ask anyone if they’ve ever read it, invariably I get no as the response. Well, after reading this chapter I decided to google the title. And, lo and behold! The book is back in print again!! I’ll have to buy it just to reread it and see what touched me so back then. Another favorite book was Cheaper by the Dozen, a story of a family with 10 children (making the family 12, or else 12 children…can’t remember exactly). But I loved the idea of having a large family. Turning 30 on my honeymoon didn’t give me a lot of time to make that happen, but starting with twin daughters sure gave it a jumpstart! And then two years later adding a son. And then…why I started listening to the voices around me I’ll never know. How are you ever going to afford to feed them, clothe them, educate them? I hadn’t asked myself those questions; just figured we’d do it somehow. But I couldn’t give a good answer. I thought I needed to be practical.
Now, nearly 23 years after the girls were born, I still wonder why I listened to the voices. I know that God is sovereign, and He could have provided more children if that was His plan.
Is He providing more? Adoption had entered our minds at one point. We even began the whole process of the home evaluation, etc. The thought was that we could provide a home for someone who really needed one. Eventually we just got busy with life and our three children and gave up the idea of adding to the family.
Now we’re in Ukraine. And just yesterday I saw precious Sergiy being transported from the orphanage to the hospital because he has strep throat. All bundled up, ready to meet the cold air head-on. Such a sweet face. And almost a smile when he saw us. This child doesn’t need a hospital – he needs a HOME! What do we do? The expense of adopting is overwhelming. Do we offer ourselves as foster parents in a foreign country…willing to parent those unadoptable children with AIDS? Do we try to create another setting -- an environment that is more homelike than the orphanage? How can we help these children? What can I do? Lord, speak to me!!! Where should I focus my energy?
Please pray for wisdom as we test the waters. Simply gathering information will take concentrated effort. Laws. Ever-changing laws. But if this is truly a project that God is in, He will see to it that we navigate these uncharted waters safely.
NOTE: By recommending this book as food for thought does NOT mean that I agree with everything that the author has written.
Our pastor preached a wonderful New Year's Day message yesterday. He didn't want us to lightly enter into 2006 without first reviewing our past.
He quoted Isaiah 46:3-4: "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs [I especially liked this description...] I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."
We serve the Almighty God. The One who created us. And Who promises to sustain us and carry us into the future. Pastor Ivan encouraged us to be like Isaiah -- to begin our review of last year focusing on God's character:
Isaiah 63:7-9: "I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us -- yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. He said, 'Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me'; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of the old."
Remembering the faithfulness of our Savior in the past gives us the courage to move forward with confidence. Our God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He was with us in the good times and He was with us in the rough times. He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Isaiah 40:28-31: "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Who could ask for anything more? The Lord who does not tire promises to be with us through this next year, even renewing our strength as we hope in Him.
We are looking forward with confidence to an amazing year in service to the King.
