Dear friends,

We must begin by wishing you “Shengdan Kuaile!” Merry Christmas!

As you receive this we are sure you are in the throws of final preparations, if you have not indeed abandoned email all together until Christmastime has passed! For us, we are preparing to spend our first Christmas away from home and it will be extremely strange to not be celebrating with so many of you.
 It has felt as though Lee has brought a little bit of the Cof E to China through the organising of the Christmas services as we have had advent candles and a beautiful “carols by candlelight” celebration, which have made us feel a little closer to home.

In the sermon at that service the preacher pointed out that perhaps Mary and Joseph were the first expatriates to celebrate Christmas away from home so I guess we are in good company! We have a real Christmas tree for the first time (why did no-one tell me they are so painful to decorate), and will be celebrating the day with the children at the foster home and the other staff members, but we are certainly missing and thinking of many of you at this time.

One of the biggest things to share with you this month is the adoption of Zachary, Guo Fu. You will know that as my star student I have talked a lot about him and I must admit that it was with joy, tinged with sadness, that we said goodbye to him last weekend. For us, this is the ultimate hope for these children and to know that he is now with his mother and on his way to join the rest of his family brings indescribable delight when we consider the life that could have so easily been set out for him. Praise God for the miracle of adoption, and the way we see the lives of these children transformed.

It certainly is strange without seeing him here, running down the corridor for a hug, or bellowing “Laoshi (teacher)” across the classroom! But we pray that the foundations that have been laid during the three years he has been at Hope will allow him to continue to grow into the strong, intelligent and loveable boy that we will miss. As well as praying for his transition into his new family, please also pray for his ayi “Yang Mama” who had cared for him since he arrived here. For her, his departure has been a devastating loss. The other boy she cares for, Toby, will also be adopted in the next 6 months and so we know that she will need a comfort far beyond that which we can give her naturally.

We told you last month of the new unit set up for babies in pre/post op care. The unit is now nearly full with babies, all of which are underweight, ill, or in general need of care. Please pray for them as they gain strength or recover, and please pray for the nannies that look after them. They are all under 7 months old and sometimes all want feeding at the same time…

Also please pray for Joyce and Lynsay as they care for these children. They often need a great deal of medical care. For example, one little girl needed to have an IV every 8 hours, which meant many late nights and early mornings, as well as numerous trips to the hospital due to the IV site becoming blocked.

These ladies work really hard to make sure the children get the required care and we would ask you to pray for the care, wisdom and strength they need for looking after these children medically.