An emotional reunion

Finally I got to see my beautiful children, after 8 months of thinking about them and longing to be with them every single day. The reunion was awesome. I just rocked up out of the blue, walked along to where they were all playing together and just casually said “hi guys”. They looked up and said “hi” back and then looked away. They then did a double take saw that it was me and all came running up to me screaming “Auntie Lindsay”. Is was just so awesome. They were hugging me and telling me how much they had missed me and how happy they were to see me. For the first time in a long while I felt completely relaxed and insanely happy. I was home, I was with my kids. After that reunion I had many more with the younger children and all the mom’s. Each time I went into a house and saw the kids they recognized me straight away and came running. I would then move onto the next house with all the kids in tow until I finally reached the last house with more than 30 kids by my side. It was such an emotional reunion and I managed to hold it together until the very last house. When I left South Africa in March I left a little boy dying in the local hospital. He had multiple infections, we thought he was in final stage AIDS and would die. When I said goodbye to him I really though that was it. I was even praying that God would have mercy and take that little child to be with him in heaven. But he survived, he is now happy and relatively healthy. So for me to see him again was just so amazing I just burst into tears. My little boy is still here, my little boy is happy, my little boy is no longer in pain. God did have mercy on that little boy, He did heal Him. He is a walking, living miracle. Yesterday I had the immense pleasure of giving him a little motorbike. He was grinning from ear to ear when I told him it was his.

I still can’t get over how much some of the children have changed. More than 3 of the toddlers who were just starting to crawl when I left are now running about laughing and chatting away. The older toddlers are speaking very nicely. I can sit with them and have a proper conversation. The school kids have matured and the shy ones are starting to come out of their shells. When I walk into devotions in the morning the kids all come running up to me wanting to grab my hand. This morning I could hardly move there were so many of them around me. I sit with at least 3 children on my lap and countless others either side of me and in front of me. The feeling of love is awesome, I never want it to end. I couldn’t possibly describe how much I love each and every child. I love them as if they were my own and I will never stop loving them. Being back with them shows them that I haven’t forgotten about them. When I left in March I told them all that I would think about them and pray for them everyday and that someday I would return to see them. I don’t think they 100% believed that until I arrived on Saturday. Now they know that I will never forget about them and that I do think about them everyday. These kids have endured such hardships in their small lives before coming to Rehoboth. False promises have made it difficult for them to trust people. I have always said to the children that I will never break a promise, I haven’t yet and never will. Most of you know that I have been sending out birthday presents to all the kids while I’ve been home. It has cost me a small fortune but I’ve seen the rewards. I always send a card with a picture of me and the child along with a present so that they will always be reminded of what I look like. The cards I send are up on the pin boards in all the houses. It was so touching going round the houses and seeing the pictures up there. Now I know that while they are sitting eating dinner they can look at the picture of me and know that I love them with all my heart and that even though I am far away they’ll always be in my heart. I will never forget them, they are my children and I am so unbelievably privileged to be a part of their lives.
It’s been so great seeing all my friends again too. Had a huge emotional reunion with an amazing friend called Reece at church on Sunday morning. She is such an awesome friend, I’ve missed her so much. We ran into each other’s arms and hugged for ages. I didn’t want to let her go. But I did as we had to continue with the service. Then near the end of the service while we singing the benediction Reece’s son appeared out of no where, wrapped his arms around my leg, gave me a huge hug and ran off again. It was so lovely. Then last night I met up with about 15 more friends and had dinner with them. We sat and chatted all evening just like old times. Most of the guys are in a band together so they were practicing in the background. They are all such amazing musicians and make truly inspiring music, was such a privilege to sit and listen to them. Hoping to have many more evenings like that before I leave.
I’ve quickly got back into the swing of things here, I’ve been working in the crèche playing with the toddlers and pre school kids, whilst giving the babies lots of hugs (such a hardship!). I’ve also had the pleasure of taking some of the kids out shopping for new clothes. Yesterday I took one of the new little girls who has probably never had clothes bought for her in her life. Everything she chose was so pretty and girly, most of it pink. The smile on her face got bigger and bigger as our time together went on. She was in absolute bliss. It was so lovely to see. Today I took one of the maid’s (Busi) children out shopping for school clothes. I decided a while ago that I would pay for her to go to the same school that the Rehoboth children go to. I knew that Busi could never afford to send her to school and knowing what that family has been through in the last few years I just knew that this beautiful little girl needed someone to give her a chance to make something of her life. So we shopped for school clothes, a bag, shoes, pencil case, lunch box etc. Again she looked as though she was in absolute bliss! I showed her mum everything I had bought and she just broke down in tears. I could see in her eyes relief as well as joy knowing that her child now has a chance to really make something of her life and hopefully avoid going through what her mother has gone through. I must have only spent about 40 pounds on her, if that. Such a small amount of money that has made such a huge difference. Think we could all learn a little from the experience I had today.