We Meet Babushka Valya!

We were late arriving at the Internot today. As we were driving, Renee received a call on the cell phone from our friend, Michelle, asking if we were on our way. Renee confirmed we were in route. Michelle said, "Good, because I was just at the Internot and Yuri and is waiting there with his Babushka and she wants to meet you." As our van pulled up to the Internot, we noticed an elderly woman wrapped in a coat and scarf sitting on a bench in the front yard, warming herself in the sun. Could this be Yuri's grandmother?

Yuri came out the front door to meet us and the woman got up from the bench and walked our way. It was Babushka! Nataliya helped us all to introduce ourselves. Yuri's grandmother stated her name, "Babushka Valya." Her voice was clear and strong. After a bit of small talk, we all piled into the van and headed for lunch. Valya asked if we could go to the same restaurant by the Black Sea where we dined with Viktor, Yuri's brother. It had been so long since she has seen the sea. So, we happily made our way back to the sea shore restaurant.

We chatted in the van. The first question Babushka asked us was about our faith. Renee explained we believe Jesus is God's son and he died on the cross for our sins, and was raised again. Valya was emphatic in her approval. I think she was relieved to know Yuri's new papa and momma believed the same as she does.

Over lunch, we exchanged addresses and phone numbers and set a regular time when Yuri could call her. Babushka Valya supports our adoption and she was pleased to find out we were very nice people who do not let our kids run around crazy all over the city. (With the occasional exception of Liz.) She thought Renee very pretty and that she must be much younger than Paul. (Thanks, Valya.)

Valya has a proud face and the perfect eyes for a Babushka. They are small slits and you think they might be weak but, then you realize they are quite sharp, full of spirit and twinkle when she smiles. Valya struck a more stoic pose when it came time for pictures but, she has a very pretty smile. Valya's hair is thick for a person of any age, let alone a woman of 80. She ran her fingers through her hair and said, "I see so many Babushka's dying their hair this color or that color... grandmother's hair should be gray!" We learned Valya has her share of health problems but they do not seem to hold her back. She told us she does not want to die too soon because she wants to see what type of man Yuri becomes. It has to be so hard to let him go.

Valya told us Yuri had a third brother, Oleg. He was the oldest and died tragically at the age of 19. Within a year, Yuri's mother, Lydia, died of an infection relating to diabetes. Valya told us Lydia was, "a tall woman with a nice figure who played basketball." Then she told us, "Yuri likes to play basketball."

Valya was born to a wealthy family in Chernigov, Ukraine. However, Stalin came to power and the government took everything. She said her father died during this oppression and that is all she would say about it. In America, we learn about these events in books and movies but they can seem so long ago or far removed to us. It is very poignant to actually meet someone whose life was directly impacted by them. Later, Valya married a military man and settled in Odessa. He husband, Nikoli, was a radar operator in the Soviet army. He died of cancer at the age of 40. Babushka Volya has known her share of hardship.

After lunch and photos, it was time for a walk along the beach. Knowing she had trouble walking, I didn't think Valya would be up to it. Nonsense. She motored over the sand with a quick and determined gate. Pausing only a couple times when she was out of breath. After she had her fill of sun, sea and sand, it was time to head back home.

We gave Yuri and his Babushka a ride to her apartment. Yuri will stay with her tonight and all day Sunday. Valya wanted to see Yuri as much as possible before he leaves. Tomorrow, we pick Yuri up at 6:00 p.m. so he can stay with us overnight Sunday in preparation for our court appointment Monday morning.

Friday: Long Day in Kiev

It was not a "long day" in the sense that anything went wrong. In fact, everything went very well. I mean in a literal sense it was a long day filled with travel and sight seeing. We rose at 5 a.m. to make our 7:30 flight to Kiev. Alexy met us at the airport and drove us to the US Embassy, arriving at 10:00. We had our our fingerprints updated and were out of the Embassy by 11:15. Our return flight did not depart until 8:30 p.m. so, we had several hours for sight seeing in Kiev. Alexy delivered us to a shopping center where we ate lunch at a food court. Then, we set off on our own for some adventure.

