4th of July

Some fun with our grads...

Crazy night....

So last night was a crazy night... Let me start from the beginning... We knew that Slavik was going to be on house arrest and wanted to go see him. In the afternoon was when we thought he was going home but we didn't hear from him. So around 9ish we heard he was home.... We called to see if we could go see him because we knew that on the 4th we have a grad program planned. We talked to his girlfriend and she said he would LOVE if we came. We asked if he needed anything, she told us he needed clothes because he only had the ones he was in when the police beat him. She also told us he really needed moral support. So we left to go find him. Now, he is not actually in Sumy but right outside the city limits and he is without a phone. His girlfriend(the one with the phone) had to go back home... So yes, we got a little lost. Google maps does not love Ukraine. We end up passing a cow farm by a bunch of sunflowers when we realize we are in the wrong place. So we try to back up... Well, what happens? We get stuck in the mud. And I mean like stuck stuck... Yes, that really happened. And this was right after we had all been talking about how this would be a perfect scene for a zombie movie. So we finally get unstuck, thanks to Mike, Sash, and Annie literally pushing us out of the mud. We get on the right road, after it's been probably an hour because holy moly the roads are super bad. We finally find Slavik, and are not there more than 10 minutes before his girlfriend calls(Remember that Slavik does not have a phone). She tells us that we need to get out of there RIGHT AWAY!!! Slavik's Aunt called her to tell her that his brother knew Slavik was out of jail and was coming to get him. PRAISE THE LORD that we got stuck in the mud and were so late. Because if we weren't there is no telling what would have happened to Slavik. If we had gotten there without getting lost we would have probably left before his girlfriend could have called and then Slavik would have had no idea what was coming. His girlfriend called the police when she knew and they told her to get Slavik out of there and to take him to her house.

I am not going to lie, it was super scary to just get to a place we had been searching for(and the apartment was not what you call livable) and then have to literally run out of. And every time a car came up behind us, Chelsea and I were a little scared. We have watched too many scary movies :)

This is his apartment.

We made it back to Sumy, and met up with his girlfriend and her mom to drop off Slavik. We were able to pray for him where he definitely teared up. This is all we know right now. We are going to help him with lawyer fees because his girlfriend has already paid as much as she can. And if you know anything about being an orphan in Ukraine, they don't exactly always get the fairest trials.  So we need prayers. I will keep you updated as much as I can. Thank you so much.

Our Gentle Giant

I realize that most people's first reaction to someone who had gone to jail is one of judgement. Our thoughts are probably that they are an idiot or how much better we are than them.  I will admit,  I have done this and sometimes we are even accurate in this assumption.  But then you know someone who has been to jail and they become a real person.  After living here in Ukraine,  it's sadly a normal thing for me to know many kids or young adults that go to prison.  The most recent one is Slavik.

He is the one by himself. This was from 2007

Let me tell about this kid I met in the orphanage and for the past nine years, have loved dearly. We call him the gentle giant and some of his friends call him giraffe :) He is super tall which is rare among these kids. He has such a gentle spirit. And sadly, more of a follower than a leader.  I think he has a very bad view of himself and has for as long as I have know him. Somewhere along the way, someone told him he wouldn't amount to anything and he believed them.

After the orphanage thanks to the system sending him back to where his family is,  he got connected with his brother.  He had been to prison 4 times and is what you think of when you think of someone who has been to prison.  Let's just say he not the kind of person you want to meet late at night by yourself.  So Slavik has been living with him for the past couple of years.  A couple of days ago we got a call from his frantic girlfriend that he had been arrested for stealing with his brother and his friends.  And that Slavik was the only one that didn't run.  The story is that Slavik didn't want to be involved with this but had been beat by his brother for saying no before.

He is all the way to the right. This was their orphanage graduation.

I know what you are thinking... "That's what they all say..." But I believe that this is true. I know Slavik. And well, we all make bad decisions. Some just have bigger consequences than others that are sometimes in your face. 

So we need some serious prayer for him.  He told the police the truth and has been very cooperative with them. He is on house arrest right now until his court date.  He needs prayer for protection and so much more.  He got beat pretty good by the police. We saw him tonight and is cut up on his face and his jaw has a bad goose egg. He hasn't eaten for two days because it hurts so bad.

This is a more recent picture. 

There is a crazy story to tell about seeing him tonight and literally fleeing because his brother knew where he was.  But this is long so come back tomorrow and I will continue the events of today...