One of the things we have noticed on this trip is that as a result of the slowing down of Chinese adoptions and tighter regulations more older and special needs children are now being adopted. At age 13-14 you "age out" of the government orphanage system here and you are then in most cases left to fend for yourself. Michael asked me the other night who or what has made the biggest impression on me while we were here. Well, two families actually. Last Sunday we had the opportunity to attend a Christian church on Shamian Island called Christ Church. They have an 11:00 Chinese/English service. They speak Cantonese here so I don't think Landon caught much if any of it, but it was great to be in church and hear the Chinese people singing praises to Jesus. The sermon was on "A true heart of worship". It's a wonderful thing to now be able openly meet in a Christian church, especially in a communist country. This certainly hasn't always been the case. After church, we ran into a family that adopted two Chinese daughters and now a son. This son who was newly adopted had survived third degree burns all over his face and body. He also lost both of his hands, not sure about the condition of his feet, I don't believe he could walk but I did not want to pry. You could just see the love between father and son as he packed him around on his back. What a miracle child, and now he has a loving home and family... The other family was one in our group, the Maas Family. Elllen and Martin are 52 years old and they were here adopting their 6th Chinese daughter. They have 1 biological daughter who is 22 years old. She was at home taking care of the family. I knew the first day after introductions she was someone I wanted to get to know. They are a wonderful Christian family whose motto has been "One daughter at a time". After visiting one night late in our hotel room, we were so humbled to hear their story...I won't go into all the details but the level of sacrifice to which they live and the hardships this family has faced were both inspiring and challenging to Michael and I. So there you have it.. my biggest impression.... people taking care of the business that we believe God holds closest to His heart... Caring for orphans, or for that matter any child who needs a home. We are so thankful to be a part!
I also wanted to let you all know that Ming, the 13 year old Chinese boy, adopted by our friends the Bowser's in Moses Lake made it home safely. He was the older boy in our Christmas Video -(children waiting to come home section.) I wanted to let you know because I know many of you have been praying for him. The whole Bowser Family was actually in Guangzhou the day we flew in and flew out. We did not get to see them but Ming is doing great and we will hopefully get to meet him in August in Moses Lake.
Here's a few pictures from our farewell dinner. The one with the man and the kids is Norman, the director of our agency. All are children adopted from China, except Kennedy of course. The last picture is Ellen and Patrick Maas and their new daughter Lydia.
2 comments:
I loved reading about Ming in your post! We have been home two weeks tomorrow. It's amazing to think that we have almost been together as a family for 4 weeks. We have loved reading about your trip. I'm sure you are very excited to be coming home. We can't wait to reconnect in August.
Ming's mom :)
the photo of Landon Bo giving the peace sign with his comical expression on his face was SO reminiscent of another child of yours- could Kennedy have taught Landon that look or is he just and Estoos through and through?
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