wednesday, march 13, was our last day in ghana. we had a really quiet morning sleeping in, packing up, enjoying a leisurely breakfast at the hotel (baked beans or spaghetti bolognese for breakfast, anyone?!). our driver, samuel, came to pick us up about 11:45 am so we checked out of the hotel, paid the bill (thank you, God, for providing!), and packed all our goodies in the car. after such a busy time the day before, we decided to spend the afternoon at the bethany office on the far side of accra. the whole staff was already there, working hard, when we arrived. we also had the great pleasure of meeting four very special people: a little boy who was the first child adopted through bethany's adoption program (he was staying home from school that day so he could go with the country director to pick up his visa packet at the american embassy!! HOORAY!) and three interns from the US. we had already met one of the interns, riley, the day before...she spent the day with us learning about court, etc. the other two girls, kendra and becky, were lovely as well. it was such a treat for me (ashley) in particular because i did my internship in ghana back in 2001....talking with them was like looking back at my younger self. we were really excited to hear about what these girls are doing and learning and where they want to go in life after the graduate from college in may.
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| Music at the Bethany office |
ben pulled out his drum and had a jam session with solomon, the program manager...it was a very relaxed and enjoyable time to just hang out with people that shared the same vision and heart as us!
we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the super exciting things that bethany is doing in ghana. the department of social welfare asked bethany to come set up a program in ghana after they watched the success of their foster and adoption programs in ethiopia. so while bethany has yet to complete a successful intercountry adoption in ghana (the first little boy should be joining his forever family in the US within the next month or so!!!), they have already trained over 80 foster families. there are many stories of struggling mothers who can received aid from bethany so they can get back on their feet and provide for their children. we have said this many times, but adoption is not the solution to the orphan problem. it is the last resort! having a strong foster program in country is a powerful way to help birthfamilies stay together. we were both thrilled to see the work bethany is doing to improve life for children in ghana and are so very proud to have a small part in its success.
by the late afternoon, our tummies were rumbling and we were antsy to visit with solomon. samuel drove us back to the osu area for lunch (which took forever! restaurants are not fast in ghana. ever. i think that day felt particularly long because we were eager to spend as much time with solomon as we could before we left.). by the time we arrived at osu children's home, it was about 5:00pm. apparently, this is bath time for the babies in the nursery at osu. so we waited. a long time. as we mentioned, there are about 50 children under the age of 3 in the nursery at osu...and maybe 10-15 house mothers to care for them at a time. bath time, dinner time, bed time....it takes a long time. we waited outside the administrative building for about an hour and a half. it was difficult to be patient....knowing that solomon was officially, legally our son and yet being hindered in spending time with him...*whew* reminded us how helpless we still were in our roles as mommy and daddy. makes us ache to bring him home and actually have an impact on his precious little life.
when aunt nancy brought solomon out to see us, it was about 6:30pm and he was obviously ready for bed - all clean and cuddly. we were only able to spend about 15 minutes with him...but they were precious. ben rocked him to sleep. we kissed his fingers and cheeks and whispered to him that we would not leave him an orphan...we would return. we would come back for him. in twi, you say "me kwaa ba"..."i will return." to have someone so small trustingly fall asleep in your arms and then place him in the arms of a stranger to care for is difficult to describe. we barely know solomon and yet we love him with all the might that we love our other two sons that we have known since before they were born. words fall short in describing the ache you feel when you watch your tiny child carried away from you - not knowing just what kind of life they will have for a few months so far away from you. but we have much to be thankful for. we know that the house mothers love our little man. you can tell that they know him as an individual. they care about his well being. these are the small comforts we have to rest in. ultimately, our greatest comfort comes from looking back at how God has guided our lives together and trusting His perfect plan for solomon's life.
our family is divided across the planet. we missed our older boys more than we realized! and yet, we both left part of ourselves back in ghana - with the little boy God brought into our life, with the people and culture we have come to love so much, with the bethany workers that have become dear dear friends to us. pray with us that this last period of waiting will pass quickly and glorify God in the fullest!
what's next?
the quick answer to our current situation is this: we have ghana's verbal permission to leave the country with solomon. we need the official written documents (adoption order, letter from the ministry of foreign affairs, and passport) to back that up. at the same time, we need the US' permission to enter the country with solomon. even though ghana has already conducted its own social enquiry into solomon's abandonment and orphan status, the US does its own investigation before issuing a visa. all told, it will be about 3 months before we can return to ghana and bring our boy home...that's if everything goes as fast as possible!! eeek! we can pray for any time frame we want, so we asking God to allow us to have everything in place to return in june. would you pray to that end with us???
great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
of His greatness there is no end!
-psalm 145:3
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