Days 38-40: From Morden to Fargo.

Sarah enjoys her last full day with the kids.

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As we travelled to Morden, we stopped at Winnipeg to have lunch at St. James Gospel Chapel. There was a stair lift that the boys were intrigued by and within minutes of our arrival was an alarm going off for someone tampering with it. The boys all scattered and acted like none of them were nearby the lift. The staff just laughed and easily fixed the problem.

The kids treated the few staff members present to some songs of worship before being fed noodles. Some of the kids wandered upstairs after and began to briefly play the church drum-set. I was surprised to see that Leah wanted a turn! This did not last too long, as we had to leave to make an important visit.

I normally try to hold off from namedropping people we see, as I don't want to give the impression that the people whose names I caught are more important than the ones I didn't. Harold and Marianne Reeve are exceptions to this rule, as our visit to them was very special. Despite both of them having major health struggles, they continue to be very generous donors to Rescue.

The visit to them was rather heartwarming. Harold and Marianne sat in their living room as the kids all introduced themselves and sang for them. The kids were very moved by the experience, as was I. Had the house been bigger, I would have suggested that the kids do one of the dances.

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When we arrived at Morden Alliance Church, the kids went off with some of the chaperones to the nearby Dairy Queen. At least that is what they told me, as I became increasingly suspicious of what they were actually doing during their lengthy absence. It turned out that they went to a nearby park where they played with fallen Autumn leaves. Someone even sent me a video to show this.

When the kids returned to the church, they were greeted by Marie, who had flown in from Regina where she was spending time with family. She was picked up at the Winnipeg airport by Sarah, and her return caused much excitement among the children. When they settled down, we went downstairs for supper, where Marie was treated to her third birthday celebration of the tour.

Moses had the nerve to call me a monkey, and then proceed to eat his cake face-first. The nerve of this kid, I tell ya.

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The performance at Morden Alliance Church took place during their Sunday service, in front of a full congregation. The girls used an upstairs room to change their clothes. When a little girl from the church wandered upstairs and saw the state of the room, she told Shelly "I hope they clean up when they leave." One bittersweet aspect of the performance was that it would be the last to feature Kapriel. As much as we tried, we were unable to get Kapriel's American visa, meaning he would stay behind in Canada with Sarah (more on that later).

After the performance finished, we were treated to a community turkey lunch. The kids were a little too eager for food which resulted in several attempts to cut in line. Once again, I am amazed at how quickly the kids have adapted to western cuisine. The boys who finished their food first then went to play with some of the church boys. Yusvae unsurprisingly couldn't play in a reserved manner, as he routinely kicked a soccer ball into the roof panels, which drew laughs from the local kids.

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Once we finished at the church, we took the kids to a playground in nearby Winkler. We were joined by two of my cousin's children and one of their friends, who did a good job of integrating with the kids. Their presence resulted in a more rowdy atmosphere, which made the kids go rather crazy at the playground. Blaine was even roped in to some of the playground antics, much to my amusement.

We then treated the kids to a movie theater experience, as we watched The Wild Robot. We took up an entire row of seats, with a few extra in the row behind. We made sure everyone had access to popcorn and drinks, which the theater staff graciously helped us out with. The kids greatly enjoyed the movie, which had just enough non-verbal storytelling for them to understand what was happening. I found it funny that the few others in the theater made more noise than the Cambodian kids.

Our day out was not yet finished! For supper, we took the kids to a McDonalds across from the theater, so that they could experience western fast-food. The whole thing felt silly as we crowded into the restaurant and ordered an excessive amount of cheeseburgers, fries and drinks. Afterwards, we took the kids back to Morden where we treated them to ice cream at a local Morden food stop. The full day had finally come to a close.

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The next morning saw us bid farewell to Robb, Kapriel and Sarah before leaving for the United States. Sarah was staying behind in Canada with Kapriel, where she would spoil him rotten for the next week, while Robb's time with us as the bus driver was at an end. We would be driven by Robb's friend, Mike, for the rest of the trip.

As expected, this was an emotional moment. It was very touching seeing the kids say goodbye to Robb and Sarah, and I was surprised to see the girls pull Kapriel into very tight hugs. Interestingly, Kapriel seems to be fine with the entire situation, as he comes across as completely non-bothered with being separated from the team for a week. While it is disappointing that he couldn't come to the United States, Kapriel's attitude shows that we shouldn't be sad but happy for him as he essentially gets a Canadian vacation with Sarah.

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Our next stop was the border crossing from Manitoba into North Dakota. We stressed the seriousness of the stop to the kids, telling them this was not a place to be silly. We stopped at a rest stop to eat lunch, but also to throw out food items that we could not bring across the border. Once we arrived at the border station, I quickly noticed the sign forbidding photography and phones within the building, making it impossible for me to provide media from the visit.

The border guards brought us up to the desk one at a time and had us look into a camera as they processed our passport and visas. Sokthon acted as translator for all of the children, who understood the seriousness of the task. The only scare we had was when Leah abruptly decided to go back on the bus to spit out her gum, which resulted in Sokthon quickly chasing after her and bringing her back, which the staff found more humorous than problematic. Once we were finished, one of the staff members gave everyone a candy-sucker.

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We drove to Fargo, where we would spend the evening at a hotel. When the tour was initially planned, a church in Fargo would host us, but they had to cancel due to unforeseen complications shortly before the tour began. The church paid for our hotel stay as compensation, which worked out fine seeing as we all felt like a night off was needed.

The pool at the hotel was rather small, but that did not stop the kids from going absolutely wild. The boys and girls both played rather rough with each other, meaning I was constantly watching to make sure things did not escalate. When Blaine introduced toys that spray water when pushed, things quickly became even more chaotic. I realized that the boys are more sensitive than I thought, as they were okay with spraying each other, but would become very agitated if I sprayed them. I can only assume this was due to some kind of posturing, as none wanted to look weak in front of the others.

We ended the night by ordering in Chinese food, which the hotel let us eat all together in the lobby. I was feeling rather spent, but some of the kids went back into the pool. Blaine thought it was a good idea to go in and tease them from the sides, which resulted in him getting sprayed by all the kids. His clothes were drenched as he left for our hotel room.

God bless & Jesus saves.