Hi Amy,

 If you can pass on a prayer request for us we would appreciate it. We are here and had a difficult meeting with the Nat'l Adoption Center. We could not get  any child we had known about and now not 2 girls unless they are siblings. This is such a crazy system. We have met a lovely girl and she has a sister she is separated from. The detyails abou their history is all messed up. In order to be able to adopt, we must get this straightened out tomorrow. Please ask people to pray for this. We feel that God is leading us in this direction. We so loved visiting the children from Internot #4 today. They are beautiful and so sweet. It makes you cry!

Thanks so much, 

Love from Larry and Cathy

Amy,

 Last nights update was from Cathy.  Tonights will be from me with a little better details.

 First of all, thank you for the prayers!!!  They were answered.

 A little more detailed background.  The Ukrainian Government has instituted a policy that if any foreigner is asking to adopt more than one child, the children adopted must be siblings.  OK, thats fine.  It makes it very difficult for children to get adopted but I'm not running for office here anyway.  The problem lies in that the records in Kiev (an 11 hour train ride from most of the orphanages) are so outdated that you can't get anything accomplished.  The file for a 12 year old will have a photograph that was taken when the child was 2 or 3.  Imagine trying to make a decision in 30 minutes time looking through photos that old.  And to make matters worse, most of the children, boys and girls, have thier head shaved when the photo was taken.  Its a lice treatment here.

So that is some background on todays miracle and tomorrows prayer request.  We asked you all to pray for help today(Thurs) with records.  It seems we found two beautiful sisters here in different orphanges but the official files at the Ministry say Only one is an orphane and she has no sister.  Miricale #1: We met with the assistant director of orphanage #88 today and she supplied us with the official documents that prove Yulia (ewe-lee-ah) has an older sister in orphanage #4 named Lena (Lee-ah-na).  With these documents we will go back to the Ministry tomorrow (fri) and plead our case to have the records corrected.  Once those are corrected (Cathy will let you know tomorrow night) I head back to Kiev (the 11 hour train trip) to have our permission slips ammended to include the names of these two girls.

From that point, there are about 10 more steps before we head home but these next couple are the most critical.  If I head to Kiev tomorrow night, we've scored our second miracle in having the records ammended.  If I get back from Kiev on Sunday afternoon with the ammended permission slips, thats Miricle #3.  These are our prayer requests for the next day or two: that God will direct us to the right person who will allow us to get these documents ammended and safe travels to and from Kiev.  Ukrainian Independance day is Tuesday, Aug 24th so traveling will be tough.

Thanks again for all of the prayers.  We have surely felt the Holy Spitit in our work so far and continue to be amazed at Gods handywork in all we see around us.

 God bless,

 Larry

Ames,

 Here's the latest.  Thanks for trying to listen to me earlier.  I know the connection was bad.

 We had another miricle today.  We needed a refferal letter from an official today to proceed with getting the two girls.  This refferal had to be printed and signed today.  We met with her at 2:30pm and she explained that the power has been out of her building all day and woul;d not be back on until sometime Sunday...but the last thing she printed before the power dued was our letter.  Praise God.

I mentioned a few more hurdles.  One in getting to Kiev and back quickly.  Another document could not be gotten today and has to be gotten early tomorrow morning.  I then have to fly to Kiev and get another document and fly back here to Odessa.  A very rushed morning and we heard this evening that there were two terrorist bombings at a large marketplace in Kiev today.  That doesn't ease the mind any.  Cathy is already having a very rough time of it sleeping with all of these kids going through her mind. 

Pray for us in the coming days for strength and rest.  We will have a chance over Sunday and Monday to send out a better update as offices will be closed and we will have a little more down time. 

 Until then.

 In God's Hands,

 Larry

Dear Friends & Family, 

Here is a more detailed update of where we are as of today.  So much seems to happen each day that first you can’t believe its dinnertime and then you get home and crash.

 You are familiar with our worries and concerns up ‘til last night.  First off, thank you for your prayers.  Cathy had a wonderful sleep and this was needed today.  We had to meet early and get signatures for amending an invitation.  Then we had to run it back to the director to have it signed.  Then back downtown to have her boss sign it and then up two floors to have the boss’s boss sign it

 Yesterday’s miracle was the printer prior to the electrical outage.  Today’s was simply knowing and feeling God’s hands in what we were doing.  We both were torn apart about knowing how hard we were to fight for these two girls.  We had in our hands an invitation for a different child but knew in our hearts that God was calling us to these two sisters.  We were at a point around lunch where we had to make a decision.  We sign a document and fight for the girls or we don’t sign and have a smooth weekend and begin the process to come home on Wednesday of next week.  On one hand, we had every duck in a row for the one child.  Every form, document, everything was in place to take her home. 

 But on the other hand, we felt in our hearts that God was calling us to fight for these two girls.  We were tired, hungry, and even mad that this process can be so difficult when these young lives were at stake.  We felt like bobm squad people wondering about the red or blue wire to cut.  But God told us to sign the document and fight.  And what a wonderful calm as we were enveloped by the Holy Spirit and given the peace of knowing in our hearts it was the right path to take.  It will add a couple of days but I dare not complain as these two sisters start their third year apart and their third year in such a place as Ukraine’s adoption system. 

 Again, thanks so much for the prayers.  We do feel them and can’t wait to get home.

 Love Always,

 Larry, Cathy, & Kersten Hanson

Dear friends,

Just a quick update.

 Everything is back on track.  Cathy & I will travel to Kiev & back tomorrow to correct some paperwork.  Then its on to the courts and then back to Kiev & home.

