Hopeful Hearts Dinner 2006

Last weekend we traveled to Louisville to attend the 4th Annual Hopeful Hearts Dinner. It was exciting to see how this organization is growing as it supports orphans in Ukraine. The foundation has expanded its focus to include older children in addition to young orphans. In Ukraine orphans are dismissed from state custody when they turn 18. This means they are turned out on the street with no family, direction, skills, or any assistance at all. Most of these children will not live to see their 22nd birthday. Many turn to crime and prostitution to survive. Hopeful Hearts has purchased a facility that will be the first of many transition homes that will house orphan teens in a Christian environment while offering educational and job training opportunities.

The dinner was enjoyable, there were about 500 people in attendance. A group of children who had been adopted from Ukraine performed a few musical numbers for entertainment. They were dressed in traditional Ukrainian outfits. It was precious, but also amplified the longing desire for that to have been our child standing up there.

We had the opportunity to meet two couples who have completed adoption in Ukraine. Both couples offered some great advice.

This year my Mom and Dad joined us. We stayed overnight at the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville.

We were able to speak briefly with one of our adoption advisors. (Since this is not an adoption agency I just decided the best title for our state-side facilitators is "advisor"). Nancy informed us that she and Kathy will be traveling to Ukraine March 4th to March 11, on this trip they will make an attempt to discover where we stand in the adoption process. It is anticipated that as the authority overseeing adoptions is made in Ukraine the process may become less complicated. Could be good news, may not be, we still do not know. Nancy said she will let us know what they have discovered when they return. So, we will be anxiously awaiting the e-mail from Nancy on March 12th.

Any news is Good News

President Yushchenco signed the law yesterday and started the wheels moving again. This was the posting on the US Embassy Website

"Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
On January 31, 2006 President Yushchenko signed the law giving interim authority over adoptions to the Ministry of EducationÂ’s National Adoption Center (NAC) until the new adoption authority is legally established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. This law will go into effect upon its publication in Parliament"s official newspaper "Holos Ukrainy," which should occur in a matter of days. According to this law, the NAC will have full authority to process adoptions in Ukraine until May 1, 2006 - the final date by which the new adoption central authority must be established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. The NAC has stated that they will now resume normal processing - not only of the suspended cases, but also of the cases that had been previously scheduled through the end of January.
The NAC has not yet released a notice to the international adoption community explaining details regarding processing of adoptions during the transition period. Absent NAC written guidance, we cannot confirm processing plans or details. "


Unfortunately , this still does not give us the opportunity to establish firm expectations for when Stephanie and I will receive an appointment. But it is good that things are moving again. The waiting has been very difficult, and I expect that it will not get any easier; but there is light at the end of the tunnel now.

Later in this web posting, they indicated that there are currently 1,000 registered dossiers at the NAC (600 from USA). They also indicated that priority will be placed in those children with severe medical needs, older children and sibling groups. Due to this focus on processing adoptions, we may be placed a little lower in that stack of 1,000 dossiers.

Despite the difficulty in the wait and the struggles of trying to understand why the delay, there are many things for which can give thanks. First, we have many friends and family members who truly care for us and pray for us diligently. Second, thank God we were not one of the families in Ukraine when the whole legal structure for adoptions collapsed, we would have been trapped in a different world not able to leave with our child. Lastly, God has continued to be a comforter for us in this time. We remember this each night as we enter ourchild'ss room and kneel down to pray together. We pray for comfort in the waiting, we pray that this room will soon be filled with the noises of our child, we pray that our child is kept warm, is not hungry and is loved where he is today, we pray that God will teach him who his Mommy and Daddy are and that we love him before we even get there to bring him home.