The Love of Volunteers....

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It is hard to believe that I have already been in China for 19 days! This has been an interesting journey. It is often really good that God doesn't tell you all that you will be experiencing before it happens. All of you know how much I LOVE to talk! It is amazing how quiet you become when you are in a foreign country and you don't know their language. You listen alot more and communicate through actions. I am getting really good at charades! The Chinese staff seem to understand that better than my mixed up tones of the few words I know in Chinese. Fortunately, time with the children is easier than communicating to the adults. The little ones seem to understand me the best.
I have started going into the homes to pray over the children. My prayers seem to get really short as they want me to play with them instead. After a challenging day, children's laughter always seems to brighten it up. They also don't seem to mind that I don't speak their language. There is one little girl, Bea, who notices me each time I walk into her house. She waves, blows me kisses and brings books for me to read to her. She doesn't even mind that I read to her in English. She also loves to sing with me. When we are playing, she will often be singing and I could swear that she is singing in English.
Each of them has such a story to tell. They are so young but have already gone through so much. Every child here is labeled special needs. One set of twin boys are here because they were thought to have a heart problem. Upon full examination, it was found that they only suffer from eczema and are "all boy"! Others have club feet or cleft lip and/or palate. Some require blood transfusions every other week. My favorite part is when staff point out the children that are already matched with a family. The saddest part is hearing the older children's stories. There are boys here who are 13 years old and so long to be a part of a family. Grady is one of these young men. He suffers from Scoliosis and desires to have a family. He needs surgery and the best place for this surgery is in the States. Please keep him and the other older children in your prayers. So many families have opened their arms to special needs children. My desire is that more families open their hearts to adopting an older child. Please continue to pray that God works in the people He desires to adopt orphans, no matter what country they are from.