Hell....o folks! Kolya and I are so excited and want to thank you all for all your prayers and support to help us be on that plane to Ukraine March 21st! We have the blessing of serving with an amazing team of folks, 3 in which are from Russia and Ukraine and were all three orphans are one time but no more! So many gifts and talents from each of these folks going and each very individual which is incredible when going to outreach to others. Kolya, the team and I will be spending 10 days reaching out to the orphans teaching them about Christ and just plain ol'e loving on them. While there Nicole will be doing interviews to get to know the children in hopes of advocating to find them forever families. So please stay tuned on this blog to follow along on the trip with us and the awesome work and opportunity God will be laying before us to have the privilege of working with these kiddos. Also please stay tuned on our FB page:
Nicole & Kolya (Kolya adopted from Ukraine)
Yup This Is My Kolya Just Like His Mama, Always Getting Into Something!
Have I told you how excited I am to get back to my Ukraine toilet paper! I have not been there in 2 1/2 months and I am having withdrawls!
Can't you see the withdrawls in my face mix with the joy of getting back to my beloved paper!
SO TODAY IS THE ENDING DAY OF OUR AUCTION TO HELP FUND OUR MISSION TRIP TO UKRAINE. WE ARE $21.00 SHORT OF BEING COMPLETELY FUNDED! YUP THAT IS IT ISNT IT INCREDIBLE!!!! BUT KOLYA AND I ARE SELLING THE LAST ITEMS LEFT TO RAISE SOME EXTRA FUNDS TO BUY NEEDED SUPPLIES FOR THE TRIP AND TO HAVE ON HAND A SMALL AMOUNT OF EMERGENCY FUNDS (LIKE TOILET PAPER)!
SHOULD YOU FEEL LEAD TO DONATE OUR LAST $21.00 NEEDED TO BE COMPLETELY FUNDED FOR OUR TRIP YOU CAN DONATE TO REDLINE UNITED FOR A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION AT (PLEASE NOTE FOR KOLYA AND NICOLE DEWBERRY):
http://www.redlineunited.org/donate/mission-trip-assistance/
TO VISIT OUR AUCTION FOR IT'S LAST DAY TODAY COME TAKE A PEAK AT THE LAST ITEMS WE HAVE UP!!!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.486419568071630.107519.486219068091680&type=3
Lastly as mentioned Nicole will be interviewing children and she is praying and hoping to be able to meet "Sasha". This is the young man she has been asked to advocate for and has but has not had the opportunity to meet. On this trip if God aligns it all the connection should be met and she has high hopes of getting to know this young man and learning more about him and getting clarity on his situation! So please keep this young man who is timing out soon and knows his time is short in your prayers......please see below of what we have learned about Sasha from others that have met him so you can be praying for him.
Folks that
no me know I am normally one to do blog posts to try to advocate for
orphaned children that I personally have met because they are reached
down to the depth of my heart and shouted I am ready to be home. After
we lost Sergiy who we went to adopt last winter in Ukraine, he could not
bare to leave his life behind in Ukraine and decided to stay. I knew
in my heart we had lost him before we got there but we still went
knowing God said "GO". After he said no, we returned once again for him
to have him say no once more and not be able to leave behind his known
life. For myself it was no different then my own child dying. No nice
way to put it accept I was a freaking disaster and just wanted to lay
in bed in my pj's and cry and paste myself to the sofa and not leave
hoping this was all a dream and it would go away and we would bring
Sergiy home. And I did exactly that. Even Joe could not un-glue me
from the sofa. In the midst of this I promised New Horizons For
Children I would do interviews in several orphanages before we left to
Ukraine for Sergiy. So I removed my carcass off the sofa and vowed with
Joe never to adopt in Ukraine again, never to adopt without hosting
(although we had hosted Sergiy and I met him on a team trip), never to
adopt period then as time progressed to never adopt a girl, never to
adopt a girl from Ukraine and never to adopt special needs. HEHE! Ok
why to I add that all in there.....because Gods plan and mine were very
different. God showed me who is boss. I have a beautiful daughter from
Ukraine who is a ray of sunshine and a bright light. I have a son with
special needs who stole my heart at hello and well as you all know they
are both from Ukraine. So God not only showed me once but twice after
losing Sergiy. We can think all we want what we think we want but that
might not always be what we get or what God knows is best for us. How
do ya like them apples? OK so where am I going with all this jabber you
ask?...............I know now why I was on that trip although Sergiy
said no......it was for the Max's I have in the previous post.....for
the Kolya's like my son.......for the boy I have pasted here. When I
interviewed the kids for NHFC on that trip and literally trying to keep
myself together right before I interviewed because Sergiy had just said
no a second time, two children who are now adopted by our best friends
now I met and interviewed. As they walked out of the interview Alex
screamed "I want to go to America"! Well he is here, alive and well and
with his family! PRAISE THE LORD! God glorified and his work done!
Amen to that! Did I see that coming in the loss and pain I was soon to
bare losing Sergiy. Not a chance. I met Max who asked me to find him a
family. I still remember the look in that boys eyes he was my last
interview before coming back to America minus one and I knew the trip
had not been a wash and that I had to fight for the ones that had no
voice to get the word out over here on the US side that wanted a family
and were willing to trust and commit and let go of everything they knew
to gamble a chance with a family into the unknown with the hope of a
forever family of love and care and never being tossed to the wayside.
So this leads me to my post here. I have not met this boy below but
many of my friends have. Multiple friends have asked my friend Amy
McCoy and I to push him. He has reached into the hearts very strongly
of our friends that have traveled and have met him doing missions work
in Ukraine. He has struck a cord and he wants to leave his past and
have a future in a family with love and care. He is a Max and is ready
to let go and hoping for something better on the other side. Max has a
family right now on the move for him AMEN!!!
