http://news.myjoyonline.com/news/201005/45858.asp

We can’t verify or deny anything that was actually said and done, except for what it says about us being told Seth was dead when he was actually still alive. Keep in mind that Ghanaian standards of journalism differ from those of the United States, so the word “allegedly” is not always used to discuss accusations not yet tried in a court of Ghanaian law.

As we’ve said before, we do want Kingsley to stop fighting this and own what he has done…confess and do his jail time and make restitution to all the families he has harmed, both in the United States and in Ghana.

Three families that adopted from the same orphanage we did, Luckyhill, went through a horrific experience this March in trying to take the final step to bring home their five children, collectively.  They were told at the U.S. Embassy that they could not be issued visas to bring those children to America, because the Social Welfare office in Ghana had found significant problems with the paperwork (e.g. birth certificates, adoption decrees, and so on).  No visas would be issued until those problems were solved.  Our friends thought they would be in Ghana for a week or two.  They were there for three weeks to one whole month.

When they returned to the United States, blessedly with their children, it began a difficult time for all of us associated with Luckyhill, and went far beyond paperwork problems.  We only have the right to speak concerning the problems that directly affected us, so out of respect for all of those connected to the orphanage, we will address only our particular situation as much as possible.

Our portion began as we were told that none of the families traveling there were ever taken to Seth’s gravesite.  There were two groups of adopting families that went there after Seth’s death, and neither one was ever taken there, despite multiple requests.  When one of the adopting moms mentioned offhandedly something regarding Seth’s passing, her child was horrified and said that Seth was not dead, that he would know if he were, but that he wasn’t.  Those three moms asked multiple children, in many ways and on many occasions, to tell them about the schoolwide memorial service that we were told happened with all 300 children at the orphanage and school.  Not one child could provide a single detail, not one of them had seen Seth leave in the taxi or even that he was ill.   We were never given the photos and video that Kingsley said that he took of that service, but he said that it was “wonderful”, with singing and dancing, and then a private burial service with Seth’s family.

We remembered Seth’s birthday on April 6th.  It was especially hard for Shannon, thinking of all that we had planned to do with our son.  Two days later, after some powerful, prayerful pleading by that adopting mom mentioned above, the other two families asked their children to tell them the truth about Seth, whatever the truth might be.   Independently of each other, the three children in those two families confirmed what we had begun to suspect:  that Seth was alive, that he was living with his birth family, and that those children had been told by the orphanage director that they were to lie about it and say he was dead.  Furthermore, when one of the adoptive moms was in Ghana in March and went to a nearby village to pay a visit to a church member, her adopted son saw Seth, who ran out to give him a hug.  Her son reminded Seth that he was not to be seen when any “obrunis” (white people) were present.  Unfortunately, the adoptive mom did not also see him at that time.

We have since received secondhand confirmation from a number of adults in the community that Seth has been back in that village since January, only a few minutes’ walk away from Luckyhill.  No one in that community even knew that we believed Seth to be dead, that we had mourned him deeply and even raised funds to build a library in his memory.  The collective reaction of all asked in that community was that they were appalled that we would be told such an awful lie.

This week, the orphanage was “raided” by police and the Social Welfare department in Ghana, to remove any children at the orphanage and bring them to safety.  (WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR THOSE PEOPLE IN SOCIAL WELFARE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA FOR STEPPING FORWARD TO HELP IN THE WAY THAT ALL OF US HERE WISH WE COULD HAVE BUT WERE POWERLESS TO DO.) Kingsley ran with his family but turned himself in two days later to the police.  He was in jail for a few hours and then posted bail.  We received a phone call from him the next day, trying to tell us that Seth’s birthmother had lied and said that Seth had died, but that Seth was actually alive.  Needless to say, Rob told him very directly that we knew for a fact that that was just another lie on his part, and rehearsed to him all of the ways that he had created and perpetuated the lie of Seth’s death all on his own (not the least of which being collecting money from us for a funeral and burial that never took place).

The question on everyone’s mind, including ours, is, “What does all of this mean?” Our best answer is “we don’t know, but time will tell.” We still do not know for certain why Seth is back with his birthmom – from everything we can determine, she genuinely did consent to the adoption.  Rob met with her on two different occasions, interviewed her, and all of her answers indicated that she knew Seth was coming to be a permanent part of our family and that she wanted him to make the best of that blessing.   She was seen (by someone not affiliated with Luckyhill) when she was at the court, ostensibly to give her consent on the paperwork we were given showing that she wanted us to adopt Seth.

