Harsh-Ukraine Ministries

SO MANY CHILDREN!
During our time in Ukraine, we were painfully aware that happy stories like ours can help only one or two children at a time.  We were blessed with total clarity that this was the right answer for our family, but the problem-solving part of my brain could not help thinking about larger-scale solutions. 

We are told that there are hundreds of thousands of orpahns in
Ukraine (a country the size of Texas).  Here in 2006, these are just a few of the
beautiful kids at L&V's orphanage.  See Lera, age 8, on the back right, wearing blue, waving to the camera.


As we spent time at Vitalik and Lera's school, in the classrooms, on the grounds, playing cards and tossing balls, we were smacked in the face with the reality that our two beautiful children were just two kids in an ocean of beautiful children.  I continue to struggle with the heartbreak that dear friends of my children - people who have been like siblings to them - continue to live their lives without knowing what it feels like to be in a secure and loving home.  I can't fix it, and I have to trust that God has them in his care. 

Vitalik in his room with two of his very dearest childhood friends.   
I'm pretty sure he will still miss these guys when he is fifty.

MEET ESTHER AND JASON HARSH
Since returning home from Ukraine, it has been our family's privilege to support a couple of really special American missionaries who are living in Ukraine, loving and mentoring many of these awesome children and young adults who might otherwise be forgotten.


After spending many years serving in short and long-term missions on various continents, Jason and Esther were married in August, 2010.  They are spending the first three years of their married life showing God's love to the beautiful children of Ukraine, where Esther's ministries have focused since 2003.  Esther and Jason do their best each day to emulate the example of Jesus, showing the orphans of Ukraine that they matter, that they have purpose, that they are important, and that they are loved.

Esther recently wrote:  "By the grace of God, lives are being changed – forever. Jason and I focus on recreational and relational activities that enhance self-esteem, feeling of purpose, coping and communication skills, and, most importantly, understanding love. Knowing youth on a personal level opens up channels for ministry and conversation to help guide, direct, and to be examples of God’s love and grace."


Jason and Esther visit orphanages weekly to build relationships with the kids before they age out of the system.  They teach character development, life skills, decision-making, relationship building, etc. through small group and one-on-one activities.  Here they have invited a group from a local oraphange for dniner and movie night.



Along with working inside the orphanages, Jason and Esther spend several days a week with teenagers and young adults who have aged out, and are basically on their own from age 16.  Their den is used as a ministry room, and is put to great use throughout the week.  





Jason and Esther help meet spiritual and emotional needs, teach life skills, counsel, and prepare them for a more successful life. They help give these youth the opportunity to grow and learn through these spiritually focused groups as well as weekly English clubs and game nights, movie nights, annual conferences, ski trips, hikes, and other fun and healthy activities.



Before we left Ukraine, Esther and Jason hosted us for lunch. 
Vitalik remembers asking her if he could have a soda, to which she responded, "Vitalik, my home is your home.  Of course, you can have a soda!"   It is difficult to convey how radical this must have sounded to Vitailk, who had spent his life as an orphan - to have a "privileged" person treat him with such respect and hospitality.    

PRICELESS PHOTOS!

We are one of several adoptive families who have received the great unexpected blessng of a collection of photos from our new children's past.  Thanks to Esther's photo collection, we don't have to wonder just how adorable Vitalik and Lera were when they were younger.  What a gift to have this window into the years that we missed with them.  What a gift for them to know that they were beautiful children, and that they were loved by people who kept pictures to prove it!

2004 - Vitalik (almost 8) with a missionary friend on Esther's team.

2005 - Vitalik (almost 9) in the middle wearing orange.  Esther left back wearing navy t-shirt.

Vitalik (almost 9) front right in orange.  Check out the attitude. :-)

2006 - Vitalik (almost 10) and Lera (8) enjoying some special
attention from missionary friends on Esther's team.

Lera (8) and missionary friend.  Her hat is covering a shaved head.  Like most orphans in Ukraine, she was accustomed to having her head shaved without warning from time to time.  She can tell you exactly how many times this occurred, and she is very thankful to know that it will not happen ever again. 

2006 - several kids on the playground.

