Charis Around the World

Life In Ukraine
Anne Sokol

Three Exciting Topics

Dear Charis Family,

I have three exciting topics for this newsletter!

First,

“Life for every mother and baby”

This statement is the “working” vision for the mother-baby center. And I love mulling it over, pondering and applying the depths of its meaning. Life . . . as in choosing life for her baby. Life . . . as in accepting Jesus. Life . . . as in healthy choices. Life . . . as in the abundant life God gives us.

Life.

Life!

Our first stage of starting the mother-baby center is starting a crisis pregnancy hotline which offers free pregnancy testing and counseling. The plan is to have Christian counselors in every region of Kiev who can meet with the clients who live in that region (rather than having one central center). We are committed to presenting the gospel and to presenting life-giving choices. Pray for us. In December, we begin the process of contacting churches, finding volunteers, hiring an office manager, and planning a volunteer training in May.

Second, we not pregnant, but we are expecting! We are in the process of adopting a two-year-old Ukrainian boy named Paul. This has been a desire and value of Vitaliy and mine since before our marriage. Orphans are on our hearts, and my motto is: “Orphans don’t need orphanages; orphans need families!” Adoption “solves” the orphan’s problem because then he is not an orphan anymore! It’s been interesting to be an adoptive mom so far. I’m not quite sure how to prepare the people in our lives for this because on the one hand, it’s not a certain thing. On the other hand, I don’t want to shock everyone by suddenly having a new child out of nowhere. :)

People have started rejoicing with us, and we desire your prayers that the adoption will be cleared and finalized soon. We are under some personal time constraints, but God has been opening the ways quickly so far. Pray for our immediate families, that they will be, not just OK, but accepting and great about having an adopted relative. And I’m praying that Paul will come into our family like he’s always been here!

Third, we are raising support! Some very much needed support. And I need your personal help. There is no way we can raise support ourselves. Support is about people and friendships, and that is where we need your personal help! Individuals, families, and churches support us; would you consider supporting us or introducing us to your church? Please take a little time to pray about this. We’d love to get to know you.

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 Love, Anne