Homes of Love

We:

• stood in awe as 10 bikes took off with 17 children headed to the ice cream shop.
• delighted in the smiles as they ordered ice cream of their choice at the ice cream shop.
• listened in amazement as one of the older boys told us the call on his life to take good news back to his village and is recent efforts at the tender age of 16 to start that process.
• watched the hotel pool fill up with 20 little boys, throwing balls, chicken fights, little tiny ones fearlessly trying to get from one side to the other (not quite staying a float!)
• eating on the street with all 20 of them as they gobbled up lots of local style pancakes….not at all resembling ours.  They had 40 plates of them!  No wonder our food bill is going up.
• Ate all kinds of food we should not have eaten in the homes, on the street, on the side of the road and realized that there way nothing we could do about it but smile, pray and try to get it down….my big one was crab intestines and eggs for lunch today. I was given a double helping of them in my bowl.

We are really tired and only 1/2 way through. We have 2 more pretty tight days on Saturday and Sunday. Then a day to take a breath.  Please pray we hav the energy to engage well with the staff and children.  We have heard so many dear stories and also see some new challenges as we travel along.

Thanks!

Had an interesting start to the trip.  As Chicago got smaller and smaller from the view of our airline seats… a waterfall appeared on top of us, over us and around us. This is not the first time this has happened to us but it was the most eventful.  Shortly after takeoff the gentleman behind my seat started to say sometime rather loud.  At that same time I thought they were spraying me with some sort of water / bug mist. The mist lasted for about a minuted and then the water fall started.  The captain was asking us all to sit down, the cabin crew was looking for towels, blankets and anything to stop the leaking from above and people were jumping up from wet seats or trying to hold things up that would contain or absorb the water.  Condensation from the AC had backed up and water was pouring out any place it could and also was puddling in the over head compartments.  Eventually it froze up, but many of us were a bit wet and had tired arms from holding blankets, pillows and anything else we could find that would hold water.

Got to our destination and all went well.

The first day was busy with many friends here.

• ice cream with a former street child,
• rush hour drive in crazy traffic,
• teaching some English and children teaching us theirs,
• listening to the children convey their desires, dreams, struggles and hearts
• getting back to the hotel and remembering all the things “we do not do” that we had hoped to do at their home
• switching hotel rooms at 10:00 PM at night due to honking horns and traffic (we gave up the view for a good nights sleep) Packing up that room and moving into another one.
• And speaking of sleep…heading their right now.

Tomorrow more adventure.  A drive down the Mekong to check things out there and possibly meet some special children. Adventures with the Father are never dull and twice as fun with the one I love!

SO much happening on the home front….our son-in-law leaving Saturday for a 9 month deployment, his wife (our oldest daughter) getting ready to have a baby girl without him, multiple high school soccer games to enjoy every week, our oldest son’s birthday, my parents anniversary, a good friend grieves the loss of her sister.  Life is full, but for 2 weeks Gary and I will step out of it and walk into another world.  We are sad to miss sharing in these things at home and VERY excited to see all those we love on the other side of the world.

Getting ready…chaos, lists everywhere, not enough hours in a day but Saturday, August 28th is coming soon. We will be ready! 8:00 AM Saturday we will board our 28 hour flight. Settle in to our seats….watch a few (too many) movies, enjoy that wonderful airline food, and sleep! Yes, thanks to Ambienne…we sleep.

SO thankful for HOL staff, friends and family, and our Father who helps us get there!

Please come journey with us theses next 2 weeks as we see, smell, touch and embrace all the Lord has for us.

Appreciate your prayers!

Gary and Debbie, Ready to go.....Almost!

I just received some photos of Tuong, the trip home and her home coming that I thought you would enjoy.

Thanking God that Tuong is home

HOL sisters

HOL sisters looking at Tuong's book of photos

Ruth Hicks put together a photo book for Tuong that will help her remember and tell about her American Journey. You can see the book in several photos. I am sure she has kept her Home of Love family entertained with all her tales. Enjoy the photos and a glimpse into her world at home.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support. I know that there are many things in this world to take to the Lord in prayer and we sure do appreciate every prayer that you all have lifted up for this little girl.

Tuong on airplane home

Quick update:

We just received the first information about her “homecoming.”

It was not exactly smooth. From what we can see, she is going to have it rough for a little bit emotionally.

She was not easy on the flights home…asserting her will quite often.

When Tuong arrived at the HOL home she announced that she did not want to go to school anymore. She probably realized how much she has forgotten…even her mother tongue. They could not understand her Vietnamese very well.

Her birth mom told Tuong that she would be at the HOL home by 12:00 the day they arrived. She had not showed up the next day by 4:00 PM. Tuong had a gift for her mom that she was very excited to give to her. She also told the staff upon her arrival that she was going to live with her dad and mom….and we are not sure where she got that one. We are hoping that the mom had not made some empty promises. The staff was very gently loving Tuong trying to help her with all that she was going through.

The HOL staff was initially overwhelmed at the medicines and her care. The nurse/escort kept working with them and encouraging them. By the time she left, everyone seemed calm and to understand well what was needed.  Tuong seemed to be a bit more at peace also.

The tutor in the boys home is going to keep tutoring her English and the older girls in the home were already talking English with her.

Tuong in Hong Kong

Please continue to pray for Tuong. These next few weeks will probably not be easy for her and the HOL mom and staff who take care of her.

Quick update:

Tuong says goodbye

Thank you for all your prayers.  Her fever broke yesterday….and she perked up. It really was a miracle!  Tuong had a full day yesterday of a unexpected doctor visit to see what was going on, last shopping trip to Target, going to eat at the Cow (Chick-filet) and even learning to ride a bike for the first time! I have added some more photos on the website.  There are some sweet ones.

Tuong is supposed to leave tomorrow at 7:30 AM to go back home.  Her escort in the air right now from Philly to Knoxville.

And Tuong woke up this AM with a high fever! She has been well the whole time until today. They think that she has been around so many people in the last few days that there is a chance she has picked something up.

Ruth is taking her in to the doctor (Stacy Hicks) right now so they can see if find out what is wrong.

Her medical visa to the US expires in little over a week. And they have the scanners in the Asian airports to look for fevers (swine flu) as you go through gates and quarantine them.  Her escort just called me a few days ago concerned that they were pulling a lot of people out of line.

Please pray hard today that God would heal her very quickly or show us what He is up to and what to do.

Thanks and we will keep you posted.

Just a reminder to please RSVP if you plan to come to the
“Tuong Send Off”

Date: Sunday, August 30
Time: 12:45
Where: Fellowship Church, in the 600 wing near the kitchen
RSVP by Thursday: hol@homesoflove.org or (865) 660-4048

Lunch will be served- $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for children, max $30.00 per family.

Hope to see you there!