Off to Camp we go...

Well after a very full week of putting on a conference/training for 130 people (more on that later)- we are now off to put on a camp for 70 youth.  Call us crazy for planning two such large events back to back or perhaps we are just living on a lot of FAITH!  One thing is for sure....my girls and I are very TIRED.   So please be praying for supernatural strength to be with us as we venture today towards Odessa to begin our 10-day camp.  May our strength and faith be renewed and may our eyes be fixed on the author of perfect PEACE.

last year's camp in Melitople

team of leaders (may the same this year)

We will be working with 8th and 9th grade orphans from the Kherson region and partnering with our dear friends from the ministry Agape to put on this camp. Please please keep our team and these youth in your prayers.  I always need to remind myself it is like going into battle when we do these camps.

these are always put to good use...but for a different kind of battle!

Our prayer is that these kids would have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to receive all that Jesus has for them.  Will you pray that prayer with us?

We return July 1st and I'm sure to have many stories to share.

Stay tuned....

THANK YOU!

Since I last posted, we've had over $5,000 come into our account for the Window to Hope Project! God is so good!  Thank YOU for being his hands and feet to make this trip a reality.

I have been overwhelmed by the friends that have stepped up to make this happen- old friends and new-- some I've never even met- and from all around the world!! Wow-- it has been humbling to see God's provision and to see so many uniting to make it possible.  Every dollar has helped!

Our 14 visas are in hand (13 kids and a chaperone) and we are about a month away from travel! From our recent calculations, we only have about $3,000 left to raise.

If you've not given already, will you please pray and consider?  Every bit will help....see post below for details on how and where to give.

Now I just need to gear up for escorting 13 children (and one adult) who don't speak english and who have never flown in an airplane on a 3 leg trans-atlantic flight----yikes!  I won't think about that quite yet....

Can you be 1 of 500?

Meet Marina, Vasya, Lena and Ilona. 

These are the 4 sets of eyes you will see in this post... 4 children who are hoping that their eyes will get to see the USA this summer.

Do you want to be 1 in 500?  You can be. 

I'm looking for 500 people to partner with me to make this trip a reality.  And in a world of 500+ facebook friends and hundreds of blog hits- I know there has to be 500 people out there who are reading this and who I am praying can help.

 This summer I am partnering with my home church (Northshore Baptist) to bring 13 orphans from Ukraine to the Seattle area for 3 weeks in July and August through our new project called 'Window to Hope'.  While they are in the US these children will live in host families and experience many 'firsts', starting with flying on an airplane in late July! 

At first we planned on bringing only 9 children, but then because another hosting group backed out at the last minute we ended up having the opportunity to bring 13.  Though it required a lot of faith to begin to raise money for 13 kids when we didn't have money for 9, we prayed and sensed that this is where God was leading. It just didn't seem right to leave 4 kids behind!

But we need help to make this trip a reality.  Our fundraising efforts have been going really well, but we still need about $10,000 to make this trip happen.  This will include covering the airline tickets for all the kids and a chaperone, in addition to the costs involved in preparing their documents and receiving a US visa for travel.

I realize that the money left to raise can seem like a lot- but I know that God is a God of infinite resources- and I also realize that it just takes a lot of people doing a little bit to make things happen-- including raising money. 

 I really don't like asking people for money.  In fact I wasn't even a good girl scout because I hated going door-to-door selling cookies!  But I also recognize that this is an opportunity to be a part of something life changing for 13 kids-- and who wouldn't want to be a part of that?!  And since orphans are closer to the heart of God than thin mints I guess I feel it is okay to ask :)

It's really simple.  If 500 people each donated $20 than we'd have our target goal!  Would you consider and pray about partnering with this effort and asking others to do the same?  Can you give $20 or more?  Every bit will help.

We have our visa appointment on Monday and will then be moving forward in faith to purchase the airline tickets.  If you could prayerfully consider making a contribution in the next couple weeks it will greatly help us along in our process.

To make a tax deductible donation:

You can donate online here:  http://www.colinkonline.org/donate/?acct=828

Or you can send checks to:

CoLink

PO Box 82188
Kenmore, WA 98028-0188

In the memo write #828  and that will ensure it goes to our project!

