Delays?

Picture of Orphanage entry walkway. The building is very large and currently has at least 180 children, from age 6 to 20.

Well, we are hearing a little more information each day about our case and how it is perceived by others. There are a few concerns that have come up.

First, we found that Maxim has an older brother and there is concern about not separating them. Our understanding is that there is a new law in Ukraine that orphan siblings must not be separated. The twist for us is that Maxim was given up at birth, he and his brother have never been together, and another Ukrainian household has taken in his brother. The brother is not even listed with the Ukrainian State Department of Adoption. We have court papers stating that not only was Maxim immediately given up at birth but his mother's parental rights were also stripped as far as his brother is concerned. She abandoned them both. So please be praying for direction. We know God is sovereign and if we are to bring Maxim home, nothing will stop that.

But we have to wait for extra court papers from the birth city stating that the brother is not up for adoption. If he is, we have a decision to make. Both or none. Right now, everything we have seen indicates the brother is not available to adopt.



Second concern is just with the director of the orphanage because she is not familiar with the idea that anyone would home school their children. We had to carefully explain this morning that we have books and materials just as children in a school would and that our children can still go to college someday if desired and we are not the only ones in our nation doing this.

The third thing that came up is that just a couple of days ago, an American woman went into the Kiev airport with a twelve year old Ukrainian girl, intending to leave the country with her. After they got through security and headed for a gate, the girl began to cry. Authorities asked if she wanted to go with the woman and she said no. It turns out, the girl was being kidnapped. So of course this draws national attention to the possibility that this can happen and Igor is having to reassure many people that we really love Maxim and do not intend any harm.

Please pray for discernment, a spirit of love and compassion rather than fear for everyone involved, and that everything will move forward as God wills, in a timely manner.

Today, we met two more of the teachers who work with the children; a woman who teaches the younger children and a man who is a German instructor to the older children. They were both very friendly to us and quick to switch to English so we could get to know them better. Olesya was the second person to express how loved Maxim is here and that she knows of one woman who has spoken of adopting him but will not pursue it because we are here. The German instructor asked if we could meet for a short time with his students because they would like to practice their English as well.

Maxim is using a lot of Daniel's energy especially because he is starting to really enjoy piggy back rides, flips, and anything that involves wrestling with his daddy. When it was time to stop today, Maxim went into the playroom "doctor" area, got a toy syringe and gave us both more shots. That is our reward for having to leave this morning. Maybe it was to give us more energy.
He shared his delicious homemade bread and honey with us too. Very good.


Maxim but will not pursue it because we are here.