It seems that it is Seth’s stepfather that wanted to revoke the completed adoption, perhaps because he became aware of the wrongs Kingsley was committing on many levels – including requiring that birth families pay Kingsley for documents, essentially having to pay to have their children adopted by American families.  We wonder if Seth’s birthmom or stepdad were asked to pay Kingsley, and they refused (if so, good for them!)  If that is the case, would they feel differently if they knew what happened on our side of things, that we were not part of the evils that were committed and were victims ourselves?  Maybe, maybe not.

We will wait with as much patience as God will grant us, to see what comes from Social Welfare’s investigation of the situation.  As we said from the very start of this process, we will be there for Seth in whatever way we are allowed – whether by some amazing turn of circumstances he comes to our home, or whether we are allowed to sponsor his education, or some other outcome, we love him and will help.  We would never take Seth away from his family if they did not consent wholeheartedly and knowingly, but he does not need to live in our home or carry our last name for us to give him our love.

The next question is “What about the library?” First and foremost, there will be no library built at the school Seth attended.  We would like to take the funds that were given so sacrificially by our friends, family, and even complete strangers, and partner with the Osu Children’s Library Fund – a well-established, non-profit organization that is already building beautiful, well-stocked, efficient libraries in Ghana.  However, we will do everything we can to make sure funds are returned to anyone who contributed that would prefer to have their money returned; please let us know as soon as possible if this applies to you and we will do whatever we can.

These are the facts as we have them at this point.  There is a spiritual component to everything we have experienced, and we will address those in a later post, but for now we wanted all those who supported us in love and prayer and well-wishes to know all that has transpired over the past month.

Until then, we want to say once again, although he has already heard it from us before:  Kingsley, you need to accept all of the consequences of your actions, spiritual and temporal.  You have asked for our forgiveness, but whether we do so is not your business, only God’s.  For your own repentance to be true and sincere, you must confess all that you have done to the proper authorities – civil and religious – and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord.  All of those whom you have hurt, including us, deserve to know that you have admitted to how you have wronged us.  No more lies, no more trying to blame anyone else.  Step forward and own the choices you have made.  That is where healing can begin for you.

To honor our Seth, who passed away on January 18th, and his love of books, we have started a special fund in his name. 100% of donations will go to building the Seth Quaye Watson Memorial Library at Luckyhill. More details are found on the Seth Quaye Watson Memorial Library page.

January 18th, 2010 marked the unexpected end of Seth’s earthly sojourn.  He went home to his Heavenly Father that evening after feeling chest pains and a severe headache. The orphanage director’s wife, Gloria Eshun, called for a taxi to take him to the hospital but he died en route.

Seth was healthy.  He was checked by a doctor from the U.S. in July 2009 and found to not have any heart problems.  Seth was energetic and got all the exercise a boy needs, even if he, like his brothers and sisters in the orphanage, did not get the steady flow of good nutrition a growing child requires. We were all working on that.

We are heartbroken, but we cry with hope, knowing that this is not the end. God had a plan for Seth and we had a part in that plan.  We saw its outlines, but did not see the end from the beginning as God sees all things.

We know Heavenly Father drew our attention to Seth.  When we started the adoption process, we felt that there was a sense of urgency about it.  We started in Haiti, but a series of circumstances that were anything but random led us to a tiny orphanage in an obscure village outside of Accra, Ghana that was working not with an adoption agency, but with a handful of volunteers and adoptive parents who were independently working out all the adoption details.

All we had was a 2-year-old picture of Seth that we found on a German humanitarian website.  We wanted to know more, but no one knew who he was, or where he was.  Every family that went over to meet their own children had the hardest time tracking him down – ever the “Elusive Seth”, as he came to be known for his penchant to play hide and seek.

Finally, he was found – and he was moved from foster care to live at Luckyhill.  In the nine or so months (Shannon’s “Ghanaian pregnancy”) that Seth was at Luckyhill, he had so much that he didn’t have a lot of before:  joy….love….laughter….attention….feeling noticed and known and special….the love of his Luckyhill family and ours here.  Father could have taken him directly home long ago – but He loves our Seth and wanted to give him a gift before it was his time to go.  Heavenly Father trusted us, the Eshuns, all the families adopting from Luckyhill, and his biological mom – to get it done, to deliver our love and our attention to this little boy, so that he could go Home without a doubt in his mind that he mattered. That he was loved, known, and wanted here, too.  God also trusted all of us to be able to say goodbye without being ripped to shreds by it.  That is our answer to “why us?”  As one Luckyhill mom said, “Promises kept.”

