Prayer Requests

My wonderful in-laws who will be watching taking care of the kids back home while we are in Ukraine!

Specific prayer requests:

• Travel mercies
• Neither of us enjoy travel by plane as we both experience motion sickness, which makes it difficult to read or sleep to pass the time
• 16+ hours of travel (flight + several hours layover in Germany)
• 14 hour overnight train ride to the orphanage
• No delays or cancelled flights
• That weather does not cause travel issues for us (can be inclimate weather in December – snow, ice, heavy rain, etc.)

• Health & Safety
• Americans are often targeted for robbery or fraud on the street, in cabs, and in hotel rooms/apartments
• The location of the apartment(s) we will need to stay is not always the safest or the cleanest
• Unusual foods/water sources can often cause travel sickness as well
• That neither of us catches cold or flu or anything else like that

• Favor in the eyes of others
• We will be meeting with government officials, judges, regional facilitators, translators, orphanage directors, etc., all of who typically do not trust Americans
• That we will show God’s love to everyone we meet, no matter how they feel about us or how they treat us
• That the children we have never met will understand that we want to love them and reunite the siblings to bring this family back together into a new family that God has ordained for us
• That the paperwork will go smoothly and be processed quickly - Our paperwork needs to get done by Dec 28^th before the entire gov’t shuts down in Ukraine!

• Social/Political issues
• A Ukrainian bill was passed last month that suspends all international adoptions, pending approval of a new agreement
• This requires a 2^nd vote and signature by their president; both events are scheduled to happen before the end of the year
• If we are already in Ukraine, there is a 50-50 chance they could still halt our adoption and send us home without the children

• Mental/Emotional stability
• That we keep focused on God and His calling to us
• That we keep our spirits up despite all the obstacles we see in our path
• That our children back in the states will not miss us too much and will be emotionally stable, knowing we love them and will be back soon
• That we will not miss our children back in the states too much
• Those caring for our children back in the states

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support!