Day 7

It is our last morning to wake up with ant bites all over our legs and face. It is so bittersweet. We spent the morning at the children's home. The three children were supposed to go to the dr. at 11:15, but we forgot their passports so they had to reschedule. Saying goodbye was heartwrenching. The three kids from Oklahoma were glued to my lap everytime I came out there. They thought I was taking them with me, and I wish so much that I was. Joseph, the oldest was the first to start crying. his tears, made me cry. When we were walking out, tears running down my face, I looked back to see Elizabeth and Mawoline in tears as well. I went back to give them one last hug and tell them they would be with their new mommy and daddy soon. Mawoline said "I thought you were taking me home with you." This made me cry harder and I just held them. Joseph was in his class outside and he was also still crying. I managed to make it outside before I completely broke down. Karen and I had a crying and huggingfest because we did not want to leave our kids. We went back to the pastor's house,where I got my hair redone before leaving for home. It didn't take us long to pack up, we left a lot of stuff for the Liberians. Saying goodbye to the women and children was so hard. The women were running from all over the neighborhood to see us off. Laura, Wesley's wife cried when we left along with the 3 oldest girls. We told them that they finally got their rooms back and they should be excited, Priscilla replied, "I would give it up if you all would stay." Talk about sacrificial love. These kids were sleeping on the floor, outside, anywhere they could find a place to sleep because we had taken over their rooms, yet they didn't want us to leave. Monica, my little friend would not let go of my hand. She got in the van with me and I had to get Ellen, her mother to pry her off of me. When we finally got away, everyone was very sad. We passed by where our monkey friend lived, and he was not outside, so Randy yelled, bye monkey. In response we see him go to the bathroom. It was his farewell to the white people who picked on him all week. Most of us slept on the trek to the airport, including Pastor Wesley. We got to the airport and it was crazy busy. We checked in, then went through the health line, then through customs, then they hand checked our bags. In the process of going through bags, they asked if we had an extra bible. I gave mine to them. I asked the man I gave it to if he was a believer and he said yes, the Lord is my personal Lord and savior. It was really cool to see that he believed without even a bible. I got the seat to myself to Dakar, then the plane was completely full. We arrived in Brussels at about 5am and went to the hotel to check in.