Continued...

I forgot to mention that before we went to DGM, we went to our Country coordinators home to get our paperwork straight. She sent one of her assistants to make copies. This took about an hour or two. On Tuesday Morning, we went to the two orphanages. It took around 1 hour to get to the first one. We arrived, pulling down an alley way and saw the sign on the wall OWAS! The birthmother of our son was waiting outside the gate for us...she opened the gate and looked at me in the front seat. She was almost in tears. She ran around the vehicle when we pulled in, she flung open my door and wrapped her arms around me and cried on my shoulder. She spoke in Lingala and said a few things and continued hugging me. She is 20 years old, but today, she looks 16. She is very welcoming to us and very happy that her son will not have to suffer in her country anymore. Before we came, he had Malaria and Chicken Pox and when we arrived, he had a fever. She is alone. Her family does not live there, besides her older sister. She is the 8th child of 10. 8 girls and 2 boys. Her parents are not together and neither of them live close by. She is stunningly beautiful. Isaiah looks a lot like her. We bring in the 3 big suitcases and 1 small suitcase full of donations. There will be medicines, vitamins, soaps, deodorants, lots of school supplies, flip flops, toys, a few clothes, and small gifts...they will have many things to help out with their needs...thanks to the generosity of many of you! We have been able to bless the orphans at these two orphanages. Thank you all for being so giving! We interacted with the kids and I took the photos that I could at the first orphanage. We took a tour through the orphanage and talked with the workers and thanked them for taking care of the children. We shared gospel tracts with them that were in French. Some can read, but most will need to be read to. Isaiah's mother cannot read or write. We were able to let her know about the home he was going to and she was very happy for him. We gave her photos of our family and a gift to remember us by. We were there for about an hour and then it was time to go to the 2nd orphanage. We walked. The "roads" were dirt, rough and covered with trash. William said that it would take 5 minutes. After about 25 minutes, we were asking how much further...haha... it was hot, smelly, and the turain was hard to walk. Along the way, there were people everywhere. They were cooking out in the open, working hard, and living a rough life. Along the way, William was able to translate to the birthmom and back to us. We were able to share our hearts with her and she was able to do the same. We feel so blessed to be able to have this experience. It is a blessing. We made several brief videos as well. We finally arrived at the 2nd orphanage and were greeted by a bunch of little ones! They were so precious! So innocent. They were very affectionate and loving. We spent several hours with them. Playing. Talking. Singing praise songs. Holding and hugging them. We will never forget our time with them. There are lots of photos and some video. I will post the link to shutterfly for anyone interested in seeing the photos. While we waited for our driver to come back, the power went out, which is very common. We sang in the dark with the children. They were wonderful. We couldn't get enough of them! At 9:30pm, our driver came and it was time to go. We noticed several of the kiddos asleep on the cold tile floors. They just go to sleep wherever they are. It was also time to say goodbye to Isaiah's birthmother. Goodbye is not easy. It begins to rain. We are rushed to leave by the driver and another of the Mama's from the orphanage who is assisting us. Maybe a goodbye is not needed. Maybe it is better to leave things pleasant without the goodbye. We leave, quiet. Traffic is even worse than it had been in the day time. The driver turns off the engine every so often. I notice that his tank looks like it is on empty. I ask the others. They agree. He does not speak English. We pray. It is dark, rainy, and his gas tank is on empty. There are people everywhere, moving in and out of the traffic. It is bumper to bumper. Stop. Go a little. Stop. We finally see a gas station and think he must be pulling in and he doesn't. He keeps going. We wonder what will happen if he runs out and we get stuck in the middle of nowhere. We are white americans. We pray some more. Somehow, God increases the loaves and fishes and gets us back to the Parish. Wow! We are all very exhausted. But we are blessed. We turn in for the night....to be continued...