The Hope Foster Home - China

Update July 2004

Dear Friends and Supporters,

                  “Faith can move mountains” I never really understood the meaning of this till now.  As most of you know, Michelle (Ellie), 14 months, with a congenital heart defect, had been waiting for surgery for 5 months. At the beginning of July she began to deteriorate rapidly. We were told that she was, at that stage, inoperable and that we were to take her home from hospital and let her die.  This was our “mountain”. We could see no way that she could be saved but, having a “mustard grain” of faith, we were still unwilling to give up. We are pretty much in awe (“Gob smacked” as they say in the UK) of what happened with Ellie over the following few days and how fast everything fell into place for her. We realize that we are not in charge of what happens to these kids. God is the one in charge and we are really glad He is as there is NO way Rob and I could ever accomplish any of this on our own. A chance meeting in Singapore airport between 2 surgeons whom I had never met or even spoken to, paved the way for Ellie to have surgery within 24 hours. ( see photo)
The treatment and attention we received at the hospital was beyond my expectations. Ellie was treated like royalty! She is alive and doing very well.

                      

14 year old Jack Rivers (see photo) from USA deserves a very special mention. Jack, through China Care Foundation, has personally raised $28,000 for the Hope Foster Home. We are floored by the gift but especially by the pure selflessness of this young man to help Chinese orphans. He also volunteered with us for 4 weeks this month and got to know the children personally.

HFH Special Care Unit, Henan province.  We hope to start work on this in September. We have had a wonderful response to our needs for this unit and it is definitely on its way.  Two of the babies that we brought in from this orphanage last month, Wen Yu ( Extrophy of the bladder) and William ( premature)  who were destined to die, are alive today and with us in Beijing, even though this project is only in it’s early stages of development. God willing, more will live once we start the work over there.  Wen Yu has been accepted for surgery in Sydney Australia. The surgeons are waiving their fees and the hospital costs will be funded by the Australian Chinese Medical Association. We are grateful to my former classmate Ling who has such a passion to help this baby. We are waiting for a passport.

Foster Home Shunyi, Beijing:

Construction: We are at the final stages and hope to move our dining room, laundry and kitchen across so that we can start renovations for the new bedrooms. Our personal home is also nearly completed.

The babies:  Stan has been adopted by a local family and Gene has gone to a foster family close to his orphanage in Ren Qiu. Their nannies were in tears but this is what we always hope for the best for our children; to have “real” families. We will miss them.

Ellie and Adam have received their much needed heart surgery in Singapore and are both well.

Evan has been adopted by a couple from Holland he awaits his parents. We have photos of them and are “introducing” them to him, hoping that the transition will be a little easier for him. We took in 5 new babies over the last couple of weeks and this brings our total to 21. We have 3 babies who have not been sponsored. If any one in interested in sponsoring and naming these new  babies, please let us know.

Volunteers; Apart from Jack, this month we welcome back Joy C. from New Jersey. Joy was with us 2 years ago for about 9 months and she was such a valuable asset to our work. This time she took Adam to Singapore for surgery and was able to meet up with old friends who hosted her when she took Bethany for surgery 2 years ago. We also had Jacinta from Australia and Sharon C. and Lee E. from US, Janice from HK, Regina from China and Nada from England. Nurse Christina returns to Beijing on the 29^th to be with us for another year.

Shunyi Outreach Foster Care Program:  We have begun our outreach Foster Program with 2 babies Mary and Eloise, out in local homes. 4 more families have “passed” their medical checks and are ready to take in our kids. The families have been trained and have had their medical checks and are ready to receive children as soon as we have suitable, healthier children to place with them. We have set the families up with all that they will need for the babies and they will be carefully monitored. We expect the babies to have the same standard of care that we give at Hope Foster Home.

Foster Home Sai Qi, Fujian Province

Marsha, our Project coordinator will visit them this coming week and we will have something to report in next month’s newsletter.

Our thanks;

We received HIV testing kits to use in our Special Care Unit. Thank you, Nancy. We also continue to receive clothes and much needed medicines from all parts of the world. Thank you all. A special thanks to those who support us personally for us to be here doing this work.  Our grateful thanks to all those who have supported the surgeries for the 3 children this month

Our needs;

Our most urgent need this month is for air travel for Wen Yu to go for surgery in Sydney.  Funds, frequent-flyer points or seats on an appropriate airline will be gratefully received. We hope to be able to take her in the next couple of months. Please contact us if you feel you can help Wen Yu.

Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers for all that we do.

Much love and many blessings to you all.

Rob and Joyce.

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess” Corrie Ten Boom

Hope Foster Home
Beijing, China
www.hopefosterhome.com