Monday, January 28, 2013
Russian Adoption Ban Frustrates American Couples
An adoption ban was threatened several times during our wait to bring Galina home, but now it has become a reality and there are many children caught in the middle of the adoption process who will not be able to come home. Here is an update. So sad!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year 2013
(click on picture to view larger image)
Happy New Year! This was going to be a Christmas letter, but
our entire family (except Chad)
came down with the flu and has been sick since Christmas Eve. Thankfully, we were feeling pretty good on
Christmas Day and were able to enjoy a morning of opening presents and
celebrating before we started really feeling bad. We are all finally starting to feel better
and are looking forward to an exciting New Year in Cheyenne!
So much has happened in 2012, I don’t know where to start! Galina enjoyed a wonderful first year home from Russia and time getting to know her extended family. We put our house on the market over the summer and began to pursue plans to help bring Teen Challenge to Wyoming, as we have felt called to do for several years. The doors first opened in 2009, but it just wasn’t God’s timing. We knew we needed to complete Galina’s adoption and allow her time to bond with her family first. However, we felt the Lord leading us to try again this year and our house sold quickly after we put it on the market. We received a series of confirmations and moved on November 3rd, exactly one year from our “gotcha” day in Russia (the day we received custody of Galina). We are so happy she was able to have that first year in Ohio to get to know all of her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. They have made a lasting impression on her and she now clearly identifies them as her “family.” Thank you for understanding our need to keep her world small during the first year. We felt it was important that she spent that time getting to know her family first, especially with the possibility of moving ahead of us. We are now settling into life in Wyoming, exploring and making new friends!
Chad is currently working as Senior Case Manager at Comea House & Resource Center (www.comeashelter.org) in Cheyenne. Comea House is an emergency shelter for men, women and families experiencing homelessness. Residents at the shelter receive a hot, nutritious meal at night and breakfast in the morning; showers; access to the free clothing pantry; and free medical attention at Cheyenne Crossroads Clinic next door. Currently, the shelter can accommodate 50 men, 12 women and two families at a time. Chad has also been working in the community to start a local Lifeline Connection (www.lifelineconnection.org). Lifeline Connection is ministry of Teen Challenge offering a faith-based alternative to court-ordered secular groups and is the first step in introducing Teen Challenge in a new area. It has been amazing to see how God has already put the desire for a faith based program in the hearts of the believers here. Two local churches in Cheyenne have already agreed to host a Lifeline and our church is hosting a training seminar in March for community leaders in Cheyenne and other parts of the state. The need, support and desire for Teen Challenge in Wyoming are strong and everyone we meet is excited about the possibility of a residential program here. We are excited to see how God puts all the pieces together in His time. We will be starting a newsletter for anyone who might be interested in hearing the progress or supporting the ministry in some way. Please let us know if you’d like to be on the mailing list.
Benjamin and Galina continue to excel in their studies and we have enjoyed the freedom of home schooling amidst all of our travels. We spent some time during our first few weeks on field trips learning about and getting to know our new community and state. We were able to visit the State Capitol and learn many interesting facts about Wyoming’s history. We also went on a field trip to the Wyoming Welcome Center with the local homeschool group and have attended some fun events such as roller skating and the homeschool Christmas party at the Laramie County Library, which has given us a chance to make some new friends. We also have enjoyed hiking and had the amazing experience of cutting down our Christmas tree the way the pioneers did it. We traveled to the Snowy Range in the Medicine Bow National Forest and cut down a tree in the mountains. During our hike through the forest, we saw evidence of lots of different wildlife. Little did we know that the “droppings” we saw belonged to the local black bears! Good thing there were a lot of other people there that day. I’m sure they were far from our tree cutting site.
We were sad to see that Russia placed a ban on international adoptions beginning on January 1, 2013. The faces of the orphans we saw on our two trips there in 2011 will be imprinted on our hearts forever. Please join us in prayer for President Putin and the leaders of the Russian Duma as well as the many families and children who were in process that will not be allowed to complete their adoptions. We are so grateful that Galina made it home before this happened and our hearts ache to think of those children who will not be able to have a forever family due to this new law.
