Ask, and Keep on Asking
We have been so privileged and honored to have an amazing medical team here from Germany the past couple of weeks. I tear up every time I think of them. They are with our Boys right now and I feel so incredibly humbled that they would take time off work and spend their own money to serve our boys with their whole selves.
Having them here beside us, fighting for our Boys right along with us, has been absolutely humbling and awe-inspiring. I am changed because of it. You see, I know, and Jed knows that our Boys have tremendous value. No one needs to prove that to us. They are our babies. Jed and I were talking about it the other night, and I can honestly say that we have to come to the point where we love them as much as we love our own four children here at home. I’m a mother of 90. 🙂 We would go to the ends of the earth for our Addy, Ezra, Havalah, and Seth. And so we would for our 86 other children that languish in isolation, hidden, thrown away by society.
Having the German team here has made my mama heart swell. Watching their tenderness with our babies, their tenacity in not settling for second best, the way they have risen up and made this fight for dignity their own, well, it has shown me even more how valuable our boys are. You see, during the past months as we were planning this trip for the German team we were a bit nervous (mostly I was…haha). I kept wondering if the team members would think this cause was of value. I wondered if they would really be able to help and if they would feel that coming to our Boys was a good use of their time. In that worrying I was devaluing our babies. I was assuming that no one would love them like we do, that no foreigners with prestigious medical degrees and full patient loads at home would want to “feet on the ground” fight for them. What was I thinking????? The team immediately valued our Boys and have fought tooth and nail for them over the past couple of weeks. The team members have grown to love the boys immensely, and through their love I have been inspired to press on for even further for our boys.
They deserve it.
We are their voices. If we stay silent about their potential and their need and their reality, then who will speak for them? So, I will ask and keep on asking.
Do you have room for one of our loves at your table?
They have no future here. We are fighting to give them one, but still, no future we can provide could adequately replace a family.
Yes, they are broken. Yes, they have been traumatized. Yes, they have medical needs. Yes, they will require hard work and endless hours of sacrifice on the part of the adoptive family. Yes, adoption is expensive- in every way. Yes, they have experienced things no human being should ever have to experience and yes, they are scarred from those experiences.
BUT
Did you know that they are absolutely beautiful? Did you know that Ben smiled for the first time in his life last week? Did you know it was a moment of rejoicing and the whole room exploded with cheers? Did you know Isaiah’s face lights up when a familiar voice calls his name? He’s really ticklish too 🙂 Did you know Micah has an amazing personality?? He has us all in stitches so much of the time. Did you know Stephan laughs a deep-down belly laugh when you spin him around and around? In those moments he is so handsome. Did you know that Alex loves Jed? Did you know he is so helpful and his face absolutely beams when he knows he has been a good helper? Did you know Jonathan might just have the most beautiful smile in the whole institution? He comes running over when he sees us and his smile melts my heart every time. Did you know Aaron sat calmly on my lap the other day and took my arm to wrap it around himself? Did you know he is happiest outside and loves the feel of the sun on his face?
These are our babies. We went to the end of the world for them and we’ll keep right on going. This week is the third week in a row that our team has been at the institution every single day. Great gains have been made, yet with more time spent, more ugliness has been exposed. These boys are not just a sad or romantic idea. They are precious creations of God and they should not have to live the way they live. It is injustice heaped upon injustice.
Their very lives are being stolen from them, but we are not helpless to change that! There are seven who are adoptable, who have a chance at a different life and we will not stop fighting until that chance is realized.
If you know you can not adopt, would you pray? Would you donate to their adoption funds and help ease the financial burden for the families who step up for them? Would you share their faces with all of your friends and family? Would you be a voice for them?
But maybe you could adopt? Why not you? If you have never considered it would you please consider it now? Our two littles, Ben and Isaiah, are truly living on borrowed time. They simply can not wait forever. Our Alex and Micah must have committed adoptive families by the end of this year or they will lose their chance forever.
I’m just gonna ask and keep on asking. They’re our babies and we will not stop fighting for them. It’s my mama duty.
*Click on the names to donate to their adoption grant fund.
*To find out more information about the Ukrainian adoption process please contact the awesome team at Hand of Help in Adoption.
*Please feel free to contact me for more information about the individual boys. I would be happy to answer your questions!
Oh my friends, this boy is precious. Alex came to Romaniv when he was 7 years old and now he is 15. We have until the end of this year to find him a family and then he will “age out”, meaning he will become to old for adoption. We can’t let this happen because this boy deserves the love of a family. Jed and I both agree that he would make a FABULOUS son. He is such a helper! Last summer, when the weather was nice, we would take the Isolation boys outside and some of the big boys who have more freedom would join us. Alex was always in that group. He would run to help us push wheelchairs, or gently take our blind boys by the hand. Every week when bananas are being served he is sure to be seen helping the less capable boys with their bananas, making sure no one steals from anyone else. PRECIOUS.
Stephen is one of our Isolation Hall treasures. We want a family for him so desperately. He is 12 years old, but really about the size of a 6 or 7 year old- just an itty bitty thing. The nannies say that he is blind, but we believe he can at least see shadows. He always wants to be near the window- especially on sunny days. There are two places you can usually find Stephen- either standing under the window at the end of the Isolation Hall, or sitting on a chair in the kitchen, waiting for the next meal.
Jed was describing Stephen’s behaviors to a woman in the US who works with children with visual impairments and she said that his description matches many children they work with who have sensory issues surrounding their vision. She said that for some of those children they can actually be taught to see! Stephen is extremely sensory-seeking and needs to feeeeeeeel the world around him 🙂 He loves to spin, flap his arms, spin some more, run, spin, you get the idea. He has absolutely no sensory input at Romaniv- so he has to create it himself.
Okay, Micah. Ridiculous cuteness. To know him is to love him. Micah has lived with the big boys for many years, but only recently has been staying in the Isolation Hall. He gets severe headaches and they put him in with our Boys when that happens. Our volunteer team absolutely fell in love with him over the past month. He is so funny! He speaks and always says “thank you” and “goodbye”. Somehow he is super polite! It’s hilarious to see it in that environment. I have awesome video for interested families. You just have to see this boy in action. His pictures don’t do him justice.
Jonathan is the boy I know the least from this group. I simply haven’t spent much time with him. He used to live in the Isolation Hall, but shortly after we moved here he was moved to the big boy group. He is 12 years old, but about he size of an 8 year old. He came to Romaniv from the baby house orphanage when he was 5.
