And Were Off On A Mission To Ukraine!

Dear Friends & Family,

As you know reaching out to the forgotten, neglected or lost youth is near and dear to our hearts.  We love serving with the youth here at the local skatepark and reaching and ministering to them but we also know God has called us much further out and that is to serve and love the orphans of Ukraine.

We are so so blessed that our son, Kolya would want to take this awesome leap of faith and return to the country he left to start a new life and go back into what was once his life and minister to these children.  He is chomping at the bit to go back to Ukraine to help the orphaned children with me, so it time!

Kolya and I will be heading to Yevpatoriya in Crimea to be joining a ministry team with NLM (New Life Ministries) July 30th to August 14th, 2012.  On this mission trip we will be working with orphans and local children that live with their families in the poorer villages.  The age group we will be working with is 10 to 14 years old.  Remember the good old days of CHRISTIAN CAMP?  This is what we will be doing!  We will be digging into the word of God with these children at a deeper level, explaining it more thoroughly.  We will work with the children on memory verses and even homework.  Yes we will do homework.  We will have skits (drama) to give the children a deeper physical understanding of bible stories.  The team will lead small groups to get to know the children better individually.  And free time to have more one on one time with these children in hopes they will feel free to open up more.  And of course LOVE ON THEM, LOVE ON THEM and LOVE ON THEM!

We ask that you would pray for Kolya and I, the staff (leadership) and the children on this mission trip.  Our prayers for this trip is that God would use Kolya and I in any way he needs us.  That he would put us specifically where he needs us at any given time.  That we would be a light and reflection of him in everything we do.  That Kolya returning to his home country his heart would be protected and he would continue to have the same drive and passion he has now to return there so badly to share Christ with these children.  That God would grow both of us spiritually and have a deeper more intimate relationship with Christ.  For the wisdom and guidance of the leaders of the camp that Christ will speak through them to reach into these childrens and our lives.  For the children that they be willing to come with open hearts to learn Gods word and be loved on.  For the stubborn ones that are closed that God will use whomever he calls to help reach into their closed hearts and minds so that they may find him.  For the protection of our "Camp".  Serving with orphans I have seen Satan at work more then ever.  We have recently experienced this by Sergiy not returning home with us that there is nothing Satan will not do to destroy and orphans chance of hope, life, love and knowing Christ.   I ask for your prayer in our "Camp" meaning the whole entire camp and ministry that we are all protected under Gods umbrella to reach into these childrens lives.  Prayer that there is no division with any families serving together on this mission trip, division with the leadership, division with the kids, staff and volunteers.  THAT THERE IS NO DIVISION PERIOD!  Prayer for the heath and safety travels of the team.  All of these children have a different story, but there is one fact that remains......they are Gods precious chosen children.  They are His! 

We are in need of raising $5150.00 for both of us to go to Ukraine on this mission trip.  We have seen God make the impossible seem possible and we are excited for Kolya to witness this as we put our trust in the Lord to not only meet our financial needs but the needs of this specific mission.  Oh how I love seeing God at work!  

All donations are tax deductible.  If you would prayerfully consider helping support us financially all checks can be made out to NLM (New Life Ministries).  I have been asked to have all checks mailed to my home address so when all funds are raised I can send it all in at one time to the ministry.  Please see below my home address.  Or you can donate through paypal to my email at diveshark@yahoo.com.  Please know that should you donate through paypal it will go directly to Kolya and I and not through the ministry for tax purposes.

If you would like to read and learn more about NLM the ministry we will be serving with please visit:

http://www.nlminfo.org/

There is nothing more precious to me as a mother to be able serve my Lord and Savior with my awesome son, Kolya he has blessed us with. Amen to that!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

In Jesus,

Nicole & Kolya

DONATION Thank You's!

Brian and Melissa Macy

Can You Help Us Launch "Camp Friendship" In Order To Reach The Orphans From Kolya's Hometown?

We are so excited as a family because this is going to be a Ukraine summer!  Kolya and Nicole are in prayer about serving in Ukraine with orphans and children from the poorer villages with one of two different ministries we are looking at.  Then Nicole will be heading out in August/September with NHFC on the team trip to interview the kiddos!  Can't wait!  Then yes another then.....I know I love it, a Ukraine summer.  Then a friend of our that runs a local orphan hosting ministry Kolya and I this year will help out again in any way we can with the kiddos while they are here.  Total blessing!  Love it!  

