"Gotcha!"

It was one cold and rainy night when Jackson arrived at our door. He came from Chitipa, a village in the far north, about a 4 hour drive from Mzuzu. Sadly, Jackson was rejected from birth. His mentally ill mother had been raped. She bit a nurse who was trying to help her breastfeed. She was simply not capable of parenting him. His grandmother was too old and poor to care for him. No other relatives were located who could care for him. So social welfare decided to entrust him to the care of our Crisis Nursery.                         

Jackson was cute and easy to love. He grew

Jackson at the nursery

 and developed into a normal healthy baby who won our hearts. An American couple visited the Nursery and also fell in love with him. They decided to adopt. We were delighted. What an opportunity for Jackson—life in the U.S. with a warm, loving and financially secure family. They had all the proper paperwork and hired a lawyer. Twice they made the 10 hour drive from Lilongwe to Chipita to meet with the local Social Welfare. But the adoption process dragged on. The Malawian system stalled. It turns out that some distant relative finally said NO to his adoption. The American family ended up returning to the states with empty arms. We were all crushed.

And then, “out of the blue”, a businessman from Lilongwe contacted us saying he was Jackson's “uncle.” He said he would be coming to visit Jackson. We waited but he never came. After several more broken promises to come for a visit, we gave up. We didn't know what to do. Discharging Jackson to the village in Chitipa would certainly lead to starvation. So as Jackson began to grow out of infancy and into a rambunctious toddler, we waited.

Jackson's new family

Two weeks ago Jackson's uncle actually arrived at the Nursery. He had pre-arranged that he would take Jackson home with him. I silently vowed “maybe”. We would see. I was prepared not to like this man who couldn’t seem to keep his word.

Uncle and Auntie arrived as promised, in their car. Never before had any relatives arrived in their own car. Then they took a picture of Jackson with their camera! Then they called other family members on their phone. Uncle was a retired business man. Auntie was a new, young wife, eager for the chance to have a child.

Follow up Visit

They asked what Jackson liked to eat (never asked by a family before). They wanted to know when he slept, and asked about anything else they might need to know. They were interested and involved. They actually played with him (another first).

We waved good bye as the new family drove off. Uncle called a few days later with a few more questions. Jackson’s new step-sister posted his picture on facebook!! Unbelievable!

And guess what.

This “uncle” (actually some sort of distant cousin thrice removed) was the one who refused the adoption in the first place. He was planning all along to take the child, we just didn't know it. Jackson now lives in Lilongwe with his new family, well taken care of and totally a Malawian citizen. Gotcha! God has surprised once us again.