We walked through the complex of churces and buildings at the "cave of the monasteries" where we took a tour of the underground cave complex with an English-speaking tour guide. The cave tunnels were tight and crowded with "pilgrims". We carried thin candles made from bee's wax. Essentially, it was a tour of the remains of 73 monks entombed in clear coffins. Renee and I can provide more details of this tour offline. When the 50 minute tour was over, Renee and I were very glad to reach the surface with its fresh air and bright sunshine.

Next, we continued our six-hour foot tour by visiting "Freedom Park". This contained impressive monuments and military/war museums honoring the "Great War of Independence" or, what we refer to as, WWII. The monuments and museums were created by Soviet Russia. So, the perspective of the exhibits through the eyes of communists and our view of them as Americans was interesting. Fighting to replace one evil regime (Nazism) with another, Communism. Kind of a lose-lose scenario. All in all, we were reminded in a very real way of the death, suffering and oppression suffered by the people of Ukraine over many decades.

Some exhibits did not allow photographs, never-the-less, Paul took a lot of photos of those things we did have permission to shoot. Too many photos to edit and share in a short post. Maybe we will get back to you on that in at later date. Alexi picked us up at 6:30 p.m. to take us to the airport for our 8:30 return flight to Odessa. We arrived at the apartment by 10:30, called the kids and made it to bed by 12:15 a.m. Saturday. A long day.

Saturday, we reconnect with Yuri and look for another possible meeting with Yuri's brother and maybe even his Babushka.

Slow day in Odessa

Dad and Yuri mugging for the camera on the ride back to the Internot.

Today, felt like literally nothing happened. A couple trips to the market. Laundry. Renee worked. Checked email. We continue to bond with Yuri and I guess that is the most important thing at this time. Tomorrow, we fly to Kiev to update our fingerprints at the US Embassy then, return home same day. By the way, if you don't hear from us either by blog or email, we have been having trouble with the internet connection. So, don't worry, we will eventually get back to you.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

Yuri Sends His First Email

Yuri composed an email to his friend, Cole Lennard, who lives back home. Yuri wrote the message in English with the help of a Russian/English dictionary. Mom edited. Yuri and Cole were classmates at Internot #4. Cole was adopted two years ago. Yuri and Cole are looking forward to being together again in the States.

Today's highlights: for about the last 24 hours, our high-speed internet connection has been running very... very... slooooooooooooooooooow. Yuri and Dad hit the market this morning and picked up a few essentials for Yuri and some groceries for the kitchen. We have a 14 year old boy living with us now so, trips to the market will be even more frequent. This afternoon, Nataliya led us by foot on an excursion for a museum that we are not sure exists. We never found it. We will check our directions and try again later.

This evening, Renee and I attended the Wednesday evening service at the Vineyard Church plant. Yuri stayed home (under Nataliya's watch) to watch a live broadcast of the football match between Ukraine's national team and Latvia. Ukraine won 1-0. No, we didn't make Yuri go to Wednesday service. Paul knew if it was a Husker game on TV that he would have stayed home to watch it. So, it was only fair to let Yuri watch his soccer heroes.

I should mention it was a "home" game played in Odessa. The streets of downtown Odessa were similar to the streets of downtown Lincoln on a football Saturday. Men and boys strolling the streets wearing their soccer jerseys and scarfs (scarfs = some kind of local tradition). The atmosphere was a bit charged with pregame excitement. The game ended about the same time as church so, we walked home in the midst of soccer fans reveling in their team's victory. Horns blowing, cars adorned with flags with guys hanging out the open windows.

Yuri is getting to know his new family really well in a two room apartment! He is learning he has to wait his turn to use the computer to play his FIFA and WWII games.

Prayer Request - For Yuri's Babushka, who we learned today, arrived at the Internot on Monday about a half hour after we left. She wanted to meet us! We had no idea she was coming and we feel awful about missing her. We will arrange for a meeting next week. For upcoming court date on April 2. Our day trip to Kiev on Friday.

Lunch with Lela Steel

Lela Steel, Dad, Yuri, Mom and Viktor, Lela's driver. Notice the "Husker" logo on Viktor's sweater! Yes, the influence of Big Red extends all around the world.