If you make a donation, please leave a comment here and say that you are part of the 500 people uniting to bring a window of hope to these orphans!!

Thank you for your support and please be praying!

(**project blog: www.windowtohope.wordpress.com).

New Ukrainian Adoption Statistics

Below are the statistics I mentioned in an earlier post.  These are the official Government stats on adoptions in Ukraine for the year 2010.  You will first see a break down of adoptions by foreign families in the first grouping of numbers, and then a break down of adoptions by Ukrainian families in the second grouping.  The left hand column is the region of Ukraine that the adoption took place.  The first list of numbers is the total adoptions in that region (grand total at bottom) and then the following columns break it down by age of the child that was adopted.  


Unfortunately the statistics do not provide information to special needs kids, HIV+, downs syndrome and other health issues.  In my opinion, these cases would make up most of the foreign adoptions of children aged 3 year olds and younger.


You will also notice the large percentage of adoptions from the eastern regions and low numbers in the western regions.  The main factor in this is the socio-economics in the two sides of the country.  The east side of the country has a higher percentage of drug users, alcoholics, prostitution, broken homes and as a result more orphanages and orphans.  In contrast the economy and life style in the west are a bit better and as a result, so is the family unit.  There are also more families in the west that are willing to take children into care.


Here are the numbers.....

	Adoptions in Ukraine by Foreign Families by Region
	Total Children	Under 1	1-2 yrs	3-5 yrs	6-10 yrs	11-17 yrs
Crimea	70	2	11	11	33	13
Vinitsa	22	0	2	2	12	6
Volyn	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dnipropetrovsk	86	2	12	13	43	16
Donetsk	187	1	48	46	66	26
Zhitomer	31	0	3	6	18	4
Zakarpatia	17	0	2	6	9	0
Zaprozhzha	101	4	19	17	40	21
Іvano-Frankivsk	0	0	0	0	0	0
Кyiv	102	3	9	21	48	21
Kirovograd	56	4	9	12	18	13
Lugansk	94	6	15	12	33	28
Lviv	8	0	2	2	4	0
Mikolaev	44	0	13	12	15	4
Odessa	108	4	23	25	36	20
Poltava	29	3	7	7	8	4
Rivne	4	0	2	2	0	0
Sumy	31	0	7	2	4	18
Ternopil	4	0	0	0	4	0
Kharkiv	54	2	8	13	28	3
Kherson	16	2	4	2	6	2
Khmelnytski	23	1	11	4	6	1
Cherkasy	29	1	3	6	12	7
Chernivtsi	6	0	1	2	2	1
Chernigiv	39	1	11	10	11	6
Kyiv city	27	1	3	5	7	11
Sevastopol city	14	1	3	4	2	4
Total adoptions:	1202	38	228	242	465	229

	Adoptions in Ukraine  by Ukrainian families
	Total Children	Under 1	1-2 yrs	3-5 yrs	6-10 yrs	11-17 yrs
Crimea	145	55	42	33	12	3
Vinitsa	64	22	17	16	7	2
Volyn	45	19	10	10	4	2
Dnipropetrovsk	200	95	52	38	10	5
Donetsk	279	133	78	44	17	7
Zhitomer	52	18	19	13	1	1
Zakarpatia	77	26	17	24	7	3
Zaprozhzha	111	60	28	13	6	4
Іvano-Frankivsk	24	9	5	4	4	2
Кyiv	118	47	26	23	19	3
Kirovograd	84	33	24	17	8	2
Lugansk	163	87	41	25	9	1
Lviv	62	30	10	13	9	0
Mikolaev	52	18	20	8	5	1
Odessa	143	59	48	27	5	4
Poltava	68	28	15	20	5	0
Rivne	50	11	15	17	7	0
Sumy	38	16	16	5	1	0
Ternopil	20	4	5	6	5	0
Kharkiv	105	58	30	13	4	0
Kherson	79	36	21	12	9	1
Khmelnestsky	27	9	13	4	1	0
Cherkasy	57	33	13	6	4	1
Chernivtsi	23	5	9	5	3	1
Chernigiv	45	14	18	8	3	2
Kiev city	78	40	15	9	10	4
Sevastopol city	38	19	7	7	4	1
Total adoptions:	2247	984	614	420	179	50

Hope you found these helpful and interesting.