January 8, 2001
Search for Prodigal Son leads Texas family to two daughters
___By Scott Collins
___Buckner News Service
___ATHENS--Lee and Susan Bush's first journey to Russia started as a search for the Prodigal Son. It ended when they found two lost daughters.
___It wasn't supposed to happen that way. When they signed up for a trip to St. Petersburg hosted by Buckner Benevolences President Ken Hall in May 1997, their main purpose was to visit Rembrandt's famous painting, "The Return of the Prodigal." Bush had becomeenamored with the painting after reading a book by the late theologian Henri Nouwen. The book, with the same title as the painting, explores the characters of Jesus' parable. Nouwen was inspired to write the book after seeing the painting, which hangs in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
LEE AND SUSAN BUSH went to Russia to see a Rembrant painting. They ended up with two new daughters. (Photos by Russ Dilday)
___The Bushes were so moved by the book they decided to take the Buckner trip. After all, Bush explained: "I was looking forward to the vacation aspect of the trip. There was a cruise involved, and there was just a lot of fun stuff."
___And while the trip was loaded with sightseeing and plenty of tourist moments, it also included stops that are not listed in travel brochures. Those stops were at several orphanages in St. Petersburg.
___"I knew I wouldn't mind going to the orphanages," Bush said, "but there was no passion at all for me about seeing kids in an orphanage. I felt like I would go and I would feel sorry for them, and then I would get out of there and say, 'Well, I hope somebody helps them.'"
___What the Bushes discovered on their first day in Russia is that the "somebody" would be them.
___It started with a visit to St. Petersburg's Orphanage No. 2 in the morning, which was to be followed with the long-awaited visit to see Rembrandt's painting. The Bushes, along with Hall's wife, Linda, were paired with two Russian sisters and their best friend. The three American adults and three Russian orphans spent more than two hours canvassing the orphanage, with the girls acting as tour guides.
___"The thing I was drawn to about Yulia and Yanna is they had a sparkle in their eyes," Mrs. Bush said. "They were laughing and teasing, and by the end of the two hours, when I left, I was in tears. All we could think of is these children are going to be out on the streets unless somebody helps them."
___That afternoon, as the Texas couple stood in front of Rembrandt's magnificent depiction of the Prodigal Son, the parable's message became personal.
YULIA and Yanna have found a new loving family in Texas through the work of Buckner Child Care International.
___"We were still heartsick over the girls and what might happen to them," Mrs. Bush said. "Our perspective had changed completely. We were very touched by the painting because of the unconditional love it showed."
___Reflecting on their visit to the painting more than three years later, Bush believes its message "became kind of thematic for us--that the father offers unconditional love and these kids will never experience that unless someone brings them to a knowledge of Christ. That can most likely happen in a Christian home. And so the whole thing started coming together for us--that the father's love really reaches everyone."
___The orphanage visit combined with the message of the painting consumed the Bushes throughout the rest of their trip.
___"We left St. Petersburg already beginning to ask what can we do to help Buckner find homes for these kids," Bush said. "When we would talk with others on the trip, someone would say, 'Why don't y'all adopt two kids?' That was like saying, 'Why don't you fly to the moon this afternoon?' It's just not going to happen. It's not what we're about. That's not where we are in our lives. We're too old."
___"We have grandchildren," Mrs. Bush added.
___The rest of the vacation was miserable. Stops in exotic places like Amsterdam, Oslo and Copenhagen were overshadowed by thoughts of Russian orphans, especially Yulia and Yanna.
___Things only got worse when the Bushes arrived back home in Athens, Texas. Mrs. Bush thought the strong feelings would subside with time and distance. But four weeks later, her husband still was not sleeping and she was "just not feeling peaceful."
___"Lee was waking up in the middle of the night, and he was more emotionally unsettled than I had seen him in years. So I started praying, without even talking to Lee about it, 'What is this, Lord, that you are now showing us?'"
___Added to the mix was Mrs. Bush's personal background, which matched Yulia's and Yanna's. Her father was an alcoholic, and her parents divorced when she was 7. Yulia and Yanna were abandoned in Russia after alcohol wrecked their home.
___Mrs. Bush's life experience had led her to become an advocate for abused children in Texas. She was at the forefront of lobbying for legislation establishing what is today the Healthy Families program.
