Thursday 7/23/2015

There were so many volunteers from the church that came to play with the kids today and donate snacks and toys. It was very encouraging to see them want to be involved. They said they were convicted because they did not even know there was an orphanage in Chenzhou, their own city, but Americans came and knew before them. They said they want to come every week to bring donations and play with the big kids.

Megan and I are both a little under the weather. Kissing and hugging on snotty babies and kids will do that to you. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. Everyone is exhausted. Kathy has been sick, and so has Julia. Pray for our team. Pray that we can finish out strong as we end our time here in Chenzhou until next time, and as we travel by train to Li Ming (6 hours) and then another 1.5 in car. I am excited to go to the orphanage in Li Ming, but none of us really know what to expect.. so I will write more about that later.

I got a little frustrated this morning.. My baby Emerson that I fell in love with two years ago was adopted, and I had heard she was adopted into Norway, the U.S. and now today France. Don’t get me wrong.  I am ecstatic she was adopted,but it is just frustrating that I have heard so many different things about where she went. They looked up her file and then came and told me. So now I am going to contact the French embassy to try and get contact with her new family. I have tons of pictures and videos that I want to make sure that they have.

Today we bought 4 washing machines for the orphanage! And tomorrow we will buy a lot of diapers to give them. The rest of the donations will have to wait until later so that we can decide the best things to get them.

Tonight we went to a bridge in Chenzhou, it lights up really pretty and there are shops and restaurants and huge groups of women doing dances. It was quite beautiful.

Tomorrow is our last day with the kids. We will spend time with the babies in the morning and then we will have a party with the big kids and the nannies. We will perform, they will probably perform, we eat cake and fruit and give the nannies their gifts. Then we will all fellowship together and eat dinner at the orphanage.

Pray for us and pray for the kids and nannies. Pray that they know they are loved. That they know we love them, and will miss them, and are sad to go. Pray that the seeds planted over the past few years and especially this trip will start to be watered, and will continue to grow. Pray for the kids health. Pray for the nannies sanity in taking care of so many kids. Pray that the kids that will go to host families over the next year find their forever families.

Wednesday 7/21/15 Pizza is GREAT!

Today I held the new baby. There was a baby that came in just a few days ago, and she's so tiny!

Today Helen one of the assistant directors and the nannies thanked me for getting the cleft babies surgeries.

I just thought they were talking about Emerson… but no, apparently since I left two years ago Smile Train has been going back very often and getting every single cleft baby surgery. I was brought to tears.. there are about 4 or 5 maybe more that are there right now.. and there were more a year ago that are not there now. They have been adopted.

Again… God is doing amazing things. I did not make that happen. God made it happen. I am just a tool he used to start something that will benefit all of the cleft babies that come in to the Chenzhou orphanage. I am singing his praises and rejoicing in the fact that he heard my prayers and that the organization has taking such initiative.

We took some of the big kids outside today. It was very very hot. Everyone was sweating like crazy, but they love playing games and singing songs, and blowing bubbles, and kicking the beach balls around.

I have been craving pizza, (like always) and we decided tonight we would travel by bus to pizza hut. I was so excited! Well we get there and its about an hour wait so we go to Walmart to pass the time. Then we get seated and tell Steve we want pepperoni pizza stuffed crust. Just as plain as can be. All of the fast food, McDonald's, KFC, pizza hut is not the same here as at home. So we all ordered and then pizzas start coming out. The first was a supreme pizza, the second as well, and then supremes just kept coming. I think they brought out about 5 pizzas that were supreme that we did not order. So Steve tries again. This takes about 15 minutes to reorder and it took about the same to order in the first place. Pizza hut was a huge ordeal. They just could not understand that we only wanted pepperoni pizzas, we didn’t want the shrimp and and all of the meat etc. We finally got the pizzas out there and we scarfed them down. Pizza is great. 

Tuesday 7/21/15

I think I finally found a name for the sweet little baby girl. "Emma" she just looked like an Emma.

After the morning with the babies we went back to the hotel and had our devotion and worship time with each other. This is such a refresher for the day, and it makes my day every day. Singing and worshiping to God is when I feel closest to him, so that is such a special time for me. We sang "oceans" again (we love that song) and I encourage everyone to go listen to it. It is an amazing song, and kind of a theme song for this trip.

Jenny got the kids watermelon today. As soon as we left the hotel it started pouring down rain. We had to stop in front of some stores to wait the rain out. We go to the orphanage and played and sang songs like head and shoulders, ABCs, itsy bitsy spider, London bridge etc. with about 12 kids who are capable of going to school/learning more than the others. (even that is only preschool level learning). While the other group had some kids in the sensory playroom. We put diapers on the kids (that normally wear split pants and sit on potty chairs the majority of the time) and let them roll around and explore in the sensory room, and then the kids who were learning English and the songs did crafts as well.

Today was a good day.

God is love.

