The Most Unexpected Reunion

The past few weeks Jeremy and I have been delighted, no... ecstatic, to tell and re-tell this story to our friends and family. Some close friends have been with us almost each time we've shared it, and they are sweet enough to make us feel like they are not just enduring it, but actually enjoy hearing it one more time.

Recently, so many parts of our world collided in the most extraordinary, unexpected, amazing way and I've procrastinated in writing it down because I don't think I can do it justice.

The excitement we feel is the same excitement you may feel when you've opened a long-awaited gift. 

The encouragement we feel is kind of like that feeling you may have when your kids give you hugs, or your boss recognizes your hard work, or your parents tell you how proud they are of you.

So here's what happened...

On a normal Tuesday work day, Jeremy and I both got totally random messages from a stranger who says,

Hi there! Sorry for the totally random message from a stranger. I am at Pinecove in Tyler with a new friend named John. John was an orphan in an orphanage in Rwanda as a child, he said that he had a couple from Texas named Jeremy and Vanessa with a son named Wesley who came to spend time with him when he was an Orphan and he wanted to try and find them.

I am curious - is that you and your husband? Sorry if not!

This stranger was not the only curious one now! What did John look like? What orphanage was he from? What camp was going on at Pine Cove?

I asked him if he could send a pic of John and when he did, he mentioned John was blind and he had lived at the Noel Orphanage.

AWE of God drifted over me and settled inside softly.

John at Pine Cove

Jeremy and I knew exactly who John was. We had spent 2 days at Noel Orphanage on our first trip to Rwanda in 2010. I started this blog a month before that trip and posted about each day--this post includes Jeremy's thoughts about visiting Noel and a letter from another John at Noel.

Our time at Noel was so brief, but made a huge impact on us. We walked around the grounds of Noel with John and many others, but John spoke more English so it was easier to talk. He sang and taught Jeremy some songs in Kenyarwanda and they sung some American worship songs too. He had a beautiful voice. And he hardly left our side the entire time we were there.

John is on Jeremy's right shoulder

First trip in 2010

John and I in 2011 on our second trip

Fast forward to August 2022, John was at Rally Week at Pine Cove. Rally Week is an extra week of camp for ministries across Texas to bring their kids who would not otherwise have the opportunity to go. John met a guy named Wesley at camp (not our Wesley, although our Wesley had been there the week before!) and he asked him, "Are you the Wesley with Jeremy, Vanessa and Wesley from Texas?" He was not, but Kenneth (stranger who sent us the random message) listened to John explain why he asked. Kenneth began googling "Jeremy, Vanessa, Wesley, orphan, Rwanda" and he quickly found us and got in touch. He wanted to make sure it was us before telling John.

Meanwhile, Kenneth told the whole story to his co-worker, Autumn, and Autumn was like, "I know them!" 

WHAAAAAT???

Autumn is one of Katerin's BEST FRIENDS from college--they affectionately call their circle of 6 friends "The Gaggle." This photo was taken of Katerin and Autumn the weekend after Autumn met John at Pine Cove (One friend in the gaggle got married). 

Back at camp, Kenneth saw that John had left his water bottle at the lunch table so he took it to him. He had the confirmation he needed to tell John the news.

He told John he found his water bottle but that's not all....

he had found Jeremy, Vanessa and Wesley from Texas!

We got to Facetime with John at the end of the week and we soon made plans to meet in person. John shared how he would ask people he met at times if they knew us. He'd come to the States in 2014 and even to Texas and he would sometimes get frustrated and ask God, "Why can't I find them...I have come all the way from Rwanda to Texas!"

Now he lives an hour away!

Wesley stopped by to see John on his way back to school

Meeting John face to face again!

We can't get over all of the things! Our trips to Rwanda making it clear we would adopt older kids. Rwanda adoptions closing and God leading us to our kids in Colombia. Our daughter from Colombia going to UMHB where she met Autumn. Autumn working with a non-profit that goes to Pine Cove the same week John is there. John remembering our names and asking about us.

John has quite a story! God is so sweet to allow this reunion to take place on this side of Heaven. And how He brought it about just amazes us!