No matter which camp the Lord leads us to we want to we want to get the word out to help our dear friend, Anton Marchenko that is trying to launch "Camp Friendship" again.  Camp Friendship is near and dear to our families heart.  Not only because it was held in the region in which Kolya was raised but because he went there yearly and accepted the Lord in to his life at the camp.  This camp is so near and dear to him.  We have met many folks that have served at the camp and heard and saw all the fruitful photos of our son and all the kids and their experiences.  While in Ukraine adopting Kolya, Joe and I walked the old campus of Camp Friendship with Anton and it tugged at our hearts to see it closed.  You could feel the memories there.  Camp Friendship closed last summer and Anton is on the move to get it back up and running again.  He is almost more then 1/2 there to getting the supplies and funds needed to launch this camp this summer.  I am so excited!  So please take a look at all the work he has done and time he has poured into building this website and all the details of the camp, mission and the needs to launch this puppy this summer for a month. 

Please visit:  http://friendship.lg.ua/project_camp/camp_needs/

Here are videos of Camp Friendship and the impact it had:

Here are some pictures of Kolya at Camp Friendship so you can see what how awesome it was for our boy!

Yup that my boy biting his lip zoning out!  (:

Kolya at the bottom right

John Grimes his teacher hugging on the boys!

Poor little guy!

After 2 years of LeAnn founder of New Horizons For Children going to Kolya's boarding school and always seeing him smiling at her in the background but never interviewed she knew she had to to ask his director for an interview with him.  THANK HEAVENS SHE DID!  We will forever be grateful to LeAnn to taking the chance on asking his director and on Kolya.  This one mattered and matters! 

Changing "And This One Matters" Purpose

As I sit here and re-vamp the entire blog I made for Sergiy I am going through our hosting photos of Sergiy.  It is a bitter loss but I feel joy when I see the smile on his face knowing he got to experience love, Christ and I can only pray hope for his future.  Oh how I love and miss him and to know God loves him even more.  I know in my heart we did all we could for him so I cannot and I don't live in the "what if".  I try to live my life in such a way that "what if" is never a factor.  That is why we returned for him.  With all this "And this one matters" does not end with us not adopting Sergiy it is only the beginning of what is to come.  Do I know what is to come, have no clue but my God does so I rest in that.  The title in itself reminds me of all the little ones I interviewed while in Ukraine for Sergiy that asked for me to find them a family, would yell at me "I want to go to America", would cry during the interview, would grin ear to ear at me, that are surviving and hoping for a better tomorrow or don't even know there is a "better".  This is for all the ones I met on my trips to Ukraine, each and every one of them matter to God.  They matter to me.  They are the star fish on the shore and just need someone to care enough to show them hope and love.  So this website is now being dedicated to all the orphans that matter to God.  This blog will now be our NHFC adventures, our missions trips to Ukraine, stories of the children and folks we meet, hostings we do, any future adoptions the Lord may lead us to.  It will just be an open blog of what all God will lay before us with these children he calls "His"! 

May God bless you all and thank you so much for all your support and prayers!

Me Vs. The Squatty Potty Adventures

This Ukraine trip I actually almost got all the way through this trip without using the “Squatty Potty”.  Me and the squatty potties never work out our differences.  One of our favorite things to do in the Zap region was go ice skating. At an older age I managed to get off the side walls and make use of my feet, ankles and legs muscles with cycling and running to actually do something other then hang onto the wall, fall or take a poor innocent person down with me.  So now I actually have my own hockey skates and can have some fun.  So the other night when we had Sergiy and Sasha we took them to the ice skating rink.  It was late at night and I had planned to bring the boys back the next day so I gathered I would save my energy for the next day to skate with them knowing my chances of not falling were slim to none.  So Oksana and I chilled out in the little cafeteria room and drank some coffee.  Well what comes in must come out.  So I go to use the room and I walk into this single stall and all I can think is “Oh no….the squatty potty”.  I just stood there staring at it for a good solid minute then looked down at my layers of clothes and jackets and made a plan of attack how to juggle the jacket, the sweatshirt, the 2 thermal shirts, the jeans, the running thermal pants, the belt, the purse, the hat on my head when everytime I look down it covers my eyes and I cannot see.  Holy crapola.  So I attempted this maneover with success at least so I thought.  I did my business and now I tried to get up.  My legs were pretty much stuck in the squatty position from my pants being tight around my calves with all the layers and as I prepared to lift myself for take off position the floor was so wet from all the ice skaters using the bathroom my boots could not grip.  Both feet went out from underneath me and both me feet hit the sidewalls.  Thank heavens for small stalls.  I braced and prepared mentally for my butt to be in the squatty potty!  Again thank heavens for sidewalls.  Once my boots hit the sidewalls I just stayed squatting and again the thought process went through my mind “how do I not fall in the potty”.  I look down and my belt it literally an inch from being in the bowl where everyones business goes.  Oh my……….so I said a little prayer and tucked my belt into my pants branced my hands on the wall and prayed I could stand.  LOL!  Oh how I love walls!  Mission complete. 

