WE HAVE DECIDED TO ADOPT JHENYA!

Eventually his full name will by Cory Yevgen Duncan, "Yevgen" being his birth name (Eugene), and Jheny being his nickname, which everyone calls him. Please pray we get the best opportunity to share his new name with him. If he gets nervous, we may simply call him Jhenya for a while til he gets used to Cory. Cory means God's peace,' which we felt was apropos.

We visting Jhenya for the first time at the orphange on Friday. When we drove up to the orphanage we were pleasantly surprised to find it to be very clean and nice--some of the orphanages here can be very bleak places. The first thing we noticed, after the clean, nice grounds and play areas, were about 20 little ones in bathing suits taking turns swimming in a little plastic pool. They all looked very healthy and well fed, happy and smiling. A great sign. We then met with the director of the orphanage, and though our translator was interpretting for us, we could tell by her office, demeanor and body language that she was a very professional, warm-hearted person. Very impressive. Igor, our translator, explained to us that this was one of the nicest orphanages he had ever visited in Sonechko (which means little sun).

During the meeting with the director, she explained that Jhenya was a very healthy, smart little boy - a stand-out in the orphange, and that his mother was not an addict of any kind, but rather, she was often out of the country with work, and would just "drop off" Jhenya and his little brother, Oleg, at an orpahange, almost like a long-term daycare. After a while, neighbors and others complained and she then had her parental rights terminated by the court. Jhenya and his brother entered the orphanage in late 2005, so it's been about a year and a half for them. Oleg was recently adopted by a Canadian family, and so there is the possibility, of course, of the brothers being able to see each other in the future, which is a very nice option.

After the meeting with the director, we went out into the play yard and were able to see Jhenya from a distance, just interacting with the other kids naturally, not knowing we were there. He stood out to us as a leader of sorts of the other kids, most of whom were younger than him. He hugged the female worker/teacher several times while we we were watching. Then we approached him and he came up to us as Igor explained to him that we wanted to meet him, etc. He immediately gave us big hugs and said, "I want a momma and papa, and if you do not take me, I will run away and find my own momma, papa and bubushka (grandma). It was classic, and he said it in a funny way rather than sad way. We spent about an hour with him, just chatting, etc. We gave him two small toys that he liked very much. The experience was great, though a bit overwhelming, as you can probably imagine. Here you are with this little guy and in your head you are saying, "Is this our son?" etc. So, we told the workers that we would think and pray and come back again. Later that day, after a great conversaton with our America World rep, Kate, on the phone, we knew that Jhenya was the boy God had picked out for us.It was an amazing moment.

In the meantime, the paperwork side of things has been nothing short of miraculous. I will try to tell the whole story in another entry, but suffice to say that the gov't officilals have been very kind, efficient, and have been doing things for us after hours and even on Sat and Sun! Igor tells us that he has NEVER seen an adoption process go so smoothly. Right now we are just trying to pull together all the necessary adoption papers, which will be airmailed to Kiev on Monday. They will return here to Mariupol on Wed. We are hoping and praying that we will have our court date before the judge on Friday. Igor says it is looking good. If not Friday, then the following Monday. This means that Suzanne and all the girls could possibly be able to travel back to Kiev on in a week (next Mon or Tues), and then head home on Wed or Thurs (9 days or so). If this all falls into place, Igor says it will, literally, be the fastest adoption process he's ever seen, and he's worked with dozens of international families.

A little about Jhenya. We have visited him three times and I can tell you that he is very smart, very strong (a leader), and a bit mischievous, but not cruel, with the other orphans. One of the folks at the orphanage, an Italian woman who is adopting also, and has been there hanging out with the borther and sister she is adopting, said to us, "Oh, Jhenya! He is a wonderful boy - very healthy, unlike some of the kids here. And have you seen him run? He is like Speedy Gonzales. Yesterday an 8 year old boy challenged him to a race and Jhenya gave him a 10 meter head start and still beat him!" We laughed and shook our heads because I ran track and was similar as a kid, and my Dad (grandpa or "Dee" to Jhenya) is a track fanatic. It was really hilarious.

Kylie and Zoe have been able to visit J with us three times, but Hannah has had to stay back due to flu, which she's been fighting for 2.5 days. She is slowly getting better but it's a bit scary when your child is ill and you are staying in a remote city that is the industrial center of the country (very polluted). In any event, that brings me to prayer points:
1. Hannah that she would recover quickly. Full health and no dehydration.
2. Suzanne's health. Suz has had anxiety about Hannah and little sleep, so she is exhausted. She is not feeling well today, so needs prayer for good SLEEP and recovery.
3. That the adoption process would continue to race along at the amazing pace it's been going at so far.
4. That Suz and the rest of the girls can fly home by a week from this Thursday, which is Aug 2, I believe. That would be less than 2 weeks in-country for them, which really would be miraculous. ( I would stay and finish up paperwork, visa and passport stuff, medical exam - about another 10=15 days).

Finally, we could not be able to do this without Emily's help. She has been a godsend and an incredible help. She is doing well, considering that we are in a pretty intense, poor area.

Thanks so much. There is much to talk about but little time between doing this and that. Our major activities revolve around changing money, going to the orphanage, exchanging money, doing paperwork stuff, and thinking about making easy meals in the apt! It's been intense but a great bonding time for the whole family, including Kylie and Zoe, who are healthy and REALLY bonding with Jhenya. (I'll try to post some pics in the next few days - that's a whole different task I have not delved into yet - I hope it's possible.)

Blessings all! We appreciate you so much!
Kyle on behalf of "the girls" and Cory!