Where have we been? A Special Meeting, March 2, 2011

       So sorry it took so long for the next post. From Tuesday to Thursday we have been at a different hotel. In the process we lost our internet connection. We finally had to do an entire systems upgrade to figure it out. Greg had his first new daddy moment.  I stepped out of the room while he was trying to figure out the computer. When I walked back in, I found him slouched over with his head in his hands, asleep sitting up. Priceless!  So, while he was in bed sleeping MOMMY fixed the computer!!! Now we're in a different hotel and lots has happened in the past two days.

     Wednesday, March 2, we started the day with a very special meeting. We were able to meet Nathan's birth mother at a place called Morning Light. At 17, she found herself pregnant and in trouble. Her older sister brought her to Morning Light. It is a crisis center, 1 of three in Taiwan.  She had hid her pregnancy for 30 weeks, and knew her father and her family would disown her.  With nowhere to go, Morning Light home offered her refuge and care. She is now back in school and doing well. We wrote her a letter, brought her gifts and Deana Pan, an American missionary who runs the center helped facilitate the meeting.

     When she entered the room, we could do nothing but hug her and cry. (Taiwanese people don't typically hug, so I think we totally overwhelmed her.)  Nathan looks a lot like her.  She is from a tribe known as the Dao - pronounced Dow oo, and looked so young to us. We were able to ask her so many questions that will help us convey to Nathan just how much he is loved.   She knew she could not care for him, but we saw the love she has for him, and we tried to tell her that we will love him for her.

      She is a remarkable young woman. We have some similarities that seem beyond a coincidence. Her father is a farmer. She loves to play volleyball, and plays at school.  When we asked her if she liked animals, she said yes, DOGS!  She is more quiet than I am! Maybe it's because her older sister who was at our meeting often talked for her.
      They shared so much about their culture and their wishes for Nathan. They said his two cowlicks might mean he is going to be a little mischievious or devilish! Perhaps that's what's making him so hard to put down to sleep already. They also mentioned they'd like him to learn Chinese so that he can return home someday-which means I have A LOT of learning to do. We have said two phrases this entire time-Ni hao, and Xie, Xie- pronounced shay shay.

     How do you tell someone how much they've changed your life? I hope she knows. We were so grateful to have that time with her. She made a tough decision to have Nathan and put him up for adoption. In Taiwan, the birthrate is the lowest in the world- about 160, 000 per year. However, the abortion rate is 300,000-350,000 a year. Women can abort at up to 24 weeks. Morning Light home often receives calls from doctors asking them to speak to women about other options. Babies have been thrown out of windows.  Women have brought babies in they've had without going to the hospital. So far up to 60 babies have been born through the work of Morning Light, and our Nathan was one of them.

Morning Light Women's Home in Taitung, Taiwan

Deana Pan, a missionary and her husband Luke, a minister. Deana runs Morning Light and speaks excellent Chinese. She's a strong, determined woman working to bring change, one woman, one baby, one day at a time.