Luda, the mother of our foster home in Ukraine was invited to serve as a chaperone for an orphan hosting trip to the US during the Christmas holidays. The trip was led by our friends, Oksana and Helen, who serve as directors for the non-profit organization Circle of Friends.
http://cofriends.org.ua/en/home.htmlA time of rest and rejuvenation was sorely needed for this mother of the 7 teenagers who works tirelessly not only with our family but also as one of the primary advocates for all of the "grad" orphans in Ukraine. Luda's 3 adult biological daughters offered to care for the 7 teenagers at home over this holiday because they knew just how much their mother needed this time away from the many demands she meets daily.
After arriving in New York for a three week stay in the US, we first brought Luda to our home in Florida for this much needed period of rest. Immediately, she slept for 30 hours, got up to eat a little, returned to sleep for another 24 hours. During the ten day stay in our home, we insisted that she do nothing but relax and rest. This was a great correspondence "catch up" time for her.
During her visit here, she was able visit with the US office staff at Music Mission Kiev who are great prayer partners for our family in Ukraine.
She spent Christmas with our family and our church and was able to visit three local families who have adopted a total of 7 girls from Ukraine.
The weather was perfect in Florida during her visit and she marveled at being able to eat breakfast each morning on our lanai. Reluctantly, after her period of rest, we sent her on to Virginia and Seattle where she was scheduled to speak with churches there who support the work of Circle of Friends
On Christmas Eve, we couldn't resist taking the photo of her standing by a large Christmas tree with an angel seemingly "on her shoulder" just like the angel that lives in her heart.
