Thursday Recap

Thursday morning I awoke after amazingly actually sleeping 7 hours straight (12:30-7:30 a.m.), something to praise God for and not take for granted since it’s been a week since I’ve had that privilege. My stomach feels better and my soul feels good today as well. Here are some highlight pictures of the last day or two.

Little children with irresistible smiling faces began showing up around our place, hoping we would give them a cracker or something (which we did). Some of them call me “daddy” but I am not sure if they think that is English for “pick me up” because some of the same kids say the same to Gabe (which we did … pick them up that is). How can you resist these faces of kids in the community? I love how dirt on their face doesn’t stop them from smiling :)

Here is a picture of a beautiful young girl and her brother that I’m throwing in just because I like it so much (I don’t know if they are a part of the church community or just passing through, but sure are cute!)

This morning we met Peter’s wife Dorcas and their precious 2-week-old baby who we got to see while she was asleep. We have heard her sweet cry in the morning. We have seen more of her sister Diveen (in purple) who has been staying with her to help with the baby. The man standing to the right of below picture I think is named Stephan and may be related to them as well, but don’t quote me on that. Their beautiful son Nathan is in the front.

I also met that man’s sweet wife and kids who live within a few thousand yards and this is their house which doubles as a pharmacy. The little guy he’s holding was hiding behind mom’s skirt for the pic and he had to pick him up.

I like the symbolic nature of this picture of Kara with Didier on the left who has been her only father figure, one who would have otherwise been a fatherless orphan, now in the hand of her father on the right, which gives Didier such great joy.

Psalm 68:5-6 “A father to the fatherless … God makes a home for the lonely” (NASB, NIV “God sets the lonely in families”)

What an orphanage and ministry and heart Didier has, reflecting the heart of God! The sacrificial self-denying love he has given our family and these other families is truly an inspiration that I would love to share with any of you further sometime if you ask and want to learn more about this ministry.

To help the orphanage with our spare time (that has been limited thus far), Gabe and I began planning the garden project with the help of some of the men here who we met. We have 1,000 bricks to make 4 large raised garden beds (20 feet by 5 feet, 2 feet high) and planned and prepped them, and began some work after we were already quite sweaty from a soccer game with some of the kids pictured above, some of whom are much more skilled than Gabe and I, including an amazing goalie who looked like he was 8 years old, but played like he was on the national team. Several amazing diving saves he made of Sports-center quality. When they scored a goal, some of the kids would celebrate by plopping in the dirt and pumping both arms to make themselves bounce around on their bottom on the ground, stirring up lots of dust, and making us Americans laugh. We made them laugh when I caught a ball between my knees and when Gabe took his hat off to head a ball another time, they roared with laughter.

The most important thing we did today was visit the bourgmaster’s office. He is the man without whom none of the adoptions through Didier’s orphanage could happen, the one who signs papers, approves whether or not a child can go to an orphanage or to parents, etc. (I think he’s somewhat like the mayor but the judge has higher jurisdiction). We got to thank him for allowing Stuart and Jennifer to adopt Jamie and Jordan (who both the Wilmarths and us know and are friends with) and the adoptions he allowed for us as well. We also told him much about the U.S. Adoption process and how much we love and trust Didier and how he is doing this as a labor of love, not asking for money or anything in return for himself, but seeking to get orphans into Christian homes in the U.S. It’s hard to explain by email how huge this meeting was potentially for the orphanage in a positive way, but it was what I had been praying for this whole trip, a lasting impact for the good of many families and adoptions in the future, and I sensed it was. Didier told me the bourgmaster was so happy to hear that Joseph’s (Mark) father was coming and is looking into ways he can help others adopting infants in the future – I think it really touched him for me and the Wilmarths to be there, and it was important for him to have a personal connection with real American families who thanked him for what he was doing and any help he can provide in the future to Didier. He invited us and Didier’s family to dinner at his house Saturday night, which I also sensed was huge. This was a big answer to prayer and may be one of the most significant events for the orphanage, thank you Lord.