2007 - Esther and Vitalik (10).  He hates this "chubby face" photo.
I think he is adorable.



2008 - Sweet Lera age 10 If she looks happy in this photo, it's probably because Esther
and friends were taking a group of the kids on a trip and making her feel special and loved.  

2008 - Vitalik (11) and Lera (10) enjoying an outing with Esther's team of missionaries.

2008 - Sweet Lera (10) on the playground.

2008 - Vitalik (11) and his special pal Caryn, a close friend of Esther's who accompanied her on many trips to Ukraine, and who spent the last 5 years praying for God to send parents for her sweet friends, Vitalik and Lera.

Sept 2008, Vitalik (12) and many friends playing Uno with a member of Esther's team. 

Sept 2008 - Lera 10.5 with Esther.

Sept 2008 - Vitalik (12)

Sept 2008 - Lera 10.5 on her school's playground.



2009 - Vitalik (12.5) and Esther. 

 



2011 - Our happy ending.  Esther and her new husband Jason invite
Vitalik and Lera (along with their new parents) to lunch.  :-) 

What a joy it was for all of us to look at photos from the past many years.  L&V were very interested and excited to see photos of their smaller selves.  Eugene and I were just ... well, there are no words.



Of course, most of the children Esther and Jason dare to love are not adopted.  We are told that at age 7, an orpahn in Ukraine has a 20% chance of being adopted, and of course, the chances drop each year so that being adopted becomes a real statistical improbability for teens.  This is where Jason and Esther's critical ministry comes in. 



SUPPORT HARSH-UKRAINE MINISTRIES

Esther and Jason run their lives of ministry on a tight budget.  Our contributions of American dollars buy more in Ukraine than they do in the U.S. and every dollar makes a difference.  If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support this important ministry, checks may be made payable to "ComeNServe" with "Friends of Esther and Jason Harsh" in the memo line. 

Mail to: 

ComeNServe
c/o Kathy Redmond

12230 Teegarden LN

Independence, KY  41051

An online version of their most recent newsletter is available at:  http://tinyurl.com/cchaupm and financial reports are available upon request. 

Seven Months as a Family of Seven

Well, the half-year mark passed without fanfare, and without a blogpost - I was just too tired.  We have now been living as a family of seven for SEVEN months, and in general, all is going very well.  Vitalik and Lera are now, in so many ways, just typical American kids.   

The English is coming along wonderfully - we really don't struggle at all to communicate anymore.  We are so blessed to be just living life.  Over the past few months, we have started posting family rules on the white board that sits above our mantle, and keeping track of behavior using a 3-strike system...  anyone earning 3 strikes in a day doesn't get dessert... and we do love our dessert!  We love how this system is firm, but leaves room for grace - which we certainly all need sometimes!  We are working on very typical things like self-control and respect, tidiness and kindness.  We are just very thankful that these are the types of issues we are facing - just normal stuff.  All of our five children take turns bickering and need reminders to take their dishes to the sink and put their dirty clothes in the laundry room instead of on the floor!  Overall thouth, they all seem to feel secure and happy, and we are filled with hope for each of them. 

Last week, Vitalik completed his first official soccer season.  He was fortunate to be placed on a team that was perfect for him.  He played goalie a lot, and scored a few goals as well.  He will play again on the same team in the spring.

Lera continues to enjoy sketching and painting.  She is blossoming in our church family, and is revealing that she may have a real gift for being at ease with people in need of a hug and a smile.  She seems to be particularly popular with the elderly women in our church family, who just think she is so sweet and kind.

Harmony and Grandpa visited during Spencer and Heath's fall track-out. 
We took our gang plus a couple of cousins to a local corn maze and had a great time!

We've been having our season of fall birthdays.  Here, Spencer turns nine.

Harmony visited for 10 days - it was wonderful!  Adam and Eleni came over for Korean food!!  Mmmmm!

V&L on Dress-to-impress day.  Smiling for the camera was just
too much work for Vitalik this early in the morning! ;-)

Vitalik and Mom dancing in the family room. :-)

Lera and Dad - happy at home.

Our silly faces shot at Grandmother's house on Spencer's birthday.

