The Journey

Grandma and the Boys

2011-06-18T23:40:00.001-04:00

We were greeted with hugs, kisses and roses. It was such a joy to finally meet Sasha (the kids older brother)! He smiles as much as Pasha and is working so hard to do something with his life. We were so happy to have some time with Sasha, Jenya and Grandma Galina. They are all doing pretty well. Sasha is home from sea for a few months, taking some more classes to try to get a better job aboard

One Day in Odessa

2011-06-15T09:18:00.001-04:00

WALL MURAL AT #9 Psalm 126 A song of ascents. 1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." 3 The LORD had done great things for us; we were joyful. 4 Restore our fortunes, LORD, like watercourses in

SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

2011-06-09T23:17:00.002-04:00

Odessa is a beautiful city, but with much oppression, open shameless prostitution, and a missing older generation, among many other struggles. As we walked the city, Cameron noted that there weren't many younger kids, (abortion is common practice) and most of the people 40 - 60 are either dead or in prison. We haven't checked the statistics, but as you look out on the general population what you

ODESSA A BEAUTIFUL CITY

2011-06-08T09:45:00.000-04:00

The first weekend you saw in our earlier post and so we're sorry for the unlabeled photos....but the internet was unreliable at times, as were our emotions. So, it was often hard to write even when we had a few minutes. There was just so much to process. Monday morning started with hot tea in the courtyard. Laurie and Hector had gone around the corner (literally) to McDonald's and were having

Random Photos

2011-06-01T02:05:00.000-04:00

Sunday Night

2011-05-31T18:58:00.001-04:00

Steve ready for church Relationships are such the point. We walked quickly toward church this morning excited to be back at Light of (the) World. Steve walked in first, but he had shaved his mustache and he received the look of “I know you, but how do I know you", but as I rounded the corner Anya saw me and jumped up with a huge smile and a welcoming hug and kiss. Oh that was like refreshing

Internet at Last

2011-05-29T02:07:00.001-04:00

Friday night – Our Arrival- As we left for our trip Thursday morning, Lynn, a friend of ours, called Laurie and told her she had something for us! She had created 6 cards with special words of encouragement and challenge for us to open along the route of our journey. We open one of them

We're Here!

2011-05-28T07:33:00.000-04:00

Had a great flight over. Details to come tonight! Thanks for all the prayer.

Off To Odessa

2011-05-26T00:04:00.000-04:00

Six of us will fly to Odessa tomorrow and see where God will lead us. We have a list of people to visit / minister to and a multitude of things to do, but we are all in agreement that we will follow Him and hunt for treasures. We hope to update this daily so you can follow our latest adventure. Blessings on you all, Steve, Carol, Steven, Cameron, Laurie and Hector PS Please pray for our

Spring Time

2011-04-15T15:42:00.001-04:00

I've been doing a Bible Study on the book of Jonah recently. It's so interesting to think that all Jonah had to do was obey, it seems so easy when it's him, in a book, and we have the privileged to look back in time....but not so easy each day when there are real challenges staring at you in the face. Four of them literally staring me in the face! What if you obey and then you have to remind

Prayer Request for Darryl Andrews

2011-03-17T14:47:00.011-04:00

We are calling all prayer warriors! Please pray for Pasha's band instructor.Mr. Andrews is an amazing man with a huge heart for his students. He really took Pasha under his wing last year when Pasha showed up in his class on his second week in the US asking to join the band . They were both so excited and learned to understand each other even with Pasha's broken English at the time. Right now

Feb. 2011

2011-03-09T17:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day.....we made cookies for lots of friends and all the kids. - Nonah - Pasha went with Ben Lippen band to Chicago! Not sure who is winning Tim1 or Andrew. Food Angels showed up again. Thank you Jesus! Lyonya diligently studies science. Andrew working through his math lessons. Galya showing her newly sewn pillowcase. "Life is full of joy!" That is a direct

And Again

2011-01-27T22:35:00.006-05:00

God just keeps on showing off! I love watching the kids watch Him at work.The food angels showed up today....twice. Once this afternoon, then again tonight with another bag of bread from a local bakery.A lot of this food was cooked and went with our friends Laurie and Hector Pineda to their weekly outreach in Five Points for the poor and homeless. You can find out more about PurelightMinistry