After an exciting day yesterday, today, was a bit more relaxed and low key. Renee ran her first errand on her own this morning. She walked to the travel agent to book airline tickets for a trip to Kiev. We have an appointment at noon this Friday at the Embassy in Kiev to update our fingerprints. We will depart bright and early on "South" airlines and return same evening.

We arrived at the Internot at 2 p.m. to meet Yuri and Lela Steel for lunch. We drove to "Express Sandwich" a short distance away. Yuri is one of "Lela's kids". She has known him since he was very young. Lela came to Ukraine in the early 90's on short term mission project and basically never left. She has a big home in Odessa and lives here most of the year. For the last dozen years or so, Lela has been pouring her heart and soul into the children of the Internots. Loving them. Praying for them. Improving their living environment.

Today, we were able to check Yuri out for the next couple days. Yuri will stay over night with us in our apartment Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. As part of her facilitation, Nataliya offered to tutor Yuri in English. They had their first lesson sitting in the kitchen of our apartment. As I write this, Yuri is sitting next to me on the couch proof reading my post. His English is good enough to catch my spelling errors!

Prayer Request - For Yuri, Renee and I as%

We meet Yuri’s brother, Viktor.

Paul, Viktor, Masha, Yuri and Renee on the shore of the Black Sea.

We are so excited to share Monday’s news. Even after thinking about it over-night, my mind is still pouring over the emotions and details of our first meeting. I find it hard to know where to start or end. So, here is the short version: We met Yuri’s older brother, Viktor, for the first time and all went very well. Praise God. (Whew!)

We arrived at the Internot at 2 p.m. to meet Yuri. Little did we know, Yuri had arranged for Viktor and his girl friend, Masha, to arrive at the same time. Previously, we had told Yuri we wanted to meet his brother. I guess we forgot to tell him we expected a day’s notice to prepare ourselves. Oh, well. Back to the meeting.

Independent of each other, the two couples Viktor/Masha and Paul/Renee were looking for Yuri at the Internot. Yuri appeared and introduced Renee and me to Viktor and Masha in the hallway outside the play rooms. We nervously shook hands and exchanged names. I recall Renee grabbing Viktor and giving him a hug. Naturally, all parties were very nervous as to the intentions and motivations of the other with regard to Yuri. Lela Steel, her assistant Aloyna and Julia Baskova all “just happened” to come down the hall at this time and suddenly we were blessed with many translators and familiar, smiling faces. This was also the first time Lela had met Viktor so, she hugged him until his eyes watered. If you know anything about Lela, hugs are a part of her everyday vocabulary. Hugs seem to translate well in any language and make a decent ice breaker. OK, so far, so good. From there, we invited Viktor and Masha to lunch so we could discuss things and get to know one another.

Sasha, our driver, always manages to take us to the right kind of restaurant at the right time. For this special occasion, he chose a restaurant with good food and a quite, comfortable atmosphere where we could all gather around one table and talk. The restaurant was on the shore of the Black Sea over looking the beach and offered a terrific view of the Sea. It’s like God thought, “here, let me give you a calm, serene setting to help put all of you at ease.” Cool.

In conversation and by looking into their faces, it was clear Viktor and Masha were expecting to never see or hear from Yuri again. Imagine, Yuri told Viktor about his adoption and travel to America only days before. Viktor was still in shock. Naturally, they were quite excited and relieved to know we expected to have regular communication and visits when possible. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers and set up a routine time for the boys to talk by phone.

Viktor was concerned that Yuri be able to complete his education. We confirmed our expectations for completing not only high school but our desire to see Yuri attend college or trade school. From there, we talked and talked. We also showed them photos of home, Yuri’s new siblings and pictures of the Ukrainian kids from First Covenant. Viktor was relieved to learn there would be Ukrainian kids in Elkhorn and Omaha to help with Yuri’s transition to the US. Masha liked us and took to Renee right away. Yuri started to smile more and more as he saw that our meeting was going so well.

It was obvious to us that Viktor had played the role of father figure in Yuri’s life to this point... doing what he could to support his brother. Viktor also supports and cares for their Babushka, who lives in the same apartment building. Big roles for a 19 year old car mechanic. Viktor said, “I have a limited salary and there is no way I can provide everything Yuri desires from life--higher education, going to America. Yuri has prayed for these things and so, you are an answer to our prayers.” After lunch, we all walked the beach together. Of course, there is so much more to share but these are the highlights. We plan to see Viktor and Masha again next weekend.

