Katya's Story
In order to truly understand the frightening experience we went through in October of 2008, you will need to read our story from the beginning to the end. Each email was written at the time it was actually happening. Our current situation is that we now have guardianship of Katya, she is living with us at home in Kiev, and we have started the one year long adoption process. Click the links in order to read each section of Katya's story.
Day Five - Gathering Documents
October 11,
2008
This email includes:
- A Day with Doctors
- Gathering the Documents in the US and Ukraine
- Phoning Katya
- Opportunity to stay near the Orphanage
- Main Requests for Prayer
A DAY WITH DOCTORS from Judy
It is Saturday morning, and Mike, Sammie, and I are soon off to visit
Katya. She has a couple lessons this morning, so we are not in a rush
to get there early.
We are so tired. We spent the entire day yesterday with doctors. Luke,
Sammie, and I had to visit four of them. Dear Mike came with us
because his understanding of Russian is way beyond ours. I find it
much easier to speak than to understand. We tried one appointment
without Mike, and it was a disaster, so he came. Do you realize that
Mike has visited twenty doctors in the last couple weeks? The kids and
I were exhausted after seeing only four! We went to a therapist who did
an EKG on each of us, and generally discussed our health. We had a
blood work-up done. We went to a children's psychologist for the kids,
where they looked at pictures and tried to find what was wrong with it.
For example, in one picture there was an obvious wind, but the smoke
was rising straight up from the house.
My psychologist didn't even talk to me -- just filled out the document. I
must look normal! We also had an appointment with a dermatologist,
who basically just gave our skin a once-over. The time consuming part
was waiting in lines and driving around the city. We left at 8:30 am and
didn't get home till 8:00 pm. Mike ran back and forth between us and
the seminary to teach classes. Ugh. He will be SO thankful when this is
all finished.
GATHERING DOCUMENT IN THE US AND UKRAINE
The documents are coming together. We need to get about 30 official
documents for our meeting in front of the Guardianship Board next
Thursday. Mike's dad found an original copy of our Income Tax Form,
and he also went to the police department to get a police record on
Mike. He drove both of these documents from Omaha to the state
capital in Lincoln to get them specially notorized for overseas --
apostilles. He called me when he was coming down the capital steps,
documents in hand. Both of us (Dad Manna and I) nearly cried in our
relief. It is incredible how emotional this all is! He took the documents to
DHL, and they should be delivered on Tuesday.
We have most of the documents we need now, but there are a few that
will take more time to get. Authorities in Chernigov are now demanding
notarized statements from each of Katya's brothers and sisters which
will state that they want us to take guardianship of Katya. I talked to
Olya yesterday and asked if this would be a problem. Olya was very
upset and cried when I told her that Katya was back in the orphanage.
She lived there for two or three years and fully understands what it is
like. I did encourage her that the conditions are MUCH improved than
when she was there.
Anyway, Olya said that she and Nadia very much want us to have
guardianship, but she couldn't be certain what the boys would say. She
thinks they will both agree. This will entail more traveling, as Olya (21),
Nadia (23), and Pavil (25) live three hours from Kiev. Maxim lives in
Komorovka, and he will now be told that Katya is in the orphanage. I'm
sure it will not be a problem, but please pray for Katya's protection. She
never feels safe around Maxim. He wants to be with her all the time,
keeps the other kids away, and he can be so rough with her. He is 17
years old.
PHONING KATYA
We all talked to Katya yesterday -- passed the phone around when we
wereing between doctor appointments. It was good to hear her chipper
little voice on the other end of the line. We hadn't talked to her for a
couple days. She gave me a list of things to bring -- warm clothes,
skirts and tights for school (why, when they have no heat in the
buildings??), slippers, the warm blanket, etc. I got several packets of
one of Katya's favorite snacks -- dried calamari (squid). It is nutritious
and will give her some protein. They eat very little meat in the orphanage
and hardly any fruit. This is for my mom -- I'll bring her vitamins along.
OPPORTUNITY TO STAY NEAR THE ORPHANAGE
Doug Stoddard, our dear friend and teammate, has invited me to go up
with him and the dental team from Monday through Wednesday. There
is a "Mercy Truck" (a truck that has a complete little dentist office in the
back), that a group takes up once a month for three days at a time to
work on kids' teeth. They work all day and spend the nights at a church
about a half hour from the orphanage. I will be able to spend the days
with Katya. Praise the Lord for this opportunity!
I'd better run. We are leaving in about a half hour. We've got to run to our
lawyer first, to have me sign one more document. Documents,
documents, and more documents. That word wasn't even in my
vocabulary a month ago. Now it is all we think about!
On a positive note, Ludmilla affirmed Katya to me so sweetly a couple
days ago. "Judy, Katya is a wonderful girl. She is so bright and merry
all the time." That's our Kate! She rarely gets down about anything.
Thank you SO much for surrounding her in prayer. She sounded a little
more homesick when we talked to her yesterday, but she was excited
that we are coming today.
MAIN REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
- For Katya's spirits and protection
- That the siblings will all sign documents for us to be Katya's guardians
- That the officials in the Chernigov Social Service office and at the Kiev
Social Service office will try to help us do everything quickly
- For a positive decision at the Guradianship Board meeting next
Thursday
- For Mike's strength as he teaches 4 hours a day and gathers
documents for Katya