Bring Anastasiia & Oleksandr Home!
Donation protected
In July 2017 a family at our church hosted a brother and sister from the Ukraine who were visiting the US for a few weeks searching for an adoptive family. We found out that their parents are both deceased. She's 16 and the brother is 15 but they're able to stay in the orphanage together until he turns 16 in December, then they both age out of the orphanage and are for the most part on their own.
My wife Juliane did some emailing and inquiries and I must admit I was initially against it. Not because I didn't want to help, but because the cost is just absurd and I have no idea how we'd afford it. It really just seemed too high of a mountain to climb. We're already blessed with 4 children, one with Down Syndrome and my wife is diabetic. Our plate is already pretty full. We're both scout leaders, I'm the sole bread winner in the family, my wife takes care of the kids and the house. There's a lot of balls already up in the air on a day to day basis and most of our funds are spoken for.
To adopt both of them it's estimated to cost around $40,000. There will be travel to the Ukraine at minimum once, but I suspect it will be twice, legal fees, adoption paperwork and fees both at the agency and government level, home study fees and the list goes on and on.
Fast forward to late August and they were on my mind when I woke up in the middle of the night. At 3 a.m. I was somehow just thinking about them. For some reason, call it the Holy Spirit or my Guardian Angel I did some research about adoptive benefits through my employer when I got to work that morning. I am able to get some help, but it doesn't put us anywhere near what we'll need. Then I was did a search because I was curious as to what happens when children age out of the orphanages in the Ukraine at age 16. Here's what I found and more than one site reports equally grim statistics:
At age 16, children are considered “aged out” and are turned into the street
60% of girls end up being trafficked for prostitution/pornography within 2 years. Orphans are at extremely high risk for being trafficked and exploited.
50%+ of the girls become pregnant as teenagers, and more than 80% of babies born to former orphans become wards of the state within 3 years, creating the next generation of orphans
70% of the boys wind up in jail within 2 years of leaving the orphanage
15% of children commit suicide within 2 years of “graduating”
After reading that I was just about in tears at my desk at work. I have a daughter and 3 sons, this did not sit well with me and my "dad genes" kicked in. The phrase "not on my watch" was very much present in my mind. I don't have the money to save them, but how do I look at myself in the mirror and say that it was too hard to try to save them from that life and I didn't even try. I called Juliane and as she put it, "kinda makes trying to raise 40k a no brainer". We've set things in motion.
I have no idea where the money will come from, my heart is way out in front of my wallet. The first step of the process is a home study, that can cost up to $3,000. We're also trying to host the kids for Christmas this year, that's about $5000 for their travel. The expenses will pile up quickly beyond that. That's where YOUR generosity comes in, I cannot do this on my own. Believe me when I tell you, I don't ask for help often, it's not in me to do so. But I'm doing so now. Without your help, I can't give them a chance at a better life. Can you please help me pull off what seems to be an impossible task?
If you can't give, then please at a minimum, please pray for us and for Anastasiia & Oleksandr. Pray that we can bring them home and give them a chance. Pray that we can help them avoid a life in Ukraine that puts them statistically at least on the short end of surviving. Most importantly, pray that God truly will not be outdone in generosity because we certainly need a lot of that right now!
My wife Juliane did some emailing and inquiries and I must admit I was initially against it. Not because I didn't want to help, but because the cost is just absurd and I have no idea how we'd afford it. It really just seemed too high of a mountain to climb. We're already blessed with 4 children, one with Down Syndrome and my wife is diabetic. Our plate is already pretty full. We're both scout leaders, I'm the sole bread winner in the family, my wife takes care of the kids and the house. There's a lot of balls already up in the air on a day to day basis and most of our funds are spoken for.
To adopt both of them it's estimated to cost around $40,000. There will be travel to the Ukraine at minimum once, but I suspect it will be twice, legal fees, adoption paperwork and fees both at the agency and government level, home study fees and the list goes on and on.
Fast forward to late August and they were on my mind when I woke up in the middle of the night. At 3 a.m. I was somehow just thinking about them. For some reason, call it the Holy Spirit or my Guardian Angel I did some research about adoptive benefits through my employer when I got to work that morning. I am able to get some help, but it doesn't put us anywhere near what we'll need. Then I was did a search because I was curious as to what happens when children age out of the orphanages in the Ukraine at age 16. Here's what I found and more than one site reports equally grim statistics:
At age 16, children are considered “aged out” and are turned into the street
60% of girls end up being trafficked for prostitution/pornography within 2 years. Orphans are at extremely high risk for being trafficked and exploited.
50%+ of the girls become pregnant as teenagers, and more than 80% of babies born to former orphans become wards of the state within 3 years, creating the next generation of orphans
70% of the boys wind up in jail within 2 years of leaving the orphanage
15% of children commit suicide within 2 years of “graduating”
After reading that I was just about in tears at my desk at work. I have a daughter and 3 sons, this did not sit well with me and my "dad genes" kicked in. The phrase "not on my watch" was very much present in my mind. I don't have the money to save them, but how do I look at myself in the mirror and say that it was too hard to try to save them from that life and I didn't even try. I called Juliane and as she put it, "kinda makes trying to raise 40k a no brainer". We've set things in motion.
I have no idea where the money will come from, my heart is way out in front of my wallet. The first step of the process is a home study, that can cost up to $3,000. We're also trying to host the kids for Christmas this year, that's about $5000 for their travel. The expenses will pile up quickly beyond that. That's where YOUR generosity comes in, I cannot do this on my own. Believe me when I tell you, I don't ask for help often, it's not in me to do so. But I'm doing so now. Without your help, I can't give them a chance at a better life. Can you please help me pull off what seems to be an impossible task?
If you can't give, then please at a minimum, please pray for us and for Anastasiia & Oleksandr. Pray that we can bring them home and give them a chance. Pray that we can help them avoid a life in Ukraine that puts them statistically at least on the short end of surviving. Most importantly, pray that God truly will not be outdone in generosity because we certainly need a lot of that right now!
Organizer
Mike Femenella
Organizer
Matthews, NC