Of course it will not be quite that easy but now that our internet access is back, we will keep you updated.

 Love,

 Larry & Cathy

Dear friends,

Here's the latest.  We made it to and from Kiev (thats a trip I HAVE to tell in person) and have the papers we need for the two sisters.  Our girls will be Leona, age 13, and her sister Julia, age 9.

The missionary we are staying with, Lela Steele, shared a little phrase with us:

Faith does not know that God can do something, but that He will do something.

How wonderfully true.  We took the tact many days ago that we would not pray for what we hoped God could do for us.  Rather, we began to pray for what he would do for us.

And you have joined us.  We cannot even begin to tell you how we have felt the Holy Spirit moving in our lives these past few days with your prayers.  There have been roadblocks and trials that I couldn't even dream up, but all have been tackeled and successfully.  Every one of them.  I have been ready to quit at least twice.  But either Cathy or Lela have stepped in and we have prayed, not for guidance, but for absolute resolution.  And it has come each time.

Today we made great progress to get some important papers (again!)and once done we found out the director of one of the orphanges was fired.  Of course we need her signature on the documents.  Its funny how at every turn all seems to be lost.  But then Victor, our Ukrainian driver (A big, huge Blonde Ukrainian.  Very good to have on our side)says to call the social worker for the orphanage.  Get this; she is in the hospital but will leave, join us, and help us put the documents together that we need.  Tell me God's hand is not at work here ! ! !

So here we are at Thursday night.  Tomorrow we let these girls know our intentions.  Up until now they think we are just visiting the missionary lady.  Tomorrow is big because they get to be reunited.  They have been apart for almost three years.  It is a big day.  They will know whats cooking....   ....but every other child in the orphanage will too.  This is a big deal.  There will certainly be some mixed feelings all around.

And that is probably what I'll ask for prayers for.  Tomorrow, we gain two beautiful new daughters.  But we also let down a couple of dozen more who are just as beautiful, just as special, just as lonely.  It is going to be a very wonderful and a very very hard day.

 Love in Christ,

 Larry (& Cathy & Kersten)

Hi Everyone! Greetings from Odessa,

 What an awesome day we have had here! We are praising God for the wonderful time we got to spend with Julia and Lienna. We picked up the girls from their separate internots at about 9:30 this morning. They were a bit quiet at first, especially Julia. She was feeling car sick from the very bumpy ride in the van. I doubt that she has had many rides in a car during her 9 years of life. We then took the girls to have passport photos taken. We're trying to get things done so quickly that we hadn't even taken the time to talk to them about wanting to adopt them. They probably wondered what was going on.

Once the photos were out of the way then we did talk to them. Lela told Julia and Lienna about how she had prayed that they would be adopted so that they could live together for always. Then we had come and wanted to adopt them and God had answered her prayer. We asked them if they would like to come to America with us and be our daughters. They said that they would like to. It is hard to explain all of this on the computer, but it was an awesome time.

We took the girls for ice cream by the Black Sea. Then we went to a market to find them each a shirt as it was cool and they weren't wearing very warm clothing. It was so much fun to walk around with them and have them take our hands and hold on. We stopped at a small amusement center where Kersten and Julia jumped on a trampoline and then Lienna beat both Larry and I at air hockey. We then had to take them back to the internots because we were only allowed 3 hours for today.

Lienna told one of the interpretors that she is so happy. She kept hugging me. Kersten is taking such good care of her new sisters. She is not a bit shy with them. She hugs them and since Julia is smaller than her Kersten keeps picking her up. I am so glad that we brought her along.

When we took Julia back to the internot we had to stay for awhile to get some documents. We played with all of the children some more. They all climbed into the van with us. Some of the girls were trying to teach me some Russian words. Julia climbed into the van and sat right on my lap. I was so happy. She said I was her mama and Larry was her papa. One of the girls sitting next to me pointed to Julia and asked, "drushka?" which means "daughter". Then she pointed at herself and asked "drushka?" I just about started crying. All of these children are so precious and we love them all so much. I wish we could bring them all home. Please pray for them that they will be adopted and can know how much Jesus loves them. They keep coming back to us for more and more hugs.

We ask that you would continue to pray that we will have some more great times to bond with Lienna and Julia over the next few days . Also pray that God would help us move very quickly through the remaining steps of the adoption process so that we can get home. We know that by God's mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. Our prayer is that God would be glorified in all of this.

We send our love to all of you. We miss you and thank you SO much for praying for us and for encouraging us with your e-mails.

 Love from Cathy, Larry and Kersten

Dear friends & family,

Today was an amazing day.  Webster says that amazing is "causing astonishment or wonder."  Yes, I said today was an amazing day.

All we had to do today was accumulate the documents for Lienna (Side-bar: I know I've spelled her name alot of different ways but that is her correct spelling: L-I-E-N-N-A) and proceed to have those documents approved.  That would set us up to have the documents sent to Kiev on Monday and have the ruling for the court date on Tuesday.  If all went well, we'd be home by Christmas. (Ha)

But of course, this is Ukraine.  And it seems if you mix even a couple of Swedes into this culture, anything can happen.  We found out quickly this morning that Lienna's birth certificate had a big problem in how it was written.  Somehow her mothers maiden name was listed on the birth certificate.  That seems simple enough.  All it means is her mother and father were not married at the time of her birth.  Or for some other reason, her mother did not give her her fathers last name.  Still, its no big deal. 

Well,  here its a big deal.  It stopped the presses.  It was as if the earth had stopped rotating and the sun had gone dark.  Since all of the adoption paperwork listed her with her fathers given name (Steponiva) and her birth certificate listed her mothers maiden name (don't ask me to spell it), there must be some deep magic at work or else the ghosts of the Kremlin were coming to take their revenge.  No one knew what to do.  No one. 

