Good News in Kherson!

We arrived in Kherson around 10:15 to a bit of a snowstorm, but warmer than in Kiev at least. After a quick breakfast, we went to the office of the district supervisor for the orphanage system. We needed a letter of introduction from her to be able to visit the children recommended to us by the SDA. She was very helpful and friendly. Turns out her daughter studied in the US, married an American and now lives in Pittsburgh.

We then proceeded to the orphanage where we met with the director. She too was extremely friendly and positive about us adopting from her orphanage. Throughout the rooms we saw, one could tell that the orphanage is well run and the children well cared for. It turned out that the older boy, Alexander, was in public school and would not return until 2 PM. The younger boy Oleg was juct being putted down for a nap. So the director asked us to return after 3:00.

When we returned after lunch, we waited in a play room and soon the younger boy came in. After about 5 seconds of shyness, he came over and let us hug him then sat in maggie's lap. Soon Alexander (called Sasha) also came in. We played and talked with both boys. Then Maggie showed a lot of pictures. Very soon, Oleg asked if we could take him to our home as he wanted to play with our dog Simba. Alex told us that he dreamed of having a sister. Within less than a half hour, we indicated to our case worker Natasha that we wanted to go ahead with the adoption. So she has started the procedures. We need to apply for a court date. After the court awards us custoday of the children, only one of us needs to be here. In the meantime, we will plan to stay here for the coming days and get to know the boys better. Olga also came down from Kiev and will stay with us and be our official interpreter at the orphanage.

We are staying in a nice apartment recommended by another American couple that also adopted from Kherson a few years ago. The one big drawback is that there is no Internet access. So we are looking for a way to hook up our computers to upload photos, etc.

Thanks again to all who have prayed for us. We were feeling quite discouraged but now that feeling is gone! We do ask for prayed that all the legal processes that need to take place will do so in the shortest time possible!