The long awaited day...

We anxiously waited in the hotel lobby for his social worker to arrive.  After reviewing some paperwork we made our way to the small group home where Hin Hin has been living since December. 

Luke’s blog entry:  He was very shy but came more comfortable around us. First we built some legos then we went to a noodle soup restaurant(It is a favorite of Hin Hin’s). Then we visited Hin Hin’s kindergarten school and he was our tour guide of the area. I had fun taking pictures as I toured around. Then we took a double decker bus(we rode on the top,Hong Kong has a lot of double decker buses because of British influence) to Tuen Mun Hospital for a medical appointment. Then we took Hin Hin back to the family home. We headed back with Ms. Gloria to the hotel to review more, CLASSIFIED paperwork/ documents.  As we look forward to seeing Hin Hin today, we hope that this meeting will go as smooth as yesterday, Hin Hin is realizing the change and two days ago he had to say goodbye to his best friend previous foster home. Please pray that today will be even better as Hin Hin is showing his personality more and more.With Gratitude - Luke Schadewald

We were all a bit nervous as we rang the bell and waited to see Hin Hin in person for the first time.  Upon entering, he was shyly peeking out of his bedroom and then ran to hide in his bed.  His caregivers (called aunties) kindly showed us to his room so that we could talk with him and wait for him to warm up.  After some time, and a gift of legos to build from his social worker, he ventured out to the main room for us to build legos together. We enjoyed getting to interact more, and felt encouraged when he allowed us to help with the building and join in with his play.  The next item on the day’s agenda was lunch at one of Hin Hin favorite noodle restaurants.  As we waited for our food to arrive, Hin Hin reached over to check out James’s wedding ring.  For the next few minutes he played with the ring putting it on and off BaBas hand. It is one of James’s favorite special memories from the day. During lunch his social worker let us know that Hin Hin had been watching us use chop sticks and that we passed the “chop stick test” 😁 This was not an easy feat since we also ate chicken wings with them!  After lunch we ventured to where he had previously lived to explore the area and see his kindergarten school.  It was fun to follow him around as he recalled the different places and memories.  Hong Kong is quickly changing and growing and Hin Hin noticed it all “This is a new mural, building color, playground etc”.  A special moment was watching the boys interact and have fun taking pictures of each other.  We brought cameras for each boy to use to capture special places and moments of our adventure.  Speaking of adventure, as we were walking around Hin Hin said our group name was “team adventure”.  This made us smile as it truly represents our family.  We eventually took a small break at a playground he used to play at. Laura got to have a special moment pushing him on the swing and it was wonderful to hear his squeals of excitement and laughter as Laura tapped his feet as he swung closer. After some playing we needed to go to the hospital for a scheduled visit. It was a very crowded place and we were crammed in the elevator like what you see in Asian subway pics.  We then started our journey back to the group home in separate cabs.  Luke and James in one and Hin Hin, Laura and Ms. Gloria in the other. That’s right, most cabs only take 4 passengers so we put our faith in the Lord and hoped we would get there as James and Luke’s cab driver spoke no English. Although Luke and James left first the other cab made it back first.  Apparently the cab driver with Laura and Hin Hin had a dream of being a formula one driver 😁. When we returned to the group home we were met by other foster children’s excited giggles and hello’s. When leaving the group home one of the Aunties interpreted that the young girls were saying how beautiful Laura was. We are grateful that he is in a loving environment that cares deeply for him. We walked back to our hotel and found a fun Vietnamese restaurant for dinner.  Everyone fell asleep rather quickly after our full, but fun day. We are excited to see him again today and are reminded that this is a big adjustment for both our boys. Please pray that we continue to bond with Hin Hin and that Luke continues to feel secure in our love for him. God has been so faithful and good and we can only credit him with the peace we feel during this journey.