The Most Terrible Week

I apologize for the title of this post, but I can't think of a more fitting title. Monday the 9th, I was on my way home from an early-morning job when I received a call on my cell from Michael saying Elliana had e-mailed saying not to buy our plane tickets, not to reschedule Michael's 3-day trial. Too late. Both had already been done. I buzzed over to Michael's office, and we phoned Yuri and Elliana, who told us what had happened to the K. family. Their children had been manipulated and pressured into saying no to being adopted! Once the children say no, it puts an end to it.

In shock, we said, "But Bogdan won't say no. We have upwards of 20 letters asking us when we're coming. He is a strong-willed little boy. He won't say no."

Yuri told us it doesn't matter, that the orphanage will find another way to block the adoption. By way of background, the regional woman over this orphanage is very anti-international adoption, pro-national adoption. She has been honored for keeping Ukrainian orphans in Ukraine. She has told the director of the Kremenchuk orphanage that if one more orphan leaves with an international family, he (the director) will be fired.

Yuri told us they would use other tactics to stop the adoption if Bogdan said yes, that someone working there at the orphanage like a cook or a nanny could be awarded guardianship and Bogdan would then be officially "unavailable" at the SDA level. We also heard the the last twenty or so attempted international adoptions had all failed except one, which happened to occur when the director was out of town.

So you can only imagine our emotional state the last five days. Then on top of it all, Friday morning we learned that our facilitator called Bogdan's grandpa and gleaned information that Bogdan's mother was released from prison in December and may be initiating paperwork to reinstate her parental rights!

It seems as though all hell has broken loose on our adoption. Save a Child Foundation has been so kind to us. We had a phone conference with many people, including D.L., who has a lot of contacts in high places in Ukraine. (Thanks for setting that up, D.H.) Save a Child Foundation has hired him (Mr. L.) to go to bat for us and the other Kremenchuk families, but he can't go to Ukraine for at least a month. We have placed a lot of hope in him.

So, we are postponing our SDA date for now. This decision came through much fasting and prayer. Michael and I both received the same answer to our pleas to Heavenly Father. We are rescheduling hopefully sometime in June to see what happens through Mr. L. We are so thankful to all of you out there who have prayed and fasted for us. The support has been amazing. We ask that you continue to pray for us, and we will continue to do so for your families. It will take nothing less than a miracle to bring these children home. How fitting that at the benefit concert last October, we all got up on stage and sang "There Can Be Miracles."

God be with the families leaving for Ukraine this next week. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you.