Enjoying the Sabbath

This past week has been filled with highs and lows and ultimately has drawn us even closer to our dependency on the guidance of our Savior. So this morning we were in desperate need of some fellowship, worship, and rejuvenation in our souls. We decided to go to Hillsong Kiev, which if you are wondering is nowhere near the position google gives you. You need to get on the blue line of the metro then get off at Petrivka, go northwest and Hillsong meets behind the big green Comfy shopping center in a long yellow building. Here is a map if you want to go.

First of all, I was so impressed at how welcoming the church was to us. As soon as we walked in, which was about 15 minutes late, Sergei opened the door for us wearing his red Hillsong shirt with the hillsong heart all written in Russian, which I wanted. He immediately greeted us, Sdraztvootey, I said hello back  and asked if there were any english interpreters. He lit up and said, "Ah yes you speak english, we are so glad you are here follow me and I will get you to your seat." He sat us near the back while the church was worshiping through song, he introduced us to Zura and she interpreted for us the rest of the service. The energy in the room was amazing, after the singing Zhenya Kasevich, the lead pastor got up to share something God laid on his heart, they took up their offering, then encouraged all the children to follow the Cartoon characters (AWESOME!) in the back of the room to their children's service. He preached on Hebrews 11-12, about how we cannot place our trust in "what" but in the "who." He was very passionate, very funny, and very solid. I think God laid that message on his heart knowing that we would be in there desperately needing to be encouraged in our own faith but also our faith in God for this whole adoption. We walked out but wanted to go back and hear more of the worship so we caught the next service, about 30 minutes later, and were extremely blessed to worship with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. All in all, I was so impressed with the way they approached church and left encouraged to see Temple approach each service with the same passion and excitement.


Yesterday we were able to meet up with Rick Morton, a former NOBTS prof and friend, he gave us some much needed encouragement and prayed for us on the sidewalk off the main street running through Kiev, Kreshaticks. Then we went to the Rodina Mat, the Park of Glory and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Holdomor Memorial remembering the millions of people who died due to the famine caused by the Soviets in 1931-32.

Here are some pics from the day. Keep praying only three and a half more days until our 2nd SDA visit.

Kievan Observations

Since our SDA appointment has been rescheduled to next Thursday we are choosing to occupy our time taking in the sights in Kiev. I read a blog a while ago by Rick Morton (who we are hoping to link up with tonight) regarding a cultural craze that is very prevalent in Ukraine, the mullet! That's right, the mullet is very popular in Ukraine for those of you who do not know what a mullet is it is also referred to as: Mississippi Mud Flap, Kentucky Waterfall, Ape-Drape, Neck Warmer, Camaro cut, Hockey Hair, and Business in the Front party in the back. There are numerous other fashion faux-pauxs that just wouldn't fly in the states, but you know what they say, "When in Ukraine..."



We have decided to go and see one major sight per day for the next 6 days, the Rodina Mat tomorrow, Hillsong Church sunday, and who knows next week. We pushed ourselves Wednesday and walked over 22k steps trying to cram it all in, but since our first SDA appointment was not successful  we are going to retrace some of our steps. Today we went to, Бабин Яр (Babi Yar), this might be one of the most heart wrenching sights in all of Ukraine. In two days in 1941 over 33,771 Kievan Jews were massacred then shoved into a ravine. This is the single largest mass murder by the Nazi party in all of history. It is said that over 100,000 Jews, Gypsies, and Roma people were killed at this sight.



In independence square there are numerous fountains, one of them is a set of steps that the water just flows over and kids play in them and young girls practice their modeling poses, VERY FUNNY! There is another fountain that makes a ball with cold water and sprays everywhere, so we went and did our favorite thing, stick our feet in the cold fountain and people watch. We got to talk with a babushka, an old grandmother, she introduced us to her friend who was an ear doctor in Kazakhstan. She informed us that she was 72 years old and had one child, two grand children, and two great grand children. She asked us why we were in Ukraine, and we told her to adopt, in which she responded in amazement. She asked me what I did and I told her I was a christian pastor then she blessed me by making a cross on my head. Oh, did I mention she didn't speak a lick of English, we were able to find out all this information through charades and writing down numbers. She was a sweet old lady and we enjoyed trying to communicate with her.

Kate is taking a nap right now with our Ukrainian AC, a fan, and I am watching BBC and catching you guys up on what is going on. We know God is still at work and we trust that whatever his will is we continue to trust him. Our calling is to take care of these orphans so no matter the outcome our mission is to glorify Him. We firmly believe that the psychologist knows what we are looking for now and our second SDA appointment will introduce us to our child. No matter the outcome I will be flying home with Kate when she comes home, which prayerfully is during the 10 waiting period and I will return for our child if that is what God has in store for us. So be blessed and may God's mercy and peace move you today.