It is interesting to reflect back and realize how God has kept us blissfully unaware of the meeting times of all these major “first” meetings. The first meetings with Yuri, Nataliya, the Internot director and now, Viktor, have all occurred out of the blue and off the cuff. That is not how we choose to conduct business in our lives back home. We like to know what’s coming and prepare for it. The good thing about these “surprise” meetings on this trip is that we don’t have the chance to worry the night before. The meetings are suddenly thrust upon us and we have no choice but to move forward in simple faith. Listening only to Gods’ voice and prompts of what to say and do next. Forgetting about “our” plan and any pre-arranged agenda. Maybe we are learning something?

Viktor and Yuri. The boys sat next to each other at lunch. While they have different appearances, it was obvious seeing them side-by-side that the boys share the same eyes and smile.


Back home, whenever we visit a beach, our family looks for pieces of broken glass that have been smoothed and shaped by the sand and surf. We call it "beach glass". Here, Renee introduces Masha and Yuri to the family tradtion of combing the sand for beach glass.

The sea and surf with large cargo ships on the horizon.

Sea shells by the (Black) sea shore.

The restuarant where we met for lunch.

Two Worship Services, A Concert and McDonald's

Ukraine observes daylight savings time. We know this because we were one hour late to church this Sunday morning! That's OK, because this way the service only lasted 1 1/2 hours instead of the usual 2 1/2 hours. ;-) With the time change, please note we are now 8 hours ahead of Omaha.

Paul and Tanya Becker invited Renee and Ito the service at Trinity non-denominational church. The service was in Ukrainian and Tanya graciously translated. After church, we raced through McDonald's and slammed lunch on our way to a classical music concert. (Talk about extremes in culture--Big Mac to J.S. Bach.) Paul Becker's former voice instructor was performing. The concert focused on a collection of pieces from Bach's "Passion of the Christ" in recognition of the season of Lent. It was fabulous!!

We barely got home from the concert when Michelle came by to invite us to an all English worship service near our apartment. This service is not a formal church but simply a collection Americans in Odessa who gather most every Sunday in a home to worship, pray and share fellowship--all in English! Thank you, Michelle.

Michelle loaned us a few DVD movies (in English) from her collection. (Paul emailed Michelle and begged her for English speaking movies.) We were so desperate for entertainment in English that Renee and I watched two movies back-to-back last night. "A Walk in the Clouds" and "The Lake House" both featuring actor, Keanu Reeves. (I wonder if Michelle likes Keanu Reeves??)

Prayer Requests - For our kids back home--Liz, Andrew and Christina. They are in the expert care of Grandma and Grandpa Wenstrand and we are not really worried about them. But, we have been gone over two weeks now so, a little extra prayer their way would be much appreciated! Thank you.


Jefferey (the Ukrainian-Iowa farmer), Paul and Tanya Becker, Abigale Becker (in Tanya's arms) and Lora (special friend of the Becker's). These are the people who invited Renee and me to their home for dinner Saturday evening. They also invited us to church and a classical music concert on Sunday. If you have not assumed it already, the Becker's are really good at hospitality. Thank you, Paul and Tanya, for all you do and continue to do for us during our stay in Odessa.


The home of Trinity Church worship services (top floor). This building also houses a Christian University.


As I mentioned, services are on the top floor. So, we climbed a winding staircase located inside this tower. That was fun (really).


Ascending the steep and winding stairs.


Once you reach the top of the stairs, you are rewarded with a cool worship service. As you can see, a contemporary worship service in Odessa looks a lot like a contemporary service back home. The pastor used clips from the movie, "End of the Spear" during his sermon.


The recital hall is absolutely beautiful and the perfect setting for a classical music.


The vocalists were both sopranos. (Yes, a male soprano seems unusual.) They're pitch was perfect and every syllable precise. I don't know enough to identify world class vocalists but this pair has to be close. (Sorry, we didn't receive a program.)



Views of the grand stair case leading to the recital hall.

Our Apartment in Odessa

The purpose of this post is to show you our living quarters. I'll cover Sunday's activities in a second note which I'll post later today.

