Today Kelsie and our three girls departed L’viv accompanied by my mom, Cathy. They have about 18 hours of travel ahead of them before arriving in Houston where they will be met by the Powells, Kelsie’s parents. Happily, there were no problems at all when they passed through customs. What a blessing!

At the new airport in L'viv. Next stop: Warsaw!

My mom has been with our family in Ukraine for almost three weeks now and her help has been invaluable! We had initially planned to send Kelsie and the girls alone to the US, but God, knowing our current circumstances, provided a much better alternative. Mom, thanks so much for all you’ve done. We love you!

On a more somber note, Kelsie and I went back to our clinic yesterday for one final ultrasound. The results indicate that the condition of our baby has worsened significantly. The hygroma is now actually larger than the baby itself, and vital signs are continuing to weaken. While we welcome supernatural intervention from the Lord – and are certainly praying towards that end – all evidence indicates that our youngest will soon be going home.

Please continue to pray for our family. The days ahead will not be easy, but God has given us the peace that passes our human understanding. Years of walking with our Savior have taught us that we do not need to know all the reasons behind each trial, or the final outcome of the path we walk. We know our God and that is enough. We are fully persuaded that God is good, that God is faithful, and we rejoice in the confidence that His presence is more precious than even our physical lives. Surely no more joyful destiny could be imagined for our little one than to be safe in the place that we ourselves long for: the house of our Father.

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”
Psalm 27:4 

The following is copied from an email which I sent out yesterday to a small group of family and friends. We appreciate your prayers for our family during this time.

Email, May 8, 2012

Today Kelsie and I went for a routine ultrasound to our clinic here in L’viv, hoping to find out the gender of our baby. Instead, we were shocked to learn that the baby has cystic hygroma (also known as lymphatic malformation), a severe genetic disorder which, depending on the cause, is often fatal. In our case, it is probable that this condition resulted from chromosomal abnormalities which were in motion from the start of the pregnancy.

We saw two different sonographers today, and then went to a consultation with a genetic specialist who explained the situation more fully and gave us an official diagnosis. Outside of a direct miracle from God, there is no chance that our baby will live to term. Right now, the geneticist’s best guess was that we have about a month. The swelling and deformity of the body is extensive, and already vital signs are weakening.

As shocking and saddening as this day has been, Kelsie and I have seen God’s hand at work and are amazed at the ways He has been protecting and providing already. As you know, this is the first time we have made the decision to come to America for a birth. That decision was made long before we were aware of these complications and as a result, plans are already in motion to meet Kelsie’s needs as soon as she arrives the US on May 15. Furthermore, my mom is here with us, and will be flying back to America with Kelsie and the girls. I will be coming soon but cannot be on the initial flight out. In short, God knew this trial was coming our way and He has been faithful as He always is to provide for our needs during this time of great trial.

As we move forward, we would like to ask you lift up our family in your prayers. Here are some specific needs:

• Pray for miraculous healing. No genetic abnormality is outside the power of God’s hand to heal. If it is His will, He can do this.
• Pray for strength for Kelsie and the rest of our family. Assuming that God chooses to take our baby home to Himself, we have complete peace with His decision. Life is His to give and to take away. We ask only for His grace and comfort to move forward.
• Pray for safety for Kelsie. At this point there is no risk to her health that we know of, but she will need an extra measure of strength and endurance to get through what will surely be her hardest and most sorrowful labor.
• Pray for our insurance policy to be approved quickly. Because we were uninsured at the time Kelsie conceived, we do not qualify for traditional insurance. We have planned for some time to apply for a government insurance program called PCIP which covers preexisting conditions. Initially, there was no hurry and we were under the impression that we could not apply until Kelsie got back to the States. What happened today has changed all that. We made some calls and found out that Kelsie can in fact start her application process from here. If all goes well, Kelsie’s coverage will be in effect as of June 1. This is very important as we will be incurring some significant medical bills before all is said and done.
• Pray for wisdom and provision for our travel plans. Originally, I was not planning to come back to the US until September, much closer to the birth. Now, I will need to fly much sooner so that I can be with Kelsie when she delivers. CMO begins on July 1 and we have no way of knowing when the baby will come. Pray that God would lead us and that I would be able to be with Kelsie when she needs me most.
• Pray for our children. We have not told them yet, but I’m sure it will be hard once we do. The younger ones will have only limited understanding, but Abigail will grasp much more. Pray for comfort and healing for their little hearts.

Having read this, you no doubt have many questions. Be assured that we have as many or more. It has been barely 12 hours since we first learned there was a problem and there are still many unknowns. We’ll post more updates as we have them.

The information I have shared in this email is now public. Please feel free to inform others who would be willing to pray for us during this time. For your friendship, prayers, and support, we are very grateful.

Joshua Steele

Today we decided to take the whole family out for trip to downtown L’viv. We started with a nice lunch at Puzata Khata (a great place to try national Ukrainian dishes) followed by visit to our favorite indoor playground at Antoshka. I brought my camera along and got some fun photos of our cute kiddos. Hope you enjoy them!

Abby & Beka – best friends

Hosanna loves to push the basket with Mommy.

Abby took part in an English lesson at Antoshka.

Learning to climb

Today we met Ivanka - a Christian Ukrainian girl who speaks English. Hosanna took to her right away.

Fun at the Lego table!

My little Rebekah Praise

And that’s not all! Check out the full Family Saturday album here.

Lastly, please remember to pray for our upcoming trip to Poland. We leave very early Monday morning, documents in hand, headed for the Ukrainian consulate in Krakow. We’ll arrive in Krakow late in the afternoon Monday, spend the night, then go to the consulate on Tuesday morning. Lord willing, we’ll receive our visas that same day. Please pray that God would bless every step of this trip. We’ll keep you posted!

Check out our latest video of Abigail and Rebekah quoting Scripture! Due to our bout with Whooping Cough a couple of months back, our normal Scripture memory program was delayed. But now we’ve finally finished our latest passage: Hebrews 11:1-6. Abby and Beka are making great progress with their verses, and Mom and Dad are very proud.