Friday, May 20, 2011

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Friday and Saturday (5/20 & 5/21)
Thank the Lord we picked up Jonathan's US visa today.  We have tickets to fly out on Saturday morning at 6:45 am.  We should arrive in Gulfport, MS around 8:37 pm CST on Saturday night (5/21).

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

IN THE HOMESTRETCH

Sunday, May 15, 2011
We arrived in Kiev on time after a bouncy train ride.  Watching the sun rise at 4 am in Eastern Europe from the cabin of a clickety-clackety is not something I do everyday.  Our facilitator, Sasha, met us at the station.  He wrecked his car earlier, and therefore, had a friend, Uri, who was kind enough to shuttle us about in his SUV.  How nice!!!  Leg room!!!  We went to McDonalds for breakfast.  Then, to kill time until our apartment became available at noon, we toured the town.  We visited an outdoor war museum and took lots of pictures.  We bought groceries and then checked into the apartment that has high speed Internet.

Monday, May 16, 2011
We slept past 8 and had breakfast.  Then, some former apartment guest was kind enough to leave behind a map of Kiev in English.  With a little help from Sasha during a brief morning visit, we got our bearings.  Later, we ventured out to the market for more supplies.  (Everything is expensive in downtown Kiev.)  Later, we walked up a high hill (many of those around here), and then went several blocks to a nice park that overlooks at least in 1 place, the river.  We enjoyed ice cream and entertainment by skateboard enthusiasts.  Then we paid for Jonathan to slide for a few minutes.  Afterwards, we played on the free park equipment and enjoyed a long time swinging, Jonathan and I that is.  Lisa's equilibrium and swinging do not get along together.  After a while, Jonathan slipped out of the swing but was still caught by his arms and therefore his feet and knees drug.  He jumped up and acted more concerned over his blue jeans than his body.  Though we was not crying, Momma came and kissed his bobos and made them better.  He was sitting in the swing that I had occupied most of the time.  While she was nursing her little one back to quick health, a discourteous pigeon bombed her from the air.  Splat went the bomb smack in the top of her freshly washed hair!  Momma was not happy, but Jonathan and Papa laughed until we cried.

Later that evening, Jonathan entertained us with about 30 minutes of handstands and backflips.  He likes all the attention and he is pretty agile and nimble.

Finally, we got a call from Sasha telling us the name change had posted in the system.  The passport application would go in immediately.  He would try to get us an appointment at the embassy for a medical on Wednesday and for a visa on Thursday.  Thank the Lord!  Please keep praying for our quick and safe return.

Jonathan is becoming more and more willing to try out English words.  So there is progress on all fronts.

Our goal is still to fly out this coming weekend but that depends on many variables.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

We have a new son named Jonathan Jones!!! Thanks be to God!!!

Monday-Friday, May 2-6
We visited the orphanage every day.  Some things are universal.  Ukrainian dogs put cats up trees.  Mischievous Ukrainian boys chase screaming Ukrainian girls with lizards.  Etc.  Something new for us was that we ventured onto public transport in an effort to save money.  The first day, Monday, we took the right bus/van to the orphanage, but the wrong bus back to town.  At the end of the route, we were basically evicted from the bus at a location we had never visited before.  About that same time, our new friend, Kyle, also from the states happened to call—a God thing to be sure.  He had his friend, Helen, give us a call.  Helen had me give my phone to a pedestrian nearby who was able to tell Helen where we were.  A cab arrived in 5 minutes to take us to our apartment.  Thereafter, we took the right bus back to town.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday May 7, 8, and 9
The adoption court order became effective on Saturday, May 7.  Praise the Lord!  Yvan became Jonathan Evan Jones.  It was really anti-climactic though.  We went to the orphanage to pick him up for a 3-day weekend.  That weekend was great.  On Saturday, Oleg, our cab driver, took Jonathan and me to a children’s arcade/play center.  Jonathan and I had a good time.  We rode bumper cars, played arcade games, shot air rifles.  He bowled and played in big play station.  Oleg shot better than I did in the air rifle gallery.  Saturday night, we visited New Hope worship center in town.  This is basically a nondenominational worship center led by Pastor John from the Vancouver area.  Many internationals attend there and many locals.  The room was filled with people. 

