Today at church we went to an international missions lunch. We heard from about 4 different ministries our church supports and were given ways to get involved.
My Favorite was meeting William from Rwanda. He brought his wife and 4 children here after the genocide... they survived. We talked with William and his daughter (now 29 years old) and they both spoke to the kids. William loved Benjamin's name (the Habimana part)! His smile was delightful. He got down on his knees and spoke to Benjamin in Kinyarwandan. Benjamin was nervous, his hands were moving the entire time and the look in his eyes gave it away as well... really very strange behavior for him. He shyly answered William's questions... all in English! He understood everything but would only answer in English. William gave us his contact information and wants to stay in touch. We are pleased to have a new friend. He runs Africa Leadership here locally.
I think I have mentioned that Benjamin will not talk about any of the kids from the orphanage (ones that I am certain he knows). He also will not discuss any pictures from the orphanage, either orphanage for that matter. May be related to why he was shy with William.
One more random but joyful moment for me this weekend...
Friday I was getting ready and Benjamin pulled out a 2 pack of face pads... the ones you put make-up on with. He asked me what they were and I told him. He said NO, what is this?... again. I told him the same answer and showed him how they work and he said NO again and said, "this is a song on the airplane" and held them up to his ear. He thought they were the headphone covers from the LONG airplane ride we had from Ethiopia to DC. He has NEVER verbalized anything from the past except from the last month or so (things from our home). I was pleasantly surprised. Small I know but huge to me:)
We celebrated Benjamin's birthday Saturday... will post a couple of pics on Tues, his actual birthday (what we will always call his birthday)!
My Favorite was meeting William from Rwanda. He brought his wife and 4 children here after the genocide... they survived. We talked with William and his daughter (now 29 years old) and they both spoke to the kids. William loved Benjamin's name (the Habimana part)! His smile was delightful. He got down on his knees and spoke to Benjamin in Kinyarwandan. Benjamin was nervous, his hands were moving the entire time and the look in his eyes gave it away as well... really very strange behavior for him. He shyly answered William's questions... all in English! He understood everything but would only answer in English. William gave us his contact information and wants to stay in touch. We are pleased to have a new friend. He runs Africa Leadership here locally.
I think I have mentioned that Benjamin will not talk about any of the kids from the orphanage (ones that I am certain he knows). He also will not discuss any pictures from the orphanage, either orphanage for that matter. May be related to why he was shy with William.
One more random but joyful moment for me this weekend...
Friday I was getting ready and Benjamin pulled out a 2 pack of face pads... the ones you put make-up on with. He asked me what they were and I told him. He said NO, what is this?... again. I told him the same answer and showed him how they work and he said NO again and said, "this is a song on the airplane" and held them up to his ear. He thought they were the headphone covers from the LONG airplane ride we had from Ethiopia to DC. He has NEVER verbalized anything from the past except from the last month or so (things from our home). I was pleasantly surprised. Small I know but huge to me:)
We celebrated Benjamin's birthday Saturday... will post a couple of pics on Tues, his actual birthday (what we will always call his birthday)!
2 comments:
thanks for sharing these details. lincoln won't acknowledge anything from rwanda (pictures of kids and places there) either.
H was the same way...any time any Ethiopian spoke to her in Amharic she would only answer in English and would act very nervous. A friend told me once that they are afraid the person is going to take them back to Africa...which I can understand. Their little minds just can't comprehend permanency when they have been through so much change.
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