Our current home away from home is a cozy little apartment in the city center. It has one large room that doubles as a living room and bedroom. A modern kitchen and bathroom. It is recently remodeled and features high-speed internet access. We are within walking distance to a variety of restaurants, cafes, markets, parks, museums, churches and historical sights.

There are 3-4 grocery markets only a short walk away. The "new" market (where you can get almost anything) is only five minutes on foot. There are two bookstores nearby that carry English titles. The friendly, English-speaking travel agent is down the street and around the corner. The Afina Mall is about 8 minutes away. The Opera House and Museums are about 10-12 minute walking distance. The Potiomkin Steps and Port of Odessa are only a 15 minute walk away. You are close to the train station and the Notaries office.

The only disadvantage of this apartment is that you have to drive to the Internot. You can reach the Internot by car in 15-20 minutes if the traffic is light and up to 45 minutes at peak traffic time.

If this sounds like an advertisement, it is. ;-) If you are traveling to Odessa for adoption or business, you may rent this apartment. To inquire, Contact Paul Becker at beck@real.ua. The rent for this apartment is used to help fund the Becker's ministry to orphans.


Coming through the front door and standing in the entryway. Kitchen is straight ahead. Bathroom to the right and living room through the double doors on the left.



Kitchen with large frig, small table with stools, tile floors and lots of cupboard space.


Entryway. Looking back to the front door. Bathroom is on the left. Living room on the right.


Looking into the large room that double as a living room and a bedroom. Like many old buildings in Odessa, it has beautiful wood floors.


View from bed looking back to the doorway. The couch is a pull-out bed to accommodate your children when they stay over night with you. The doors are 10 feet high. The ceiling molding begins at about 12-13 feet with the full ceiling height at about 14 feet above the floor.


Ceiling detail.


Looking to the opposite corner. Television and closet.


The communication center. Our link to the outside world: email, Skype phone, office, internet and blog. ;-)

Dinner at the Becker's

This evening, we had dinner at the home of Dr. Paul and Tanya Becker. If you don't know about the Becker's, we'll tell you more about them in another post. Anyway, Dr. Paul was chef for the evening and prepared a wonderful meal. We talked for hours about everything from home renovation (Ukrainian style) and old episodes of M*A*S*H to the personal stories of kids at Internot #4. I'm sure we could have talked into the wee hours of the morning, however, we pulled ourselves away at a reasonable hour. Renee and I brought dessert to the dinner. We purchased what we thought was some kind of chocolate tort from the market. Turns out it was a traditional Ukrainian cake made with prunes! Actually, there were not that many prunes so, it was pretty good.

We were entertained by the Becker's charming one year old daughter, Abigale. She is very cute with bright eyes and a big smile. We also enjoyed the company of Jeff, a good friend of the Becker's and farmer from northeast Iowa. For the last 13 years, Jeff spends about half of every year in Ukraine helping to manage a huge farming operation between Kiev and Odessa. He brings modern farming practices to Ukraine and introduced the soybean to this country.

It rained all day in Odessa. Renee and I ventured out in the morning to a local travel agent. We checked price and availability for flights to Kiev (to remake our fingerprints) and were pleased to discover some very affordable prices. After that, we shopped at the grocery market in the basement of the Afina Mall. In the afternoon, Renee worked (again) and we checked email. Paul took advantage of the lazy, rainy day and took a Saturday afternoon nap. (Yes!) And we continued the daily habit of doing laundry in the sink. Believe it or not, Paul did not take a single picture today. (There must be something wrong).

Prayer Request - For all the kids who have yet to be adopted. There are so many good kids who still need a home and parents to love them. There is special urgency for older children to be adopted before they turn 16. There are too many names and stories to mention here. For the names and concerns of particular children that you can pray for, please email Dr. Paul Becker at beck@real.ua

Views of Odessa from a Mitsubishi Van

We spend some time each day going here or there in Sasha's van. The route to the Internot has already become a familiar one, although, there is no way we would want to navigate it on our own! We see much of the city through the windows of the van so, here is a collection of images shot from the back of the Mitsubishi van.


Sasha (left) and Nataliya (right). Looking out the front windshield you see the cobble stone street and tracks for the trolley car.


