Man's Opposition, God's Opportunity

Wednesday, August 24


We are sorry we have not sent out an update in a few days.  We have been so busy. In the last few days, we have had an interesting turn of events.

On Monday, after much waiting, we  were finally able to get Vitya's medical records and take them to the orphanage.  While were at the orphanage, we found out that a man who is claiming to be Vitya's grandfather's brother had been calling the orphanage and was very angry that Vitya was being adopted.  It was not on his record that he had any relatives. That afternoon, we went with our translator and talked to Vitya and he said that this man had been coming to see him about twice a month for about 1 year.  Our facilitator was concerned.  We do not know if he is really Vitya's relative or what his motive is. 

On Tueday, we were able to get the last of our paperwork in to the regional inspector, but while we were there, we found out that this supposed great uncle had been stirring up trouble all day.  He had been to the orphanage and yelled at the director and had done the same thing with the regional director.  They were not very impressed with him.  Tuesday, afternoon, we met with him at the orphanage, along with Vitya.  Vitya was very uncomfortable.  "Great Uncle" brought  along his own translator and had page after page of questions for us.  He seemed very concerned about Vitya's welfare and  how we would treat him in the US.  We answered questions politely, but were guarded.  We did much praying silently.  After we left, we still were not sure if he was being honest or just deceiving us.  We sensed that we should be nice but be very careful in giving him information. 

Today, we went early to the orphanage to see Vitya and he was at the beach.  We went down to spend time with him and  he was very withdrawn and  seemed disturbed.  Our facilitator thinks he may have been angry at his "Great Uncle".  When we all got back to the camp, the "Great Uncle was there again and more questions.  David and I didn't understand much of it, but our facilitator talked for us and she is great.  We tried to be very polite and honor him.  Finally, he said whatever Vitya wanted he would agree with.  He asked Vitya and Vitya said he wanted him to stop making trouble and he wanted to be adopted by us.  Vitya again was very uncomfortable.  We exchanged email addresses and took some pictures and assured him we would let Vitya stay in contact with him.  We still do not know if he is genuine or not, but only time will tell.  We will see in the next few days if he will back off or continue to make trouble.

We know that God has told us that Vitya will be a part of our family, so we are trusting Him and praying that if this man is not sincere, then he would be exposed.  We are sensing from the Lord that we are in a spiritual battle for Vitya's life and the enemy is about to lose and he doesn't like it!  God has given us a verse in Exodus that he gave to the Moses and the Israelites when they were facing the Red Sea and the Eqyptians were pursuing them.  He said,  "The enemies you see today you will not see again....Stand firm.  The Lord will fight for you.  You need only be still."

This afternoon, we went to visit with Ron Winkler, an American missionary, who has been here for 5 years.  We really had an enjoyable time with him.  Today, is Independence Day in Ukraine, so we didn't do any government business.

Tomorrow, we will go and see if the Regional Director has our papers ready.  If she has and "Great Uncle"  has caused no more trouble, then our facilitator, Nataliya,  will take them to the court and leave them. Nataliya will go home to Kiev for the weekend to be with her husband and 8 mth. old baby.  She will return on Sunday night and will then check with the court on Monday to see if they have set us a court date.

We will let you know what happens in the next few days.  Thank you so much for all your prayers - they make a HUGE impact on what is going on here!