Valik

Hello Prayer Warriors,
I am asking for some prayer for one of the boys I've grown very close to in Odessa, Ukraine. His name is Valik and he's 13 or 14 years old. I'll post some pictures of him so you can put a name to his face. His half brother, Artyr, and I were talking on Skype earlier this evening. [Skype is a free program which allows you to talk on the computer with a microphone and/or video camera. Very cool.]Artyr told me that Valik is missing. He had been visiting his grandmother and now is gone. He had left Camp Victoria ealier this summer to be with his grandmother. He visits her on the weekends I think. According to the director of the orphanage, Valik took clothes that did not belong to him. Artyr tried to get the clothes back but wasn't able to. Artyr's English isn't great and I have no Russian skills so I don't always understand all the details. What I understand is...Valik is missing. He's not at school, not at the orphanage, and not at his grandmother's. Artyr has looked at the police station and he looks for him on the streets and has not found him. Many of the boys are tough and street wise but Valik is sweet, gentle, and kind and I can't even imagine him out on the streets. Please pray for his safety and that he would return to the orphanage.
Artyr is one of the young men who may be coming to school here in San Antonio. He and Vova have already sent in their application for the International Student Program that we have at San Antonio College. If everything is approved and they receive their student visas, they will be able to come! That will be so awesome!
On another note:
This past Thursday our Ukraine mission team spoke at our chaple service at school. Several of the girls shared experiences that we had in the Ukraine. We had a time of praise and worship and then surprised everyone when Igor spoke to the group through Skype. His deep voice and Russian accent came booming through the speakers and everyone loved listening to him talk about Fontanka.
It was an awesome service!
One more thing:
I have a little article in the August and September issue of the Christian Beacon.
You can see it on line as well. http://www.christianbeacon.com/ and then go to "see on line". I just read the September issue and noticed some grammar problems but it's too late now. I had the hardest time proof reading this article for some reason. Actually, I wrote it with a very heavy heart (very late at night) because I had just met and had dinner with some friends of mine who are missionaries. As we talked about our hopes and dreams in this mission, I felt very discouraged and overwhelmed. The article was due the next morning and I went home and trashed what I already wrote and then wrote this one. No matter how hard or impossible things seem, God has a plan and God is in control. All that matters is that we give the orphans His hope and His promises and I plan to do that any way God leads me. No matter how hard it is or how overwhelmed I feel.
Thank you for you prayers. God loves the orphans and the widows; the sick and the lonely; the loveless and the abandoned. I'm so thankful we have a God who loves us so much!