Love me some Skype
I already love Skype because I can talk with my dear friends in Ukraine for free. We can "text" or video chat even though we are a world and 8 hours apart. When I am in Ukraine on mission trips, I can Skype with my family at home (the family members who aren't with me in Ukraine, that is).
Now I have an even deeper love for Skype because Bill and I had the best Skype date ever on Saturday morning! My unofficial Ukrainian "son" (who I won't mention so I won't get him in trouble with any orphanage directors or workers) helps me with anything I need done in Ukraine. He has such heart for these kids and loves to help in any way he can. This is not the son I will be adopting so don't be confused. He just calls me "Mom" and I call him "son" (because I love him like a son) - we have been ministering together since our school first started going to Ukraine. He started out as a 19 year old translator for us and now he organizes and leads our trips for our team. That was a little side note just to say, my unofficial son brought our future son, who I'll call "Luke" to also protect his identity, to a restaurant with WI FI so that we could Skype. He translated for us while we had a great conversation.
Our talk went great. Luke is adorable. He smiles all the time and jokes. He told us what he likes to cook since he now has to cook for himself. When he gets here he'll teach us how to make borsch (a kind of soup) and salad. He asked if we liked shish-kabobs. We, of course, said, "YES!" He said he likes them with pork. We joked and said we like them with sabaka and kotchka, which is dog and cat in Russian. He made a shocked face and we told him "Shutka!" Which means, "Joke". He thought that was pretty funny.
We talked about school but he didn't like calling it school because he's in college now. I explained that here it will still be school. It will be high school. We also talked about his brothers and sister and her little baby. We told him how we are so excited that he is coming here. He can't wait. His face just lights up when he talks about it. He is really looking forward to being here.
We were happy to find out that he was planning on going to church the next day. We're hoping he will continue to be faithful in this. He (as we all do) needs the strong Christian community and encouragement. He needs to have the accountability, the fellowship, and a Christian family around him.
I thank God for this Skype session we had and I thank my friend for translating for us. It made my weekend!
On Sunday, the pastor facebooked some pictures of Viktor with the himself and his wife. They took him to lunch and then to their house. What a blessing for Luke to get to spend time in a Christian family setting. They allowed him to skype with an American friend. I was already leaving for church so I didn't hear my Skype call. I found out he knows a whole youth group in America who he can't wait to see again. They have been to his orphanage 3 times and he has their contact information and plans to see them when he is here. I think that's awesome!
One more thing before I close. My friend who has been sending me incredible wisdom and advice also sent me a sermon that has inspired me so much. A pastor named Clay Peck, from Colorado, has a sermon called "Rescue Mission". He and his wife adopted a teenage girl from Ukraine and he preached a sermon about what God taught him. It's an amazing story. I will post the link to his sermon and I highly encourage all of you to listen to it. You don't have to be adopting to listen to it. You will gain so much from this sermon. Also, if you like to read, I also highly encourage you to read the blog he wrote during and after the adoption. I'm not actually finished reading it but it's like reading one of those novels that you just can't put down. And when you're not reading it, you're thinking about it. As you read it, God is just..... speaking to you, reminding you and revealing to you that He is Who He says He is. He is mighty, He is our Father. He hears our prayers. He still does miracles. He cares. He does more than we could think or imagine. He shows Himself to us in a way we've never seen Him before. So, whether you're adopting or not or whether you go on mission trips or not doesn't matter. You should read this blog that I will be posting below. (Pastor Peck did give permission for me to post these so feel free to write to him if you are as moved as I was!)
https://graceplace.org/media/sermons/?sermon_id=77
Here is the blog link
https://claypeck.com/adoption-journey/
Happy reading. It's the book you can't put down. :)