Spending the New Year Apart

It’s J here. Sorry we’ve been so bad at blogging lately. We left the orphanage in November and it’s been a busy few months. We’re trying hard to soak it all in and in the midst of it; we accidentally took a break from blogging.

Happy 2009! It’s crazy to think that just about 6 months ago we journeyed into this far off land. Some of you are thinking, “What? It’s just C!”, but as we’ve spent the holidays here, we’ve noticed even more so how different the cultures really are. For example, on Christmas Eve people take to the streets with silly string and spray whosoever’s in sight.

We have to spend the New Year apart as there’s just so much to do in so little time. P’s headed into minority villages 3-4hours from here and I’m staying here to help out some local orphanages. P will be doing medical work and seeing patients. Most of these patients are too poor or sick to travel into the cities to seek medical help so as a result he’ll be trekking to these villages. It’s also a great way to build lasting relationships with the village people. Please keep P in your thoughts as he travels and lives in remote villages. It’s been tremendously cold and we’re living in a province with no central heating. In addition, the roads are icy from the snow and sleet.

It’s quite funny but in many ways, I’ve been spoiled here. Never in the states have I spent so much time with P and the best part about it is we are doing something together that we enjoy, serving Dad. The trip has been a blessing to our marriage and allowed us to have so many happy, heartfelt moments together. We’re thankful that we can use our skills to further Dad’s work and He’s allowed us to learn so much on the way.

We’re excited to see what this New Year brings! See you soon everybody!

Update on Gracie and heart baby

On November 24th Gracie had heart surgery. The two ½ hour surgery was successful and she has recovered very quickly. She has recovered so quickly that she was released early from the hospital !

We get updates from the foster home about her progress. This is what Gracie's nanny wrote: Coming to us recently from another orphanage, Gracie is a beautiful little girl with big eyes, porcelin skin, and a sweet smile. She suffers from a congenital heart disease, but her surgery on November 24 went very well, and we're confident that she will fully recover. Gracie has done so well since coming to the foster home. She gained 1.2 kg in a little over a month, and she's learned to roll over and hold her head up since coming to the foster home. She sucks her fingers in a very cute way, and she loves being held. She always coos and gives such beautiful big smiles. We're thrilled to see the progress she's made in just a few weeks, and we can't wait to see what she accomplishes in the future!

We also got an update from a friend at our orphanage that the heart baby in the previous post will transferred from the government orphanage this month! Her new home has central heating and advanced medical facilities close by that can help.

Praise our dad for how he heals and works so quickly!

Naming Our First Child

What is in a name?

In some cultures, everything. To the ancient Jews a name wasn't just what someone called you but it signifies who you are. So we thought long and hard before naming our first boy a few weeks ago. So I know what you are thinking- are you expecting or did you adopt someone?!

Let me start from the beginning...

We had an amazing priviledge to join the foster home's formula project in which they provide health and growth evaluations to government orphanages around the country. For children who are not growing we brought baby formula(non melamine) and cereal which is too expensive for them to buy.
This cute little girl is one of several children we saw. She was blue from lack of oxygen due to a severe congential heart defect. Please keep her in your thoughts that she survives through the cold winter and gets the surgery she needs. Families in many villages usually don't have any central heating during the winter. The children are bundled up at all times in order to keep warm like the picture below.

In addition to the formula project, many orphans are transferred to the foster home we work at so that they can get much needed surgeries at our hospitals. Many orphanages don't have adequate surrounding medical facilities or finances to perform these surgeries. So during this trip we got to bring back a little boy for his surgery and be "mom and dad" for a day.

Like all "new parents" we took hundreds of pictures. Here are some of his first:

First balloon animal.

First fast food bite.

First plane ride.

In addition, our orphanage gave us the honor of giving him an english name. We named him Ethan, which in Hebrew means strong and firm, in hopes that our father will be his strength and firm foundation throughout his life.