Finally, around 12:30 we were directed to a lady who seems to be the director of all directors.  If you ask me, there are way too many chiefs and not enough indians in this tribe.  Anyway,  she has come up a few times in our trials here and each time we've been able to avoid her.  It seems she is the last resort.  No one dares fall back on seeing her for a solution.  She is known to be very abusive and very demanding.  We were told that this meeting would be us crawling in and begging and she yelling and screaming until we left.  We were not looking forward to it at all.  And we all had to go.  Yes, even Kersten.

Cathy and I prayed on the way over for God's will to be done and that we would have the courage to do or say whatever He directed us to.  And we let Kersten know what to expect.  The last thing Cathy said as we got out was "lets put on our shields of faith."

And with God leading us, we entered into battle and won.  She started off boastfully but we won.  She wanted to put it off until Monday but God used Galina to make the case for today and we won.  Kersten did more talking than either Cathy or I and we won.

We went into this meeting with the hope of her helpng to clarify what to do next with this birth certificate problem.  And we left the meeting with a promise from her that this and all of the other documents we need would be delivered to us (thats a biggy) by 10am monday morning.  God is so Good!

And so we were able to spend a couple of hours late in the afternoon with our three daughters playing in the sands on the north shore of the Black Sea.  I never thought I'd be saying that.

1 Samuel 1:27 says, "I asked the Lord for this child, and He has given me my request."

Tomorrow, Cathy and I will be able to spend the entire day with Kersten, Julia, & Lienna.  There is nothing official we have to do.  All we have to do is bond.  But you all are so good at praying that I'd hate to leave you with nothing to do.  If I had a request to make it would be that you pray for each other.  Pray for that faith that moves mountains.  Faith that will save a soul.  Faith that will tie a marriage together.  Faith that will lead you into Gods battles.  And faith that just might take you around the world to save a child or two.

Lastly, I need to say again and again...  ...Cathy and I feel your prayers.  We can physically feel them.  So often I am ready to give up and the power of the Holy Spirit envelopes me and lets me know that I can go on.  It is your prayers that are sustaining us.

 In Christ,

 Larry & Cathy & Kersten, Julia, & Lienna. (Steponiva for now, Hanson in a couple of days!)

Hey you!

I am sitting here picturing you sitting in your office clicking the recieve icon and I laugh...and then I cry.  This is sooooooo draining.  We see the girls everyday but have to say goodbye.  And I wonder are they hungry still when they go to bed? Do they get picked on by the other kids?  Is there resentment because the others know why we're here?  Everyday we get into Victor's van hoping we can accomplish enough to bring them home with us.  And, so far, everyday seems to be three steps forward, two steps back.  At that pace you eventually finish but its alot of extra steps.

Alot of the depressing stuff Cathy asks me not to write since others might be planning an adoption.  Or we hope thjey are.  I am so discouraged at the total lack of concern for these kids.  No one cares.  No one.  I was told in this orphanage there are 46 kids going into the 6th grade.  Only two of them do not have scars on their heads from beatings. I wrote in my own notes of a little boy.  I was hugging him and asked why he had so much sand in his hair.  He told me it wasn't sand, it was dandruff.  That is the quickest way to get an adult to stop playing with your hair.  I'm tallying some numbers for something, for what I do not know.  10,000 homless in Odessa, Population 1.5 million.  In all of the Ukraine there are 78 state run orphanges and over 700 run by churches.  45,000 orphans.  90-100,000 kids between the age of 8 and 12 living on the streets.  Average income is 300 Greavna.  Greavna to the Dollar is 5.3 to 1.  That's $60 per month.  Gas is actually just a little higher than Omaha at about $2.10 per gallon.  Water is full of Mercury, Lead, Arsenic.

As you can see, I'm tired and I want to come home.  Right now, if everything else goes as it should, we'll be home on the 9th.  Possibly the 8th but I'm not banking on it.

We love you tons.  We really do.  You guys have brought more tears of joy to us than you can imagine.  We so look forward to getting mail every night when we get back.

 Love ya,

 Larry

I have to start with the devotion Cathy and I shared this morning.  It is taken from Streams in the Desert.  It was for August 31st.  It is our little Julia's birthday today.  She is now nine years old.

Blessed are they that have not seen,and yet have believed. (John 20:29)

The devotion went as follows:

How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen.  If Peter is to walk on water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both.  If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust to its buoyant wings.  But if it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying.

God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and let him see that in his own body he could do nothing.  He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work; and when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what God had promised, God was able to perform.  That is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His Word real in fact as well as in faith.                                                 A.B. Simpson

What God has promised, God is able to perform.  How true.  Today our new girls officially asked to be adopted by us.  We got to watch as they wrote in Russian that they wanted to come and live with us.  And have new names:  Lienna Joy & Julia Christine.  All of this trial and tribulation stuff has led up to this.  There has been mounds and mounds of paperwork, endless hallways and corridors to go down, hours and hours of sitting and waiting just to get up, drive across town or across the country and wait some more.  For a little over a year now, we've been following God's plan for our lives as a family.  And as I sat with Cathy this morning and then thought about it through this endless day of waiting, it kept ringing clear to me.  What God has promised, God is able to perform.

He never said this would be easy, cheap, or quick.  He simply asked us to trust Him.  Trust Him and let Him bless us.  And, oh, how he has blessed us.  If you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend you come to the Ukraine, sit down with a darling 9 year old, and watch her write out that she wants you to be her dad.  Priceless!