We are keeping our eyes wide open to the beauty that our Savior can bring from these ashes.  Our family is going to work with the Luckyhill.org Web site and support group to raise money for the Seth Quaye Watson Memorial Library to be built at or near the school that is part of the orphanage.  I’ve had a small 20×20 foot floor plan and architecture worked up since my visit there in October (libraries run in my family’s blood ) – but now we will tackle the fundraising and some heightened goals to see if we can’t expand the vision of what it could be.  In our memorial to Seth, we will ask our friends and loved ones, in lieu of flowers, to contribute to the library fund.  Our boy loved looking at books, and we hope it will also bring comfort to the children there to see his pictures in the library, smiling at them and enjoying a good read.

We live by faith in this world, which means much of our life is spent walking in twilight as we step forward hoping to set foot in bright sunlight.  Seth, once impossible to find among a small population of 200 students and orphans, stepped into the bright sunlight of our love and the even brighter heavenly light of God.  A child who once mattered to only a handful of individuals now matters not only to hundreds of his fellow orphans and students at Luckyhill, but also to other adoptive parents working with Luckyhill Foundation and, most of all, to a mother and father a quarter of a world away.

There are ways of finding comfort during a time like this.  Beyond the common stages of grief that are commonly discussed after the death of a loved one, there is a spiritual element to this kind of loss that carries us out of that darkness and back into the sunlight.  Jesus Christ made it possible, through His Atonement, for all of us to be resurrected–for our spirits to be reunited with our bodies eternally–and the blessings of the temple give families the knowledge that the bonds that we forge with one another on earth do not have to be severed once we are out of this life.  By finding faith in Christ, we become one with Him and by becoming one with Him, we inherit, along with Christ, all that the Father hath.

We believe the scriptures teach that any child who dies before the age of 8, the age of accountability, is already perfect and will be exempt from a final judgment that weighs his/her works against the law of the Gospel.  Seth, having died at age 6, is likewise exempt from such a judgment as the rest of us would incur.  He has the “Golden Ticket”, as it were, to enter directly into God’s rest along with all the other innocents, the Prophets, the Patriarchs and those of us who, through faith upon the merits of Christ, repentance, baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, temple ordinances, and enduring to the end, will also inherit the greatest of all glories…to be exalted to live eternally in God the Father’s presence.

Therefore, we simply cannot mourn for Seth.  We can only mourn his absence in this physical world.  While we would have liked nothing more than to shower him with hugs, kisses, wrestling on the rug, reading at bedtime, visiting the park, and showing him the wonderful things this world has to offer, where he has gone…and where we have hope of being…is something wonderful beyond words.  Grief and memorial is for the living to cope with missing that soul which is no longer seen, but is known to still exist.

One night during my two week stay in Ghana, Seth was having trouble settling down to go to sleep.  I knew Kingsley, the orphanage director who also happened to be a part of the lay clergy of the LDS congregation just down the street, had taken great pains to ensure Church attendance by as many Luckyhill children as possible, had taught them certain Sunday School songs.  I wanted to see if Seth knew one of our family favorites, “I Am a Child of God“.

As I began to sing it softly, Seth didn’t miss a beat and began singing it with me.  I held his hand and rubbed his head with the intent to calm him into a soothing sleep.

I Am a Child of God

I am a child of God,

And he has sent me here,

Has given me an earthly home

With parents kind and dear.

Chorus

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,

Help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do

To live with him someday.

I am a child of God,

And so my needs are great;

Help me to understand his words

Before it grows too late.

Chorus

I am a child of God.

Rich blessings are in store;

If I but learn to do his will

I’ll live with him once more.

Chorus

I am a child of God.

His promises are sure;

Celestial glory shall be mine

If I can but endure.

Chorus

And then Seth fell asleep.

Seth Quaye Watson - April 6, 2003 - January 18, 2010

Women working in factories cleaning goats’ wool for the production of cashmere say their health is suffering and they are poorly paid.

They labour in factories all across the western Afghan province of Herat to process the wool in an early stage of what goes on to become one of the world’s most expensive cloths.

Sima, 12, would rather be studying but she extracts goat fuzz – the fine undercoat hair needed for cashmere – from the shorn wool from 7 am until 4 pm for about 140 afghani (2.90 US dollars) a day.

