The Power of Kinship

We're in Memphis right now visiting Goran's long lost biological family.

They are AMAZING. A HUGE extended kin network. They highly value family, education, hard work... Last night we met his father, one of his half sisters, his grandmother, one of his aunts and three of his cousins and a 2nd cousin. They are all gentle, loving, FUN people (we laughed together until we cried!) His father has an amazing sense of humor and is a warm, gentle, kind man who made us all feel at home instantly. There were so many tears shed at the first reunion. We were up late telling each other stories, and putting together the pieces of the puzzle we each respectively held, trying figure out together why Goran's mother took him away from all this when he was just four...

He and his father look so much alike. They showed us pictures of his father, his mother (whom we instantly recognized in the pictures) and Göran. Göran is the spitting image of his father (whom everybody calls "Junior" and "Uncle Daddy") when he was younger. They showed us an album of photos from his grandfather's funeral (just last January), and "Junior" is the spitting image of his father! Amazing!

What was even more uncanny was everything that Göran and his father have in common: their love of cooking and experimenting with exotic food dishes, and their love of gadgets and the latest in technology.

We're all going to church together later this morning (at a local Baptist church!) then we get together at his Aunt Dottie's house for more talk, stories, laughter and FOOD! We have been here less than 24 hours, and we feel like we've known them our whole lives. They said they never stopped looking for Goran and his sister; now they are just incredibly happy to have him back again.

One of his cousins down here is coming up to Minneapolis, because she is getting a degree at Capella University. She teaches English at a charter middle school down here. They have annual family reunions, so we anticipate coming down here again and again... What an amazing experience!

All of the pieces are gradually coming together. What has been lost has been found! What has been broken is being restored! We are so blessed!

More later!