Tracy (’91) and Chris Scoggins pose with their son in Kyiv.

My husband and I spent a month in Ukraine in 2020 to complete the adoption of our teenage son. He is now 17 years old, and he’s been home with us in Virginia for 18 months. The time we spent in Volyn, Lutsk, Kyiv and Lviv gave us a deep love for not only the beautiful county of Ukraine but the Ukrainian people. Ukraine’s difficult history has made them strong, proud, brave, hardworking and resilient.

When rumors of war turned into actual war, we were devastated. Watching our son’s first home being destroyed day after day on the news and on social media has been incredibly painful for all of us. We are doing our best to support him through this, as he struggles with feelings of guilt, fear, loss, helplessness and grief. We are also doing what we can do from here to help our friends there, but it never feels like enough.

We are so incredibly thankful that our son is safe and home with us, but our hearts break for the many families we know who are in the middle of their adoption processes. Adopting from Ukraine under the best of circumstances is a long and difficult process. Now, those processes are completely stalled, leaving families feeling helpless and afraid for the children they love, as they live through unthinkable trauma.

Please, please be praying that this war ends soon—that Putin’s hardened heart will be softened and that the scales will come off of his eyes to see what’s true.

God is our only hope in this.