It is my pleasure to introduce you to the newest members of the Kemp Family, Kevin Ryan and Katie Elizabeth Kemp. Yesterday was court day. There were 3 families present: an Italian couple adopting a little boy, the Kemp’s, and the Hartsock’s. The Italian couple was first, we were second. The court members consisted of the judge and 4 other members (jurists and prosecutor). Bobby had a sleepless night thinking about the questions he would receive. However, the judge threw a kink in the plan when he asked me to stand up to answer the questions. Thankfully, I had the photos of our house, family members, dog, etc. I was able to show the court members much better than I could put into words. After I was relieved from the hot seat, Bobby stood up and answered a few questions. The kids also had to speak a little and answer that they wanted to go to America and wanted us to be their family. We were congratulated by all in the courtroom.
The Hartsock’s then had their time. While we waited in the hallway, prisoners going on trial in the next courtroom, were paraded by in handcuffs. I was surprised to see that these 2 courtrooms were next door to each other, for children to see.
We then went back to the Orphanage for a grand meal of boiled chicken and other inedible items (except for the soup, bread, and apple which are always good.
At about 4:00 we were able to get the orphanage bus and a bus from a local church that sponsors the orphanage and we took Kevin & Katie’s class to McDonalds. The whole time Katie pranced around as if to say that here family was the one who took them all to eat. All of the kids had so much fun and appreciated the outing more than the food.
The bus driver for the church bus named Nicolai. He is the pastor of 3 churches in the area. His largest church about 50 members is located very close to the orphanage and they try to take care of the orphans as best they can, especially the graduates. Every Sunday after the service some of them go to the orphanage and take food and teach a Sunday school class. They are working on a home where the graduated orphans can go and live that is separate from the dorms at the trade school. Nicolai said that all the kids who go to the trade school and stay in the dorms are pressured to drink, use drugs and have sex. He is trying to create a place for the older kids so they can learn a trade without all these bad influences. Please pray for him and his ministry. In fact, our kids recited the Lord’s prayer one night as the blessing and Nicolai’s program is probably where they learned it. Sorry for the sidetrack but we were really impressed with what he is trying to do.
Now that the court is over we will have to wait 10 days for the decree to be written. Once we have the decree we will travel to the Black Sea were the kids were born to obtain a new birth certificate for them. When we have that we can apply for a new passport for the kids. This usually takes 3 to 7 days. Once we get the passports we will travel back to Kiev to get the travel visa’s and then we can come home. Please help us pray that all this goes smoothly and we can come home by the middle of December. If it takes any longer I will have to return home and leave my wife and kids here which is something I do not want to do. This has been an exciting day and we would like to think all those who have supported us over the last 2 years on this journey. It has been nice having so many people helping us.
We love you all!
Kim and Bobby.
The Hartsock’s then had their time. While we waited in the hallway, prisoners going on trial in the next courtroom, were paraded by in handcuffs. I was surprised to see that these 2 courtrooms were next door to each other, for children to see.
We then went back to the Orphanage for a grand meal of boiled chicken and other inedible items (except for the soup, bread, and apple which are always good.
At about 4:00 we were able to get the orphanage bus and a bus from a local church that sponsors the orphanage and we took Kevin & Katie’s class to McDonalds. The whole time Katie pranced around as if to say that here family was the one who took them all to eat. All of the kids had so much fun and appreciated the outing more than the food.
The bus driver for the church bus named Nicolai. He is the pastor of 3 churches in the area. His largest church about 50 members is located very close to the orphanage and they try to take care of the orphans as best they can, especially the graduates. Every Sunday after the service some of them go to the orphanage and take food and teach a Sunday school class. They are working on a home where the graduated orphans can go and live that is separate from the dorms at the trade school. Nicolai said that all the kids who go to the trade school and stay in the dorms are pressured to drink, use drugs and have sex. He is trying to create a place for the older kids so they can learn a trade without all these bad influences. Please pray for him and his ministry. In fact, our kids recited the Lord’s prayer one night as the blessing and Nicolai’s program is probably where they learned it. Sorry for the sidetrack but we were really impressed with what he is trying to do.
Now that the court is over we will have to wait 10 days for the decree to be written. Once we have the decree we will travel to the Black Sea were the kids were born to obtain a new birth certificate for them. When we have that we can apply for a new passport for the kids. This usually takes 3 to 7 days. Once we get the passports we will travel back to Kiev to get the travel visa’s and then we can come home. Please help us pray that all this goes smoothly and we can come home by the middle of December. If it takes any longer I will have to return home and leave my wife and kids here which is something I do not want to do. This has been an exciting day and we would like to think all those who have supported us over the last 2 years on this journey. It has been nice having so many people helping us.
We love you all!
Kim and Bobby.
3 comments:
Praise the Lord!!!!! We are SO HAPPY to hear that the adoption has been finalized!!! Congratulations to all of you!!!! We cannot wait for your return home. We are all excited about meeting our new family members!!!! We will continue to pray for you all and pray that things move quickly from this point so that you can return home together!
Love,
Richard, Melinda, and the boys
Thank you God! DB & I are so happy for you two! And for Katie & Kevin, they now have a loving family to take care of them. No more uncertainity for them. Prayers and hugs for your save return, we are so excited, can't wait to me the kiddos and of course to see your smiling faces.
DB & Margaret
Congratulations ya'll! We are thankful to see God answering your prayers! & will pray for you to get to spend Christmas at home with Kevin and Katie!
The Smiths ~ Here and There
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