Tomorrow we hopefully meet our judge.  Was supposed to be today but got moved out.  Prayers for our schedule as we hit another week-end and head into the home stretch.

 Love in Christ,

 Larry, Cathy & the girls

Ames,

This wasn't the update.  The update had "Odessa files" in the subject line.  The jist of the e-mail was a devotion on letting go and trusting God.

I can't tell but it looks like you sent this out instead of that one and this one is more of a short rent on how bad things are.  I don't want everyone to think I've lost it.

 Love ya,

 Larry

Hi everybody,

 We are experiencing our own Olympics here. Today we have experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

We finally gathered the necessary papers so that our interpreter can travel back to Kiev and turn them into the NAC. She is on her way to the bus station as I write this. When she returns we will be able to get an appointment with the judge so that we can legally adopt Lienna and Julia. We are getting a little bit closer each day. Praise God! How thankful we are for His steadfastness. He keeps us going and reminding us that He is in control.

We went to Lienna's orphanage this morning. This was the first day of school. Here it is called First Bell. The children all bring flowers for their teachers and they had an outdoor ceremony with some speaking and some music. The children were all dressed in their uniforms and the girls had spent extra time fixing each others' hair.

When the ceremony was over we got to spend some with Lienna. As we were talking with her and waiting outside the offices for some document, a woman came up to Lienna and started speaking very harshly to her and was shaking her finger at her. We soon learned that this was the new director of the internot. To back up --- several days ago many of the internot children  were in the street and made sort of a protest because their former director had been unjustly fired. All of the staff and the children were very fond of her. Anyway, this new director is not a kind person, to put it mildly. Apparently she yells at the children quite often. She has decided that Lienna was the instigator of this whole protest and was telling her that she did not deserve to be adopted. And that if she was able to she would put a stop to it. All this 2 ft from Larry's face.  Lienna was so scared she was shaking. It is difficult to really do anything about this right now as we still have to face this woman at the court hearing. Lienna has this woman each morning for homeroom and will probably not make her life pleasant for the next few days.

We are asking for prayer today that God will protect Lienna. She has already had such a difficult life. And prayers for Larry as he struggles with this woman.  She will have to be faced everytime we go to see Lienna.  Prayers for peace and self-control when human rage wants to take over.  We also ask for protection for Galina as she travels to Kiev and that there she will have success at the NAC and then as she returns that things will fall into place with expediency so that we can get home.

"Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do.  Only God himself, who always works without strain, who never overworks, can do the work that He assigns to His children."

God sent us to Ukraine to adopt two precious children, but in the midst of this process He has been teaching us so many things. It is so evident to us that God is at work here. We can accomplish nothing on our own strength or by our own plans, but God is the one who will fulfill His will. We are learning to rest in the Lord and fully trust Him to accomplish this work which is His.

1John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

 Love, Larry, Cathy, Kersten, Lienna and Julia

Dear Friends & family,

Our original schedule would have us flying home today.  We would have left Kiev this morning and arrived back in Omaha this evening around 7:30pm.  Our original plan was to visit Kiev only coming in and going out, not twice in between.  We’d originally thought we would adopt only from Internot #4, not Internot #88 also.  We expected to meet a director, not three.  We’d prayed for girls all year, wondering whom God would bring to us.  We got here and He surprised us with two we’d never known of.  We originally planned on two weeks in a hotel, not three weeks with a sweet missionary from Ocala, Florida.

Today was another of those hard days when there is a reality that sets in and your heart is broken.  We met with our judge today.  He confirmed that by Ukrainian law we couldn’t have the hearing until next Thursday.  We had hoped to speed things up and after Thursday we can, but not until then.  Now we hope to be home next weekend.  And that hurts.  Deeply.  We need to be home.  Our hearts ache to be home. 

And God moved yet another Ukrainian mountain.  Remember the Director that was mean to Lienna?  Well, I got to meet with her.  I tried so hard to put on a mad, how-dare-you-talk-to-my-little-girl-like-that look.  You won’t believe what she had the gall to say to me.  She told me she was sorry.  Can you believe it?  Yesterday I wanted to push her down a flight of stairs.  And today God took away my reason to be angry.  I still don’t trust her any farther than I can throw her but she will certainly get the “Doe-bray-oo-tra” “Good morning” from me whenever I see her.  I asked about taking Lienna for the day and she said “Of course! Anytime! Whenever you need to.”  Praise God. 

I started my day this morning thinking of you.  Crying for you and with you and because of you.  It’s also how I’m ending my day.  You all are such a wonderful family.  We are so blessed to have your support as we follow Gods plan for us.  And it truly has become a plan both for our family and for our church.  I think of the little things like bags and bags of underwear and toothpaste.  And little Christmas packages for kids who can carry all of their life’s belongings in a grocery sack  In so many of our houses there are pictures of little kids on our refrigerators, boys and girls, who we’ve grown to love like our own.  I know that many hearts in our congregation are pondering over the possibility that God may just be calling us to do something. 

That something can be scary.  But take it from me.  There is an overwhelming support network in the hearts of 1^st Covenant Church.  Did you know that Cathy and I have people praying for us in Nebraska, Colorado, Minnesota, Connecticut, Ohio, California, Oregon, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Texas, & Odessa, Ukraine!  Praise God!  And the e-mails you’ve sent lift us up each and every day.  We keep every one and every one will be answered soon.  I promise.  We thank you.  From the bottom of our tired, weary, homesick hearts we thank you.

As I look over Lela’s desk at the verse for tomorrow, my eyes fill with tears: 

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him.  I will be with him in trouble;

 I will deliver him, and honor him.

