Rescue - Day 3

Day 3 – Rescue - June 26th, 2010

We had a great day today. Yesterday’s visit to see Tizita and Geremo seemed hurried and rushed and we didn’t bring any games to play together as a family. Today was completely different. Weeks ago Mendy had packed both Tizita and Geremo backpacks full of games and activities to interact with them. We rolled into the orphanage and Tizita and Geremo were definitely ready to see us. They were so happy to see us and our kids were so happy to see them.

Watching each of our kids hug and love on our two new kids is incredibly special. Megan is cool calm and collected and just loves on these two kids in a way that they know they will never have to “perform” to get her attention or her love… it will always just be there. Kaylee is the consummate helper/teacher, always looking for where they might not understand something or need some help doing something. Jacob is very affectionate with both Tizita and Geremo, his hugs are amazing to watch and he is chomping at the bit to have some space to play ball with these two. Lindsay is just so happy to have kids her age to play with that she just never stops playing. She is absolutely loving this.

After we left the orphanage, we went back to the guest house and I completely crashed for the afternoon. Each of us is adjusting differently to the time and travel change so it is hard to all be on a good schedule.

We went the Sheraton Hotel to access their high speed internet. I shot a video of me, Tizita and Geremo to share with the church on Sunday morning. It is a really great introduction of them, but after 3-4 tries I was not able to load it onto the flip video sight. I will be working on this tomorrow, because I have to be able to get some video back to UCity for Sunday morning gatherings. I pray that I can make this connection happen.

We then went to Trent and Carmen’s house and ate a meal together with them and the five girls that live on the compound with them. I can tell that they are adjusting well and pouring themselves into the girls and their community in ways that are distinctly Trent and Carmen. I could tell they had a few rough days, but that they have been able to get a handle on everyday living so that they can figure out how to settle in for the long haul. They are living in the same community where we do all of our HIV/AIDS projects. I look forward to seeing how Trent and Carmen can get us some better updates, pictures and stories to further our support there. The house that they have is actually perfect for them I think. The compound has separate housing rooms in the back where the girls live as well as room for guests and mission teams.

We returned to the guest house just in time to watch the world cup game with US vs Ghana. We watched it with two Ethiopians. One was pulling for the US and the other was definitely pulling for Ghana – but he was trying not to let on that he was pulling for Ghana. I think it was because he just wanted to be polite. But he was definitely happy when they won. Great night. Looking forward to church in the morning.