Eric and Angie’s Ukraine Adoption Story

It was the little girl pictured above that started us on a journey we did not expect….

Olena was an orphan in Ukraine. She and her older sister, Valentina, stayed with us for just two nights in December of ’06. Our church had a last minute hosting need and Eric and I volunteered. (The kids, along with many chaperones and adult actors, were in America performing the musical “The Russian Shoemaker”). In those two days, Olena and Valentina completely touched our hearts and opened our eyes to their situation in Ukraine. We heard the statistics. Maybe you have too (if you haven’t CLICK HERE). I remember lying in bed after meeting the girls and wondering how I was supposed to turn away from their situation; to look the other way and pretend they had loving parents back home. Both Eric and I couldn’t. We kept saying… “they have no parents, no one to take care of them when they leave the orphanage, no real hope for the future….” We had to do something.

Eric and I have always been open to adoption, both of us having adopted siblings. We always said…”if it falls into our lap, we will do it.” We felt convinced that it had fallen into our laps. We had parent-less children sleeping in our home and knew we had the resources to take them in as family. Immediately, we found a social worker and began the adoption process. It turns out that these two girls were not meant to be ours. While in-country adoptions are rare, they were adopted by a family in Ukraine and we are very happy for them.

We now have had the joy of hosting 10 other orphaned children from Ukraine for UOO camps and feel completely blessed. We love having these kids in our home and watching them interact with our daughters and son. Laughter fills our home when they are here and tears fill our eyes when they go. It is amazing how quickly you can get attached to these kids! I look forward to writing them and hearing their responses.

We recommend being involved with these camps to everyone! Let yourself be touched by these wonderful kids! It feels good knowing that they go back to their lives in Ukraine with a different perspective on life. They see all the kind people involved with the camp, face-to-face, who cared enough to spend their time and money on them. I am convinced they feel more loved and lovable, and see far more hope for their future, after participating in our camps.

Angie and Eric

2009 Camp Photos

The 2009 Summer camp is all wrapped up, but it was a simply amazing time with the kids! Here’s a large selection of picture from this year’s camp. Click on a thumbnail to see the full size picture and enjoy!