Tuesady- day2 in Rwanda

We were not ablrto get our to whom it may concern letter today which let's Elijah sleep with us so we has to take him back to the orphange tonight, but what a fun day we had! We picked him up at 7;30 and went to meet Peter our poa at the kigali passport agency to apply for elijahs Rwandan passport, then off to the us embassy to file our I-600 immigration form. Elijah was quiet and still with a faraway look on his eyes when we first picked him up but as the day progressed his smile appeared and he loved to play witb his monkey toy, be held, play wrestle with Papa, and play with the drAin in the tub. He also ate a ton at lunch-- we need to fatten him up as he does seem thin and malnourished. Nothing like steak and fries to clear that up! He was a lot of fun a ll day and we loved seeing his personality evolve through the day, blank stare replaced by toothy grin and silly giggles. He didn't even nap all day!
Tomorrow pray we get out TWIMC letter-- if not we may need to extend our trip as the minister of women and family promotion is out till Friday??? We had a great dinner with another aawa adoptive family tonight and " shared notes" on our schedules. We were also thrilled to meet special friends from rwanda, Robinson and Dorothy, who we have been supporting and communicating with over the last 2 yrs. Robinson runs an orphange and also is a Pentecostal minister. Dorothy is a young woman who lost most of her family in the genocide. We hope to help Robinson find sponsors for the kids and Dorothy to maybe go to nursing school in the USA. God is working in amazing ways in our lives and the lives of our Rwandan friends. I will end with this thought- bill and I were bummed a little that our trip wad in December because we would miss Christmas season. But holding our son I'm our arms, I realized were not missing it, we're living it. Thank you, heavenly father.

Meeting elijah!

We arrived this afternoon but didn't catch up with Peter our poa until about 4pm, partially because I told him the wrong hotl room number. We are at chez lando hotel. It's Simple and a liile " worn". Our Kenya air flight went s
well and it's a nice airline. Peter took us to met
et veronique who was very nice and the secretary of the minister- also very nice. But they aren't sure we can get our to whom it may concern letter tomorrow- we need that for Elijah to be able to spend the night withu us. So we need prayers to get the minister to sign the letter for us so Elijah doesn't have to stay at the orphanage! b But the highlight of the day-- the moment we've been waithjbg a year for- came after our visit to the ministry of woman and hender. We pulled up in front of the blue gate at the home of hope orphanage. A very sweet sister from Kenya met us and took us down to see Elijah. We went down a long hallway with rooms on either size and voices of many, many children laughing.
, crying, talking and yelling. Each room had a few dozen babies and toddlers. I'm told there are over140 kids there. We went to elijahs room abs the nun went up and patted him on the head and said this is mugisha. I couldn't hold back the tears as she held him out to me and he reached his little arms for me. He's very tiny- much smaller then I expected. His sad little eyes had a faraway look
And he loved me to hold him up against my face,
I kissed his perfect tiny arms and then he went right to papa who held him close for another few mins until we had to put him back. I am humbled by gods plan for this child and his work to bring us this far. I am happy and blessed beyond words bill and I are to be used by Him in his plan for His son -- and our son-- Elijah.

Bill is in nairobi

Yeah! Thank God bill is here safely!! Tomorrow morning we leave for Kigali to meet our son!!!! Praise god!!

In Nairobi

Still in naiorbi at wildebeest tent lodge, a little oasis hostel in the city. I went on a game drive this morning jn naiarobi national park and saw wilf zebra, water buffallo, wildebeest, warthog , ostrich!, impala, gazelles, beautiful birds, giraffes, rhinos in the distance , and lion killed carcasses but no lions. Then I went to a factory that makes beads and supports single moms. It was a busy morning and unfortunatly my afternoon nap turned in a 7 hour jet lag sleep so Now its10 pm and I amwide awake. I never have trouble in Europe with jet lag but here it's going to take me a few days. Tomorrow lake Nakuru ! To see thousands of flamingos and hopefully hippos. And best of all bill arrives to join in the adventure and on to meet our son!!!!

In nairobi

I made it with gods hands on the trip. I'm sitting in a comfortable lodge using my trusty iPhone to stay connected with the world.
I am rejoicing tonight!

packing crocs!

just wanted to post a quick photo of croc-loaded suitcase, which were donated through 4-More a group of ladies dedicated to helping the orphans of Rwanda. These crocs came from all over the country i was told! They will be leaving with me on thursday!

Flying under a Full moon and African Skies

In less than 48 hours i'll be on a night flight to paris, then an early morning flight to Nairobi. I will arrive friday night in Nairobi, and wait for Bill there -- he'll be there sunday night. I am not sure what i will do alone for 2 days but I certainly don't plan on staying in my hotel room. While I am so anxious to meet Elijah, we want to meet him together. So monday morning bright and Early, we will travel to Kigali to meet our son for the first time, and God will "take the lonely and put him in a family" We will feel so humbled and priveledged to be a part of God's plan for this little boy, who has not been forgotten by his heavenly father although his earthly parents are gone and he has no one to wipe his tears,hold his hand, or comfort him. We were told he knows the words for Mama and papa. I wonder if he means his birth parents, or he was just taught this by the nuns. He is probably old enoguh to remember his birth parents and has only been apart from them since July, when circumstances which we will never know separated them forever . I hope when he is told that Mama and Papa are coming his little heart isn't anxiously looking for his birth parents. But I know that love can heal a broken heart, so litte one, a Mama and Papa are coming- it may not be who you think, but we hope to make your mama and papa proud by raising you to love God above all, and love your family as much as we will love you, our son. Love, Mama and Papa.