We need your prayers tomorrow 1am B'ham time!

Hi everyone! We still have not gotten internet connection, so Valerie Hall is posting this for us. We have many things to share. Our biggest request right now is to ask each of you to PRAY for tomorrow 9am Ukraine time (1 am Birmingham time)!!! At this time, our facilitator, Denis, will be in court on our behalf. He will try to convince the judge to waive the additional 10 days that may be added to our case, due to missing papers on Christina's mother. This has caused a mild set back. Because there are no papers in the file, the judge is hesitant to make a decision regarding this because it would just be a guess. Usually there is a death certificate or papers stating termination of parental rights...but there is nothing on Christina's mother. She has had no contact with her for 10 years. If we have the additional 10 day wait, Ron may have to travel back for work and return for a scheduled court date. Please pray that the judge will allow us to proceed with the adoption based on the fact that there has been no contact and that we can proceed and have the additional 10 days waived. So far, we have not been able to locate Christina's sister. Apparently, she lives in Zaporizhzhya area.

Well, we are all doing fine. Denis is doing well and we really think he had a panic attack. We had dinner with him tonight. We spent time at the orphanage again today. We continue to have wonderful visits with the orphan children of Matveevka orphanage. They are all precious and are so hungry for people to reach out and love them. Each of you that have invested your lives in the orphan children, have brought hope into their lives. You have truly become the feet and hands of Jesus as we all love these children. If you think you can't make a difference in the life of an orphan child, think differently...you can.

Tomorrow at 11:30, we will be meeting Christina, Katia and Petro, another girl named Katia, Dasha (Hartsock), Dasha (Underwood), Dasha (Grace) and Yulia to go to McDonalds. We will look forward to this time with each of them and will hug on them for all of you.

Also, a note regarding cell phones. Larissa found out about the cell phones and said that she does not want the children to have them. She feels that they need to be a reward to the children for good behavior and she should be the one to decide. So Larissa has said that any of you can call the office of the orphanage and request to talk to the children, but no more cell phones. She has said that only Christina is allowed to have a cell phone (go figure!).

Thursday, Matveevka will have graduation ceremony for those finishing at the orphanage, including Christina. There will be dancing and celebration. We will take pictures and video. It will be a special time, but I'm sure a bit of a sad time for those who are graduating and have no idea of their future. Please say a special prayer for the orphans that graduate out of the orphanages and have such uncertainty.

Well, we have much to say about each of the precious children that so many of you know. Here are some of the things we want to convey: Little Sergey (Knipher): He has such spirit. He has the fortitude of Muhammad Ali and his body is so frail. He longs to belong and thinks about the Kniphers everyday. He feels he is already a part of their family. Petro (Williams): Petro is not in a shell...he is quite comfortable with himself and smiles. Katia is slowly emerging from her shell...she's starting to initiate interactions with us which is promising. Its like the layers are peeling back as she continues to observe all that is going on. Dasha (Grace): She has gotten to talk to Gina. Dasha has matured alot emotionally. She is a blossoming young lady with a tender heart. Avraam and Zoya are doing great and come around alot...Avraam more so than Zoya. English-speaking Sergey is having a blast playing with Jesse. He is quite the artist and has displayed his talents through the pen to Jesse's skin as tattoo artwork. Larissa keeps having Jesse wash it off! Sergey B: We have not seen much of him. He doesn't come around much at all. Max and Anastasia are not around and we have also not seen Nastia, from this last summer. Masha was sent to Italy, but we did get to see her for about 12 hours. She seems to understand that we will one day come back for her. Yulia (from last summer): Her hair is purple now! She is a delight and has enjoyed spending time with all of us. We say Yana (student) and she really wants Jenn Smith to call her on the telephone. Yana seems to be doing ok.

By the way, if you call our cell phone, STOP APOLOGIZING THAT YOU ARE CALLING! The kids LOVE it and they sit and wait for phone calls from all of you. It is such a treat to them. Please call and let them hear your voice.

We were able to sit down with Denis and have a great, deep conversation with Yulia, Katia (Williams) and Christina. We asked them what they thought a family was. We had the opportunity to tell them that a family loves you no matter what...whether someone makes a good decision or a bad decision or acts a certain way. We told them how God loves us unconditionally and that is how a family loves. Yulia and Christina teared up. Katia was in deep thought. It was a good time spent with the girls.

Thank you in advance for your prayers about tomorrow morning. We do not know what to expect, but we serve a God who has this all in His hands. We ask for mercy, wisdom, patience, and clarity. This is a beautiful picture watching Christina slowly see these steps unfold before her as she observes us and realizes this is all coming true. God is so good. We will update as soon as we can. Love, the Gully family