Do you know of any good dentists or eye doctors?

We need to take Anastasija to a dentist and an eye doctor while she is here. We are looking for doctors who are willing to donate their services to her as a ministry. If you know of an eye doctor, or dentist in the central/east central Florida area who would be willing to help Anastasija would you please leave a comment. We look at hosting as a ministry to orphans, specifically a precious 12 year old little girl, and we hope that others will take on this ministry, as well.

We have a date!!!!

Anastasija is coming JUNE 25TH!!!!!!!! Oh boy!!! I am SO EXCITED!!! We're praying for you sweet girl!

Liga is coming to America!

I am so excited to announce that Liga, the girl I posted about previously, is coming to America for hosting!!! I am so happy for her!

What is it about her?

There is another young lady who would love to come to America for hosting. She is already 16, and has been protected to be able to continue living in the orphanage. Although she is not available for adoption because of her age, she would love to come to America for hosting and then on a student visa in the future. "She enjoys dancing, music and animals. She is cheerful, friendly, well-adjusted, and engaging. She speaks English very well, and loves to read books, and watch movies. She would love to be a cook."

Her name is Liga, and she is such a beautiful girl. If we had the money I would try to bring her here with Anastasija. If we get more donations...maybe we will do that! She has a scholarship of $300! Or, maybe someone out there reading this blog will pray about bringing her into their home. Will you pray about it? There is something about her...I just can't stop thinking about her.

What is "hosting?"

Some of you may be wondering what it really means to "host" an orphan. There are a few organizations who coordinate hosting. We are using New Horizons for Children (http://www.newhorizonsforchildren.org/). New Horizons is a Christian organization. Their desire is to bring school-aged children to the United States to live with Christian families for approximately 5 weeks. They have a Summer hosting program, and a winter program. The purpose of bringing these children here is to show them what a "normal" family looks like in daily life, to love them, to have fun with them, but most of all to show them that there is a God who is greater than we can comprehend...and He loves them more than anyone ever could. One of the "side effects" of hosting is adoption. Many host families adopt the children they host, or a relative, or friend step forward. That is certainly our prayer for Anastasija...and the reason I so fervently ask you to please pass the word about this blog...it's about her.
As for hosting...
Anastasija will be with us about 5 weeks. She will fly into somewhere in America, be met by a chaperon who will bring her (and others!) to Florida where we will pick her up. She will be immersed in American life! We will be scheduling a dentist appointment, and an eye appointment for her. She has probably never been to either! She will arrive with the clothes on her back, so we will provide all of her clothes, and personal hygiene items...as if she were our own daughter. She will be our guest, but part of our family at the same time.
It costs $2500 to bring her here, and then an extra amount to get her from wherever she lands to Florida. I will provide a break-down of the fees in a later post.

If you have any questions about the process, or anything else, please leave a comment! I would be happy to answer any questions, or find an answer for you!

Drum roll please...and the total is...

$2740
That is enough for hosting plus her plane ticket from wherever she lands in the U.S. to Florida! Thank you so much to everyone who is helping us bring her here!
If anyone else wants to donate please consider providing her with a gift certificate, so she can fulfill her dream of going shopping to buy herself some clothes.
Here is another option: I will be looking for Christian cd's in Russian, a children's Bible in Russian, and Christian children's books (at the 12 year old level) in Russian. Let me know if you would like to provide any of these items, so I don't have duplicates! We already have a brand new cd player for her!

Anastisija's first outfit from America

Anasitsija will come with the clothes on her back...and that is probably all. She told her interviewers that one of her dreams would be to go shopping and choose her own clothes. She lives in an orphanage, so nothing really belongs to her. We will buy her a few things before she gets here, but we hope to take her shopping and let her dream come true of choosing her own things. I have had a few people ask what they can send to her, or get for her, and my best answer at this point is this...a gift card, so she can go shopping!

I went to Target Saturday to get a few things and decided to look at the clearance racks of girls clothing. Target often has really good deals! It 's hard to buy for her because I don't know her style, but for some reason I could picture her in this outfit. I hope she likes it!