In case you forgot what we look like. A self portrait from inside the van.


Average street scene in the city center. Car ownership is on the rise, adding more and more vehicles to Odessa's busy streets.


In an old city like Odessa, the streets are narrow and the side walks are wide. Combine this with the rapid growth of automobiles and you park your car where you can. Including the sidewalk. This might be unusual in America but a common site in Odessa.


Odessa's fleet of trolley cars are older models. Many people crowd into the various forms of public transportation.


Sweeping the side walk with a "stick" broom. Why purchase a broom when you can make your own with whatever sticks you find laying around? Stick brooms are a common site in Ukraine.

Detail of a stick broom.

An apartment or a store must be getting a renovation.

The three photos above show typical residential housing outside the city center. The Internot is in this neighborhood. All homes are surrounded by a fence or wall with a gate. Some are newly remodeled but most are in some state of disrepair.

Sunset from a bridge.

On Our Own For The Weekend

With no official duties pending, Nataliya was given a couple days off. Her birthday is Sunday so, she took the train back to her home city to spend time with her husband. As you know, Yuri is visiting his Babushka for the weekend. So, with Yuri and Nataliya gone for the weekend, Renee and I have a couple days to ourselves. We plan to catch up on rest, reflect on where we've been, and do a little planning for the future--immediate and long term.

Fingerprints: We learned today we must definitely update our fingerprints. We hoped the Embassy might let us "squeak by" since our current prints expire so close to the day we hope to depart for home with Yuri. This means Renee and I will make trip to the US Embassy in Kiev to have our prints redone. We hear flights from Odessa to Kiev are very reasonable so, we'll check that out with a local travel agent. We hope to depart for Kiev as soon as we can after our court date on April 2.

Potential plans/schedule: Once the court date is over and we get our fingerprints updated at the Embassy in Kiev, Paul could fly back to Omaha, putting him home mid to late the week of April 2. Renee would return to Odessa and stay with Yuri through the 10-day waiting period. Then, bring him home via the US Embassy in Kiev where Yuri would be processed. Assuming the court in Odessa holds us to the full, 10-day waiting period, and depending on how quickly the Embassy can process Yuri (hours limited to: 9 - noon, M-F) we guess they could arrive in Omaha in mid April. We only share this with you to give you some idea of what we are thinking and what we might expect. We do our best to make plans but realize that ultimately none of this is in our hands. ;-)

Prayer Request - Continue to pray for Yuri and his family members this weekend. Patience and wisdom for Paul and Renee as we attempt to make plans in the coming days.

Below, is a photo of Yuri and his Babushka taken a two years ago when she visited the Internot. Thank you to Carolynn Lennard for emailing this image to us. The photo was taken by Kyle and Susie Lennard when they where here to pick up their adopted son, Cole. You can definitely see the family resemblance! Yuri looks so young only two years ago. (I love Babushka's hat.)


Today's Report - Yesterday, in rained lightly most of the day. Today, strong winds kicked up the dirt from the streets. The dust hung in the air like fog. Today's "to do" list was much like other recent days. Go to market. Check email. Do laundry. Compose blog. Renee works. In keeping with the cleaning theme, Paul tried out the Hoover vacuum today. It works, great! While Renee worked, Paul got in a quick work out then went for a two hour walk around the old city with camera in hand. Below, you can view our trip to the market.

Another Day, Another Market...

I don't recall the Russian name for this market but it translates into "new market". Judging by the photo above, it might not look new. That's because the "new market" is located behind a very old meat market.


Inside the meat market, is a large, pastoral mural showing farmers and their livestock. I guess it is appropriate subject matter for a meat market.


Ah, the meat market. I think you can find pretty much any kind of meat product you would ever want--or, not want. The vendors butcher their daily offering on counters right in front of you. It smells like it too. (Dr. Paul says the hams from the "smoked" section of the market are delicious.)


Mmm. Fresh ham hocks. Anyone hungry for lunch?


After passing through the meat market, you enter an open air courtyard. Here, you can shop for produce of all types. As well as, clothes, footwear, cleaning supplies, small appliances and housewares.

As you can tell from the images above, the produce looks great. I think Renee and I found a new source for fresh produce!