(Psalm 91:15)

We’ve asked for your prayers and you’ve overwhelmed us.  We’ve asked for support and you’ve written and literally sustained us when all was lost.  We love you and miss you.  We really really really miss you.   

We so much wanted to be with you at Cedars this weekend.  Actually, we will be.  At different hours of the day this weekend, we will think of you guys and wonder what you’re doing.  And we’ll smile…and then most likely cry.  We love you.

In Christ,

Larry

Twas grace that brought me safe thus far

and grace will lead me home.

Sound familiar? 

I love to look back at all of our updates and see all thats been done here.  I look over my personal notes and smile, cry, get angry (again).  And I'd love to come home and give a big promotional pep talk about how much you can do if you simply put your mind to it.  But I'm only a man.  A man saved by grace.  It was the grace of God that allowed the Holy Spirit to work through me, through us.  It was God's wonderful grace that gave us the courage to say yes to this little endeavor.  I truly believe we could not have succeeded without the grace of God. 

And that wonderful grace will lead us home.  We've been harassing the American clinic & American Embassy in Kiev and everyone knows we want to come home. If all goes as planned, we will be on a KLM flight from Kiev to Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Omaha on Saturday.  

Pray for everything to go according to God's plan.  We so much want to be home, but more than this, we want His will to be done.

 In Christ,

 Larry & Cathy.

P.S.  By the way,  I saw a picture of you all at camp and many people were mocking me about my coffee last year.  I have the picture and will deal with you all individually. :)

Thats right.  Tonight and tomorrow night and its the end of the Odessa Files.  The end in Odessa anyway.

I say that for a reason.  Read on.

Today was a typical day here in Odessa.  The day began with breakfast & devotions.  After alot of exhaust fumes and traffic, we spent the day with our girls enjoying the old towne part of Odessa.

And of course at 4 pm, the daily setback hit.  A little background:  Remember the subpeona's that were issued by the judge?  Well, normally they are just invitations.  Now, and I believe we're the first, the NAC in Kiev wants to be on the invitation list.  They informed our facilitator that since they did not get an invitation, they were not going to approve our documents.  Our facilitator called us.  We called Dena.  Dena called the judge.  He called his secretary.  They are both on vacation.  She called another judge.  He called his secretary.  She filled out a form.  And twenty minutes after the bombshell, we have an invitation for the NAC.  They won't come since they are all in Kiev (six hours away by car) but they're officially invited.  The invitation is going by train tonight to Kiev where it will be accepted tomorrow and our documents will be approved in Kiev.

We are set for the judge to bang his gavel on Thursday.  Then as far as the Ukrainian governmant is concerned, we are the parents of two beautiful Ukrainian girls.

I called the American Embassyu this morning to confirm we could get an appointment for Friday since the web site stated they only accepted appointments Mon - Thurs.  The conversation went as follows:

Me "I need the appointment for Sept. 10th close to lunch time."

Her "I'm sorry, Mr. Hanson, we don't take visa apointments on Friday."

Mr "Thats impossible.  I have to catch a plane on Saturday.  Please"

Her "OK.  Will 11:00 be OK?

Unbelievable!  This office processes 800 - 900 adoptions a year and never on Friday.  All I had to do was insist.  And later I get two judges, two secretaries, one social worker, and a train; all within 30 minutes.  Unbelievable!  God is at work here.  Or we've pestered so many people they will do anything to get us out of here.

Now, to the "getting us out" part.  We need prayers.  Hard and steady prayers.  I've been changing flights as often as my underwear lately.  Yes, its daily, if you were wondering!!!  We had three confirmed seats on September 3rd but lost them.  Our travel agent has informed me that there are NO seats on any airline out of Kiev 'til Sept. 14th.  At least that is what the computer says.  No matter what, we are stuck with alot of fees for all of the changes we've had to make but now we need seats.  If you savvy business travelers are thingking you've got an answer, fire away.  We've rattled our brains here figuring out how to get from point "A" to point "B".  Hungary & Egypt even came up!  We have an option of traveling by train to Amsterdam but it's a 36 hour train ride through Ukraine, Poland, Germany, & the Netherlands.  We would spend another $1000 and still possibly not get home before Tuesday.  We've decided to get to the Kiev airport Friday and start waiting.  The thought is people are getting away from Russia with the Chetchnya problems.  I'm hoping to buy my way onto the flight to Amsterdam.  Our travel agent says once we get to Amsterdam, we're home free.  She has no idea how easy it is to say that by phone from Chicago.

We appreciate all of the prayers you've offered up on our behalf.  We really do.  It is with the utmost love and joy that I ask for more.  What a joy it is to be allowed to be tested like this by such a loving God.  What a joy it is to see the hand of God at work.  And how wonderful it is to be able to say "OK God.  I will put your promises to the test.  I will trust you to deliver me."  Keep the faith.  Praise God!

 In His loving arms,

 Larry & Cathy & the girls

 (Sorry this is late.  We lost our e-mail access again last night)

Dear friends,

The final chapter in the Odessa files.  At least the last you’ll probably hear from us until we get home.  We are on to Kiev tomorrow night and will probably not have access to the Internet.  I will write a footnote about the journey home but you won’t get it until sometime on Saturday night if all goes well.

We had a good day.  We were able to sit and band together as believers with Lela and another missionary here in Odessa, Chuck Simpson.  It was good to sit among believers and talk about God and these little children.  We were amongst friends talking about friends we wanted to be home with.