So the following day skating with the kids once again me verse the squatty potty.  This time mentally I was prepared I knew what I had to do and could at least have a better shot of success.  This time I had hockey skates on so I had to have a plan to slide more or hope for the best I would slide less.  The hockey skates were my advantage this time.  By golly I had grip.  It was the most successful squatty potty adventure I have had yet! 

Then the grand final’e.  Ya know I cannot leave Ukraine without a funny sense of humor from my Lord and Savior.  I gather ok heading back to America no more squatty potties…..WRONG!  We get to the Donesk airport hauling all our suitcases and it was a 3 hour drive and I had been holding it since about 30 minutes after we left.  With the idea of having to go so bad any sign at that point looked like a women to me on the door.  Didn’t think twice and yes you guessed I went into the mens bathroom.  I walk in pass the sinks…..pass urenals……straight to the stalls.  Yes it registered those were urenals.  But then again I was think ok in parts of Franch maybe Europe folks have those Bidet thingies so  ya know ladies could want to freshen up.  So I get into my tight little clean stall and look down….”Oh know, not again”.  I have not choice it is me and the squatty potty and I got 2.5 hours of holding it.  So as I am doing my business I hear a cough….that was a deep cough.  Oh know…..then I listen and I hear yes someone doing a number two.  Ok that could be a guy or girl.  Can’t gauge off of a person pooping.  Then I here footsteps and a luggage going by….I don’t hear heels.  Every women in Ukraine wears heels whether it be boots or just plain heels.  Then I hear footsetps coming back in…no freaking heels.  Then I hear another clearing of the throat.  Crap I am in the MEN’S bathroom.  OK Nicole do what you do and don’t look back, pray no one sees you.  What until it sounds empty in the bathroom, pass the now what you know is urenals and don’t look anyone in the eye like you normally do.  For goodness sakes you have handiwipes and have used them your hole trip so don’t even wash your hands just exit calm and smoothly like you intentionally went in there.  Goodness this is the 3^rd time I have done this in my life by accident.  I got it under control.  So I wait to hear for a clearing.  I can hear what sounded like a man exiting and what sounded like a man finishing.  I waited for the hand dryer to stop drying the dudes hands and bolted out of the stall.  Of course as I was walking out here comes a staff worker at the airport in his fluorescent vest walking in.  I just smiled, held the door open for him and did not look back and kept on walking and then reached for my handiwipes!  I love handiwipes!  So at this point we are waiting for our flight and I know I am nearing the squatty potty time frame once again this time I will give myself enough time to make sure I enter the womens bathroom.  Oh boy! 

Note:  Went into correct bathroom and I will say this.  This bathroom although had proper toilets and seats the BOYS bathroom is MUCH cleaner!  Ladies we need to kick it up a couple knotches!

Boomerang.......

I do not expect anyone reading this to understand fully.  It is easy to snivel, complain, put down and even insult when you looking into ones life and the decisions they have made without walking in their shoes. 

For those of you that have been following our blog you may have felt called to pray for Sergiy, or us or even fault us, how can you give up this child.....  Not sure but the fact remains we know we did everything possible in our capabilities and skills to bring this young man home. 

Sergiy in his mind wanted family as every child does but the idea of the the effort it takes to be in one was far greater then what he wanted to commit to.  His absolute awesome commitment to his friends outweighed his desire for a family.  He reached out to friends right before we left saying he wanted us to come for him and he was sorry.  We talked to his teachers that have been nothing short of gracious and awesome to help him and us and they vouched he said was ready.  We went back to the school to go get him and our time, love and effort was still not enough for him. 

So I can write this as we prepare to head home to America knowing in my heart that we fought the good fight and loved this kid with our sleeves up and on our knees and we still will but afar for his future.  I called him my boomerang because he would leave and come back and leave and come back.  I so wish it could go differently.  Although in my heart I have peace and a clear conscience it still does not take away the pain.  I still have no idea why the Lord brought me here and we went through all this but I will wipe the dust and dirt off and get back up again and count each and every blessing he has given me on this trip.  I praise the Lord that our marriage stayed strong and steady during this roller coaster ride.   I praise the Lord that Joe was willing to not walk away and try one more time with Sergiy so we could leave again knowing we did all we could.  I praise the Lord for our awesome translator Oksana that has been on this ride with us and has fought alongside us.  She is incredible.  I praise God for all the awesome prayer warriors we had and have.  I praise the Lord for our absolutely amazing son Kolya at home.  We only appreciate him all the more and the young man that he is and will become.   I praise the Lord for all the awesome families I have met along the way.  Sergiy is loved far more then he will ever realize.  I praise the Lord for the air I breath.  I praise the Lord for all the awesome kids I met interviewing for New Horizons For Children.  Every single new child I interviewed I would take into the program.  They are each worth fighting for to give them a chance of hope, a future and family.  If anything this trip will only make me fight harder for the ones I know told me straight to my face I want out....like little guy Maxim.  He looked me in the eyes and said I want out, I want a family.  The directors told me every day he comes to them and asks them if a family has come for him.  I asked him what were his 3 wishes....A family...America and a family in America.  The directors told me that they jokingly tell him that they already have a ticket purchased for him on stand-by.  They know he is ready to go.  During the interview he started to cry.  I gotta fight for Maxim and the other ones that told me they are ready for family.  They are all worth fighting for and giving them a chance of love, Christ and hope. 

