Update December 2004

Dear Friends and Supporters,

This month has also been full of ups and downs. We should be used to this by now but it’s not easy. News of adoptions delights us and the sick babies continue to cause us great concern. 6 of our children are being adopted and we have had 3 seriously ill babies.

Foster Home Shunyi, Beijing

The babies: Fu Xiao Meng, our 3 month old little preemie girl came down suddenly with severe pneumonia and was admitted to Beijing United Hospital. The doctors worked on her for several hours in the ER and she was put on a respirator in the Intensive Care Unit for nearly a week. She pulled through and she is now home with us. We are so relieved and grateful to Beijing UFH for the excellent care they provided which saved Xiao Meng’s life. Teresa Fu Xiao Juan continues to be a grave concern. Dr. Lazreff, the UCLA neurosurgeon flew to Beijing for a weekend to operate on her but she still needs more surgery.  Problems with her passport have resulted in the surgery being done here in Tiantan hospital.  We are deeply grateful to Dr Tang in Singapore who assisted in every possible way to help Teresa. We are hoping for the best. Jamie Fu Wen Dong was also operated on by Dr Lazareff and he is doing well so far. Aurora Kui Xin Dong (from Xin Jiang province) has been investigated and found to have a very complex heart condition. We will be presenting her investigations to our Singaporean cardiac surgeon to see if she can be helped. Rebekah Fu Wen Yu in Australia is having a little problem with her bowel but we expect her home in the new year.

Adoptions: Our twins, Sydney and Carly have gone to be with their parents in Florida. Charmaine has left for Holland. They have all bonded quickly to their new parents. Adam, Hayley and Cyndee are waiting for their parents to come and get them. This sudden departure of so many kids at once has left our staff bereft but we have to remind ourselves that this is what we all want for our precious kids.

New babies.: We have 2 new babies  Erik Wu Min aged one month was born without an anus and Ge Lan a premature little girl.

Volunteers.

Sheau Mei, a lady with a real servant’s heart, from Singapore, volunteered with us this month. Nothing was too much trouble for her.

Shunyi Outreach Foster Program.

Ariel Fu Wen Yu has been placed with a wonderful foster family whose mother is a teacher of hearing impaired children. This a wonderful opportunity for Ariel and this fits her special need perfectly. Fu Xiao Xiong was brought back to our home as we found the parents unsuitable to care for him. He will remain with us until a more suitable family is found.

Foster Home Sai Qi Fujian Province:

Guo Lan Fei, a 7 year old girl, will have heart surgery in the US.

HFH Special Care Unit , Henan Province:

More than 30 people came for interviews for 7 staff positions. Christina and our first 3 medical volunteers will be there at the end of this month to start the unit. We are grateful for a number of you who have generously sponsored rooms in our Special Care Unit in Henan. Province; Penny Noble of the Caplan Noble Agency, Canada, The Gazard family in Switzerland, the BICF in Beijing and Love Without Boundaries,USA.  We thank Petra Mack and Seca baby scales donated for the unit.

Our Thanks;

We greatly appreciate those of you who have sponsored our new babies; Ariel, Xiao Meng, Cameron, Aurora. Sarah and Erik and some of our nannies. Our deepest gratitude to those who have been so generous in giving us funds for the surgeries and medical treatment for our children. These generous gifts save lives. A very special thanks to the S. family who has offered to contribute towards the cost of our new vehicle. This will meet a great need. We enjoyed the Children’s Choir who came to perform, gave presents and had a great time with our kids this festive season. Thanks too to all those who brought gifts, and financial donations to us for Christmas. A special thanks to the German Christmas Bazaar, The Congregation of the Good Shepherd, BICF West, Capital Community Church, Kim Latham and her staff at Metrozine Magazine. and the British club for their gifts and visits.

Our Needs:

1)       We are in need of liquid vitamins with Iron for our young malnourished babies. We have completely run out. We also need Oral Replacement Salts for babies with diarrhoea and cough and cold medicines for young children. These can be bought over the counter and do not need a prescription. They are not easy to find here so if anyone is travelling in and is able to bring us some we would be grateful.

2)      We have 5 more rooms in our Henan Special Care Unit that could be sponsored.

3)     If anyone else would like to contribute towards the new vehicle we would be grateful. We are told that the price of this particular 7- seater vehicle will come down in the new year so we are waiting till then to buy it.

We have been asked to set up an email list of people who would like to pray for the needs of our Home and our children on a regular basis and especially when there is a dire need. If you would like to be on this list please send us an email and we will add you on to it.

God’s special blessings on you all this Christmas season.

Robin and Joyce.

 “It is possible to be too big for God to use you but never too small for God to use you” Anon