GongYi Home of Hope

A few days ago, the police showed up at our front gate and said they had a new baby they had found abandoned in the road just outside GongYi and asked if we could take her in. As we always do we told them we would be happy to help this little one. However, as we explained to them, we are bound by our agreement with the government that stipulates we must first give the baby a thorough examination and if the baby meets the health criteria within which we must operate, the baby would become a permanent resident of the Home of Hope.

These conditions always bring a lot of anxiety and concern until the medical results come back since if the child has indications of any of the several physical conditions we are NOT allowed to facilitate, we are required to send the child to one of the government run institutions, which, when we have to do that, always makes us very sad!

We typically don’t name the new arrival until after the physical results come back and we know we can keep the child.

In this case, the results finally came back and the baby’s physical condition was cleared and she was “OK” to come into the Home of Hope.

There was some initial concern that she may have liver damage so there were additional tests required, delaying the final results. We are so glad she is healthy!

We named her Xiong Meng Wei (Meng Wei means smiling in one’s dreams) and we have started calling her “Sissy” as far as an English name is concerned. I am not sure where that came from or who gave it to her but it has sort of become official at this point.

Please remember “Sissy” in your prayers and if you are interested in helping take up her support needs, please let us know.

Each new child that comes into the Home of Hope is taken in by faith as we have no financial backing from any entity except our Home of Hope friends and supporters. As of now, Sissy has no one sponsoring or supporting her and of course the need is great and continuous, day after day!

All Around China……

We used to include a segment in our “Web Updates” called “All Around China” but discontinued that several years ago. We thought we would again include some information on China but not necessarily with each update. China is an amazing place with sites and sounds one has never seen before so some of these segments are very interesting!

Above, left to right: Despite the fact that the total land area of China is just a little bit smaller than the combined land area of the United States, the average farm is generally smaller than a common front yard in a residential area in the States.

There are millions and millions of these small “Truck” farms, owned and maintained by a single house hold. In fact, if a Chinese family is classified as “farmer” they are not included in the ‘One Child Law’ so the farmer’s children can help them farm their land.

Most rural Chinese people prefer to prepare their food outdoors…. all year round. In the picture above, the grandmother of the home is preparing some vegetables for cooking.

In the third picture is a typical method of transport. It is a Tricycle with a metal “bed’ on the back which is used to haul everything… harvested vegetables from the field… a pig to market… the family to the city to watch a fireworks display… and the list never ends…

Most farms in China don’t have much in the way of machinery. (There are exceptions of course, especially in the far Western part of China) The 4th picture is a very common site during the various harvest times.

The beans, wheat or corn is laid out on the road – NOT OFF TO THE SIDE – usually on a thick plastic sheet of some sort and the farmer wants the vehicles traveling down the road to run over their grains. This method shucks and hulls the grains and the evening breezes blow most or the chaff away. Quite ingenious. When I first started driving in China I had the hardest time making myself do this… even to the point of going around the block to keep from running over some poor farmer’s hard work!

Weekly Art Class……

In this weeks art class the art teacher brought in a guest instructor who is famous all over China for his Chinese Calligraphy. The Chinese people consider their ‘characters’ as “art” and are very particular how it is “drawn”.

The pictures left to right are: (1) The visiting expert working with Jacob…. (2) Dawn and Jacob… getting more ink on themselves than on the paper…. (3) a sample of one of the children’s finished product (that character means “me”…. and (4) Caleb, Mary and Dawn practicing with some of the older children in the background also drawing their characters.

Thank You for visiting us! We solicit your prayers and support!

Won’t you please consider sponsoring one of these lovely children with financial support? We truly need your help!

Blessings from China!