On Sunday, Oleg delivered a dozen roses to Lisa for Mother’s Day that was a gift from Jared and Jason.  (Lisa was quite surprised at this!)  Also, Jonathan drew her a card and presented her with some chocolate candy.  Later, Lisa, Jonathan, and I went to the Baptist church near the orphanage at Matveevka.  There we dedicated Jonathan to the Lord.  Pastor Nikolai was gracious enough to let me preach again.  Dr. Vladimir from the seminary in Zaporizhzhya was visiting also, and he translated fabulously for me.  The church presented Jonathan with a Bible Story book that is in Russian.  A few ladies served a wonderful meal at lunch downstairs in the fellowship hall.  The table was beautifully set and it was a meal of several courses.  Pastor Nikolai and I discussed a ministry to provide transitional assistance to orphans who age out of the system into the real world.

On Monday, Jonathan, Lisa, Sergei and I walked the street in Zaporizhzhya.  It was Victory Day.  This day marks the anniversary that the German surrender in WWII took effect in Moscow.  This is a big deal because Ukraine was occupied in WWII.  Afterward, Lisa returned to the apartment, but Sergei, Jonathan and I walked to the Neipr Ricca (Neipr River).  It is huge like the Mississippi, and it dissects the country from North to South.  Basically, the region to the West is more pro-Western and the region to the East is more Pro-Soviet.  There was a red tent with red communist literature on the street and a few people were adorning their insignia but most were wearing memorial ribbons to commemorate the soldiers who fought during WWII.  There were many old gentlemen dressed sharply wearing their medals and few old ladies who were donning some too.

So there were 3 significant days in a row.  Adoption Day on the 7th, Mother’s Day on the 8th, and Victory Day on the 9.

Tuesday-Saturday, May 10-14, 2011
On Tuesday, we went to Vondansk to file papers for a name change on Jonathan’s national registration.  Everyone has a national ID# and his name had to be changed now that he is a Jones.  This has proven to be a hold up on everything.  He was born in the Zaporizhzhya region but now lives in the Vondansk region.  So the office in town could NOT file his name change, but the one about 40 minutes away had to do so.  (This was supposed to take only 3 days, but today is Saturday, 4 days later, and the change has not posted in the Ukrainian system, and we cannot get his Ukrainian passport without this change being posted and we cannot be processed at the US Embassy without his passport.)  We also tried to get his passport pictures taken and make application for his passport but the office would not oblige us.  We had to have a notary/advocate prepare the application.  Everything has to have a notary/advocate (basically an attorney) prepare it.  By Friday, the registration change had still not transpired.

On Friday, we made a wasted trip to pick up the name change but it had come in.  We also had a going away party at the orphanage for Jonathan (something I missed because of the wasted trip to Vondansk.)  We took 2 cakes, potato chips (a big hit), fruit juice, and candy sufficient for 25 as we had been instructed, but we had twice as much.  So left the balance with his class.  When he was telling his class goodbye, he hugged all the boys, and shook all the girls’ hands.  There was a big group hug.  The cab driver said that Jonathan seemed to him to be a leader in his class.  We took pictures.  Jonathan Evan Jones left the orphanage for good.  He seemed very glad—not sad at all.

On Saturday, we looked at books together, played with pillows making a huge cave on the sprawling living room sofa, and took a long walk to buy some things.  Later, we will catch a train from Zaporizhzhya to Kiev around 7:30.  We told our cab driver, Oleg, farewell.  This man has been a tremendous help.  He not only shuttled us most places we needed to go, he also translated and smoothed over some situations for us.  He understands Americans pretty well, and he knows the culture here.  He has done this many times and it shows.  His expertise, though he said he had none, was priceless.  He has been a God send in this process.  By the way, it is thundering outside today for the first time.  When we arrived in April, we arrived in snow and ice and bare trees.  Today, it is thundering, trees are covered with leaves and blossoms, and the weather has warmed considerably.