“My parents are dead and my brother has gone to Iran to work. I am the only breadwinner for my four siblings now,” she said. The family live in a ruin that they do not own and Sima suffers abdominal pains and asthma, but she cannot afford to go to the doctor.

I was in Manhattan last week and happened to stroll along 5th Avenue during the high holy days of rabid consumerism known as “two weeks before Christmas“. I walked into a clothing store.  I can’t remember the name, but I’m sure my admission of that qualifies me as the flyover-state hick I’m proud to be. The store was lined wall-to-wall with…you guessed it…cashmere. And leather. And other textiles whose names and origins I probably will never know.  No prices on the items were to be found. If you have to ask, you’re too poor, so get your uncultured hiney out of here.

Next, I stopped by Tiffany’s to see how the other 1% live (you know, that 1% that controls 90% of the culture and about 50% of the world’s wealth).  I witnessed first-hand as a woman, handsomely attired in full mink jacket, asked a sales clerk of Indian provenance (one would expect more handsomely commissioned than his former Afghan neighbors to the west) the price of a rather sparkly tennis bracelet.

“Two-thousand dollars,” he said, trying to hide his hopefulness.

“Okay. I’ll buy it,” she said after 0.0000000000001 seconds of thought on the matter.

Two-thousand dollars would go a long way in a place like Africa where those diamonds were likely mined in great abundance, then quickly squirreled away in a DeBeers vault to artificially inflate the scarcity and rarity factor so that the price, also, would be artificially inflated to attract diamond-delighting dupes. (As an aside, Liberia is a chief source of diamonds coming to the U.S. from Africa.  Due to a civil war in Liberia leveraging Liberian diamonds as a means of funding an insurgency, many Luckyhill orphans come from families in the Liberian refugee camp in nearby Buduburam, Ghana.)

Hmm, I thought, let me do the math here. $90 feeds 10 kids per day at a typical Ghanaian orphanage for an entire month.  So, $2000 divided by $90 feeds  over 220 kids per day for an entire month. I wonder if her contemplation time would have lengthened had I been able to interrupt the purchase with that hypothetical proposal.

Next, I wandered over to another counter where a square piece, a little larger than a postage stamp, studded with six marquis diamonds arranged like a flower and dangling from a marquis embedded chain caught my eye.

“It’s actually a pendant,” the sales-lady, also of Indian origin, informed me. “It opens up like a locket.”

“I don’t have any money, ” I replied, “but I’m curious to know anyways. How much does something like this cost?”

“Forty-five thousand dollars.”

I nearly choked.

“Did you say forty-five with three zeros?”

She giggled a little, becoming more comfortable with the situation knowing from my admission and reaction that I was not bluffing about my non-existent purchasing power, and leaned toward me as if to share a secret. “I know, right?  Tremendously expensive.”

“I’ll say.  And the reason is probably that it’s a very rare piece.  How many are in existence?”

“About 10, I believe.”

We both shared a knowing smile and I thanked her for her time.

Wow.

$45,000 divided by $48 per month for an education for one child in Ghana.  That’s 937 children who could have an education if only one person…one very wealthy person…forgoes a sparkly-shiny Christmas.  For all ten of those pendants in current circulation, a month of education could be purchased for each of 9,370 children of Africa, or an education for 780 children for the whole year.

What would you trade for that which is most priceless of all and lasts even more eternally than the ever-loved diamond. What would you trade for a life full of potential and an educated mind?

The road to Nsoubri

Before we could go, though, there was a call from an adoption volunteer in the States to go over some difficulties with an adoption and then Kingsley had to discipline some school kids that had stolen some money.

When we arrived at the clinic, we got the kids’ examinations underway and then Kingsley and I made a side trip to the village where Seth was born to meet his birth mother and family. The village is northwest of Accra starting in Kasoa and is named Nsoubri (en-SOO-bree). We drove up to one of the many adobe huts and asked for Seth’s mother. (Well, Kingsley did the asking in the Ga language and I stood there playing the role of the clueless Obruni).

Seth's biological mother, Patience Quaye Serwa

It was awkward meeting her at first. Someone had to go and bring her from elsewhere and there were so many people that I didn’t realize at one point that she was sitting right in front of me and nursing a boy I later found out was one of two boys from Seth’s stepfather.

As much as I was able to piece things together from Kingsley’s interpretation of their dialogue, here is what I now know about Seth.