Of course the day had its trial.  A day wouldn’t be complete here without a trial of some sort.  Today’s was lost papers.  For some reason our facilitator took two documents with her to Kiev and the judge needed to see them here.  We spent a couple of hours running around to get duplicates and then were told that we could produce them tomorrow.  It was the Ukrainian way of increasing ones blood pressure.  For three weeks now, we’ve cringed every time the phone rings and someone mentions a document.

There is a joy, a spring, a gladness in the walk of those who walk in My love.

That walk becomes a glad, conquering, and triumphant march.  So walk.

What a wonderful saying.  You can certainly see it here.  These are a people who shut God out of their lives for 70 years.  Completely removed any hope or joy in life.  They may at times be happy people but with the absence of hope, they do not know joy.  And you see it all around you when you are here.  It is emotionally draining.  The Soviet system of communism was not based on morality but on power.  And that is why it is so hard to understand this society.  Here, the mindset is so strangely different.  If I have the power to make you wait, you wait.  Not because you need to wait but because that is what I have the power to do.  If I have the power to get a bribe, you are going to pay me a bribe.  And that breeds a lack of trust in anything or anyone. 

But there are hints of joy.  A church basement crowded for a two-hour service.  78 state run orphanages and over 700 run by churches.  A big shimmer lives at #64A Lesi Ukrainki St. in Odessa.  Here a little 78 year old missionary flaunts the devil and calls him a rascal.  She uses names like Precious, Darling, Sweetie, & Honey to describe basically anyone on the other end of the conversation.  She is loved by 13 grand children, 19 great grandchildren (#20 is due any day) and hundreds of unofficial orphan grandchildren.  She won’t show you pictures, she’ll take you and show you faces.  And when you stop and think about all that she does, and all that she puts up with, you sit back and cry.  Tears of joy at the work that God is doing here through her.  Tears of humility for complaining about how tough this has been.  And tears of sorrow for all the kids that will not have enough to eat tonight, or a blanket as the nights get colder.

And so we start our journey home.  I wish I could tell you what flight we’re on and when it is going to land in Omaha but I can’t.  God does but He hasn’t shared it with us yet.  Please pray for God’s speed and security on our way home.  But more than that, say a little prayer for one of the kids who will still wake up tomorrow behind the walls of a Ukrainian Orphanage.

Love in Christ,

Larry & Cathy

Hello from Odessa.

You have no idea how heartbreaking it is to say that to you tonight.  It means we are still here.  And will be here a few more days.

The court hearing went great.  And then we needed a couple of new birth certificates.  Problem is, we found out, Julia doesn't exist.  Her original birth certificate is a forgery.  It was forged on an old soviet document.  And of course it has to be fixed before we can proceed.  These people could care less about these children until its time for them to leave.  So we have to search though all of the birthing hospitals and find her original regestry number.  And once we have that, we can issue a birth certificate that will be destroyed just as soon as they make another new one with our names on it. 

Don't bother rereading the last paragraph.  It still won't make any sense.  The only thing that does here is God's truth.  I am convicted to carry out His will.  That has its own ramifications but we will be ok.

Please continue to pray for Paul, Kyle, David.  And for Milt & Lois.  And for us.  We are so emotionally drained.  There is barely energy to cry any more.

Tomorrow starts rather early so I'll sign off for now.

 In Christ's love,

 Larry & Cathy

Dear friends & Family,

I sure didn't see these last volumes when I started the story.  I really thought there were only 19 volumes.

Today was one of those "why me?" days.  Yesterday was a beautiful day that ended so badly.  Kind of like the house burning down right after the presents are opened on Christmas morning.  And today I spent the day with my beautiful daughter Julia traversing the city of Odessa saying to myself, "why me?"

Why do I have to sit here and wait to have her hands x-rayed?  And why is it taking this doctor 2 hrs?  I should be leaving today for Kiev, actually, I should've been in Omaha now for a week, so why am I still here?  Why have I put my trust in a man who promises tomorrow and ends my day with Monday or Tuesday?  And why did I pay him for the promise?  And why won't I get my money back?  And why am I wanting to argue with people?

What are you teaching me though this?  What am I supposed to be feeling for these people who pursecute me?  For this country that is so vastly different than my own?  Why am I constantly asking your forgiveness for the awful thoughts that I feel right now?

And I sat outside of an Odessa government building this afternoon and asked out loud, "God, what do you want me to do?  I don't know anymore what you are trying to accomplish through me.  Please, God, I can't go on."  I remember vividly the last time God and I had that one-sided conversation where I did all of the asking.  It was in John Larson's driveway moments after we found out Peter had been killed.  A friend that night told me that it is not for us to understand but to simply believe that God's hand is at work.

And when I got home tonight, that same dear friend told me the same thing through a rough paraphrasing of Job.  How dare I question what God's intentions are.  I have no right.  I am not worthy to know, simply to obey.  Job lost everything.  These girls have lost everything. 

And here is the reality of Julia's life had God not sent us here.  At the age of 17 she would be forced to leave the orphanage.  Because of this false birth certificate, she would not be allowed to continue higher education.  She would not be allowed to legally marry.  She would not be allowed to have a work paper which means she would not legally be allowed to earn a wage.  She would not be allowed state housing for the impoverished. Her life would be over.  It would probably take at least a couple of years but she would be dead.

And as I reread Job tonight, and kissed little Julia's head and tucked her in, I thanked God for all that he has done for me.  And I prayed for His blessings tomorrow.  Not for understanding, just for blessings.

And in all the land there were no other girls as lovely as the daughters of Job.

Job 42:15

And he lived a long & good life.

 Good night,

 Larry & Cathy        P.S.  Please continue to write, we'll be here for another 3 days!

