Making icing for the 100+ cupcakes Juanita and I baked the night before.
Smiling faces. This girl really enjoys helping me in the kitchen, which I'm so excited about! Last night she offered to wash the dishes, so we did it together and today we made spaghetti sauce together. Now that we are in a little apartment at the LOC, we are cooking most of our meals on our 2 burner hot plate.
Making 100 meat sandwiches (seasoned ground beef with onions and peas) with Halima and Fati for the party.
My favorite lady from El Salvador. She has made our trip 10 times better! I am very grateful for our friendship and excited to have her in the states in a month!
Getting ready to leave the LOC for the party.
Bonita Juanita (pretty Juanita)!
This is Leila's dormitory at the Good Samaritan Orphanage.
She's still got it. The big kids take care of the babies here.
Inside the orphanage. The kids were being bathed when we arrived so a lot of naked tushies were running wild!
The bed Leila slept in. No sheet, no pillow and I'm pretty sure she didn't sleep alone.
Off to the party. The kids were excited to see her and the girls seemed to have lots of questions for her though I understood none of it! All I kept thinking was, "I hope she will still want to leave with us." I have heard and read too many stories.
Completely out of my comfort zone here. We sat at a head table with everyone looking at us! Leila was torn between us and her friends, and I think she also didn't like the attention, so we let her sit with her friends.
This is us with Zalika's older sister who still lives at the orphanage. The pastor had Leila sing a song she loves to sing in front of everyone and then asked her to choose her best friend. We thought this was strange, but no one else did! She chose Zalika's sister. I can't wait til she gets to see Zalika again at the airport!
Geoff gave a great speech to the kids about how we were all orphaned and adopted into God's family, and he thanked the pastor and his family for what they have done. This is me saying a brief thanks and presenting the pastor and his wife with African fabric for outfits for them and their 2 little girls.
A feast for the kids! We brought meat sandwiches and cupcakes. The pastor's wife made 100 juice drinks and they brought the popcorn and "shrimp" (the colored chips).
This is Angel who is also called Tante (Aunt) Leila because she was the one who brought Leila from the hospital to the orphanage after she was born. She has been with Leila since the beginning and was pretty emotional about leaving but kept emphasizing her excitement and gratefulness to us.
I'm planning to visit with Tante Leila before leaving Niger to ask her as much as I can about Leila's history and what she knows about mother/family.
The party gave Leila some much needed closure and was a "passing of the torch" moment in a sense. The pastor emphasized to her in front of everyone that being adopted was a blessing. He continually expressed his thanks to us for what we were doing and we expressed our thanks for the much improved state he has brought the orphanage to in the last year. Leila really realized this was goodbye and was quite emotional when going to bed that night. Juanita helped us comfort her and the last few nights have been much better. I can't imagine leaving the only home I've ever known even under her tough circumstances, and our heart is for her to not forget but remember her friends who remain so that as a family we can support them in more tangible ways than just giving money. Niger is in all our hearts, but especially hers, and we want to honor that.
What a journey - God is faithful and continues to show us how adoption is all of our story. We all come with challenges, weaknesses, histories and baggage, yet He welcomes us with open, merciful arms and a heart ready to love simply because we are His children.
Ephesians 3:18-19 "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."
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