Dear friends and family in Christ!
Christ is among us! Glory to God, I'm now safely back home in the United States, a little tired, but healthy. I'll fill all of you guys in on the trip and the orphanage work soon, but first, an urgent request!
I'm trying to find a home for an adorable little 1 yr 3m old baby boy named Vladislav (Vladik is his nickname :-)). He's currently living in an orphanage for children under four years old, and the conditions there are bad. All of the kids there really need families that will love them, and motherly affection. (My God! How can we say or read the phrase "orphanage for children under 4 years old" and not think of how horrible that phrase is?). Although all of the kids there need families, Vladik's case is especially urgent.
Little Vladik was born with hemophilia. As a result, he's always in danger of internal bleeding. The medicine he needs costs about $500 a month, while the average combined salary of a married couple in the Ukraine is about $450, so if he stays in the Ukraine, he will not get medicine. Without medicine, the internal bleeding will cause severe damage to his body, eventually crippling him, and causing him severe pain. Few untreated hemophiliacs live to adulthood.
However, here in the States, his medicine is covered by medical insurance! With medicine, he'll be able to lead a normal life, and could even play sports without having to worry! This little boy needs parents to raise him, and a mother to kiss him when he falls, instead of a cold hospital room, without even the necessary medicine.
I know Vladik's godmother well, and she desperately wants to find a home for Vladik, and will be happy to help in any way possible. The documents are apparently ready, and he is adoptable! I am also more than willing to help if at all possible, including providing translation to and from Russian and Ukrainian.
If at all possible, we would strongly prefer an Orthodox family for Vladik. We would like to see him grow up in the Church with a strong faith in Christ. If we can't find an Orthodox family that can adopt him, a non-Orthodox Christian family would also be good.
Please, I know there are a lot of things emailed around these days, where you don't know where they're from and if they're real. This is not one of them. I, John Hogg, am writing this and sending this about what I myself know and experienced. If you can, post links to this on your Facebook profiles as well, so that your friends can read this!
Don't forget about this and do nothing. Not to sound dramatic, but this is quite literally the choice between a healthy, happy, life, and a short, painful, and lonely one for this boy.
Together, let's find little Vladik a loving family!
In Christ,
John
P.S. If anyone is interested, I have a good bit more information about Vladik, including a letter about him from his godmother and information about his personality and his family history. Also, the godmother has his baptismal pictures and baptismal gown, and is more than willing to give things like that to his adopted family. Contact me if you're interested in this wonderful little boy!
11 comments:
We are an Orthodox family from St. Athanasius Orthodox Church in Nicholasville, KY (near Lexington). We are interested in knowing more about Vladik, though we know nothing about the adoption process. Please contact us when you are able. Thanks!
Hi John,
May God bless this wee boy.
My prayers are with him.
Mary-Leah
May God bless little Vladik, indeed.
John, I've sent this link on to a wonderful Orthodox priest I know, with an extensive e-mail list. I pray that if things don't work out with Michelle or some other readers of your blog, that perhaps someone on his list can help.
I only wish my wife and I were ready to take on a 5th, but age prevents that.
Will you update us on this situation? If you prefer to e-mail personally, my address is wildwest5 at comcast dot net. We are also an Orthodox family living in Colorado and I am interested to know what is going on with this little boy.
-Heather West
John-
This is H. West's husband and she has explained Vladik's situation. I just want to reinforce our interest so please e-mail when you can.
-Jim
We are not Orthodox but have begun the process for domestic adoption through the state of CT and it will take about a year. If this child is legally free to adopt, a private agency could get things moving very quickly, keep us in mind if an Orthodox family does not become available to him.
Good Luck
Stephanie Shearer
Please send me more infromation about Vladik. We are an Orthodox family in tallahasse, Fl.
John,
We are an Orthodox family in Washington State. We have two boys, ages 12 and 9. I am also a pediatric RN, though I am homeschooling my kids now full-time. We are very interested in knowing if there is still a need for a family for this sweet boy. Could you please e-mail me at neil.jennifer@verizon.net and let us know that status? Thank you so much and may God have mercy on us all.
My wife an I are Orthodox, both in our late-50s, so not great candidates to adopt a child of such a young age. We live in Mississippi. But we are willing to help in any way we can, at the very least financially. Please let us know if you have any serious interest from a younger couple to adopt this litte boy.
Are there any updates on that precious little guy? I'm the single dad of an adopted teenager (who was baptized Orthodox this year), and agree that Vladik should have two parents. I'd be happy to help spread the word to my Orthodox friends.
John, I see the situation with Vladik is already resolved, but there are other kids in the orphanage. We (my wife and I) have been considering to adopt a child from Ukraine or Russia, and as we know it's very lengthy, expensive and many obstacles type of process... But could you share what you know about it? We may be mistaken.
Thank you!
Alexander
P.S. We're a (russian) orthodox family in CT.
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