Hi everbody,

Larry is doing such a great job of writing to you about our life here in Ukraine. I just wanted to take the time to send out a note of thanks to all of you--those we've met and those we haven't--for lifting us up in prayer so faithfully these past 4 weeks. We know that God listens to His people and He does answer-not always in the ways we hope, but according to what He knows is best.

I want you to know that the notes you have sent are greatly appreciated. I can't tell you what a wonderful gift it is to sit down to the computer and find that we have received some mail. Your encouragements, verses, pictures and jokes keep us going. I'm so glad that we are part of the family of God! I praise Him for each one of you.

 Love, Cathy

 Dear friends & family,

Apologies again for being late with the update.  Our host’s boss is arriving today (Sun). He is the director for European operations for Harvest International.  This is the missions group that Michelle Maly worked with while here.

First & foremeost is thank you.  Cathy & I thank you from the bottom of our weary hearts.  We are so blessed to call you family.  Its amazing to think that with thousands of miles between us, we are still crying together, laughing together,  and most importantly, praying together.  I stop periodically during the day and think to myself what time it is back in Omaha.  And then I wonder if there isn't someone sitting at a keyboard writing us a note.  It might be a note of thanks, a note of support, or even a little note of prayer.  But the thought itself brings me to tears.  I wonder how many Ukrainians have been walking around wondering who that crazy American is who's always got tears in his eyes?  They can't tell, but sometimes they are tears of joy, sometimes tears of frustration.  Sometimes I'm homesick, sometimes I'm worried about my future.

But mostly right now they are tears of sorrow.  Because I couldn't get to the update last night, I sat and flipped through about 20 devotional books in the playroom.  That is a benifit of staying with a missionary; there is ample resources for lifting your spirits.  Anyway, I began to reminice on a conversation I had with Danny Thomas, director for Harvest International.  He warned me to be prepared for the time before we left for home.  Be prepared for the hundreds of pairs of eyes that will look at you as you leave with someone other than them.  And last night I did.  I sat and thought about Alla.  A sweet girl who will never be adopted unless records are fixed in Kiev.  She is so sweet and even in this place, knows and loves Jesus.  She knows she has a heavenly father who loves her even if she doesn't have an earthly one.  And I thought about Yuri.  Another young man who gave me his english new testament for my birthday.  The gift story is one I have to tell face to face.  But here's another young man who has known only the life of an orphan.  And little Dema.  Not the Lennard's Dema.  There are lots of Dema's here.  This little 12 year old watched both of his parents die.  Had a loving home but no extended family.  And so through no fault of his own, is now confined to life as a Ukrainian orphan.  And I thought about the moment we left for the last time from Internot #4 with Lienna.  But last night I didn't think about her.  I thought about the three friends who were left behind.  They were crying.  They were so happy for her.  But they were left behind.

I sit right now in awe and wonder to God for the priveledge He has given me to do this.  He asked me a year ago to step out of my contentment and follow Him.  To step away and look hard at my life and what I could do with it.  My prayer today and foever will be that you also are given the priveledge to do something like this for Him.

I will say again how thankful we are to have you around us.  God has led us where we are going.  I can close my eyes and know that He is in control.  Please continure to pray.  Not only for us but for these little orphans in Ukraine.  My hope and prayer today is that God will save these little kids.  That He will call others to come save them.  And that they will come.

Here I am, Lord. 

It is I, Lord. 

I have heard you calling in the night. 

I will go, Lord. 

If you lead me. 

I will hold your people in my heart.

Have a wonderful and blessed worship.  We can't wait to raise our hands with you.

 Love always,

 Larry & Cathy

• I can hear the hum of the water distiller in the other room.  I'm not going to miss homemade bottled water.  My toothbrush has not touched the water coming out of the tap for over three weeks!  I have to remember to have Dr. Meier check these girls for arsenic, mercury & lead.

• I'm going to miss this little room.  It houses all the necessary missionary stuff: walls full of pictures, shelves full of devotional books, a cabinet stocked with office stuff and another stocked with every kind of vitamin and supplement you can imagine.  Even one to maintain the Ph balance of intestinal flora.  These kids will have the sharpest pencils and the cleanest digestive system around.

• I'm not going to miss the roads.  You'll have to see video of it because if I describe them here, you won't believe me.

• I'm going to miss Victor.  The big, burly Russian who drives Lela Steel around.  He knows every route through Odessa and every pothole.  He loves God and gives anything and everything for the glory of Him.  He is a soldier.  He is a father.  He is a friend.  A friend I will pray for for the rest of my life.

• I will not miss this society.  I will miss the people and the scenes, but not the despair; the way of life.  Seeing people rummage through dumpsters for a meal.  Or defecating openly along the main avenues.  Or seeing drunks passed out in the front of buildings with kids playing close by.  Or bags of dirty needles lying in the grass.

• I will not miss the officials who milk the system and take advantage of orphans.

• I will miss the e-mail.  I have grown to love walking in and seeing if we had mail.  And waiting for the screen to pop up and say: Inbox = 2 new messages.  Or this morning when there were over 30.  I haven't decided if I'll miss the updates or not.  I'd much rather give them in person.

• I'm going to miss Lela Steel.  I can't begin to write how much I'm going to miss her.  Imagine if we had had to go through all this out of a hotel room.  Getting taxi's everyday for 4 weeks.  Eating out every  meal.  All of the frustrations we've had and without e-mail.  Lela Steel was placed here 10 years ago for a reason.   I personally believe she was placed here for us.  God knew we were going to need her.  You know I heard her make a call this evening to a wrong number and she still said "Sweetheart" twice and "Honey" at least once.