We had the joy of celebrating the homecoming of Christian (Yasha) Hooper - a very special friend from last summer's hosting program.  We are so thankful that he is finally home with his forever family!

Vitalik helped Spencer pose for some slam-dunk photos. 
This picture reveals the true story!

Month Five

Our fifth month has come and gone, and all is going very well. 

At the start of this month, we were so privileged to host three wonderful ladies from Ukraine for dinner in our home.  They were here with this year's summer hosting group, and we got to visit with them a few times while they were here.  All were women Vitalik and Lera knew before coming to America.  One was their very special friend Gulya.  She had been the social worker in their old school.  It was just such a joy to show all of the ladies how well things are going and how thankful we are to have these special kids in our lives.  "Bolshoy Spuseebuh Bog" (Big thank you God).  With the help of Marina, the lovely translator who accompanied the group, Gulya offered a toast and said such kind things to us.  Eugene enjoyed showing the ladies the words he has learned in Russian since bringing our new kids home.  Things like doveria (trust), oovajenia (respect), and nakazanya (punishment).  The ladies laughed and said that these are very important words!  ;-)   Gulya asked us to tell her more about how and when we knew that we were going to adopt Vitalik and Lera.  We told her our story (blogged here in case you missed that part:  http://movin2marz.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-did-this-happen.html -- it's a good story!)  while Vitalik listened with interest.  We joked, as we always do, that if Eugene and I agree on anything, the only explanation is that it must be God! :-) 


Gulya checking out Lera's bedroom. 
Only for such a special occasion would Lera let her brothers this close to her bed. :o) 



Gulya loved Lera and Vitalik and advocated for them long before we knew them.
What an honor it was to have her in our home. 
She was excited and thankful - we were excited and thankful - it was a very special night.

FUN AT HOME!

Fun at home... looks like Vitalik is about to bite Dad's ear off.  Good times.

 NASTYA's Party at the Park!

At a party for our friend Nastya,
Heath and Spencer diving for gumballs hidden in whipped cream.  What fun!

I think Lera and Nastya won this round of the gumball game!

Water balloons!  What did I do to deserve this?!?!?!


SCHOOL STARTS!!
This month also included the long-awaited entry into the American school system for Vitalik and Lera.  We are so thankful that they were able to have over 4 months at home to have a more relaxed schedule while learning English and getting accustomed to life in America before entering the big world of middle school.  Getting them ready for school was a major focus this month, and when they finally left for the bus stop on that first day of school, they were as ready as they could have possibly been.  Now, two and a half weeks into the school year, they are both doing really great and we are very proud of them!  We are so thankful that they are feeling welcomed and supported by the staff and kids at their new school.  Lera told me one evening that a nice girl had said she liked her accent.  Then she asked me, "What is this accent?"  When I explained, she beamed with pride at her effortless talent at sounding cool when she speaks English! :-)  Another report we heard was that a girl approached Vitalik at lunch one day, asking, "Are you that hot Russian guy everybody is talking about?"  We know that it won't last forever, but we are so thankful that for now, they are enjoying being the interesting new kids in school. 

First day of school. 
Poor old Dad was given strict instructions to stay away from the bus stop. :o)



Neighbors Jeni and Leah are good friends to Lera and Vitalik.
They have been a big help as we learn the ropes with all things middle school.

Just for the record, here are a few amusing statistics... our 5 children are attending 3 schools, and have 14 different teachers whose announcements and assignments I'm trying to stay informed on!  Some days I do better than others.  Also, now that it's soccer season, we have 6 practices and 4 games each week (all 4 boys are playing on, of course, 4 different teams). 

Today, Eugene informed me that his boss would be in town this week and was kind enough to invite me to a dinner with them.  I called my mom and said, "One night this week I need to go to dinner with Eugene and I was wondering if you could watch my five children."  ... then I just burst out laughing, because it sounded so ridiculous.  Thankfully, she said, "yes."  God bless her!

All-in-all, things just feel normal, life is good, it is amazing to think we are almost at the half-year mark.  Bolshoy spuseebah, Bog!

