I talked with Sasha on Wednesday and he mentioned there was an American couple living here in Simferopol and that they would be contacting us. Their names are Matt & Shelby Honig from Michigan. 
Shelby called us yesterday morning as we were leaving the orphanage. She is here on a Baptist Ministry. She asked to go to the orphanage with us for our afternoon visit. She had several bags of clothes to donate. It was great. They were very greatly for the donation and she helped us to understand Jacob and the caregivers better. With Jacob it wasn’t with just what he was saying but also his actions. It gave us better understanding of his little fits. It’s not just the terrible two’s. These children, all the way to age 10-11, aren’t given any chose with anything that happens in their lives. They all eat, sleep, and potty at the same time. They take it to an extreme in some cases. Two examples: With the 1st and 2nd grade children they were given a piece of blank paper and could write or draw anything they wanted to. The ministries were told the children couldn’t do it because they had never done anything on their own. The kids just looked at the blank paper until they were instructed what to draw. After a year and a half and these ministries going back week after week these kids can now draw something they want to not just what is instructed. Also these ministries took baked cookies to an older group of kids at Christmas time. They baked 4 different kinds and told the caregivers the kids could pick out what they wanted. They were to get 2 cookies each. The caregivers said they couldn’t it was too much for them to able to choose. These kids were 10 and 11 years old. It is so sad that at that age they haven’t been allowed to make even the simplest chose for themselves. Shelby mentioned that is Jacob is now being able to do with us, make a chose. If I offer him something or he doesn’t want or if he can’t find what he is looking for he will whine and most of the time throw a fit. It has to be his chose or else. We are slowly working on his patience, trying to get him to understand everything doesn’t come in a matter of a second or two. Things will get better once we are home and he starts to learn more English. Oh, Shelby drove us to the orphanage so we took the opportunity to put Jacob in a car. He did great. He only whined one time for just a second. Maybe the car ride want be to bad. Just prayer the plane rides won’t either.
We found out that one of the caregiver’s, Tanya, has been with Jacob since he was a baby.
She is one of the nice one’s. I told Shelby I was sure she would miss Jacob and Shelby mentioned it to Tanya. She said she would but she is happy that he will have a family now. She also told us that Jacob looks for us to come in the mornings. He had his first act of jealousy yesterday afternoon. I was squatting down and one of the kid’s came over and sat down on my knee. When Jacob noticed he whined and started pushing him away.
We asked if we could have a party with all the kid’s in his group before we leave and Tanya said that would be fine. I hope to get some great pictures.
We also met Shelby’s American friends that are also here working with a ministry. Their names are Matt & Tammy Grinn.
She is from Oklahoma and he is from Florida. We had supper at their home last night. When Tammy found out we were from Alabama she told Matt she had to fix Fried Chicken. It was wonderful. She also fixed mashed potatoes, cucumbers, eggplant relish, rolls, and some strawberry juice. We brought cake and ice cream. The ice cream was in a package that looked like a big roll of salami. We haven’t met Matt, Shelby’s husband, yet or their 3 children. We are going out to eat with them tonight along with Tammy and Matt and maybe another friend named Shannon. Then Sunday we are going to church with them. I think we will meet the kids, two boys and one girl, then. Shelby and Matt are in the process of adopting two boys they met during their visits to the orphanages. Tammy and Matt have been trying for 7 years to have a child. They are starting to consider adopting. They are planning to be here for 10-15 years and they just started building a house. Shelby and Matt are moving to Russia in a month. They will stay about a year or until the adoption is complete then they are moving to Siberia.
They have been so kind and have offered to help us in any way they can. It was wonderful just sitting around talking to someone who speaks English and it not be broken English. It is hard to understand Andrew at times. We didn’t have this problem last night. We talked and laughed and had such a great time with them. We got to something pretty right here in Simferopol. We went to a Rose Garden last night that was in walking distance from Tammy and Matt’s. We had a nice long walk. It was great.
We may be able to do some more sightseeing and a little souvenir shopping. Tammy was asking what we had seen so far.
As bad as we hate we have to stay here in Simferopol two more weeks I think we are going to enjoy every minute of it. God is working here. I feel such a weight has been lifted. I just have to have more faith there everything works out as it should in just the right time.
Melissa – Tell Scott Tammy gave me some Ukrainian news magazines last night that are in English that I will bring to him.
Well I know this is longer than usual so we’ll go for now. We love and miss you all and forward to coming home with our son.
Love,
JTJ
Shelby called us yesterday morning as we were leaving the orphanage. She is here on a Baptist Ministry. She asked to go to the orphanage with us for our afternoon visit. She had several bags of clothes to donate. It was great. They were very greatly for the donation and she helped us to understand Jacob and the caregivers better. With Jacob it wasn’t with just what he was saying but also his actions. It gave us better understanding of his little fits. It’s not just the terrible two’s. These children, all the way to age 10-11, aren’t given any chose with anything that happens in their lives. They all eat, sleep, and potty at the same time. They take it to an extreme in some cases. Two examples: With the 1st and 2nd grade children they were given a piece of blank paper and could write or draw anything they wanted to. The ministries were told the children couldn’t do it because they had never done anything on their own. The kids just looked at the blank paper until they were instructed what to draw. After a year and a half and these ministries going back week after week these kids can now draw something they want to not just what is instructed. Also these ministries took baked cookies to an older group of kids at Christmas time. They baked 4 different kinds and told the caregivers the kids could pick out what they wanted. They were to get 2 cookies each. The caregivers said they couldn’t it was too much for them to able to choose. These kids were 10 and 11 years old. It is so sad that at that age they haven’t been allowed to make even the simplest chose for themselves. Shelby mentioned that is Jacob is now being able to do with us, make a chose. If I offer him something or he doesn’t want or if he can’t find what he is looking for he will whine and most of the time throw a fit. It has to be his chose or else. We are slowly working on his patience, trying to get him to understand everything doesn’t come in a matter of a second or two. Things will get better once we are home and he starts to learn more English. Oh, Shelby drove us to the orphanage so we took the opportunity to put Jacob in a car. He did great. He only whined one time for just a second. Maybe the car ride want be to bad. Just prayer the plane rides won’t either.We found out that one of the caregiver’s, Tanya, has been with Jacob since he was a baby.
