It may be cold in Fuyang, but David is staying warm! David also warms up those around him with his bright smile and happy disposition. Over the last few months, he has made incredible progress in school. His teachers say that he has made great strides with his language skills and is ready to tackle reading and writing. Read more.
Sweet Josie’s very large ventricular septal defect (VSD) heart defect needs to be repaired fairly soon. At just five months old, her life is just beginning, and she has such a bright future after her heart is repaired. One day we may read about her winning the lead role in a major ballet production or finding a cure for cancer. Or perhaps Josie will choose to be a teacher or engineer. While we do not know what desires are in her little heart, our desire for her is that she will have a healthy heart, find her forever family, and have the opportunity to pursue her dreams. Read more.
Song is a boy who will remain imprinted in the memories of many of LWB volunteers and supporters. He was first featured on our blog in “Song’s Story,” and again in “Singing for Song.” Song had a difficult beginning in life and lost both eyes due to retinal blastoma, but we just knew in our hearts that the perfect family was waiting for this extremely bright and resilient boy. Happily, Song was adopted nearly two months ago by a wonderful family and is now known as Joshua. Joshua’s parents recently shared his incredible adoption story. Read more.
Facebook has been a very effective way for Love Without Boundaries to share news about our programs and also to raise money to help the children in our programs. With the upcoming implementation of Facebook’s Timeline comes another way for supporters on Facebook to help share LWB’s mission. Read more.
There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still. ~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt
With the help of his foster grandpa, John has mastered the art of going forward. John formed an immediate connection with his foster grandpa when he joined our Fuyang foster care program at age five. At the time, little John was recovering from spinal surgery and had experienced quite a bit of trauma (see his previous blog, “The Land of Counterpane…and Beyond”). Learning to walk again required braces on his legs, which he still wears and may wear forever. Together John and his grandpa navigated through his recovery and continue to improve his mobility, not letting obstacles like big shoes or uncomfortable leg braces hold them back. Read more.
Christopher is the youngest resident at our Henan Healing Home. He was born in late November with a cleft lip and palate. Christopher developed pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital from his orphanage in Luohe. After a one week stay in the hospital, he came to our healing home in Kaifeng to receive some intensive one-on-one love and care from our loving nannies. Christopher weighed just over six pounds when he arrived just before the Lunar New Year, so we know that he has to gain significant weight and strength in order to be ready for his surgery.
Sweet Carly is a lovely five-year-old girl in the Believe in Me Jingzhou School. You may remember her from her introduction in March 2010 in the blog post “A Day in the Life at Believe in Me Jingzhou,” when Carly was the newest student in school. This precious young girl has cerebal palsy, but she doesn’t let that slow her down! She loves spending her days in school, where she plays with many fun, tactile educational tools such as the knobbed cylinders and triangle boxes. She spends lots of time reading picture story books and loves participating in arts and crafts. While Carly is shy around the teachers, she is a chatterbox with her friends. We have been told by our China manager that she is a smart little girl. Read more.
Some children are naturally nurturing and attract younger children to them. When she was a student in our Believe in Me Changde School, twelve-year-old Kathryn was one of these nurturing types. Missy, LWB’s former education director, was fortunate enough to meet Kathryn in November 2007 and was impressed by the way she cared for the younger children. Ever since, Missy has affectionately referred to Kathryn as “The Little Mother.” She recalls how Kathryn not only took care of these younger children but was almost always bouncing two little ones on her knee whenever she sat down. Each time Kathryn sat down, it seemed she had children crawling onto her lap with curiosity and love. Read more.
In 2008 we adopted a little girl from China and were active at that time on the chat room for our agency. One of the moms on there always posted older kiddos in need of families and one of the children she posted was Aiden. He was 8 years old with achondroplasia dwarfism. I saw his picture and thought he was adorable! Since we weren’t adopting again, I prayed for him and went on with my life. Read more.
In February 2011, I was provided with the amazing opportunity to go to Jinjiang and help train LWB Believe In Me teachers in speech and language skills. One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Jesse. Jesse is a little guy with an infectious belly laugh (which you can see in the video below) and amazing smile. He also has both albinism and a cleft lip/palate. Each condition on their own can be scary and together may seem daunting. But don’t be afraid. If this is your little boy, know that neither of these conditions are related to each other and both are very manageable. Read more.
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