Back in the USA

We arrived home yesterday and continue to adjust to the time change! Poor Guy went through several air sickness bags on the last leg of the journey (Brussels to OHare). I think it was due to lack of sleep, he caught up a little and now has kept a couple bowls of chicken noodle soup down!

I'm still a bit behind in the sleep department myself, so I'm hoping I make sense here!

I wanted to share our experience at the orphanage. Jeff, Ryan and I went with several other team members. The first room we went into was the 'toddler room'. The kids were all seated around a long rectangular table, waiting to be fed some type of porridge. We squatted down and tickled them and held their hands. Sometimes back home we care for the kids in the toddler room at church, it was so similar yet so different. They react to the tickling the same with coos and smiles and some are shy and look away, just like at church. However, when the kids at church get upset I'm able to tell them "Mommy always comes back" (or Daddy) That was not the case here. There was one caregiver in the room who seemed more concerned with keeping order than 'loving on' the kids, but we weren't there that long. I hope she hugs and kisses them when we're not looking. Next we went into the baby room, about 40 feet long and 20 feet wide filled with blue metal cribs. Some of the babies were so small, they must have been born recently. I picked up one tiny girl 'Felise', I stoked her tiny head and realized she had a fever. Travis, GFR Rwandan staff who has adopted a baby there, told me she probably isn't sick enough to be in the infirmary, but he assured me they do have children's tylenol there. Soon a caregiver came in with a bin full of bottles with names on them. I pointed to the bottles and to Felise and the caregiver searched until she found hers. (Felise had gotten a bit fussy and I wanted to calm her) She sucked the bottle down quite quickly. In the meantime, Ryan had a happy little toddler boy following him around with a little ball, he trained Ryan to 'fetch' pretty easily, rewarding Ryan with smiles and giggles, it was precious. Soon we went out to the playground with 5 to 8 year olds, I'm guessing. They all wanted to look in our backpacks and take our glasses off us. But one little 8 year old boy came up to me and grabbed my hands and led me over to the stairs, we sat and he just layed across my lap, just starving for some affection. I cry now thinking of it. I rubbed his back and held his hands and hugged him as we had to leave. We all shed tears there, it was rough.

It was difficult also to say goodbye to the team and the precious staff in Rwanda. I hope to post some more photos of the team, our new friends. We experienced many things together in Rwanda, so far from home. So many heartwarming and heartwrenching things. I know I've returned a different person, never to be the same. I pray that God will guide us as we process all we've seen and learned. It can be so overwhelming, I want to do more to help. I know I can't save all those people myself, this is when I treasure Global Family Rescue's mission statement: Transforming the World....One Family at a Time. May all glory go to God for giving us strength each day, safe travel and renewed hearts for Him and all His children. Bless you all! Pam