Q: What would you like us to know about Seth?
A: He is quiet. He doesn’t like carrying water on his head [like everyone else], even lighter things. They tried many times but he prefers carrying things with his hands. He can eat anything with no allergies [at least not in Ghana].

Patience Quaye and Seth's step-grandfather (I think)

Q: What is your name?
A: Patience Quaye Serwa. Because Seth’s biological father didn’t accept responsibility for the pregnancy, she gave Seth her maiden name.

Q: How old are you?
A: Thirty-five years old [some hesitation indicates that this is a guess].

Q: What is Seth’s father’s name?
A: Deferred by Kingsley to another time due to topic sensitivity.

Q: What are the names of Seth’s siblings, if any? Have any passed away?
A: Seth has only an older sister [likely a half-sister] who is 17 years old and is named Patience Quaye after her mom. Seth has two younger half-brothers by another man she is now with. Seth’s birth date is April 6, 2003.

Patience's smile and good humor mirrors Seth's

Q: Who are Seth’s grandparents?
A: Alaba Ekwam is his living maternal grandmother. Nii Armah Quaye, his maternal grandfather, died in 1987 (Source: Seth’s paternal step-grandfather)

Q: Any aunts and uncles?
A: Patience has 5 brothers and 5 sisters.

The rest of the visit was very pleasant with lots of laughter and friendly greetings to me. I took pictures of me with Seth’s mother, grandmother, and step-grandfather along with a bunch of others I cannot name because there wasn’t that much time.

Seth's somewhat older childhood playmate

I got some good, solitary photos of Patience as well as an older childhood friend to Seth, and also took some candid photos of Patience and a short video.

I had hoped to capture her talking to and about Seth, but she asked to defer it until tomorrow, when she might come to Luckyhill for paperwork, so she could think about what to say.

We said “until later” and Kingsley and I drove back to the clinic. They hadn’t done the appendicitis scan as requested, so I convinced the head doctor to permit it by telling him I was an “assistant” to Dr. Sean Curzon in the U.S. and was being his diagnostic eyes, ears, and hands (which was the truth, actually). The scan came back negative for appendicitis but instead indicated a bladder infection of some type. The prescription was amoxicilin of which, thanks to the inventory I had felt inspired to do and had with me, we already had a large supply in the Luckyhill infirmary. No extra money had to be paid for that prescription!

One more restaurant lunch with Seth and Dad

On the way back from the clinic, I had Kingsley drop Seth and I off at the restaurant so I could recharge my phone and have one more lunch with Seth. I’m going to miss him when I go home, but hopefully all will go smoothly with the adoption and he will be with us soon.

At Luckyhill again, Seth and I played for a while (until he got bored of me), then I went out to play soccer and handball with the older boys. We had banku for dinner, which is a sort of fermented cornmeal dough, Kingsley conked out on the couch, and I went to bed.

We got halfway through the lower grades but by noon I began to suffer heat exhaustion despite all the water I was drinking.  A short break turned into my own private ER with a fan blowing cool air on me and me guzzling water with German Gatorade powder mixed in. I took a nap or two to get my strength back.

When I woke up and went outside, I was asked to come to Kingsley’s office. A boy named Samuel Ado was very sick with headache and fever. I took him to the infirmary and found he had a temperature of 105.3° F!  Enoch, for the second day, had a fever also.  For Samuel, I got Tylenol and water into him. Patience and I regularly doused him with water for a couple of hours.

For Enoch, earlier in the day I had texted and talked on the phone with Dr. Curzon, a Stateside parent of a child adopted from Luckyhill, and Becky, a nurse in the States who is in the process of adopting.  They gave me info on how to examine and diagnose Enoch.  After following their instructions, indications pointed to appendicitis, but a radiology scan would be necessary to fully determine this.  Ugh. We made plans to take him to the clinic tonight or tomorrow morning.  Probably tomorrow morning by the looks of Kingsley’s schedule.

We finally got Samuel’s temperature down below 100 around 6pm.  His father had arrived to bring him home even though I recommended he stay here with the boy so we could keep him under observation and intervene if his fever spiked again.  Because of his father’s insistence to the contrary, I gave him instructions on how to care for this kind of fever, including the convulsions that might occur if it stayed too high for too long, and sent them home with enough Tylenol to get them through the night.