We have delegated authority to our agents in Zaporizhzhya to pick up documents and process paperwork for us here so we can proceed with travel to Kiev.  I doubt that our goal of flying out on Saturday, May 21, will be realized.  But with God all things are possible!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Playing at the Park

Saturday 4/30
Our plans for picking up our son on Saturday did not materialize.  Our translator, Lisa and I were taken by our driver to the orphanage.  We arrived the same time our son and all of his classmates were boarding a bus for the city.  They had planned an outing already.  So we did not think it right to pull our son off the bus to go with us.  I told our translator that we had to plan better.  I had asked him in the past to call the orphanage to ensure there were no conflicts but he was not willing to do so.  So we were bummed out over the dry run to the orphanage and over not getting time with Jonathan Evan.

That night, we watched one of the Star Wars movies in Russian or Ukrainian.

Sunday 5/1
Sunday was a holiday.  Lisa and I worshipped in our apartment since scheduling made it hard to get to church and to the orphanage.  We heard a fine sermon by Tony Merida of Temple Baptist (tbclife.net) that he apparently preached from Jerusalem on Resurrection Sunday courtesy of downloadable MP3 files.  We also listened to some beautiful piano music of some of our favorite gospel hymns from jesus-is-savior.com. 

Our driver picked us up at 12 and we went to the orphanage.  We picked up our son and went back to town.  There we visited a facility containing several things of interest.  Tickets for the translator, Lisa, Jonathan and me were only about $10.  Sergei, the translator said something about the cheap tickets for the old man.  I don't know if he was trying to say adults or senior citizens; his english is not that good.  I told him there were no "old men" in our party.  He blushed.   We took a train ride through the park where there were many city dwellers who were picnicking on the beautiful sunny holiday.  Jonathan was kind of bored with this 35 minute rideIn addition to a small zoo, the park also had a terrarium with some snakes, some large ones, and Jonathan loved this.  It also had an aquarium and he enjoyed the fish also. .  Afterwards we also watched him play on a huge inflatable slide.  He loved this.  He also enjoyed playing in the McDonald's style playgym set once he got the hang of what it was about.  It was nice seeing the world through the eyes of a child again. 

When we were done, we went home to the apartment.  Jonathan and I played ball outside while Lisa cooked chicken and rice and broccoli for supper.  Then we came in and all played with toy trucks and cars.  Then we put together a puzzle of 2 kittens.  (I hate puzzles and I don't like cats but I enjoyed spending time with Jonathan.)  Then we had supper.  He liked the chicken and rice and cheese.  But, in a reminiscent universal way, he pointed to the broccoli and said with a grimmace, "no, papa, no."  We laughed and said okay.  After supper, we finished the 100 piece puzzle and left for the orphanage.

We watched another Star Wars movie that night.

Monday, April 11, 2011

On the Ground in Kiev

Flying went mostly well.  We were a bit late leaving Houston for Frankfort and I was concerned about missing our connecting flight as you may have heard.  Turns out, our connecting flight to Kiev was delayed because of a plane problem.  They actually obained a different plane for us.  (Original plane had actually started boarding when a technical problem was found causing boarding to stop which allowed us more than enough time to arrive and board ourselves.)

How wonderful it was to have an English speaking friend waiting for us at the airport!  Our facilitator is a very nice man who studied in the USA.  Everything went smoothly and quickly at the airport.  As soon as we claimed our bags, we breezed through the airport.

We had a little trouble getting our Internet service established in our apartment where we are living at least through Thursday afternoon. 

Our apartment is very nice and is in or near the part of town where the government is located.

Light occasional snow is falling outside.

As the time draws near for our appointment where we will be making very important decisions regarding the enlargement of our family through adoption, please pray that God would very clearly guide us.  What a very special time is this!  See James 1:27.  Psalms 27 has been my favorite passage for our journey here.

We are hoping to visit the seminary this afternoon here in Kiev where I have a couple of friends. 

For the most part, we rested very well last night.  Jet lag is an issue however.  It is about 10:23 am here but our bodies think it is about 2:24 am I believe.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Excitement Builds as Preparation Continues

Our excitement is growing while we busily make last minute preparations for home, church, and business.

Please pray that we will take care of all the details needing our attention and pray that God will be working in the hearts of the children we hope to adopt to prepare them and in our hearts to prepare us.