• And I'm going to miss the kids.  Olic, Vulva, Dema, Nastia, Yuri, Alla, Lina, another Dema, and all the others.  I'm going to miss the smells.  I'm going to miss the looks.  I'm going to miss the way they clasp onto your hand and hope you never let go.  I'm going to miss where they live.  And how they survive.

Again, I tell you that we head out tomorrow night for Kiev.  I truly hope you do not hear from me again until we get home.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all of your prayers and for your never ending support.  We hope to be home Wednesday night.  And believe me, you all will be the first to know.

Love always,

Larry & Cathy

We're still here. This is such a hard thing to have to sit here and write. Larry wasn't up to sending out yet another update tonight. So I am just writing to tell you all that we were unable to get a birth certificate for Julia because the only woman in the city who can issue it had her birthday yesterday. Today was the day that she was going to celebrate it and she said not even the president of the country was going to make her come into work. So here we still are. All I am going to say is that we are disheartened and that  our hearts ache to be home. All we can do is hit the trail again tomorrow and keep trying to get home. I'm sure you all know what to pray at this point so please do.

 Hanging in there, Larry and Cathy

Dear friends & family,

I don't have to tell you where we are.  I don't want to.

I apologize for not writing last night.  I'm spent.  Emotionally, physically, I just can't seem to make sense of this ordeal any more.

I was going to say tonight that my spirit is broken but Cathy corrected me.  It is not my spirit that is broken, it is my will.  Finally, after a month in this God-forsaken (and I don't use that term lightly!) country, my will is broken.  I have been struggling with God for awhile now wondering why He won't get me out of this.  And all along, He has patiently been taking me through it.

There are alot of scriptures to explain what I mean but I don't know them and I'm too tired to look them up.  You can't take gold and just polish it and call it pure.  No, it has to be drawn through the fire.  I know its in the Bible.  Please trust me.

In C. S. Lewis' Narnia book "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" there is a character named Eustace Scrubb.  The book opens with "His name was Eustace Scrubb, and he deserved it!"  Anyway, this Eustace character is quite the little pain and he winds up being turned into a dragon because of his attitude.  And when he's finally in his darkest valley, at wits end, he finds Aslan (God) and Aslan removes the scales of dragon skin that entrap him.  He describes having the scales clawed away by the lion Aslan and the wonderful pain of having new skin, tender but new.  He had to go through excruciating pain to find the release of what trapped him. 

Today at about 5:50pm, we found out that we were not going to be headed for Kiev tonight.  Lienna & Julia's story is even more interesting than we thought.  We hope to be going tomorrow.  I say the chances are very, very good.  But I will not say for sure.

But you know what?  We prayed and asked God for peace and strength, not deliverance and understanding.  And we picked up the girls, ran to McDonald's, and spent about two hours laughing, playing, & reminiscing.  God is so good. 

I hope we can leave Odessa tomorrow.  I also hope for world peace!

I hope to have a job when I get there.  But I know God will provide.

I hope to bring these girls home on Friday.  But I won't ask God when anymore, only how.

Please pray for us as we continue this journey.  But also pray for the kids left here after we come home.  And of course for my three back home with you guys.

 Love you lots,

 Larry & Cathy

We leave for Kiev in twenty minutes.

We'll be home Friday night sometime.

Pass it on!

 Love ,

 Larry & Cathy

Dear friends and family,

 As most of you know, we are home.  WE ARE HOME ! ! !  You have no idea how wonderful it is to be able to say that.

You last heard from me as I was heading out for the train to Kiev Tuesday night.  After an all night ride, we scrambled through medical tests at the American Medical Clinic and then out began the processing through the American Embassy.  After our initial screening, Cathy and Kersten were able to leave and headed for home while the girls and I finished up.  Our thought at the time was they would head out and we would leave on Friday morning.  We’d all meet up in Amsterdam and get home together.  As I soon found out, that was my plan, not God’s.

Thursday was spent pleading with middle management at the embassy and finally having a face-off with the US ambassador to the Ukraine.  And God prevailed!  Due to a computer issue, we had to miss our flight out early Friday morning.  This started a chain of events with our airline of choice that we found out later was a blessing from God.  The girls and I finally ended up on a different airline and headed for home Saturday afternoon.  But they could only get us to Chicago.  And from there you know the rest of the story.  I have to say though that my emotions finally broke when I stepped through customs and saw Jeff VanPutten waiting for me at O’Hare.  What a wonderful site!

You need to be warned that I am a changed person.  I warn you because I have a need to hug every one of you.  And you need to know that they will not just be half-baked-pat-on-the-back type hugs.  I told Amy on the way home from Chicago that I thought I knew what it meant to be faithful.  I didn’t.  I thought I knew what it meant to trust God.  I didn’t.  But I do now.  And to fully trust and have faith in God, you have to be willing to relinquish all to Him.  And you have to be willing to admit that your church family is there.  Not just for moral support but for strength from afar.  You have to use the strengths and gifts of others to accomplish all that God has in store for you.  He placed every one of you in the places you are at for this trip of ours to the Ukraine.  He gave each one of you gifts to use for supporting us as we traveled, as we fought, as we cried, and as we succeeded.  I’ve told many of you already that we would not have been able to endure this had you not been praying for us.  Cathy and I started each day with your e-mails.  They were the strength we needed every day. 

And so these “Odessa files” are complete.  The story is far from over but the beginning is.  Thank you so much for all you have done.  I made a promise an eternity ago that each one of you would get personal thanks.  And you will.  But I ask for patience.  I have to leave this week for business.  But hopefully, we’ll see you tonight at Wednesday night services. 

From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  Ephesians 4:16

Love Always,

Larry