GEDEON

I am now sitting at my home computer. It is so good to be home! It felt so good to take an ACTUAL WARM shower last night and to sleep in my own bed! The airplane trip was really long, but it was so worth it!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about the amazing day my dad and I spent with my brother Gedeon in Rwanda. When we arrived at the Compassion office, we waited around for him to arrive. (He had been traveling for 3 1/2 hours to come meet us!) When he arrived, my dad and I walked down the stairs to greet him. Now there were three men sitting on a bench at the bottom of the stairs, and I couldn't pick out which one was Gedeon. I was expecting him to be at least 6ft. tall; however, the boy that jumped up and ran to greet us was only like 2in. taller than ME! (I am only 5ft.2in.) When he ran to greet us, he gave both my dad and me huge bear hugs! Then we exchanged gifts. We gave him a soccer ball and a string backpack full of little goodies. He gave us a basket woven by his mother; it is beautiful! After talking for a few minutes, we all climbed into a car to drive to a hotel that had some grass so we could play soccer together. When we got into the car, Gedeon turned to me and told me he was so glad to see me (in English!). Then he shook my hand and never let go. So we held hands all the way to the hotel- so sweet.

 At the hotel, he and my dad played soccer; then we all sat on lawn chairs (well I was on a lawn ottoman) and talked. Gedeon shared about his life as we asked questions. Later he shared about the effect that the genocide had on his family. His family fled Rwanda during that time, so he was born in Uganda. After talking for probably more than an hour, we all "piled" into the car and drove to a restaurant for lunch. During lunch we showed him the pictures we brought of our family and all the letters that he had written to us in the past. He was so amazed that we had kept all of his letters!

After lunch, we took him to a store and bought him a Bible and some ice cream. He is almost 17 years old and he has never eaten ice cream before! When we gave him the ice cream, he didn't know what to do with it, so he stuck it in his backpack. While in the car on the way to the taxi lot, we finally told him it would melt if he didn't eat it. So he slowly opened it and tasted it. The first feedback he gave us concerning the ice cream was that it was really sweet. Then he turned to me and handed me the ice cream; he wanted me to taste it! I did (it was really sweet ice cream!), but I still laughed at the thought of how surprised he looked when he tasted it. When we arrived at the taxi lot, we had to say goodbye. It was one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had to say. We hugged over and over and shook hands over and over. None of us wanted to leave. Even as he walked away, towards the taxi, he kept turning around and waving to us. My dad and I did the same. We never wanted our time with Gedeon to end.

My dad and I arrived back in Entebbe that night with dazed looks on our faces. The time with Gedeon had gone by so fast that we couldn't believe we had actually met him. (We have been dreaming of this day for over 10 years!) I miss Gedeon so much, and I hope to visit him again - maybe next year when I'm in Uganda. (I'm already signed up to return to Uganda next year! But that will be in another letter....)

Well, I had to share a memory I am savoring and savoring.... Thank you all for praying for us! We were blown away by God's goodness and love.
Sincerely,
Jessica