First passport phase complete

January 19: I woke up about 9:00am and got ready to go to the passport office and meet Valery and the boys. Since Tamara told me that she had not been able to sleep from 2:00 -7:00 am, I quietly left the room so that she could rest. The boys and the orphanage lawyer arrived a few minutes after I did and then Valery got there about ten minutes later. The passports were ready as promised but it took about two hours for the boys to complete some other forms that were required. Finally, everything was finished and Valery, the boys and I went to a shop to get some copies made of the new passports and our passports before the boys went back to the orphanage and we returned to the hotel.


Tamara was still resting so I went downstairs to eat breakfast/lunch and to bring something back to the room. After staying in the room for a couple of hours, Valery called and told me that Galina would be leaving in about thirty minutes and that I needed to come and talk with her about several things. I left immediately and spent some time discussing the status of Dima, Ella, Brooke, and Baylee’s little brother, Sasha and their birth-mom. We then talked about the boys’ money and their wishes to give a donation for repairs to the orphanage. We were very touched by the generosity and unselfishness of Vitya and Sasha. Due to the death of their Mother when they were younger, they have always received a small check from the Government. They have somehow managed to save several thousand dollars each. Today, they went to the bank and withdrew $2,000 each and presented $4,000 to Galina to use for Orphanage repairs and replacements. We were pretty blown away that they did this! We told them we had just sent a huge shipment for Berdyansk and we knew of many groups who were blessing and helping the school. Nothing could sway them from the burden they had and they were determined to give the donation. They said they knew of some specific needs the orphanage has, such as windows that needs replacing, and they wanted to provide the funds for this. We have to praise GOD for these boys and for their hearts to care for those children who being left behind. Thank you, God, for their unselfish hearts which is a huge blessing for us!


After this we went on a tour for me to take pictures of improvements that had recently been made using gifts from American sponsors (including the water purification system that our small group at church had sent). By the time we finished the photo tour, it was time for the boys’ party. Valery and I stayed for the first part of the party which began with toasts made with peach soda and Pepsi. I took pictures of their friends and teachers enjoying the cakes and tangerines. Viktor and Sasha made a goody bag for their Mom that included cake, candy and tangerines before we left for the hotel. After writing this blog, we went down to eat supper and then checked email and uploaded blogs.