YES He Is Coming Home!

Court is Monday at 10AM.  I will write soon!  Praise the Lord were bringing him home!

Saved by Grace but Greatly Fallen......

Where to begin....
When I sit here trying to figure out how to write this I drawl a blank with the sorrow I feel.  I actually think of our skateboarding ministries name FallenbutSaved.  We are greatly fallen right now but we are saved by Gods grace.  With that grace I am trusting in the Lord that he knows best even if it is and was not the outcome we had hoped for.  We knew before we came here to Ukraine for Sergiy we may very well not be returning with him.  But it was worth the gamble to us to come for him.  We new he was loyal as a lion to his friends which is a rare thing to find that worked for him to survive and worked against him to let a family into his life.  His family is the kids at his school, it is the only family he has known and you cannot fault him for that.  It has carried him all these years.

When we sat in the office after our arrival after he had been longing for us to come and he sat there not able to give us a "Yes" to come but he needed more time.  I knew right then he was not ready for this.  It has been a tug a war match since we arrived.  So many things have been thrown at us and Sergiy it is a blessing were all still standing at this point.  As mentioned before many are very personal things so I cannot go into detail for our respect for this young man and our family.  We all took each hit and tried to fight and stay up but the long and short of it was we could not let and we would not push for Sergiy to come home if it was not in his heart to be with us.  If we did we knew it would come back to bite us and he truly would not have his heart in this and he would not be happy.  So it became clear we needed to let go.  This has been like a death to me as I go through waves of emotions and grieving.  I can't even imagine how torn Sergiy is, he has never known family except through his friends.  Yesterday I found myself on the floor of a public bathroom in tears praying for God to give me peace and clarity in all this.  To see what he is trying to teach me, show me in all of this pain.  (thankfully it was a very clean bathroom and it even had a toilet and toilet seat!) Again I may never see or know why God put this young man on my heart and called us to host and prepare to adopt him, but he did.  I do not question it nor do I waiver in what I know God called us to do but I have to trust in him and not question God either but to just have faith that he is sovereign and has his reason in which I may not see now and I very well could not ever see.  I had a post a couple weeks back basically being questioned or informed that it is a bit reckless to come over here for Sergiy while still needing some funds for this trip.  And that we should have an emergency fund and yada yada.....I will say this, the Lord provided the funds at the very last minute as I trusted and knew he would.  If that lady were to ask me now knowing what I know now would I still gamble and come here for Sergiy knowing the outcome.  The answer is "Yes".  He was worth the gamble to come here in hopes to bring him home.

I ask that you continue to pray for Sergiy first and foremost.  Thankfully he knows his heavenly father but none of us can imagine what his thoughts and heart must be feeling.  I know he is torn as we are.  The idea of leaving his friends behind shattered him to the core.  Loyal as a Lion. 

Joe and I will be meeting with Pastor John this afternoon in hopes to develop a plan for him to work with the children in Sergiys orphanage to help prepare them for adoption and their families coming and the emotional journey they will go on in hopes to avoid what what we did.  To give these kids hope until their families come after hosting in hopes they do not fall into negative ways or habits or develop unhealthy relationships.  So basically they can have a spiritual counselor to guide them and keep them afloat and encourage them to hang in there. To teach them about trusting others.  To teach them English and prepare them for the America.  From the time Sergiy started to bond with us which was the last 2 days of hosting that bond was not strong enough for him by the time we came 4 weeks later to hang onto what we had.  The negative influences got to him.  He fell easily back into the crowd and distant from us.  So we want to avoid that in any possible way if we can for any other families.  So our prayer is that Pastor John will be allowed with the school's permission to start working with these soon to be adopted kids and they would be willing to let John speak into their lives and help them along the way to never give up hope.

The plan...we will be here until Friday to do New Horizon For Children interviews in a couple boarding schools then head back home to America.  I know I need to finish what I started and see this through.

In you, LORD my God, I put my trust.  -Psalm 25:1