We have enjoyed many new experiences in our new home and are looking forward to many more. We are thankful for the many ways God has blessed us, including new friends and a wonderful church family. We wish we would have had more time to say our goodbyes to everyone in Cincinnati, but hope to be back for a visit in the spring. We have an extra bedroom and would love to be your host and tour guide if you ever have the desire for a western vacation!
May God bless you and keep you healthy in the New Year!
Blessings,
Chad, Emily, Benjamin & Galina “Hope”
So much has happened in 2012, I don’t know where to start! Galina enjoyed a wonderful first year home from Russia and time getting to know her extended family. We put our house on the market over the summer and began to pursue plans to help bring Teen Challenge to Wyoming, as we have felt called to do for several years. The doors first opened in 2009, but it just wasn’t God’s timing. We knew we needed to complete Galina’s adoption and allow her time to bond with her family first. However, we felt the Lord leading us to try again this year and our house sold quickly after we put it on the market. We received a series of confirmations and moved on November 3rd, exactly one year from our “gotcha” day in Russia (the day we received custody of Galina). We are so happy she was able to have that first year in Ohio to get to know all of her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. They have made a lasting impression on her and she now clearly identifies them as her “family.” Thank you for understanding our need to keep her world small during the first year. We felt it was important that she spent that time getting to know her family first, especially with the possibility of moving ahead of us. We are now settling into life in Wyoming, exploring and making new friends!
Chad is currently working as Senior Case Manager at Comea House & Resource Center (www.comeashelter.org) in Cheyenne. Comea House is an emergency shelter for men, women and families experiencing homelessness. Residents at the shelter receive a hot, nutritious meal at night and breakfast in the morning; showers; access to the free clothing pantry; and free medical attention at Cheyenne Crossroads Clinic next door. Currently, the shelter can accommodate 50 men, 12 women and two families at a time. Chad has also been working in the community to start a local Lifeline Connection (www.lifelineconnection.org). Lifeline Connection is ministry of Teen Challenge offering a faith-based alternative to court-ordered secular groups and is the first step in introducing Teen Challenge in a new area. It has been amazing to see how God has already put the desire for a faith based program in the hearts of the believers here. Two local churches in Cheyenne have already agreed to host a Lifeline and our church is hosting a training seminar in March for community leaders in Cheyenne and other parts of the state. The need, support and desire for Teen Challenge in Wyoming are strong and everyone we meet is excited about the possibility of a residential program here. We are excited to see how God puts all the pieces together in His time. We will be starting a newsletter for anyone who might be interested in hearing the progress or supporting the ministry in some way. Please let us know if you’d like to be on the mailing list.
Benjamin and Galina continue to excel in their studies and we have enjoyed the freedom of home schooling amidst all of our travels. We spent some time during our first few weeks on field trips learning about and getting to know our new community and state. We were able to visit the State Capitol and learn many interesting facts about Wyoming’s history. We also went on a field trip to the Wyoming Welcome Center with the local homeschool group and have attended some fun events such as roller skating and the homeschool Christmas party at the Laramie County Library, which has given us a chance to make some new friends. We also have enjoyed hiking and had the amazing experience of cutting down our Christmas tree the way the pioneers did it. We traveled to the Snowy Range in the Medicine Bow National Forest and cut down a tree in the mountains. During our hike through the forest, we saw evidence of lots of different wildlife. Little did we know that the “droppings” we saw belonged to the local black bears! Good thing there were a lot of other people there that day. I’m sure they were far from our tree cutting site.
We were sad to see that Russia placed a ban on international adoptions beginning on January 1, 2013. The faces of the orphans we saw on our two trips there in 2011 will be imprinted on our hearts forever. Please join us in prayer for President Putin and the leaders of the Russian Duma as well as the many families and children who were in process that will not be allowed to complete their adoptions. We are so grateful that Galina made it home before this happened and our hearts ache to think of those children who will not be able to have a forever family due to this new law.
We have enjoyed many new experiences in our new home and are looking forward to many more. We are thankful for the many ways God has blessed us, including new friends and a wonderful church family. We wish we would have had more time to say our goodbyes to everyone in Cincinnati, but hope to be back for a visit in the spring. We have an extra bedroom and would love to be your host and tour guide if you ever have the desire for a western vacation!
May God bless you and keep you healthy in the New Year!
Blessings,
Chad, Emily, Benjamin & Galina “Hope”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
