New Year’s Arrival – Joy Zhang Qing Mei
On Christmas day, December 25, 2007, we received a call from the Gongyi Welfare Bureau and they asked us if we would be willing to help a little six year old girl who’s mother had developed mental illness and who’s father had abandoned the family.
We answered in the positive although we explained that normal procedures had to be followed as with any new arrival, including physical exams and verification of the true situation of her family.
On December 27th Joy Qing Mei was brought to the Home of Hope and it was immediately obvious that she was NOT six years old. Zhang is a very common sir name in China. The combination of Qing and Mei (her given names) translates to “Green Plumb Blossom”.
We instructed the staff to go ahead and remove her old clothes, bathe her and get her ready to go to the hospital for her physical exam.
Meantime, we sent a policeman friend to investigate the true situation surrounding Joy Zhang Qing Mei.
Due to past experience we rarely take in children over eight years old. Also, due to the fact that many parents in China want their children to live at the Home of Hope, we are often given false information about supposedly orphaned children so each child arriving at the Home of Hope is researched very thoroughly. Sadly, we can’t just “take the word” of the local bureaus.
All decked out in her new and clean clothes, including a new, bright pink coat, Joy Zhang Qing Mei began to show signs of relaxing in her new environment. We were praying that her physical and personal investigation results all turned out favorable for her.
Next it was to the hospital for her physical examination.
Each child that enters the Home of Hope is given a thorough physical exam which includes the normal checks…. lungs, limbs, heart and checks for AIDS, Hepatitis and other communicable problems.
The Welfare people who brought Joy to us know our procedures so they did not allow her to eat following her supper the night before. So… her first stop was for the blood work. She went through the whole thing without ever losing that charming smile.
Nathan was also at the hospital having treatment on his right foot and so when Joy was finished with her physical exam she stayed with her new “Ye Ye” until his treatment was finished. Ye Ye snapped the above picture from his hospital treatment table.
Shortly after this picture was taken, Hai Tao took Joy to have her first meal of the day. She was indeed happy about that!
As it turned out, we had been given an incorrect age… Joy Zhang Qing Mei is eight years old (which still falls within our operating guidelines) but every thing else we were told about her parents and family was true so as of this writing she is the newest resident at the Home of Hope.
Please remember to keep her in your prayers. She has had a rough few years in her young life.
If you would like to help support or sponsor little Joy Qing Mei you can learn how by visiting our donations page.
Posted: December 27th, 2007 under New Arrivals.