The month of September, 2007, was the first time I met Trey. It's only fitting that 7 years later, the same month is the first time we meet our Little Man. That's what happened this weekend. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't what I had pictured or dreamed of, but it is reality. On Sunday, we met with the President of the NGO we're working with in order to sign some papers and get some basic information. We then learned that we had been sitting next to Little Man while waiting for him to arrive. I had thought it was possibly him, but I wasn't sure. And he wasn't sure about us.The day before he was brought from the village to the orphanage. He and his siblings have been living with extended family after his parent's passing. For now, we'll be keeping most of his story private, but we want you to know a little about him. A lot of changes happened for him in a matter of hours. And then he was told these white people, possibly the first white people he's ever seen, want him to be a part of their family. He's 3, almost 4. This is a lot for him to process. He closed up a little bit. That night we ate dinner at the orphanage, and one of the other kids convinced him to come greet us. Since he doesn't speak a lick of French, they had taught him to say, "Bonsoir." He greeted us, and then went to sit with a friend.
Monday we saw him again. He came to greet us immediately, but wasn't necessarily friendly. Trey went out for some research with some pastors and I stayed there. He eventually came around to play with Chandler and some of the other kids. I got a few smiles out of him... He would stare at me or Chandler and when I would look at him with a smile, he would turn away quickly to hide his smile. I also found out he's ticklish :) that really made him smile. The other kids asked him to put on a shirt. He didn't want to. We spent about an hour trying to convince him to put one on. We asked where his shirt was from the day before, but he said he had lost it. We later found it mixed in with the dishes... who knows how that happened. But he was very happy when it was found. When Trey got back he somehow convinced him to play. Trey kicked soccer balls back and forth between him and another boy. When they wore Trey out, Trey sat down and threw the balls with them. All three really enjoyed it. And I enjoyed watching it. When it was time for us to leave, he was wrapped in an African cloth wrapper since his clothes were being washed. He was sent out to tell us bye, and had the biggest smile and laugh. We said goodbye in French and in Goon (which he speaks).
I'm sure he's still not too sure about us. That makes sense. But we're grateful for the opportunity to meet him. We also will be able to visit him as we like. There's still not a definite timeline for us. We know we're approaching a 3 month wait period. His family will go to a notary to sign a paper saying they want him to be adopted. Then, we wait. There's 3 months for anyone in his family to take that paper back saying they'll provide care for him. So, until that time is up, we wait. We pray. We ask you to pray. We connect with him. We raise funds. That's where we are.
No comments:
Post a Comment