We trust! 1st SDA visit.

Seeing all those faces and yet still knowing that our Childs picture wasn't there might be one of the hardest parts to this process. After sitting in the office for almost an hour we know that God is still in control and that he has a greater plan. We pray that through all of this God may be glorified more than our story. We pray desperately for the children we saw and that they to may know the love of the ABBA Father. 

With all that said, we were shown close to 30 files all being severely developmentally or physically deformed. Their diagnosis ranged from Down Syndrome, Cerebal Palsey, HIV, and much more. Most of these children had numerous rejection stamps on their paperwork. There was a pair of boys both healthy that were presented to us first, one a precious 4 year old brown headed boy and his younger brother a blond hair blue eyed boy about to turn 3 next week. Though these two boys were precious we knew that they were someone else's children and they were not ours. Though many people opt to visit a child at even the slightest interest we felt that it was unfair to the children and ourselves when we knew they were not who we were here for. 

The hardest part to all of this, is that we know that in this country there is a child that we are supposed to adopt but we have to trust that no matter how this process plays out we will never give up trying to bring that child home. We encourage you all to pray for our second SDA appointment, that God will show the psychologist the child we need to be with, and that when that picture inside a plastic paper cover is handed to us we know that is our child.

We desperately miss our daughter and wished we could just hold her but for now we trust that this process is where God desires us to be. We are so thankful to Kate's sister and enjoyed seeing our little rugrat smile at us last night while we were on skype. Enjoy.

Welcome to Ukraine

We want to the thank you all so much for your prayers and support in this process. After some much needed Chandler holding time we headed off to New Orleans to begin this long but worthwhile process. As I let go of that little girl all I could think about was I won't be able to see her for at least a month and what memories will I miss out on, I truly think she will begin crawling by the time I get home, she is already so close. As we pulled up to the New Orleans airport and bid a farewell to the In-Laws, we checked in and spent an hour with some friends who we haven't seen since they got back from China two months ago.

All that said the flight went well, no problems as far as layovers and had numerous opportunities to share the gospel while on the trip. We made it to Kiev around 4:50 Ukraine time and our facilitator Kostya picked us up at the airport. He was very nice and has a great sense of humor so we were able to hit it off well with him. He brought us to our apartment which is a 1 bed/1 bath with a kitchen and a spectacular view (see pic below). We sat down and he walked us through the whole process, what to expect, what to wear, ask questions, just be ourselves, and most of all trust that our child has already been decided for us all we have to do is trust God. He took us to independence square so we could get some money changed over then we went to the grocery store to pick up food for breakfast: brown eggs, butter, 5 pieces of ham, apple juice, a bag of chips, and a family sized water. We said our farewells for the night and planned to meet him Thursday morning in front of our apartment at 9:30 am then we would walk from there to the appointment. We went to the mall below Independence Square and ate dinner sat on the steps and looked at the beautiful fountains and hundreds of people with their families playing in the water steps or just looking at the lit up square.

While on the plane I finished off   Russel Moore's  book  

Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches

  and found myself tearing up in the end.  Because the only thing that continued to play through my mind was that this time next year I won't be sitting on a plane to go and find my child, wondering what they look like, or where they are, but will be listening to them play in their bedroom while I reminisce on just how Huge our God truly is that he would bless me with MY children. I am not naive enough to think that when we walk into the orphanage I will see a halo over that child's head, and I fully anticipate fighting through all of the demons that have haunted them for so many years, but the truth is that my child might be within a 400 mile radius of me right now, and if came this far to bring them home you better believe we will go through the fire to help them and to show them our love.

I don't see it as Chandler is my real child, and this one is just secondary. I am a father of multiple children, and there are more children that God may have for us to adopt that have been sitting in an orphanage for years or maybe their mother just found out she is pregnant from her teenage boyfriend. But no matter the cost, the pain, the hurdles, the red tape, the trips domestically to our local hospital or flights over seas nothing will ever stop me from being with my children. Thank you ABBA:FATHER for loving us even more than this that you were willing to give your Son for us as a pleasing sacrifice, because we were your children and didn't even know it yet.

Today is the Day

It is truly hard to believe that this day has finally came. For so many years we have been trudging through this process whether it was prayer, saving money, or a mountain of paperwork. I am beyond myself to think that in 7 hours we will be boarding our plane to Kiev, Ukraine. We are so thankful for the overflow of support that has surrounded us and are so blessed to have a community of people around us that are genuinely excited and anxiously awaiting to see the hope in our child's face.