She is one of the nice one’s. I told Shelby I was sure she would miss Jacob and Shelby mentioned it to Tanya. She said she would but she is happy that he will have a family now. She also told us that Jacob looks for us to come in the mornings. He had his first act of jealousy yesterday afternoon. I was squatting down and one of the kid’s came over and sat down on my knee. When Jacob noticed he whined and started pushing him away.We asked if we could have a party with all the kid’s in his group before we leave and Tanya said that would be fine. I hope to get some great pictures.
We also met Shelby’s American friends that are also here working with a ministry. Their names are Matt & Tammy Grinn.
She is from Oklahoma and he is from Florida. We had supper at their home last night. When Tammy found out we were from Alabama she told Matt she had to fix Fried Chicken. It was wonderful. She also fixed mashed potatoes, cucumbers, eggplant relish, rolls, and some strawberry juice. We brought cake and ice cream. The ice cream was in a package that looked like a big roll of salami. We haven’t met Matt, Shelby’s husband, yet or their 3 children. We are going out to eat with them tonight along with Tammy and Matt and maybe another friend named Shannon. Then Sunday we are going to church with them. I think we will meet the kids, two boys and one girl, then. Shelby and Matt are in the process of adopting two boys they met during their visits to the orphanages. Tammy and Matt have been trying for 7 years to have a child. They are starting to consider adopting. They are planning to be here for 10-15 years and they just started building a house. Shelby and Matt are moving to Russia in a month. They will stay about a year or until the adoption is complete then they are moving to Siberia.They have been so kind and have offered to help us in any way they can. It was wonderful just sitting around talking to someone who speaks English and it not be broken English. It is hard to understand Andrew at times. We didn’t have this problem last night. We talked and laughed and had such a great time with them. We got to something pretty right here in Simferopol. We went to a Rose Garden last night that was in walking distance from Tammy and Matt’s. We had a nice long walk. It was great.
We may be able to do some more sightseeing and a little souvenir shopping. Tammy was asking what we had seen so far.
As bad as we hate we have to stay here in Simferopol two more weeks I think we are going to enjoy every minute of it. God is working here. I feel such a weight has been lifted. I just have to have more faith there everything works out as it should in just the right time.
Melissa – Tell Scott Tammy gave me some Ukrainian news magazines last night that are in English that I will bring to him.
Well I know this is longer than usual so we’ll go for now. We love and miss you all and forward to coming home with our son.
Love,
JTJ
7 comments:
So glad you've meet someone who speaks English. I know what how wonderful that can be. When we meet Carol a few days before we went back to Kyiv. It was just great. God puts people in our lifes just when we need them the most. I started back to work yesterday and Jordan just went crazy when I came home. I don't know if he was mad because I left him or what. But he settle down in a little while. He actually fell asleep sitting beside me on the couch last night. Jenny was taking a shower and when she seen him asleep sittinf beside me she said" Your just eating that up." She was right I took it all in. Here a heads up make sure you get copy's of the medical exam. They kept ours at customs. They had to draw blood from Jordan and Jenny nearly passed out and it just tore my heart apart because I had to hold him down. I know they would have done this even if we had our papers, but I think it would a least gave them a starting point. Hope to see you soon and keeping you in our prayers.
Clark
Oh, so glad God has brought you some friends to keep you company while you wait out these last 2 weeks!! PTL!! :) So happy for you. Have a great weekend!! Love, Hunter and Lauri
Isn't it awesome how God brings just what you need in moments of desperation? Not only did He provide new American friends but good 'ole southern cooking! You are right - this will make the next couple of weeks more than just "barable" but actually a blessing that will remain with you forever. We know this all too well, as our family is taking a team back to our daughters home town for ministry because of the connections God built during our time there.
Keep pressing through all the "stuff"... the wait and work are worth it!
We haven't commented in a while, but we've been keeping up with you daily. Glad to hear you've made new friends. Maybe the days will seem shorter and home a little closer. I taught two children in kindergarten who were adopted from Russia. I remember the mother talking about a lot of the same issues you're seeing. They adopted Christopher when he was almost three and Kara was 9 months old. They came home with them both in January and by the time Christopher started to K-3 in the fall his speech and language skills were almost caught up with those of his classmates. By Christmas, he was caught up. I'm sure Jacob will do great as well.
Still praying,
Kevin, Monya, JohnMichael & Garett
Glad you met someone to talk with. That will help you with being so homesick. Maybe it will help the time to go faster. Love the pictures of Jacob giving you both hugs. Hugs and kisses from your baby are priceless.
Michele
Hey! FRIED CHICKEN! WOW!!! I know James was very excited. That is great that you have met these people. It sounds like they are doing a wonderful work. It is so sad to hear about the children being so scheduled. I know schedules are good to a degree, but for them to not learn to think on their own is so sad. I am glad you learned more to help you understand Jacob. We are praying for court and for you all!!!
Wow God is certainly working in your lives and he is using you to meet and influence others. Jacob is so cute and sounds like he is bonding to both of you! I love the pictures of him hugging you. I continue to pray for you and know God is taking good care of you!
Hugs and love and blessings,
Donna H.
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