Hang ups

Okay- so before I left to come back to Kiev for this (my third) trip to see an ending to this process, I spoke briefly with another pastor who’s adopted children before. He made a short statement that I am now seeing more clearly. He said, “You know the reason it’s so hard, adoption-it’s really a war.” This morning I walked to the ancient yellow and red electric tram with a few hundred serious faced friends. We all squinted in the sunshine and savored the chilly air between the puffs of cigarette smoke (theirs-not mine).

Fast-forward now through the tram ride, and follow the herd through one of the innumerable underground street crossings and up again to the 60’s model metro stop. Several stops and a train switch and another walk brought me to the Blue line metro. Now take a ride out to Obolonski for another day in the adoption work zone. I shuffled up the gritty granite steps of the underground to meet Yuriy for a trip to the Zogg’s office for the birth certificates. First attempt was not too great. It seems that they now computerize the information from a variety of sources, and this takes about an hour once they enter it to get approval back and print it out. Problem is they have others in line ahead of me and they are in “office hours mode” and won’t have it ready till 2 o’clock or about that time. After some appeals, the lady says she will call us as soon as it’s ready and try to speed it up. Yuriy and I went to get some coffee and something to eat for a minute, and we sat in a surprisingly beautiful spot overlooking a lake.
I’m thinking, “Relax Chris, this isn’t so bad- just a few hours of delay”. But, the soft music and Calgon moment went away when Yuriy’s phone rang. He left from our table and cancelled the order. In the car he explained that the Zogg’s lady has found a problem in the court decree. One of the old birth certificates shows up with a wrong date in the decree, and as a result they cannot go forward without it being fixed. Calls to court followed, and we made a trip to see the judge to get a solution.

Waiting and praying filled the next period of time. Okay, the problem can be fixed but the addendum that needs to be attached to the decree won’t be signed/stamped as valid for 5 days by law. Five days! What?? I told Yuriy I want to speak to the judge. He reluctantly agrees and we enter. Polite but urgent, I pled the case. Careful here…Lord- thank you for guarding me from showing anger. It is clear enough from tone and some words that I understand that she’s not going to move on this. Yuriy and I departed briefly, and I prayed for the next half hour while we went to the Zogg’s office to see if “birth certificate” lady would use the unsigned addendum to go ahead with the process. Nope- too big of a risk, she says…

What now? We tried a variety of tactics: waiting, praying, talking to her staff (since they made the mistake- not us), sitting outside their office and coming up with solutions. Nobody would move. It seems that because the decree was recorded (both in audio and in transcript) they cannot make a change and backdate the decree. They won’t sign and stamp the addendum because this violates their 5-day addendum law…
As a result it may be Tuesday before we can crank up the process again. More later.

If you would, pray along with me that there is a breakthrough tomorrow as we go and meet with the head judge of Obolonski district. Pray for God to get great glory through this, and for us to be sustained as we walk forward.

The highlight of the late afternoon, after stopping our crusade for a corrected court decree after the staff left the office at 5:15, was to go see Kollin and Kory at Orphanage 21. I got dusty hugs from both boys and it was great to see them. Guess what late evening activity was going on and involves a leather ball? I actually played a little stored up energy out on the field with them. Then I realized my age and the associated burning lungs and ceased to run any more. Yuriy and I parted ways at the last stop on the the Metro on the other side of the river and I headed across the city for my temporary home.

Looking to see His purpose in waiting. I am thankful for each of you and for the faithful character of God!
Blessings,
Chris

Psalm 146:8-9 “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous; the Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, but He thwarts the way of the wicked.”