Though many people still do not understand why we are adopting period but also internationally, I want you to know this is what God has called us to do. My prayer is that instead of criticism you would place compassion on the forefront of your heart behind your patriotism, and know that a child who has no family will no longer have that problem. I also pray that those who question international adoption over domestic will not be the gong but lead the charge to take those US orphans into their own homes. An orphan is an orphan no matter what part of the world you are in.

My prayer beyond all of this process is that You will not miss out on the Gospel that we so desperately want this child and you to hear. Though this child did not know us we loved them so much that we did everything we could to make them our child. But more than that God loves YOU so much that though you did not know him He loved you more than you could ever imagine and sent His son to pay the price for your sins. We are not trying to be an inspiration we are only responding to the one who truly is our inspiration.

Huge thanks to The News Star in Monroe and Stacy Temple for putting our story on the front page of the Sunday Paper! Amazing! Please email her and thank her for sharing this story of the gospel to thousands. Here is the link

Click here to read The News Star Article

MUST READ

Dear Family & Friends,

We are extremely excited to announce that on Thursday, August 5^th at 2 a.m. Central Standard Time we will have our 1 hour visit to choose the child we are going to potentially adopt. We believe whole hearty in the power of prayer, so please continue to pray that God will direct us to the child he desires us to adopt.

Many of our friends and family have been very confused by this choice. Most assumed that we couldn’t have children and when they found out we were expecting Chandler, the questions and concerns started pouring in. God calls every one of his children to care for our brothers in Christ, our enemies, the poor, the sick, the widowed, and the orphaned. We truly feel that God has called our family to this cause through adoption. We have known this for years, and God has confirmed this many times throughout our marriage. Casey and I have been praying for the child’s safety, the orphanage workers, their friends and most of all their salvation for three years now. We have heard all of your concerns; however we know that if God calls us, he will provide the strength and the ability to care for this child.

Another big issue with many has been our decision to adopt from Ukraine. We had been praying about the U.S. foster adoption program for years but we never had a complete peace about starting that process. God may lead us to adopt through the U.S. in the future, but for now, it is very clear that he has lead us to Ukraine. Casey met with a pastor who asked him to look into Ukrainian adoption, I immediately said no to foreign adoption, and then God just started working on my heart. God reminded me that he doesn’t ask us to follow him when it’s convenient for us, he asks us to follow him no matter what. We started the process and God has confirmed many times through his word, prayer, and providence that he is guiding us.

So prayerfully at the end of August we will be bringing our child home with us. There will be some similarities between Chandler’s homecoming and this child’s homecoming. Just like people visited us in the hospital, we welcome visitors at the airport. With older adopted children, there is a tendency to have some form of attachment disorder. Meaning that so many people came in and out of their lives and so many people took care of them on a daily basis, that they cling to everyone but don’t really trust anyone. I know that our friends and family want the best start for our child, so we will let you know what you can do to help. Casey and I will begin to rebuild the attachment bonds and help him/her heal from the emotional wounds of their past. The best way for us to form a parent/child bond is to be the only ones to hold, snuggle, instruct, soothe and feed them. As this cycle is consistent in their life, they will be able to learn that their parents are safe to trust and love them deeply. Once this important bond is established then we can branch out to other healthy relationships with our friends and family.

You can help us by setting physical boundaries and limiting what is considered normal physical contact. This will require, for a while, refraining from holding, hugging and kissing. Children in orphanages have learned to be overly charming to adults, to get their basic needs meet and this hinders the necessary child to parent bonding. Waving, blowing kisses and high fives are perfectly appropriate and very much welcomed because we do want our child to know that people love them. Our adopted child will have much more structure, boundaries and close proximity to us then Chandler has had. Please know that these decisions are made after a tremendous amount of research and we are not doing this to hurt our friends and family.

God Bless,

Casey & Kate Williams

God's Story not ours.

This morning KNOE showed a follow up to the story they broadcasted last night. We are so thankful to have people in the media who are excited about the story of hope through adoption. We pray that this story will inspire many others to begin to invest in and support the calling for adoption. We truly can not wait to bring our child home to be apart of a community that has been so supportive.

It's becoming surreal now that we will be traveling in a few days and that in 7 days and 16 hours we may see the face of our child for the first time. My prayer this morning was that through this process and despite the resistance, that God reigns as Victor over a child's life that had no idea that hope was on the way. That her story of adoption becomes her story of faith, that she too will become a child of God through his catalyst of grace and her response in faith. God this adoption story is yours not ours, may all people hear of the grace and the mercy you have given us through your Son.

My song for the radiance of hope that will be breaking through the oppresion of an orphan is this: So let hope rise, And darkness tremble, In Your holy light,And every eye will see Jesus, our God, Great and mighty to be praised. God of all days, Glorious in all of Your ways. Your majesty, the wonder and grace, In the light of Your name. With everything, We will shout for your glory.
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