I am amazed at how different this trip is than two years ago. I feel so much more relaxed and at home here. God is doing amazing things in the city of Chenzhou and I am so excited that he called me to be a part of it. Tonight we had dinner with the pastor of the church we have gone to, and another pastor of a sister church. Then we went to the church we had not been to before, for worship and fellowship. You could feel Gods love pouring out of these people. I felt him surrounding us, and it was incredible to listen to their worship and feel his holy presence.

The pastor preached about Love. About showing God's love by using our love. From 1 John 4:7-12. It was an amazing sermon, (that was translated by Jenny). And basically the theme for our time here. Its something that we have talked a lot about and tried to focus on. We then shared testimonies and they asked us a lot of questions about our churches at home, and how that all works and also our work with the orphanage. We encouraged them to go and love on the kids when we are gone, and asked if any would like to join us the rest of the week, because they asked us to show them how we care for the kids. There were quite a few people who jumped up! Ready and willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus and love on the precious children of their own city.

I believe that we have come so far here in Chenzhou, it took quite a few years to dig our base, but God is doing miraculous things, and it seems to be coming together. We have connected with the church, we have witnessed to people on the street, we have gained the trust of most of the nannies and the director seems willing to be open to us. So much ground has been gained, and I am ever grateful to our merciful God.

I don’t update my blog enough for how much I think about Chenzhou this precious city and country that have my heart. A part of my heart a part of me stays with them, I don’t forget when I go home. I hope that never goes away. I do not want the fire that is in within me to burn out when I go home. I do not want the desire to help and do more to ever diminish.

Pray for us as we pray and try to figure out the best things to buy and donate to the orphanage. We are buying two washers, but we are praying about what else they need, what would be best for the kids. 

Monday 7/20/15 - Let them see YOU in me.

Each day is a little easier. I am much more confident and less timid with the kids than two years ago on my first trip. Jesus loved the least and all I want to do is show these precious children there is hope, and love and a better life than in misery all the time from the pains of their disease. If we can distract them, even for a few hours or minutes a day, that is so much better than not going at all. Saying yes to God and his call for me to come was exactly what I needed to do. Not for me, none of this is for me or my benefit. It is for them, the children, and for the glory of God.

Something that really convicted me today, I saw on pinterest when I was up awake at 4 am this morning. "Remember to recognize the good things" it was something along those lines. And it rings so true especially for this trip, but also in my everyday life. Thinking so negatively all the time is not good, it is not healthy, remembering to recognize the good things amidst all of the bad and the hurt is something that is so important. Finding that little bit of Hope in a dark, scary situation is what will get you through and make you a stronger person in the end.

We played with the babies in the morning and we tried to get all of the babies we could in the playroom and out of their cribs/ bumbo seats. Some of them have no muscle tone and can barely hold their heads up when they should be walking. We are not physical therapists but we do the best we can to get them moving and building their strength. The babies are easier… they are mostly happier, and for the most part healthier. I love snuggling the kids against me and having them wrap their arms around me. They make me feel loved. They… these orphans who live in this place, with parents who abandoned or couldn’t take care of them, these children who have nothing, give everything with all that they have. They show me love.

My heart would be so hardened if I were in their shoes, I would be mad, and I feel I would not believe in love or give it out so freely to strangers. But they do.. time and time again.

In the afternoon after lunch, bible study/worship/ break time we went back to spend time with the older kids. This was the first day that was super hot, we have been blessed with great weather all week. About 90, but at least its not 100 degrees. We split into two groups, I was outside with the kids who can walk, first. We played with bubbles, beach balls, and chalk! They had a blast! And they ate suckers which they loved. Goofing off and playing with them in an open environment with fresh air was just what they needed. The kids were so much better behaved. Then I went inside where the kids had been doing crafts, stickers, coloring etc. and loved on the kids in there.

The smells can be overwhelming at times, and the kids are slobbery and snotty, and have rashes. But loving them is what I was called to do. I want them to feel so loved while we are here, just in case this is the only time that they feel it. They deserve so much more than what life has offered them thus far, and our job is to make it a little more bearable. To show them and the nannies love so that they may see God. Many question us why we are there, why we come and do this, and Jenny's response has been, because we have Jesus in our hearts, because he loves us, so we love them. Among many other words that are way better than my little synopsis.

For dinner we went to a barbeque place. And no it is not quite the same as barbequing at home. Steve took one person from each table up and told us what each thing was. There were raw meats, and vegetables, fruit, rice and noodles and various other things. Then we were to take our table through the line and tell everyone what each thing was. If you don’t know me well, I do not really eat meat in the U.S. so eating meat here in China is a rarity for me. But I did it, we cooked our meat and veggies on a pan in front of us and I even tried lamb. And again this was a great experience and fellowship with everyone in the group. If I havent said already.. I love our team. Everyone is so willing to jump right in and do what is necessary for the kids and I love it!