Then, Esther, the caregiver whose baby had fever and cough a couple of nights before, presented with 102° F fever.  Patience soaked her down and we gave her Tylenol enough to get her temperature below 100°.  Then Patience stayed in her bed with her to take care of her the rest of the night.  I don’t know what I would have done without this aptly named young woman to help me today.

Seth had another crying jag tonight. But I’m onto him now.  He does it mostly when he wants something and I tell him “no” or “wait until later”. Tonight I just told him “no” and my reasons (he wanted the flashlight but it was late and time for sleep). He finally laid down and went to sleep. Hurt me more than it hurt him to have to tell him no.

I talked on Kingsley’s phone to one of our Luckyhill friends in the U.S.  She and Kingsley have taken to calling me “Dr. Watson” because of all the impromptu doctoring I’ve been doing.  We discovered how remarkable it was that whenever I haven’t had the benefit of asking a question of Dr. Curzon or Becky about what to do, so much of the knowledge I’ve needed has come to me as direct, personal revelation from Heaven.  Things I never knew and were right have come into my mind right when they were necessary.

Brandt and Heather stayed until after morning exercises, then called a cab and set out plans with Kingsley.  I had morning “tea” of ovaltine and sweetbread with them and then loaded their bags into the taxi. Brandt will call me with info on which hotel he ends up in after tonight so I can make my reservation there on Friday.

I’m getting mixed feelings about leaving. I’m feeling much more integrated into life’s routines here in this “mini-mission”. It feels like the same range of feelings from my 2 years in Guatemala compressed into two weeks.

I was extra busy this morning with treating 9 year old student Isabella for a 102.4° fever.  I almost had to take her to the hospital were it not for Patience, 13 (who desires to become a nurse), who attended to her while I did other work.  By 1pm, Isabella went back to school with a much-reduced fever. Also soaking wet because we had to douse her dress in water to get her core temperature down in the heat of the day.

And it was hot today. I was out in the 10am-1pm time slot taking pictures and video of needy school kids and orphans for scholarship sponsorships we hope to promote.  Kingsley and I had each child write their name, age, year in school, and what they wanted to be in the future on 3×5 cards. Then, we called them out class by class, lined them up, gave them a whiteboard with their name on it, and took pictures and videos. There are lots of fun ways to make this happen for them and I can’t wait to get home and do it!

I was about to enter into heat exhaustion so I asked Kingsley to take me to the restaurant so I could get some cooler air, some big bottles of water, and a couple of Cokes to drink. (I know, Coke is a diuretic, but it’s the kind with real cane sugar…comfort beverage). While there, I sent text messages to Shannon, whom I miss dearly, and emailed updates to the Luckyhill group back home.  This has been a very productive trip because of the iPhone access, though I do not enjoy thinking of the voice roaming charges I’ve incurred thus far calling about medical issues and such. The ones for Seth to talk to his new family we had somewhat already budgeted for, though. Didn’t count on him wanting to talk to everyone every night. Lil’ stinker.

I bought some bread to eat and to give some to Gloria. She cheers up when Obrunis give her gifts.

Not much happened the remainder of the afternoon. After 7pm, all orphans and Kingsley’s family gathered in the living room for Family Home Evening. It was amazing the amount of respect and reverence even the little kids had. Games, scriptures, songs, and no arguing! (But, no treat at the end either…oh, well.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRhpqG9OqP4

I returned to the chapel to find church was 1/2 over and that Brandt and Heather had already made it there and gone off to the orphanage. Ah well.

After church, we went home and met them both. Brandt will be taking his daughter, Vida, home and Heather hopes that the embassy will grant the visa for Patience to finally come home as well.  We may or may not be on the same flight home depending on how everything goes for each of them.

I spent the afternoon visiting with them and playing with the kids. We all took naps, ate dinner and played and read more with the kids. I put Seth to bed around 9pm. It was a bit late, by standards at home at least, but it was fun watching him playing with the other kids.

It was also fun seeing how excited Patience and Vida were about their parents being there to finally take them home. I got a bit wistful for that time to come for Seth, though someone else will likely escort him.

Other good news: Ebenezer now has adoptive parents beginning the process to adopt him and another child named Joshua.  Ebenezer is a delightful young man, filled with the Spirit and lots of potential to be a great man.

I’ve been quite dehydrated. I found packets of German “Gatorade” electrolyte powder in the closet and in the infirmary to help replace what I’ve lost. Already starting to feel better.

Seth loves the “Memory” game I brought to the orphanage.  He and Kingsley’s children play it over and over again. Seth’s quite bright.