Day 3-4 July 2013

The last two days have been full of excitement and emotion.  I woke up Saturday morning excited to be spending the day at New Life with Wisbens and the other kids.  After breakfast I approached Pastor Seide and asked that he get in touch with Wisbens father to see if he could come to the orphanage and visit.  We attended vacation bible school with the kids and after  30 minutes I received word that his dad had arrived.  We went to a picnic table and Pastor Seide assisted with the translation. He asked me how my family is doing and told me that he has been praying for us.  I again thanked him for the opportunity to adopt Wisbens and how much a part of our family he is too.  I asked his dad about how things are currently going in his life and he stated that he is struggling and does not have a job.  After talking with him longer I learned that he was disabled due to an illness that he had 15 years ago.  I asked about his greatest needs and the statement that stood out to me the most was that he was hungry and needed food to eat.  I was immediately distraught and held back my feelings as we talked more about food and what he can do to survive.   As we continued our conversation and my brother in law was able to offer support courtesy of our church.  We talked for about 30 minutes and prayed with him before he left.  He hugged us both and I was glad that Eric was able to meet a part of his Haitian family.

After he left I processed the conversation with my brother in law and talked about how we are blessed to have food readily available when we need it. There are so many people that are not only hungry but starving and willing to do what it takes to feed their family. We drove through the city yesterday and as we approached the slums the smell of rotting food hit me before the picture of tin buildings and animals rummaging through trash.   

Wisbens love to color, draw and paint.  There was a mission team here from Mississippi and they were making flowers out of aluminum cans.  I asked Wisbens if he would make us one to take home and when he was finished brought me two.  Eric and I set and watched him for at least an hour taking his time to paint each petal and ensure that it was fully complete. 

After lunch we met the kids on the yard to play on an oversize slip and slide.  I laughed as I watched most of the kids take the opportunity to have a bath/shower.  I have never seen so many kids and adults at one time running on a soap filled tarp.  I have looked at pictures of the kids for the past two years playing on the slip and slide and was glad to finally experience it with them.  After an exhausting day of playing with the kids I went to bed early to get some rest and spend our last full day with the kids.

I woke up Sunday morning had breakfast and went to church.  As I walked to the chapel I saw the kids walking over from the orphanage in their dress shirts, ties and dresses.  Church started at 9:30 and two and half hours later it was finished.  The service was great and at the end the teams that were visiting lined up and the kids walked by as we prayed for each one of them.  I was blessed to be a part an awesome service and look forward to returning and worshiping with the kids in the future. 

After church I changed clothes ate lunch and we went back to where the kids live to play.  When I arrived they were doing their daily chores.  Guivens was sweeping out his room and using a card for the dust pan.  All the kids have chores at New Life and are responsible for completing them daily.  The older kids must wash their own clothes, clean their rooms, and ensure that the grounds are picked up. The past few days have been extremely hot and the cold showers have felt great.  I was walking this afternoon where the kids play and noticed a crayon on the ground that was completely melted from the heat. 

 

I noticed that Wisbens was missing and went to look for him.  He was avoiding me and after tracking him down I noticed that his hair had been cut down the middle with scissors.  One of his buddies used a pair of dull scissors to give him a reverse mohawk and after getting him to sit down, Eric was able to repair some of the damage.    

We ended the evening early and will wake up tomorrow and meet with Wilna to see if there is anyting else needed for the adoption visit with Wisbens and leave for the airport.  If everything works out I should be home late tomorrow night.  I look forward to bringing Wisbens home soon and can't wait for everyone to meet him.  He has no idea how many people have prayed for him and supported us through this journey. 

 

 

 

Day One and Two July 2013

I am again going to apologize for my spelling and grammar.  The internet and power go in and out and I want to get as much written as possible.  We lost the internet last night and I was unable to finish in time to publish. 

