Yesterday was the highlight of my trip. We went to one of the nicer orphanages first. They had a decent playground area and it seemed somewhat very clean. Although we would consider the kids filthy dirty by American standards - to the point where if Nathan or Gracyn were that dirty, I would literally hose them down before entering the house - they were by far cleaner than any of the kids we had seen.
We started with the younger children - such precious little faces with bright eyes full of hope. It was very hard to tell with some of them because of their shaved heads (to prevent lice) which were boys and which were girls. And some of the boys had girls clothes and shoes on and vice versa. The children all lined up on little benches and received bubbles. They were ecstatic. Even some of the older children - upwards of 13 were excited to get bubbles. Something that the teenagers in America would probably sneer at. After the bubbles came the slap bracelets. Even more excitement. Many of them wanted me to write their name in English. It was such an incredible opportunity to get to know them. I wrote on every bracelet I could either Jesus loves you or I love you. They then wanted to know what that meant - which I tried with the few phrases I had picked up to explain by drawing a heart and giving them a hug and then touching my heart - they seemed to get it and smiled sooooo big. After the slap bracelets came the stuffed animals - even MORE excitement. I wish that I had packed every single stuffed animal that I had. If you guys could have seen the way that these children clung to these animals. It really brought tears to my eyes. Many of them ran to their leaders and then would run back to us and say in English “Tank u bery!” They were going to some of the translators to find out how to say thank you in English.
We spent most of the morning playing and holding hands and hugging each other. I was amazed at some of the older children and how they wanted to participate as much as the five year olds. I spent the most time with a boy name Sasha who was fifteen who had such a sweet spirit about him. His mother and father had recently died and no one in his family wanted or could afford to take care of him. He had just arrived at the orphanage very recently and told me (through the translator) that although he was very sad about his parents dying that our arrival had cheered him up and that he now knew that one day he wanted to go and live in America because of how kind everyone there must be. We visited for quiet a while and I ended up getting the address so that I could write him letters.
We left shortly after that to go on to the second orphanage (which was the second one that we went to the day before where I brought all of the girls the nail polish and hair things). When we arrived, Ayman spent a great deal of time talking with the director. When she returned, I experienced some disappointment. The boy that I had asked about adopting with the dazzling blue eyes was not available. He had four or five brothers and sisters and his mom had just died in a car crash and they could not find his father. I had spent a good deal of the night imagining how much fun he andNathan would have together. Just not meant to be.
I was so touched to see that ALL of the girls had done their hair - most of the little ones with long hair had pig-tails with the little bows that I brought!! They all looked soo cute. The older girls immediately ran up to me and showed me their nails and I was swarmed by hugs and English “hallow”s. We were there to do a few more crafts, but I had bought some paper and markers at a market and they were more interested in sitting down with me and coloring pictures.
There was one girl in particular that was 18, she was absolutley beautiful and was leaving the orphanage in three days to go live with her sister in Almaty. Her sister had a degree for teaching English, so we exchanged addresses and she was thrilled when I told her that the Hadassah’s Hope organization would be returning to Kazakhstan next year. She wanted to know if I would be returning, and I told her that I would love to and that I would do all I could, but that was a long way from now and that I was not promising. She said that she would love to return to orphanages and do what we are doing. She was so sweet and so inquisitive! She wanted to see pictures of my family, and when I pulled out my camera, I showed them all the pictures I had taken of Amsterdam. They saw the pictures of us while we were taking the boat tour and wanted to know if we were safe on the water and were their crocodiles in the river? So many questions and such curiosity. I drew a map of the united states and pointed out where we were from and then the questions started…. What is your house like, do you have grass in your yard, how many channels do you get on a tv, is there music there, what is your favorite food, can you buy things at the store, and then the zinger question….. have you ever given your children up for adoption, and how long have you had your children. It was then that it hit me that these girls have such a different idea of family, and they were so completely interested in my family. I sat with the translator for over an hour on the dirty wet ground from the rain answering their questions.
The best came when one of the girls asked if I liked to listen to music. I explained to her that I really did not listen to alot of music because I have three kids and we really like to watch movies and listen to the music from the movies. They asked if I could sing them an American song and the only song I could think of was Jesus Loves Me. So they wanted to hear it. I sang it a couple of times, with them clapping along, and then I noticed some of them humming it. Talk about an answered prayer of planting some seeds!!! As I sung, I really prayed that they would one day know what those words meant. As soon as I was done singing, it was time to go. As we were gathering our things - she ran to Vera, who had the patience of Job to sit and translate for the tons of questions that they were peppering me with - and then ran back to me and in English said “Please to not forget me!” I kissed her forehead and put my hands on her cheeks and told her that God loves her and even if we never see each other again, my life has been changed by meeting her. I reassured her that once she got to Almaty, if she would write me with the help of her sister, that I would certainly keep in touch with her.
It was such an amazing day. One that I will never forget for sure. We are leaving Taraz tonight at 10:45 on train back to Almaty to go on to an orphanage in Taraz. I am not quite sure if I will have any internet access from there, but I do want to leave a message for my husband……
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been a wonderful four years full of ups and downs. God has blessed me with such an amazing wonderful kind-hearted caring supportive husband that I can’t wait to run back to! I feel like I have been gone from you for months. I thank God for you and for the wonderful children that you have given me. I know that I do not tell you enough how much I appreciate everything you do for me and for our children. Without you to support me, this trip would not have happened. I really hope that everything is going ok back home. I love you and miss you and I promise that at some point this summer, we will take a really wonderful (although probably short) little anniversary getaway. If you could only see some of these children! I want for God to prepare our hearts and our (new) home (wherever that may be) for the possibility of one of them. I will see you all very soon! I love you and miss you!
Jenny
No comments:
Post a Comment