March 1, 2009 – Sunday

Woke up with A LOT of nervous energy! We decided to attended the 11:00 AM service at Living Word Christian Center. The service was just what we needed to hear, specifically 2 Kings 4…the story of the Shunammite woman. Basically, the story talks about her being giving a baby boy by God because she was barren. Later, when the boy was in his early teens he was in the field and got sick and died. The woman never acknowledged his death, but when asked by her husband why she needed to go and see the profit she said, “Everything is well”. Then later after seeing the prophet, he asked her what was wrong and how her son was and again she said, “Everything is well”. It was as if God spoke from the pulpit of a woman in such dire circumstances and trusted him beyond her feelings. By her faith her son was healed. That is just what we needed to start out our trip. To recognize that regardless of the circumstances, God is faithful.
Fast forward to the MSP airport and us in a reallllyyyyy long line waiting to check 4 medium size suitcases and then go through security and “all was well”! Ate some Subway and walked right on to the plane…no waiting! Uneventful plane ride…not a turbulent! Got two meals that weren’t half bad!


March 2, 2009 – Monday

Now we’re in Europe…woohoo! Amsterdam airport! Got in a little early and went right to our gate, but the gate was closed. Spent the next 1 hour trying to figure out what the babuschka (grandma) and another Russian woman were talking about. I picked up two or three words out of the 1000’s that they spoke. Finally the gate was open and again we went through the security screening process. The KLM flight was again uneventful and we arrived 10 or 15 minutes early.
Now in Kyiv we had to get off the plane on the ground outside….it was cold!!!!!!!!!!!! We took a bus to the airport door…it was cold!!!! Our VIP escort found us and shuttled us quickly through customs and retrieving our bags…..What a blessing! Next thing we know we are cruising on the main highway in a Chevy Aveo with all our luggage (yes, we fit it all inside) and a driver that spoke no English. It almost felt like we were in the middle of a James Bond movie, but the signs of poverty around us were a reminder that this was reality. We got to a place which we thought would be our flat. We waited as the driver tried to tell us something we couldn’t understand while pacing nervously outside with a cigarette. After what seemed like an eternity sitting in silence with a nervous driver, another guy came and opened the flat. At this point, we were hoping that these were all people we were supposed to be meeting.





The elevator was something from out of another time and place. We fit our suitcase in by stacking them on top of each other and then the 3 of us squeezed in. The hallway was something out of a suspense thriller. When inside the flat, we were pleasantly surprised. Small, but cozy! 3 rooms! The bed was in the living area, a kitchen and a bathroom with what seemed to have most of the modern conveniences.
The toll of the day finally hit when we both crashed hard and was awakened sometime later by the sound of a door bell. Standing at the door of our flat was Yulia our facilitator. 30 years old but looked quite younger. She was so nice and spoke English! Yeeeeahhhhhhhh! After a few questions, she let us know she wasn’t feeling well. She had a long hard day helping 3 other couples. You could tell by the rest of the conversation that she was trying to hide the fact that she was feeling very ill, but still was going to take us to dinner, get some groceries and our money exchanged. We met her husband, Yuri in his car on the street. He took us in the grocery store while Yulia went to get something to eat and rest until we were finished. In the store, we were taken to exchange our money. The rate was better than what we expected. ( 8.30 Hryvnia “uah” per U.S dollar) Buying groceries made us appreciate Festival Grocery Store in Andover. This experience was very crowded, couldn’t understand any labels (except the bread says, “American sandwich” on the label. Obviously, bacon looked like bacon and they actually had cheese that looked like ours. The cereal box also resembled ours, however, they only had about 3 choices of cold cereal..the rest was like oatmeal form choices. If you are going to travel here and buy groceries…watch out if another lane opens up. Be prepared! You must react quickly! Much quicker than if you are in line at your local Walmart. People start running and don’t care if they cut you off. So when Yuri said “go” we ran. Seemed to be the theme of the day, especially when crossing the street! We were then taken upstairs about 4 flights to a cafeteria style restaurant. We got our tray and proceeded through different stations to pick out what we wanted to eat. I chose a cabbage salad, chicken noodle soup which mainly was liquid and a very thin slice of fish with two tomatoes on top. Paul chose a pork and cabbage patty, two folded crepes, chicken noodle soup and some bread. It was really good, especially after a long day. At dinner Yuri asked about our background referring to the origin of our last name…Czeropski! Paul explained that his father’s family originated in Eastern Poland near the Ukrainian boarder. Yuri actually recognized the name of the town Czarob and told us that he was from Western Ukraine and spoke Polish. Linda, Ted and Margie…where are you when we really need you? Maybe this is just purely coincidence that our facilitator’s husband had a quick connection. I guess we’ll see. We were then taken back to our flat. Paul tried times to find any wireless connection for the internet. Thanks to Paul’s persistence he was able to get a short email out to our family to let them know we arrived safely.


March 3, 2009 – Tuesday

Upon awakening this morning, Paul was able to get a stronger online connection. We actually had a “Skype” call with Evan and numerous friends at our house! It was so nice to hear their voices and see their shining faces at 11:45 pm their time! Evan recorded some video of us that you will hopefully be able to see on this blog.
Three and ½ hours we will head to our adoption appointment!!! We are nervous for several reasons, but, are placing our trust in God to reveal his Will in our lives. Last night in the conversation with Yulia she asked us what children we were looking for. The conversation led us to believe that if we wanted a girl or younger children, we would need to lean towards 3 or more children. We told her we were open to looking at all the possibilities and that it is really up to God. We told her He already knows who our children are. She was happy to hear that we were flexible and told us that everything would be alright.
We know Lord that you are with us here at this moment and that with you….All is Well!