Now Sasha is timing out and his time is near in November 2013 he will
not longer be able to be adopted. Below is a post about Sasha from all
the letters we have received about him from friends and even from him
to our friends. Please take a look and lets bounce this young man and
find his forever family! Time is short and we need to do a call to
action before too late!
Please meet Sasha!
Sasha K.
Have you ever seen a more handsome face? But the amazing thing about
Sasha is what is on the inside. He is a poet and deep thinker and longs
for a family. I just know that God has one for him and it is my goal
to share him with as many people as possible until his mama and daddy
see him are are moved in their hearts to go and bring this precious,
sweet boy home. What a tremendous blessing he will be to his family!
All he wants is to belong and to love and be loved. Please read and
share far and wide and help Sasha to come home. His very life depends
on it. He is 15 and will age out of the orphanage system November 14,
2013. With no where to go. No skills or connections to help him find a
job. And no family to help him become a man...
Sasha (in the red shirt) with other children, learning how to do "the wave", a break dance move.
From Tiffany, who participated in a mission trip to Sasha's orphanage last year:
He
talked to us about
really wanting a family. We call him Acrobat Sasha because he did
several back
flips off the playground equipment. During our last trip, he was quiet
at first
and stayed in the back. But he was always there. He opened up after a
short
while and then wanted to hold our hands and give us hugs. I've written
to him
several times and I've attached a letter I got back. He is in
the first
picture and his letter is on page two, he is a poet! He has
been at the
orphanage for seven years. It seems like everyone who goes
there and
meets him falls in love with him.
Letter to Tiffany from a caregiver at Sasha's orphanage:
Dear
Tiff,
I`ve
got your Package
yesterday in the morning. All the boys were happy to get your letters
and
gifts! Thank you for the gift for me too, I liked it very much =)! I
brought the
boxes to boys and I plan to bring the socks next weekends for girls and
boys.
The
little Vova was so
excited, that he even didn`t understand what`s happened, but a little
later he
came and jumped on me with a big smile. Can you imagine? I have NEVER
seen him
so happy =)!
I send
you a picture
where Sasha and Iliya were reading and discovering your letters/boxes
with
gifts
Sasha (in the green shirt) and Ilya opening their gifts mentioned in the letter above.
Letter to Tiffany from Sasha:
I`ve
spent 7 years in
orphanage. My Birthday is in November 14. I don`t have parents and I
would like
you to become my mother and I would like to have Iliya as my brother.
If you
want you can adopt us.
I love
you as a bird
loves heaven
I love
you as sun
loves Earth
I love
you as you love
me.
Your
friend, Sasha
K.
Would be an amazing son or what??? So much love to give but no family to give it to...
The following is from my friend Sabrina, who also participated on a mission trip to Sasha's orphanage:
I can
tell you that several of our team members from our
March trip fell in love with this kind and sweet young man. (He loves
to do
flips and is an excellent acrobat. There are several Sashas here so the
orphanage friends and prayer warriors, we refer to him as "Sweet
Acrobat
Sasha"). Today I met up with another mission team I had
served with
on my first trip - I didn't know he knew them, but he was very happy to
spend
time with them. They also spoke volumes of good things about
Sasha,
confirming what I already knew and had heard from so many
others.
Adoptive families have also noticed this special kid and although they
weren't
able to bring him home with them, are praying and trying to find a
family for
him.
This
summer we had the opportunity to talk to some of the
orphanage workers and they tell us he is a VERY good boy. He
wants to be
adopted very badly and has been clear about letting his desire be known
to
others. I have been told by orphanage workers and those who minister at
the
orphanage regularly that for years he has been asking if there is a
family for
him ... if anyone knows of a family for him ... I have been
told that he
is truly an orphan - truly alone - with no siblings, family, relatives
or
visitors.
From
what I have observed, he longs for attention and
affection (loves hugs and melts when I give him a kiss on the forehead)
but
does not seek it out. He often stands off to the side, or is around -
the
younger ones and those more assertive about trying to get attention /
affection
are the first ones you will see - unless you step back and see this
sweet boy
watching ... wanting to be a part of things. When invited in, or when
time is
made to talk with him - he really enjoys it. He gives eye contact ,
smiles and
has always been very respectful towards me.
He
seeks out interaction and comes to visit when mission
teams are there. He enjoys being around people and even when lessons
are geared
towards younger children he will often hang around ... to be close and
loves
when he is invited to help out. He is not at all clingy - just has a
strong
desire to connect.
From
what I have observed, he is a very good leader -
though more the quiet strong type - the kids look up to him
and he is
respected (not feared). He spends quite a bit of time with the
younger kids
- they look up to him as he is like a big brother to
them. When he
was sick and in the hospital they were concerned and would say how much
they
missed him.
Sasha seems
to enjoy the responsibility of helping and
is eager is please. He is a great acrobat, loves playing soccer,
listening to
music and is interested in cars (would like to draw / design cars one
day).
What
has gotten to my heart the most this trip is catching
him watch us or another adoptive family - and seeing the longing that
he
has. Time is of the essence as he turned 16 in
November (2013). Thank you
for praying for Sasha and for sharing him as you are able.
Notice how he is holding someone's hand here. Melt my heart!
Sasha being a teen and having been rejected like all orphans he will need a consistent, firm and loving family that is equipped to help him deal with his emotional needs and loss. For more information about Sasha and his needs please inquire.
