I’m not even sure yet how to put into words what happened today. Honestly I thought about not even posting yet but I know everyone wants to know how our meeting with Menqian’s foster family went so I guess I’ll just do my best and write more about it after I have a few days to process it all.
We rode the train from Nanning to Guilin this morning and saw a lot of China’s country side. Very poor rural areas. I’ll post more about that another day I’m sure.
But at 3pm we were to meet her foster family and some caregivers from Guilin orphanage. As we pulled into the orphanage Menqian saw her grandmother… she ran out of the car and hugged her. We immediately followed and took lots of pictures (208 photos and videos today to be exact). Then we went into the office of the orphanage and spoke with the director for a little while. The whole time people were coming in and out giving greetings to Menqian and we’d take photos…. One day soon she can tell us their names. Then we went with the director and our translator to the courtyard area and officially met the foster mom, dad, and grandma. Her China mom, dad, and nai nai…. She is obviously closest to her foster grandma (nai nai). We exchanged thank you’s about a million times, told them that they have done a wonderful job with Menqian. Her nai nai told us not to spoil her…. We promised to love and care for her and that she’d turn into a wonderful young woman. We exchanged gifts…. We gave them a handmade bowl set, with our contact info in the bag. They gave all our girls red envelopes with money and it had a note in it for Menqian along with their contact info.
They asked if we could have dinner with them so we ended up taking them, the orphanage director, a person with foster care, the foster uncle, brother, and nephew to a very fun dinner. Really words just can’t express at this point the gratefulness…. Almost Cinderalla(ish) way this has all worked out. They seem to genuinely love Menqian and have actually cared for her since she was very young because her China mom and China dad both work in the orphanage. They told us stories and personality traits about her. The foster grandmother and dad were moved to tears at several points.
We don’t think Menqian “really” understands what is happening even though they have all done a seemingly good job at explaining it even in our presence so please continue to pray for her. We are not sure when the actual realization that this is more than a see you later will hit but we need wisdom when it does.
Please pray for Grace and Faith too… they are both exhausted, ready for some rest, less business, etc. We will get some down time in Guangzhou but that is still 3 days away so please pray for supernatural, God given strength for us ALL. We really want to be able to enjoy our days in Menqian’s hometown. We love you all and covet your prayers.
We rode the train from Nanning to Guilin this morning and saw a lot of China’s country side. Very poor rural areas. I’ll post more about that another day I’m sure.
But at 3pm we were to meet her foster family and some caregivers from Guilin orphanage. As we pulled into the orphanage Menqian saw her grandmother… she ran out of the car and hugged her. We immediately followed and took lots of pictures (208 photos and videos today to be exact). Then we went into the office of the orphanage and spoke with the director for a little while. The whole time people were coming in and out giving greetings to Menqian and we’d take photos…. One day soon she can tell us their names. Then we went with the director and our translator to the courtyard area and officially met the foster mom, dad, and grandma. Her China mom, dad, and nai nai…. She is obviously closest to her foster grandma (nai nai). We exchanged thank you’s about a million times, told them that they have done a wonderful job with Menqian. Her nai nai told us not to spoil her…. We promised to love and care for her and that she’d turn into a wonderful young woman. We exchanged gifts…. We gave them a handmade bowl set, with our contact info in the bag. They gave all our girls red envelopes with money and it had a note in it for Menqian along with their contact info.
They asked if we could have dinner with them so we ended up taking them, the orphanage director, a person with foster care, the foster uncle, brother, and nephew to a very fun dinner. Really words just can’t express at this point the gratefulness…. Almost Cinderalla(ish) way this has all worked out. They seem to genuinely love Menqian and have actually cared for her since she was very young because her China mom and China dad both work in the orphanage. They told us stories and personality traits about her. The foster grandmother and dad were moved to tears at several points.
We don’t think Menqian “really” understands what is happening even though they have all done a seemingly good job at explaining it even in our presence so please continue to pray for her. We are not sure when the actual realization that this is more than a see you later will hit but we need wisdom when it does.
Please pray for Grace and Faith too… they are both exhausted, ready for some rest, less business, etc. We will get some down time in Guangzhou but that is still 3 days away so please pray for supernatural, God given strength for us ALL. We really want to be able to enjoy our days in Menqian’s hometown. We love you all and covet your prayers.
Please continue praying for them!
Charlotte
Charlotte
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