Take Care of Vlad Tyler Bonds in Kiev

My little brother and his wife are adopting these 2 adorable boys from Ukraine - Vlad Tyler (12) and Yaric Jakob (10). Late on Friday, Oct. 4th I got a phone call from Kevin saying that there had been an emergency in Kiev and there had been a hiccup with the adoption of their boys. Lisa was extremely ill and Vlad's x-ray had come back showing that he had pneumonia. He asked that I go over and help, so I got on the first plane out the following morning.

When I got to Kiev, I learned that a new rule by the CDC required that Vlad get tested for TB and stay in Kiev until the results came back - 8-9 weeks later! Lisa was not only very sick physically, but as a momma, she was even more sick about the difficult choices they would have to make regarding how to get the boys to America and Vlad's treatments. Lisa was amazingly strong as she stayed here to finalize Yaric's paperwork and visa to America, while working with the doctors to put together a treatment plan for Vlad and a schedule for all the tests that would be required to get his visa approved. We also learned that Vlad would have to stay in the hospital the entire 8-9 weeks even though all his initial TB tests had come back negative!

The hospitals here are much different than America. You have to go to the pharmacy and buy the medication. You have to pay for the tests before they do them. You have to bring food and wash your kid's clothes. The kids have to wash their own dishes. And, worst of all, they do not encourage you to stay at the hospital with them.

With much heartache, and a lot of encouragement and assurance from me, we decided that it would be best for Lisa to travel home so that she could get well and get Yaric to America while his visa was approved. I would stay here to take care of Vlad while he was being treated for pneumonia and tonsillitis, visit him, buy his meds, wash his clothes and, hopefully, get him out of the hospital every weekend.

Kevin and Lisa have been bringing orphans to live with them for 6 weeks at a time every summer and winter for the last 18 years or so in order to share God's love with these children. They started a charity, Engraved (www.engraved.org), to provide a comprehensive Bible program for orphanages in Ukraine on a daily basis and build homes for the orphans that age-out of the orphanages at 16, usually ending up on the streets. They are always giving and giving and giving. They have paid for 100% of the costs for the orphans' visits over the last 18 years and the adoption of these 2 boys. However, this unexpected hitch in the process is going to add at least an additional $10,000 in costs for housing, hospital tests, medication and additional flights.

Kevin and Lisa would never ask for help, but so many of you have been asking me how you can help. As my good friend, Rhonda, told me when I had cancer, "Please don't steal the joy your friends get from helping you by trying to do it all yourself. We all need friends!" Truer words were never spoken. So I am asking all my friends to help us take care of Vlad, provide him with family to take care of him while he is stuck in a hospital in Ukraine, help us do some fun activities with him when I break him out of the hospital for the weekends, and get us all back on a plane to the U.S. before Christmas!!

Thank you in advance for all the support, not only monetary, but in prayer and words of encouragement. It means the world to all of us. We are beyond blessed with the greatest friends and family in the world!