.JPG)
Failure means Zulya might walk the streets of Russia, prostituting herself in a heart-rending effort to eke out a living, maybe spawning the next generation of Russian orphans in the process. Outside the orphanage, without a family’s guidance her few remaining formative years, she is as likely to commit suicide as to become a productive member of society. Lora, her eleven-year-old aunt raised as her sister, probably will not agree to adoption alone; thus, the fates of two children are precariously entwined as Zulya’s sixteenth looms.
Success gains Zulya several siblings adopted domestically and a family committed to her regardless of the issues she brings. M. and R., hopefully Mom and Dad, are experienced parents who have opened their hearts and home repeatedly to the children in greatest need. In our first contact with R., she professed desire to adopt a child in urgent want, one other families would refuse, explaining, “God is calling us to help.” Many orphans linger on my list, but none with needs excelling the two girls with just months to find a family, allowing them to keep the one thing they treasure: each other.
Compounding the difficulty, several circumstances made the girls’ availability for adoption uncertain; while I’d mentioned them to others, no one asked questions after hearing the vagaries. In desperation, I penned a blog post I believed was winsome featuring the girls, but elicited no response (Her Lora, 4/9/10). Linking it to our Facebook page, it garnered only one “like”, and one comment I had to solicit from my sister. No inquiries followed. None, except from M. and R.
M. and R. don’t come close to earning annually the king’s ransom such an adoption costs. For now, a small percentage of the needed funding has trickled in; short time before Zulya ages out means their efforts are focused on completing the requisite paperwork and traveling to meet the girls, rather than fundraising. But as the adoption uncertainties are chiseled away, the door of hope stays cracked; surrendering now would be anathema to them. R. perseveres with little encouragement, believing the God who has led them this far will not abandon them with nothing beyond an all-encompassing desire.
So as a Goliath-hearted family stands anxious to welcome girls with exceptional needs home, Zulya teeters at the precipice, staring down a sordid future less than four months off. Without Heaven moving other hearts toward generosity, Zulya’s as likely a prostitute as a daughter, as likely a suicide candidate as a sister.
Tweet
