The Great Escape

(I know that I will get some of the details wrong since I am reporting what Pam told me on the phone. She can't do the post herself since power is out on the block of the hotel in Odessa.)

Tuesday was a miracle. Pam and our facilitator picked up the finalized court decree in the first step to get Justin out of the orphanage. They then left Belgorod to travel two hours to Justin's birth place near Odessa to get his revised birth certificate. When they got to Justin's village, the building where the records are kept was a "building" in name only. Dark steep stairways led upstairs to the office but the holes in the exterior walls provided some light. The records people were at lunch when they got there so they waited an hour for them to get back only to be told they couldn't provide the birth certificate because the power was out from nearby construction work. Our facilitator pointed at the manual typewriter and asked them to use it to get the birth certificate done. The supervisor started yelling, "nyet, nyet!" so our facilitator hunted down a live power cord in the building and brought it in so they could use their computer and printer! Mission accomplished!

Jump in the car and drive two hours back to Belgorod and pack in fifteen minutes to go to the orphanage. Our facilitator wanted to get Pam and Justin to their hotel in Odessa that day! Run into the orphanage, get Justin's clothes changed, say a quick goodbye, and jump in the car for the two hour drive to Odessa (again)! He is officially sprung from the joint!!

At dinner in Odessa, Justin told Pam through our interpreter that he wished that he been born into and had always been a part of our family. Pam told him that God had planned for him to be part of our family and that he had been born in our hearts. Even though we missed his first nine years, we will always be his family now. Justin spent his first night as part of our family in his mother's arms.