Sunday 7/19/15 (Part 2)

Half of the group went to church, so that Jenny (translator) could talk to the pastor and try to make connections there. The other half went straight to the orphanage. I went to the orphanage, and we saw a whole room of smaller babies we had not seen on Friday. They are all so precious, but for once it’s a lot of boys.. these boys all have some disability or something wrong with them. The girls do as well. There are not many if any kids in the orphanage at this time without some kind of disability. Their conditions break my heart, but I know that the nannies do the absolute best they can with so many kids to take care of day in and day out. We have made it a point to make sure the nannies know how much we appreciate them and the difficult task they do each and every day. We let them know they are loved.

I picked up this sweet little girl almost 6 months old in the new baby room, she had my heart from the beginning the way she looked up at me and smiled. I cant think of the right name for her yet. Its really difficult to see some of the kids I saw two years ago, and how their condition has worsened. But it is also so very encouraging to see how some of them have improved!

Jenny…

Jenny is the sweetest, most kind hearted person. She always finds a way to bring up Jesus to EVERY single person she comes in contact with on this trip. The nannies, the girl taking our group picture, literally every single person. I admire her tenacity and her love for the Lord so much.

We had bible study and worship during the break between times we go to the orphanage. Then we went back to the orphanage to be with the bigger kids for an hour. The kids were crazy, and some a tad destructive. But they were just so excited. It wasn’t enough time to take them outside so we just played with them inside and tried to keep them entertained.

For dinner we went to this place called hot pot. It is where you sit and there is a conveyer belt on front of you that has tons and tons of veggies, meats, breads, noodles, and a lot of things I did not recognize that you throw into your pot in front of you and cook. It was such a fun experience. On my last trip we ate all of our meals at the hotel, but this time, we are experiencing Chenzhou, the culture, the food, everything and its great. Everywhere we go people are taking our pictures, so I have no idea where they will end up but a lot of chinese people have us on their phones!

Travel and Day #1

Travel time from Nashville to Chenzhou was about 30 hours. The flight from Dallas to Hong Kong was 16. It has been rough, but anything is worth being able to see the kids and the nannies again.

I am so so happy to finally be here in the place that I have come to love. Time is quickly slipping away and I am trying to soak up as much as I can in the short time we have here.

The nannies remember us, and are so happy for us to be here. I am not sure if the kids remember or not but they were so excited when we walked through the doors.

Thanks

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported, donated and prayed over me for this trip. Your contributions have not gone unnoticed, and I greatly appreciate the love and generosity.

The team is great.

And so many of the healthy kids have been adopted!

But the kids that are still here, will most likely never leave, and that breaks my heart.

Seeing the kids put me in shock.. I was amazed at how much has changed, how many more kids are there, and how many have disabilities and problems.

It was overwhelming. But we jumped in there, what else could we do but love on these kids and show them that they are special, and loved.

Love.

Jesus is love.

Humans crave love, attention, affection, we need it for emotional stability and well being.

We are being Jesus to them, and showing them what love is.

To be able to hear the laugh of a child, who has no emotion and sits on a pot all day, is magical.

To see little Jessie who is an 8 year old in a 2 year olds body is unbelievable.

God is doing such great things.. He goes before us and we do not know his plans.

Learning to LET GO and let God is a tough thing for some of us "doers" but it is his plan that shall be done. not our own.

Saturday 7/18/15

Today we could not go to the orphanage so we had our devotion and worship time, ventured to KFC (no I did not eat any meat/chicken haha) and then we went sightseeing in Chenzhou to this mountain. It was beautiful, there were amazing historical buildings, gorgeous scenery, and A LOT of stairs. Not all of us went all the way up to the temple, but for those of us that did it took almost 2 hours. We were exhausted and decided to ride the cable car down the mountain. This was a tad bit scary, but also very beautiful.

After this long nature hike, we traveled by bus back to the hotel to clean up and meet the new director, assistant directors, and some of the nannies at a restaurant for dinner. We have two translators this year and it has been such a blessing! Jenny is the sweetest person, and the love she has for Jesus and serving others just radiates off of her. She always finds an opening to tell people about Jesus, and our love for him. The dinner was amazing, and we got to interact with the nannies and ask questions. We really got to know who they were as people. We encouraged, and praised them which they so humbly accepted. This was a great opportunity for us to show love to them, and to show them that we care for them, and appreciate all they do for the kids. I believe it was a success and a good stepping stone for them to continue to trust us. These nannies do so much for these kids, and they truly love them and want what is best for them. Especially after tonight talking with the nannies, I am truly amazed at all they do… how well they handle this difficult job, and also their personal lives and families. They are very strong women, and deserve every bit of recognition.

The days are long and exhausting, but it makes sleeping on this boards for a bed so much easier, we are too tired to care!

I cannot wait for the rest of the week, to see what God has in store.

Please continue to pray for guidance and peace as we go into the following days with the kids. Pray that we will not lose our way or lose Hope. Sometimes it is hard to stay positive because you see it all and do not know what to do about it. But staying positive and hopeful and happy and excited is what is going to get us through.