Meeting the Children at Xiamen

TiffanyToday I received the verse of the day from Crosswalk, and was blown away that it was Ephesians 3:16-21. The verse that God put in my heart in July, and then two separate families emailed to me before I left for China, unbeknownst to them that it was already one that I had been focusing on. I think God really wants me to hear these words. I love seeing God in the details of everything here.

This morning we headed over to the orphanage with the donations and it was just a short walk from the hotel, about 3-5 minutes to get there. I was prepared that it may be a little chaotic when we got there since the orphanage has never really done anything like this before, and ready to be flexible as we figure out the best method to get this done. Our first visit was to the special care room to say hello and then we met on a different floor in a large meeting room with the orphanage director. We were happy to give them a large matted frame with two photos of our first two families’ daughters adopted from Xiamen. The photo on the top was of the two families standing in front of the orphanage with their girls, and the one on the bottom of the girls together in Chinese dresses. It had a translated plaque at the bottom stating that this is given in commemoration of the first two placements from our partnership.

006bWe were told we would see about 30 kids, and they started bringing them all in a large group. We were told the exams would be in this meeting room, so we decided on three stations. It got a bit chaotic a first, and we had to ask to only see two children at a time, and have the rest line up outside. At first the nannies were going to whichever station was open but then we realized quickly we need to do in stations in order. Rocky and I manned the first one, where we took a picture, and then I asked the nanny questions about the child’s care, and Rocky interpreted. We asked questions such as any known facts about abandonment, have they had surgery, are they on medication, how are they developing or doing in school, how are they socially and with their peers, etc. Most of the kids were fine coming in to see us, a bit shy, but some of the kids cried and cried, so I am thankful we had stickers and suckers. 🙂 Thanks to the moms who sent those!!!! Station number two was for height and weight, which was run by a volunteer from the states that lives here, and at station three was our Doctor and another volunteer from the states that lives here. They laid out a thick warm blanket to do a full body exam, and learned quickly this would take awhile with the kids have about three layers of clothes on. We had to bring in a nanny to help with the dressing. The kids were bundled warm, but I understood, I was only in one layer and was chilly yesterday wishing I would have remembered my coat back at the hotel, so I am glad they are nice and warm.

019bI was so happy to see three of the older boys brought in from our individual list! One of them has deformed hands and feet, another little guy is blind but has light perception, and another one has congenital heart disease. It was great to get pictures with them with hopes to do better advocacy for them. I was happy to learn this week that we have a private donor who has offered to proved grants for all 5 of the boys we are currently advocating for from Xiamen! Praise God! Amazing. It should be posted to the website soon. I was happy to also see a little girl on our website that we placed too who we gave the English name Hailey, she is doing really well! All the kids have changed so much since I saw them in July. It is hard to see them change and grow just in those months without families. I am so motivated to help them get placed! We were so thrilled to be able to actually see 46 kids! We figured out a good system! Tomorrow, we hope to see the group of 30 kids that we hope to get in the next few months for placement.

After we were done, our Doctor and I were able to spend some time in the special care room with the babies there. It was then that I was able to hold and spend time with little Gabriella as we know her! That was the highlight of my day! With tears in my eyes, I rocked her, sang to her, and told her all about her family and the people that love her and have been praying for her. She was on oxygen and they had to put socks on her hands to keep her from pulling it out. What a special little girl. I was able to meet a few of the kids there too who we hope to place on our next list of kids! Please also be praying for a little boy there who is diagnosed with water on his brain, he was rushed to the hospital yesterday due to his not being responsive. He is stable now and has been brought back, but he is still in bad shape, it looks like it is brain swelling. We are waiting on further results. I met him in July and he was responsive then and a very sweet little guy. Thank you for your prayers!

–Tiffany 🙂

3 Responses

  1. We are so thankful to God that you can meet these precious children! “Hailey” is just beautiful! So thrilled she will soon have a family! I’m guessing you are headed in now to do it all again. May God give you joy and wisdom!