We had plans to leave mid-March. We had some missionaries working with a nearby people group that heard about what we were doing and wanted us to train them. We had a conference to attend. We were flying back to the States for a visa run and I (Janna) was in a wedding. And finally we had a storying training in a nearby country after we left the States. We were looking forward to the break. As we were leaving, things began to turn bad. A's dad began coming over daily demanding the house. I began locking him out and not answering the door when he appeared. His wife began coming over and telling us she didn't want us to leave but he couldn't live with her anymore either. She had 6 kids at home and he was always drunk. I understood her predicament but didn't know how to help. We had a home study worker fly in from Germany to conduct our home study for our adoption that we had just begun working on. We couldn't move now! This was our listed address. We tried to explain that but I'm not sure anyone understood.
We left the area with mixed emotions. We were connected well with the community and language had progressed so that I felt comfortable. We made friends and were known. Just before we left, I was on my way to the store and three ladies I knew were walking the other way on their way to a birthday party. They invited me so I went and sat with 10 other women for 2 hours while they got drunker and drunker. It was not so bad. Better than the birthday parties with men being drunk at least. Once their inhibitions were down, they began confronting me on why I was really in the village. I began to see their true fears as they asked if I was part of a religious cult and was trying to change their children. The same fears, things they have been fed from Communism. I assured them over and over that we were not part of some religious cult, feeling guilty because according to them, Protestantism is a religious cult.
So, the day came for leaving. We said our good-byes. Assured everyone that we would be back June 1st, handed over the house keys to A with assurances that no one but her, her husband, S and her husband were ever going to sleep there, packed up what we wanted, put the cat in the car and drove off into the sunset...
I had a sneaking suspicion that things would not be the same when I returned. Boy, was that an understatement.
