Sweet Reunions

I left Good Shepherd's Fold last year on August 2 and arrived exactly one year later, August 3rd. We drove up to the gate of GSF where kids were gathered to welcome me. I walked out of the van to give the kids hugs, greeting each child by name as I saw them. Their faces lit up, "She remembers my name!" To be honest, I surprised myself - how did I remember their names? I was thinking about that on the way to the orphanage.. What if I arrived and I couldn't remember any names? Or what if they didn't remember me? The fears all left as soon as I got there, heard the children exclaiming "Auntie Corinne!" and felt the Holy Spirit fill me with the memory of each child's name as I looked into their faces. Almost immediately somebody handed me Joseph, a little boy that I was especially fond of last summer. Last year he was two years old, so I thought there was no way he would remember me. But he did! He clung to me like a little koala bear. Time is such a weird thing. Even though it had been a year, I mostly felt like I never left - I was just coming back home.

I began looking for Mark, but he was nowhere to be found. His house mom had kept him back at the house. So, the kids took me by the hands to lead me to Mark. When we made it to his house, he ran up to me, jumped in my arms and just hugged me. Sweet little Mark! He didn't say much; he just kept saying "Auntie Corinne." After weeks of difficult goodbyes and leaving loved ones behind, I felt like God was blessing me with sweet reunions. I really was just coming back home. But where is home? Is it where your family is, where your heart is, or where God wants you to be? I'm not sure, but I felt home.

I spent the next day unpacking and settling into the house that I am sharing with Casia. What a relief to be fully unpacked after feeling in-transit for the past two and a half weeks. Now I really feel home.

But there are still hard times. It's hard being away from Daniel, my boyfriend, and having no clue when I am going to see him next. Unreliable internet makes communication tough, and sometimes I feel like he's just living his life and I'm living mine. It's hard. Being away from my family is also hard. We could probably email each other until our fingers fall off (and sometimes it feels like our fingers are actually going to fall off. If you someday find that my whole family has carpal tunnel syndrome, you'll know why). But emails can only say so much. 

I was having an especially hard day the other day when one of the kids brought little Joseph to my house (the same Joseph that I mentioned in the first paragraph). She said, "Joseph wanted to come see you." I asked, "How do you know?" (I had never heard Joseph speak). She said, "Because he kept saying 'Auntie Corinne'." Made my day! I invited Joseph in and we sat and read books for about thirty minutes. Again, God sent me a blessing to remind me why I'm here: God sent me here to love the children at Good Shepherd's Fold just as Jesus would.

The sponsorship work has been great. Because the previous sponsorship coordinator left in January, there's a substantial amount of catch-up work. My sister Carly has been helping create an updated version of the profiles of each child, and we put together a new sponsorship blog to bring about awareness of the sponsorship program. You are welcome to check it out at www.gsfsponsorship.blogspot.com ! To help spread awareness, it would be a great help if you would share the blog with your friends and family.

I appreciate all of your prayers and support through this first week and a half at Good Shepherd's Fold. I have some requests that I need you to help lift up to God with me.

1. Please pray that I would take comfort in the grace of God in the difficult times when I miss Daniel, family, and friends.
2. Pray that God would give me wisdom as I work through and grow the sponsorship program.
3. This week a team is coming to GSF to have a weekend conference/retreat for the older children and graduates of GSF. Please pray that God would speak into the lives of the children through the efforts of the team.
4. Many of the GSF children are on holiday this week (it's like a summer vacation from school), and have gone to their villages to spend time with their relatives. Many of them have never been back into the village since they arrived at GSF. Pray that God would protect these children during this vulnerable time.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers! I've included some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Beautiful sites! GSF is out in the country.

My first day with little Mark!

Joan and Jessica enjoying gifts from their sponsors

Me with Joseph. Look at his sweet face!!

This is how women carry their babies