___She recalls standing in front of the trash compactor one day and praying, "'Lord, you aren't really asking us to adopt these children, are you?' That same day I said, 'Yes, Lord, of course, with what you've done for me, if this is what you want, I have one thing to ask: Make it so clear that this is what you're asking us to do so that we won't make a mistake. If you make it clear, I will give every part of myself to helping these children, whatever it takes.'"
___Meanwhile, for her husband, the decision to adopt the girls came down to what he now calls a crisis in his faith. "The thing I had to ask was, 'Do you trust (God) enough?' which became a different question for me.
___"I realized these girls would be my daughters for the rest of my life, and so to me the question became, 'Lee, do you trust (God) that I'll be with you?' It took me a few days to get to the point that I would rather walk through the valley knowing that I had done what I was called to do than to have an easy life but not be found faithful. It was really one of those points in life where you drive a stake in the ground and say, 'There's the line; now are you going to step across it in faith or not?' I felt like I needed to say, 'Yes, Lord, because you're with me I can do it however it turns out.'"
___Six months after first meeting Yulia and Yanna, the Bushes were back in St. Petersburg, this time to adopt the girls, who were ages 10 and 8.
SUSAN BUSH helps her daughters, Yulia and Yanna, work a jigsaw puzzle. Although coming to a new family in America was difficult at first, both the girls and their adoptive parents have made the adjustment with help from their church, First Baptist of Athens.
___"I think the first six months (here) for them was like a fairyland," Bush said. "It was like they were on a honeymoon. There was so much infatuation with everything going on and with all of us. No problems. And then the wheels came off."
___As time passed in their new home with their new parents, Yulia and Yanna began to have trouble bonding with the Bushes beyond the superficial giving and accepting of clothes and toys.
___"There were issues of accepting us as parents," Bush said. "I think primarily the problem was accepting Susan as mom because they obviously had a very close relationship with their Russian mom."
___Even though the girls' Russian mother had died from alcohol abuse by the time the Bushes adopted them, Yulia and Yanna still felt close to her. For about four months, the family struggled with serious emotional issues as the girls adjusted to their new home. Counseling, prayer and rabbits made the difference.
___Among the many stories the Bushes tell about their new family, the rabbit story is a "classic," he said. It was the rabbit story that began the healing process for Yulia and Yanna.
___While attending an Easter egg hunt, Yulia became attached to a rabbit. Throughout the egg hunt, she carried the rabbit with her everywhere. As they got in the car to leave, Yulia asked, "Where is my rabbit?"
___"We knew this was going to lead to complications," Mrs. Bush said. "Sure enough, she was crying." When she asked if the girls had a rabbit before, Yulia told her yes. "She said, 'We had a mama and a papa rabbit and lots of baby rabbits.' I said, 'What happened, honey?'"
___With tears streaming down her cheeks, Yulia said her Russian father "got mad because there were so many rabbits. So he took out his knife and killed every one of them."
___"We prayed about it," Mrs. Bush said, "and all of a sudden we felt God was saying, 'You need rabbits in your home.'"
___"What we realized," her husband said, "is that Yulia was grieving over her pet rabbits she had lost. They just had so many losses in their lives, and losses are a time to grieve. Here she was grieving two years later over the rabbits that had been taken from them."
___The next Easter, nearly 18 months after arriving in the Bushes' home, Yulia and Yanna became Christians at First Baptist Church of Athens. Yulia was baptized on Easter Sunday in 1999 and Yanna followed in August, with their adoptive father assisting Pastor Kyle Henderson in the baptism.
___For the Bushes, adopting Yulia and Yanna was only the beginning of their efforts to help Russian orphans. They continue to travel back to Russian with Buckner Orphan Care International to work in orphanages, and they provide financial assistance for several Buckner programs.
___"I grieve about the fact that we can't reach every child in the world," Bush said. "But I know that for the children we do reach, it makes a world of difference. That's what keeps me going."
___"One of the things God has taught me is that he is at work constantly around the world," Mrs. Bush added. "All he's asking me to do is to listen for where he wants me to be.
___"Why did he choose Yulia and Yanna to bring into our home and some of the other children are still there? I have no idea. But I know he's at work loving all the children of the world. I feel so privileged he has allowed me to be a part of what he's doing."
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