Sunday

Finally, a video.  Just listen to our Big Boy's laugh.   It will make you smile, I'm sure. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning we got up to go to church-- this time it was a Pentacostal Church with about 400 people.  The service was translated in English because many of its weekly attenders are foreign English speaking students going to medical school here.  The service lasted over 2 hours compared to our 1 hour service to which we are accustomed.  Afterwards we came home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since the baby house seems to shut down for the weekend and it is a holiday, we decided to skip our visit with the boys today.  Good thing since it has been raining off and on since noon.  We learned from our missionary friend that we could refill our water bottle for a fraction of the cost at a little kiosk right outside one of the big grocery stores right by our apartment.  What originally cost us 10 grivna, we were able to refill for 2 1/2 grivna.  During one of the brief periods where the rain let up Rachel and I wandered out to get something for lunch.  We decided to stop at a little kiosk that sells schwarma.  It was a pleasant surprise when the young man running it spoke English.  As we placed our order, we told him that if it was good we would come back many times.  We saw him pull out a lavash that was torn.  He quickly shoved it to the side and got out ones that were not torn.  He added lots of fresh veggies, a spicy sauce, a yogurt sauce, and chicken.  He then grilled the big burrito like sandwich.  When he was done with our two schwarma he asked if we would like a drink.  "Water?  Pepsi? Juice?  I also have coffee or tea?"  He was so nice and so eager to serve us that I ordered a 50 cent cup of coffee to go with our order.  

We took our food back to our apartment where John was working.

The food was delicious!  And at only $1 per person, it was cheaper than I could have made.

When we were finished we went back to tell him how much we liked it.  I think we made his day especially since we hardly ever see anyone ordering from his stand.  I guess middle eastern food hasn't caught on here yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Sasha left a few days ago.  He had to do something back in Donetsk.

For those of you who do not know who he is, we met him back in June 2010 when we were adopting Anastasia and Paul.  He and Rachel had a crush on each other.

They began writing each other back and forth, and their relationship got as serious as a long distance, different language relationship can get.  But as time went on, Rachel's feelings began to change.  She has grown up a lot in the past two years and realized that the fairy tale love story she first dreamed of was just not going to happen.  Though our visit with Sasha was wonderful, it confirmed to Rachel what she has been feeling for some time now.   So they are just friends.

Still we will keep in touch with Sasha and help him out when we can.

He is such an amazing young man who has beat the odds.

Recently he had been working but when they didn't pay him what they promised, he told them he was going to look for another job.  He was supposed to be paid 1000 grivna per month and they only paid him 900 grivna.  Currently he found a hostel where he can rent a room.  He will fix it up and get a small salary.  Not a very bright future for a young man who just finished going to college to learn cabinetry, but at least it is something. 

Despite the hard orphan life Sasha has lived, he still finds reason to smile and praise the Lord.  He doesn't smoke or drink and continually stays in touch with his two siblings who are still in the internat/orphanage.  Since their mother is not a good role model and they don't have any relatives to speak of, he wants to be there for his brother and sister.

If you would like to join us in helping out Sasha please leave me a comment or email.  I am certain that any financial help big or small would be greatly appreciated by him.  His plan is to continue on with his schooling so that he could get a better paying job.  The orphan stipend that he receives from the government does not cover basic living expenses and so he is forced to take whatever jobs he can find which are not a very reliable source of income for him.  Please keep Sasha in your prayers.

Here is Sasha sweeping and mopping the floor.  When he found out I love a clean floor, he was happy to help.

Sasha has never had a father figure in his life.  He seems to really respect John and even look up to him.  Here he is with John listening to music.  

On Sasha's last night with us we went out to pizza.

The few nights he spent with us, we prayed as a family and ate all of our meals togther.  This was new for Sasha.  In the short amount of time that we spent with him, I hope that we taught him a few things about family.