FFFFOOOOUUUURRRR! :-)

Well, today it's been four months since we arrived in America and started living as a family of seven.  Things feel so normal now that we hardly remember to note these monthly anniversaries now.  One month soon, I'm sure I'll forget to blog, and I imagine that the world will go on turning. :o)  Our new kids certainly don't feel "new" any more.  It all just feels normal and we are very very happy and thankful.  Of course, Eugene and I are still exhausted and grumpy far more than we would like to be, but overall all five kids are thriving and life is very good. 

This months has included:
- Beginning to nurture Lera's artistic pursuits, encouraging her in developing her love of sketching and painting.
- Volleyball camp for L&V (Vitalik got his first-ever trophy for the "Best Hustle" whose inscription made me laugh at its appropriateness in both senses of the phrase)

- End of swim team season (Vitalik won a raging wave award!)

- An overnight trip to Charlotte, where V&L picked up their official certificates of US Citizenship!!!
- A trip to the WWII Battleship in Wilmington with our good friends the DelVecchios... we also stopped by Wrightsville beach to round out this awesome day!
- Family trip to the beach to celebrate my big 4-0, our first actual vacation in over a year!
- Spencer and Heath's summer track out and the start of their 3rd and 1st grade school years
- Lera's "girls trip" to KY with Aunt Tracy, and cousins Ashleigh and Zendi ... where she met her new great Aunt Judy and Great Grammie ... both of whom adored her, naturally!
- Vitalik's day-camp at a local tumbling gym.  He loved it of course, so he'll be taking a weekly tumbling class this year to work on perfecting some new flips.
- Lera and Vitalik's week of day-camp at their new middle school.  We were excited to find out about this opportunity for them to become familiar with the new school in a safe and non-stressful environment just a couple of weeks before the school year begins.  As I type, they are at the movies and the little brothers are jealous!
- This year's group of kids are visiting from Ukraine.  As such, L&V have been able to be reunited with the wonderful missionary/translator, Natalya, and the fantastic loving social work/chaparone from their school, Gulya.  Both women were naturally excited to see the kids from last year's program who are now thriving in their new families.   Spaseebuh Bolshoya, Bog!  (Big Thanks to God!)  :-)

Here are a few photos from the past month:

Lera's first canvas work!

Some sketches of one-eyed beauties. :o)

Last day of volleyball camp

Chillin' w/ cousins Ashleigh and Krystin. 
I particularly like how Vitalik looks like a chimpanzee in this photo!

Lera and Mason are really buddies!  When she went on her girls trip, he was the only
brother who would acknowledge missing her, and he missed her a LOT!

Vitalik and his favorite flippin' pal, Jack - as they prepare to jump and roll off the top of the playset.

A cool new "flip off the tree" trick.

Resting in the car during our "Citizenship Certificate" trip to Charlotte.  Vitalik insists that he was not sleeping!

New Citizenship Certificates in hand!!

At the WWII Battleship in Wilmington

Vitalik with enemy planes in his sights!

Posing on the deck of the U.S.S. North Carolina

Pretty girl on deck!

Chin-ups on board the battleship

Vitalik's "Hello Ba-buh" look... Such a goofball!  Photo doesn't show that the bunks were stacked five or six high!

Salute!

Lera at the wheel!

Lera manning the big guns!

Our two families had so many kids we got a group discount!

The Cline Family - Summer 2011   I really do love our crazy brood!  :o)

Kiddos posing on the enormous anchor

Old Mom and Dad on the beach in Wrightsville... we didn't swim.  Just sat on our towels and counted kids!

Lera Catching some waves... and some sand!

These boys just crack me up!

What's cooler than a guy doing a back flip at the beach... yes, of course... TWO guys doing back flips at the beach!

Our friend John is so great that he thinks being the only adult
playing in the ocean with this many kids is FUN!  What a guy!

We spent my 40th birthday at Sunset beach with the KY cousins, Gavin, Megan, and Austin

Brothers chillin' at the beach house

Happy Birthday to me!

What a joy to see Gulya from the kids' old boardnig school in Ukraine! 

Natalya and Gulya, reunited with some of the kids from last summer's hosting program,
who are all now American citizens living with their new families!

First day of camp at their new middle school!