Road to Rwanda---Ecuadorian Babies Memories

 

What a fun time and blessing this week.  I got an email from a name I did not know, but I opened it up. It said, “My name is ***, adopted from Ecuador and according to my papers, I was in Ann and Rick Marklunds care the first months of my life before I ended up in Norway. You fit the description of my foster parents.”  Although the name was different, I was certain as to which of our babies this is. 

During our first overseas missions assignment, from 1976 to 1980 in Quito, Ecuador, we had 13 foster babies.  Our house was empty and we wanted babies so very much.  One day walking down the street we saw an obviously expat lady with an Ecuadorian baby in her arms.  We stopped to admire the baby and talk.  Yes, the lady was a Swedish missionary  working with HCJB Radio Station in  Quito.  She had found an orphan baby that she wanted to facilitate sending to her friends in Sweden, but she did not have any way to care for the baby as the adoption process progressed.  I was raised with foster children and many babies so felt very comfortable to jump at the chance to take the baby home.  About 4 months later the baby was transported to Sweden and our house was empty again.  We started to actively search for babies that needed a home as they were being adopted.  (The mission agency we were with back in the 70’s did not let its missionaries adopt cross culturally or outside of their own racial background, so we could not adopt ourselves. The mission has since changed its policy.)  We ended up caring for 13 babies over a 3 year period.  We have had contact with 2 of the babies as adults, and now here is a third!  We had “Annalise” for the first 7 months of her life, and delivered her along with 3 other babies to Norway the summer of 1978.  She is a successful adult and states that she is just as excited to have found us, as we are to find her.  Many emails have gone back and forth, and she is friends with one of the other babies we carried to Norway over 40 years ago.  What a treat and God is so good to let us see, all these year’s later the fruit of those sleepless nights and joy of watching one of our babies develop.  Within 2 days of leaving Ecuador in June of 1980, we had our own baby Paul waiting for us in New Jersey.  We have adopted 4 babies of our own, but  have only had 2 other foster babies over the years.  It is in our family DNA to take in babies wherever we find them. I know that I do not have the stamina to do it now, but oh what sweet memories.