My day started at 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning, as I woke up and prepared for a long day at the airport.  The positive thing about this trip was that my brother in law was joining me and my anxiety level was immediately decreased as we drove to Nashville to catch our flight.  I was worried that we
may have difficulty today not because I have bad luck but every trip I have attempted to Hait has had some type of delay.  Thursday was not any different as we checked in and was told that our flight was delayed by one hour.  I was not surprised but concerned because we only had an hour layover in Miami before I flight left.  Because of the tropical storm all flights into Haiti were full because of cancellations and overbooking.  We had to make a decision to chance the flight and get stuck in Miami with no way to Haiti or to cancel the trip.  Eric and I were up for an adventure and rolled the dice and took a chance.  After sprinting off our plane and running to the gate we missed the plane by seconds and was going to possibly be stranded.  We prayed and know that God is soverign and if we were supposed to be in Haiti we knew he would make it happen.  We talked to an agent who informed us that they opened up another flight and we got some of the last seats that were available.  God answered our prayers and we eventually made it to Port Au Prince and New Life Children's home to see our sweet boy. 

We payed our driver and immediately ran down to where the kids stay and it wasn't long before Wisbens saw me.  I ran to him picked him up held him and kissed him on his head.  I introduced him to his uncle Eric and they immediatley made a connection.  We spent the afternoon catching up with Wisbens as well as the other kids at New Life and Eric got the opportunity to see the blessing that I get everytime I arrive.  It was a great feeling to have the kids run up to me call me by name and fight for our attention.  There is plenty of kids and love to go around and I am excited about Jen, Maddox and our family at Mission Community Church to join us on future trips.  The day ended great and we were exhausted from the trip and the kids continously wanting to play.  It was cloudy today but extremely hot and humid.

Friday
I woke this morning had a cold shower and prepared for my day in Port Au Prince.  I knew that I would miss lunch and packed my bag with plenty of peanuts and beef jerky.  Our transportation arrived and we headed towards Petionville to see if there was any news on our adoption.  Wilna is a contact I have in Haiti who has been working with individuals on international adoption.  She has many contacts at the agencies that we will soon be navigating and this will hopefully help speed up the process.  She will be our advocate for while I am at home and will continue to contact our attorney and ensure he is following through.  It is good for us because in Haiti if you are not on the ground working it seems as though nothing gets done. 

After 45 minutes we arrived at his office and after going through a security gate was able to meet with Jean Luc.  He told me that he went to IBESR (social services) yesterday and they told him to go away that they would contact him when our file was ready.  After leaving his office we went to IBESR to check on my file and Wilna talked with her contact to get an update.  We were told that our file had not even been looked at yet but becasue of her visit was able to get it in the hands of a worker.  Wilna is very professional but will not take no for an answer and before we left had the workers cell phone number and will check on our file weekly until it is complete. 

We left IBESR and went to Parquet (court) to get a judge to sign off on our file and again Wilna was able to walk directly to his office and ask for him by name.  Unfortunately he was not there and we will try again Monday morning before flying out.  I have to be present as he will interview me on why we want to adopt Wisbens.  He will ask specific questions about his amputation and race and if we see color as an issue.

Wilna took us to a resort where we will be able to take Wisben for the day to swim.  It was one of the most beautiful places I have seen in Hait and while we were there had lunch.  Our driver Pierre had grilled goat and I knew that I could not leave without trying it.  After working myself up I took a bite and loved it.  It wasn't what I expected and will be eating it again. 

We went to the nearest cell phone company and I purchased an inexpensive cell phone so I can stay in contact with Wilna, New Life and our transportation to and from the airport. The phone was new but looked like one of my cell phones ten years ago.  Eric and I looked for the game snake on it but had not luck.

After spending the day in and out of a van that barely ran, crowded streets and angry drivers we arrived back at the orphanage and was able to eat dinner.  After dinner we went down to spend time with Wisbens and found about 15 kids huddled around a small dvd player watching cartoons.  We were able to attend praise and worship as well as movie night with the kids.  It was a great to hear over 100 kids sing at the same time.  Friday night at New Life is movie night and tonight's movie was Free Willy.  Before the movie even started kids were falling asleep in our arms and on our laps.  Again I was reminded about how blessed I am to be able to come to Haiti to see my son and be able to give and receive love from the kids.  It has been a great day and I look forward to tomorrow.