Sunday in Ukraine

I am writing this after 9:30 pm Ukraine time when it's only about 12:30 (after noon) back home. We are nine hours ahead. I know everyone at Riverside is just getting out of church and I wonder how it went today. We've been praying for all our friends and loved ones back home.

Our Sunday here went well. Tanya picked up the girls for church this morning, and we were really looking forward to sitting with them. But as it turns out, they do things differently here. The children are in a separate class from the adults and in a separate worship service until the very end when they come to the auditorium, but sit in a special "children's" section during the communion. So we didn't really get to be with them during church at all, and we were a little disappointed. But we were thankful they were there. They said they liked it. I guess we'll have to wait until we're back at Riverside to all attend church together as a family!

The people at the church were very welcoming and friendly and we enjoyed being with them, even though it is difficult for us because of the language. The preacher, Alexander (nicknamed Sasha), seems to be a very good speaker. He is animated and passionate, and interacts with the audience (kind of reminded me of Mark!). I wish I could understand more of the lesson, but I picked up words here and there, and could understand when he gave a Bible reference, so I would turn to that and read for awhile. Mark said he was able to get a lot of the main idea, so it wasn't too bad for him. The words, "Slova Gospadah" were used a lot. This means "The word of the Lord." I got that every time! They played some really neat Russian accapella Christian music before class and in between class and assembly. Mark was visiting with the man who was running the sound system, and told him he liked the music, so the man made him a copy of the CD! Fun!

When we sang songs they used a hymn book that only has words - no music, but it has the English words on the left side and the Russian words on the right, so we could sing along to most of the songs. This morning one song the song leader led was "Anywhere with Jesus." We thought that was totally appropriate for our situation, and thought it must have been a gift of God and a reminder just from Him!

After church Tanya drove the girls and some other children back to the orphanage, but we told the girls we'd come later in the afternoon to see them. It rained today, but at about 4:00 it cleared, so we set out on foot to the orphanage. Everyone was kind of just "hanging out" when we arrived there. It seems that Sunday afternoons are really considered a time of rest. We found the girls upstairs in the living area that their bedrooms open onto. The orphanage is a huge, old building, probably built in the '40's or '50's. It has long, meandering hallways with patched and cracked cement floors and narrow stairways leading up to the living quarters. Mark and I said it reminded us of the descriptions of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books!

So we found Zhanna and Ella watching TV in the "commons room" with other kids and the caregivers from their group. We came in and asked if they'd like to stay or go. They immediately said they wanted to go with us, and promptly ran to put on their shoes!

We brought them Frisbees today that Mark found in a store, so we went outside to play. That was a blast. We also brought them a digital camera that Pete and Diane, the family in Canada, who hosted them at Christmas, had sent to us after the girls left it there. The girls loved looking over the pictures on the camera from their stay in Canada, and then began taking pictures of us and their surroundings, and that led to funny pictures of themselves. It wasn't long before Zhanna was giving orders - "Mark, give me camera!" "Now, Mark and Dawn, you stand here!" "Now, Ella, you take picture of me!" It was amazing how much Zhanna's English improved when she started giving orders! She's got the "older sister" gene. Yay! (I'm not alone!) She also started teasing with Mark as they were playing Frisbee, and of course, he teased back. Then she started talking about "our crazy family!" But the interesting thing was she was including herself in that description. It was wonderful.

At about 6:30 it was time for us to go, and the girls, once again, walked us to the gate and hugged us and kissed us and told us they loved us. It's such a sweet time right now with them. We can hardly believe it's been less than a week since we were reunited. It seems that huge hurdles are being crossed every day, and each day our connection to them and our love for them grows deeper. I think they feel the same with us. We are becoming much more relaxed with each other, and are comfortable with one another. We're really becoming family now(maybe even a "crazy" family!).

As Mark and I walked back to the TLC from the orphanage we had a chance to talk and reflect about all that is happening. It is a blessing from God that He has given us this chance to see things from His point of view, as the "adopting" parent. He continually comes to us, longing to see us and hear from us. He is so thrilled when we jump at the chance to spend time with Him. It makes Him so happy when we express our love for Him, and He longs for us to call Him "Father" or "Daddy."

Another thing God wants to do for us is give us a new name - that of "Christian" or "Christ follower." We also wanted to give Zhanna and Ella additions to their names. In Ukraine they don't give middle names. We thought it would be unfair to change their first names, and besides that, we love their names. But several months ago God gave me the names we should give to our new children - Zhanna Hope and Evelina (Ella) Joy. We shared those names with the girls yesterday and wrote their full new names down for them. They carefully copied them and smiled. They like them. So now, just for fun, we say, "Hi, Zhanna Hope!" "Hi, Ella Joy!" I think they feel special knowing that we've picked out these names just for them.

God continues to provide everything we need. We are so grateful. Thank you for prayers.
Much love,
Dawn and Mark