Story: By Amy McCoy
The latest chapter in this love story is a little boy name Steven who is
dearly loved and has a family coming for him. You can help bring him
home by clicking HERE to donate (they have a $3,000 matching grant, so you can double the impact of your giving!) or go HERE
to see some awesome and one-of-a-kind Ukrainian items that will have
the proceeds benefit Steven's adoption as well. But now, for the rest
of the story!
The story begins with a lovely couple, Nicole and Joe Dewberry. Aren't they adorable?
About a year ago, they opened their hearts and home to a young man from Ukraine, our dear boy Kolya.
The Dewberrys are big into skateboarding and spent years ministering to
troubled youth at skateparks and now, Kolya adds his tremendous artistic
flair to their skateboard designs and they sell them at FallenButSaved.com.
Aren't they adorable? Such a fun family and positive to the core,
always looking to serve others. Serving is at the heart of EVERYTHING
they do and Kolya is catching this vision.
Here are two of my boys loving on Kolya. He is such a kid magnet!
Here is Kolya on the day of his baptism at Jordan Lake. What a precious day that was.
This is me with Nicole at the surprise baby shower for my youngest
little munchin. She hooked me up with shark paraphernalia for our
little girl! Did you know that Nicole and Joe go diving with sharks?
How uber-cool are they?
The next chapter in the Dewberry story is a sad one. Sergiy (left) was hosted by the Dewberry family and they made in-roads with this boy and broke through his very thick walls. They agreed to adopt him and he told them to come and get him, but when they arrived in-country, Sergiy was dissuaded from leaving and going with his family by his peers. They left Ukraine heart-broken and wondering what in the world God was doing! We wept with them...
The next chapter in the Dewberry story is a sad one. Sergiy (left) was hosted by the Dewberry family and they made in-roads with this boy and broke through his very thick walls. They agreed to adopt him and he told them to come and get him, but when they arrived in-country, Sergiy was dissuaded from leaving and going with his family by his peers. They left Ukraine heart-broken and wondering what in the world God was doing! We wept with them...
The next chapter was only recently written but it includes this sweet
face! After refusing to ever look at Reece's Rainbow special needs
kids, even when her sister Denise urged her, Nicole and Joe saw this
darling photo. This little girl who was said to be HIV+ (ha! they said
they would NEVER adopt a Ukrainian girl LOL...just try to tell God
NEVER.) came across their path. They were broken for her and began to
advocate for her and gunning to find her a family. Through many hints
from God, given through believers to them, they realized that THEY were
the family for her. They were tapped out after Sergiy's attempted
adoption and had zero funds. But God! He brought in all the money they
needed in 6 short, fun-filled days.
Here is the video of their story that captured the hearts of many and helped bring in much of the support they needed to go and get Tania. Many thanks to Deanna Jones from Mother The World for her fabulous video production!
Here is the Dewberry family when they met Tania! Priceless...
Tania now has a daddy to hold her.
A daddy to dance with her.
A mommy to teach her all the things girly (like diving with sharks...)
A brother to protect her.
And love on her.
And she even has a BFF, our girl Alona :D
Here is the video of Tania's homecoming, again put together by Deanna who is also of YouParent! Get your hankie...
But guess what? The story's not over yet. You know this if you read the first of this blog post. But here is where he comes into the story. Steven and Nicole fell head over heels in love with each other while the Dewberrys were at his orphanage adopting Tania. He would call her Mama and take her hand and caress his face with it. He called none of the nannies, nor any of the other women he'd ever met, Mama. Only Nicole. And everyone there saw the wonderful bond between them and they all told her that Steven was her son.
This is what he says about diving with sharks. Just stinkin precious are these two together.
Every day he would wait in the bushes along the road and wait to see the
Dewberrys coming and he would yell, "Mama! Mama!" as she came and
would run to see her and cling to her (very long) legs.
Turns out that Steven is Tania's right hand man and has a profoundly
calming effect on this little spit-fire of a girl. Win-win!
He also loves Kolya and Kolya loves him! This little fella needs to be
home with his family and get medical attention. He has unknown needs
that appear to be quite serious and we pray that he does not decline in
health before his family can come and get him.
Joe began the paperwork before Nicole was even home with Tania and
Nicole, in the very short time she has been home, has updated their
homestudy, cranked out a new dossier and has had it apostilled and is
sending overseas with and adopting family. Steven could be home in just
a few short months, but the Dewberrys need our help. They have
sacrificed their retirement and their assets for their 2 adoptions plus
the 1 almost-adoption. They only need about $9,000 more to be able to
go and get Steven. If you are willing to help, please click HERE to donate (they have a $3,000 matching grant, so you can double the impact of your giving!) or go HERE
to see some awesome and one-of-a-kind Ukrainian items that will have
the proceeds benefit Steven's adoption as well. A precious life is at
stake and there are eternal rewards for helping the least of these. If
you are able to give, please...leave us a comment and encourage us that
others love Steven just as we do :)
Love and blessings to you
From the McCoy family
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