Two-year-old Tate always has a smile ready when our foster care manager comes to visit his foster care program in Shantou!
This easy-going boy has lived with his foster family for over a year now, and he has become very close to them. Each day when his foster father returns from work, Tate runs to the door and greets him. Our manager reports that he is cherished by his entire foster family. Read more.
One-year-old Shayla is new to LWB’s Foster Care Program but is known to many as a previous resident of LWB’s Heartbridge Healing Home. Shayla was born with cranial meningocele, and she spent time recovering from her surgery with the loving nannies at Heartbridge. Recently graduating, she is now in LWB’s Guiyang Foster Care Program… and we can’t wait to watch her grow and flourish! Read more.
May God give you…For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer. ~ An Irish Blessing
Everything’s is changing now for Betsy! It was a year ago that Betsy joined our foster care program in Fuyang. Abandoned two years ago as a child and not a baby, Betsy has experienced her share of trauma already in life. . Read more.
While in Huainan last month, we split our time between visiting the children in the orphanage and then those who are in our foster care program out in the community. We had brought lots of little treats to the kids in our orphanage school program: hair bows and flowers for the girls and planes for the boys.
Well, we quickly threw that plan out the window as ALL the kids wanted to look glamorous with hair decorations. They would come back again and again to get another flower or bow until they felt they looked just right. Don’t they look beautiful? Read more.
It may be difficult to believe, but terrific 1 ½-year-old Terrell is described as “shy” by his foster parents.
Last month our foster care manager in Fuyang had this story to tell us after her visit to see Terrell and his foster family. Read more.
Next on our trip was a visit with the children in our Zhang Village foster care
program, which is located in Hefei. When we first began this program many years ago, it was for children with more intense medical conditions who needed to be monitored closely by our Anhui Healing Home staff. At first, it was located in a small village of Hefei called “Zhang Village,” and all of the children lived in one community. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you feel about it, that village was demolished last year to make way for new high rise apartments, something which of course is happening more and more in China. Now the children are located throughout the city. So while it technically should be called “Hefei Foster Care,” we are sticking with the original name for nostalgia’s sake. Read more.
Rui Mei came home one month ago, a spirited little five year old, babbling away in Mandarin but not speaking a word of English. Since day one, I’ve been waiting for the “Helen Keller” moment, the turning point when her chatter would suddenly transform and we would be speaking English together. I compare it to Helen Keller’s breakthrough at the water pump when her teacher ran cool water over her hands, spelling the word w-a-t-e-r into her palm, and all of a sudden it made sense – every object had a name. Helen ran all around the house asking for names of things and by the end of the day had learned 40 words. Although I know learning English will be a gradual process for Rui Mei, I’m irrationally hoping that one morning she will wake up and the words will just start tumbling from her mouth.
Our first full day in China was spent in Qiandongnan, in the southeastern part of Guizhou province. This was my third visit to this mountainous region, and I always love coming here because the foster families in our program are just fantastic. As I’ve mentioned in past blogs, Qiandongnan is a Miao and Dong minority prefecture.
One of the first kids we met was Cecilia, seen above, who was leaving for her adoption day just a few hours after we arrived. Read more.
Bethany is a lively and outgoing child who was born with a complex heart defect. She is full of “why” questions; when our hospital manager Selina visited her, she asked, “Why are you taking my picture?” and “Why are you here to visit me?” She captured the heart of Selina, and ours too, with her sweet smile and curious personality. Read more.
In December 2011 an orphanage in Guizhou Province received an infant boy born with anal atresia. He was nearly a week old, and, without the medical treatment he should have had at birth, this little fellow was in critical condition.
LWB’s China staff was called, and they managed to get “Brody” in for surgery the very next morning. Following surgery and recovery, Brody came to LWB’s Heartbridge Healing Home to rest and prepare for his next important operation. Read more.
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