THE FOOD ANGELS SHOWED UP AGAIN

2011-01-19T07:59:00.009-05:00

Ever seen a food angel? We have. Over and over and over.About 8 months ago we started praying asking God for manna. At the time we had 12 people living here, along with friends, family and neighbors that always show up right at meal time. It makes for an overwhelming food budget, but we love people and we love feeding them. So we would pray and the Lord would send food. One day friends filled

GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES

2010-12-29T15:06:00.009-05:00

There was one night in Odessa last year that we wept as never before. We knew without a miracle from God's hand we would not leave Odessa with our 4 children- but He provided a way. There were other nights this past year we wept too---times when you don't know how to convince a child that you are not going to abandon them, but He provided a way, or nights that they dream nightmares of memories –

One Year Home

2010-10-12T23:07:00.005-04:00

Praise Jesus. Today, tonight is the night. Last year about this time we landed in Columbia and were welcomed home by family and friends. We've made it through our first year and have so many stories to tell. Today we were thinking about how different all our lives are now. Usually we are up early an busy with school or co-op classes by 9am, but today was different. We were all pretty

All my devotion

2010-09-27T13:07:00.007-04:00

It is absolutely amazing how much can happen in one year! September 8, 2010...one year since the adoption was final. September 21, 2010....one year since we picked up 4 children from the orphanages they called home... and brought them to live in a strange country, with a new language and a new family. Many others have done the same, but it has been a miracle none the less. A miracle of God's

Happy Birthday USA!

2010-07-06T20:51:00.017-04:00

The Family plus a few...but they are family too!We go to court on July 16th here in SC to obtain US birth certificates for the kids and have the paperwork we need to obtain their citizenship. It should all be formality, but we take nothing for granted and request your prayers as we offer up ours.The Father has continued to provide for us abundantly above all we could think or ask. Thank you so

Open Arm Adoption

2010-06-07T16:25:00.004-04:00

We had our first adoption support group meeting May 24th. We had 5 families in our group. We have lots of plans already in the works. Detail will follow. Our next meeting will be Monday July 5th at 7 p.m.

They Teach Us Every Day

2010-02-19T22:00:00.011-05:00

We were working on a project for Andrew's room and it had been a long frustrating day. With sweat on his brow, Steve said, "One day I would just like to hear one of them say thank you for this!" He spoke this in jest....but I heard the Lord say so clearly, "Me too. One day, I would like to hear you say thank you for this!" Wow, it still is so amazing to me how much we have to learn, how simple it

Believing God

2010-02-17T22:33:00.006-05:00

Well we've been home for a while now and have finished with a few major family events, so it appears the time has come to get back in the saddle and step out again. Beginning in March we will be facilitating an adoption support group at our church. Our hope for this group is really multifaceted. We would like to be a place for people interested in adoption to come and seek out information, a

Is there such a thing as a typical week?

2010-01-30T22:20:00.020-05:00

Someone asked me one day what our typical week is like....I'm not sure what is typical...but here goes.The children have all enjoyed getting involved in various ministries at our church, Christian Life. Lyonya, Pasha and Galia all attend Saturate Youth and Bible study classes, Andrew attends Kid Zone Children's church, Kid's choir and Royal Rangers. They each have begun to make relationship with

January BBQ

2010-01-23T22:00:00.003-05:00

Today we had a barbeque to celebrate the marriage of JD and Meg. So with all 9 kids and all 7 grandkids in one room I had to have a picture. Someone said that Caitlin our granddaughter was crying in the photo...I said it didn't matter....she was in the picture! JD (Jeremiah), Matthew, Rebekah, Tracy, and Tim (Back row) and Pasha, Andrew, Galia and Lyonya (Front Row)MARC ANTHONY,CONNOR, SAMUEL

Great is Thy Faithfulness

2010-01-05T21:04:00.036-05:00

THE ELLISOR FAMILYWhat a season of change it's been. Only God's faithfulness could have brought us thru into 2010. It's been challenging, at times frustrating, painful, and scary. It's also been exhilarating, happy, joyful and exciting. Most often the problem was going from extreme to extreme with very little notice. Since returning home with 4 new children, we have celebrated 6 birthdays, 2

Christmas? Already??

2009-12-24T21:37:00.008-05:00

Yep, Christmas is tomorrow morning. The kids are EXCITED, to say the least!We will take many photos and post some after Christmas. Since we arrived from Ukraine, the kids have done odd jobs for friends and earned some spending money. They had us take them to the "magazine" (store) to buy gifts. They had so much fun buying gifts for each other and others in their new family.Tonight, we went to