6th June 2006
Dear Friends,
We greet you this month in the midst of lots of changes. Firstly we are emailing this through our new broadband connection (praise God!), secondly we now reside in the west wing rather than the east wing of Hope Foster Home and thirdly the heat is on as summer is here! The humidity has begun and unfortunately we know it is only going to get worse.
Here’s the completed new abode for you to look at. We have been so grateful of this space, not least as we have been able to get over our jetlag in private. It is never a pretty sight for the other volunteers to have to face!

   

Thank you for the welcome we received when we were back in the UK last month. It was great to see so many and as usual we are just sorry that there wasn’t time to catch up with more people. We were blessed by the time we had in the UK and it was a welcome break before a busy summer hits us. We now intend to be out of the UK for over a year so we had our fill of family, friends and good curries whilst we could. We even managed to have breakfast with one of our closest friends and his new wife at the airport, as we flew out and they flew in!

News from the home
Just before returning to the UK we were asked to transport a baby – Zi Jiang – to Jiao Zuo as he become very ill and was having severe problems breathing. After two nights of having to be watched constantly it was decided that the PCU could offer the best care for him. It also gave me the chance to see some of the children that I have not seen since September and see how they have grown. Gemma R from Aldridge was also volunteering at the time and so we had the opportunity to have dinner with her whilst there and then travelled back the next day with another baby – Hai Yang – who has a cleft lip and palate and was having great difficulty feeding. It is good to see that whilst we have been away she has increased in weight significantly and will hopefully be ready for surgery later this year. It struck me that whilst we carried one baby down to Jiao Zuo with little chance of survival (sadly he died a few days later) we also had the opportunity to return with a child that has a great hope for the future. We never know what will happen to these children but we can care for them day by day as God has asked us to and the rest is clearly up to him. 

Kindergarten
My kindergarten is now up to 9 members with 3 more of the foster home residents turning two in the last month or so. Say hi to

         
  Jian Hong (Micah)          Wen Yu (Rebekah)            Wen Dong (Jamie – one of the children we took to Hong Kong)

Needless to say things are a little chaotic and I have split the group into two so that things are more manageable. Some of the very young ones are having trouble settling into the class, particularly Xin Dong (Aurora) and Wen Dong (Jamie). Both of them are perfectly fine with me when I am in the playrooms with them but as soon as they come up to the Kindergarten they start crying and will not settle. I am sure it is just a phase they are going through but I am finding it very hard as it is difficult to communicate to the nannies that it is ok to let them cry for a bit, as they instinctively want to pick the children up and take them out if they become upset. Please pray that they would be more settled and that I would not become frustrated with them or the nannies but would find ways to encourage and include them.

On the last two trips to the UK I have found myself amazed (and slightly embarrassed) at how much I have come to love the Early Learning Centre. I have been able to bring a few things back with me that are all welcome additions to the equipment we have.

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to take some of the children to an event held in Chaoyang park in Beijing. The purpose of going was to collect a donation given by Nestle to the home. We have certainly found it interesting, given the climate towards Nestle in the UK, to be surrounded by so much of their produce here. A lot of the expats use their milk as it is considered safer for children than the local pasteurised milk. It is also interesting that on the whole Nestle appear to have very strict guidelines concerning charitable donations to avoid criticism and a repeat of previous misuses of their giving. However, one of their employees in Beijing has arranged for us to receive around $12000 worth of milk powder which for us is a huge blessing as it will supply the babies with milk for at least the next 6 months. We took 6 of the children along with us and despite the heat it was good to be able to take them into a different environment. It wasn’t so good when we came to leave and the van had broken down. It is no easy task to get three double strollers across one of the busiest roads in Beijing to get to the waiting taxis. But we managed it as the alternative, to take them down through the subway, was even worse! We all got safely home and they are now running around the playroom hitting each other with their balloons.

    
      Dancers at Chaoyang Park                  Gabriella enjoying her packed lunch

Lee is currently settling in a group of volunteers who are the first of many over the coming months. Summer will be a busy time for us as Robin and Joyce are taking a sabbatical during July and August. This month will be one of preparing so that everything will hopefully go smoothly whilst they are away.
One last change to highlight is that another family has joined us with a plan to work at Hope Foster Home full time. Lynsay is a medical assistant from the US who will be taking over some of Joyce’s medical duties including overseeing the children in the new wing. Her husband, Bill, will be taking on the responsibility of looking after their two daughters, plus doing some work around the home. Please pray for them as they adjust to life in the home and hopefully become part of the team here. They are on a one month trial first.

We’d just like to say a huge thank you to Sam S who did a sponsored swim and raised money for our support. There are many of you who support us but we wanted to highlight Sam this month as since coming to China on April 2005 Team she has continually raised money for us and swimming 5 miles is no easy task!!!  Thanks Sam.  And thankyou to all those who have raised money in similar ways, as well as those who support us on a regular basis or have given to our work here. We are continually blessed by your generosity and cannot count the times where we have been overwhelmed by the support we receive. We are coming to realise that relying on others is not an easy way to live but it provides many opportunities for God to show us that he is at work in our  everyday lives and often knows and provides for our needs before we know them. An example of this is that whilst we were in the UK we were given enough to cover most of our expenses but some had to go on our credit card. Then the day before we left someone handed us a cheque that covered the cost of that bill too! So thank you once again to those who give as God leads. He certainly has a purpose in all that he asks us to do.

Please Pray:

• For the easy transition of Lynsay into the team.
• For our preparations for Robin and Joyce’s time away
• For the kindergarten class as it continues to grow
• For Lee as he coordinates the summer volunteer groups
• Please especially pray for the following children who all have paperwork in the system for adoption. We rarely know much about the status of the children’s papers here but we do know that these children are at least somewhere in the adoption process, which is fantastic. Please keep them in your prayers as they move closer to having a family.

Ø      Dang Guo Kun – has been adopted and will hopefully join his family in September

Ø      Guo Fu – Zachary – we have heard that he has been adopted to a family in the US but are unsure of his departure date

Ø      Ling Quan – Andrea Ellen – the orphanage have requested medical information and photos which usually means that the process is well on its way

Ø      Jian Hong – Micah – same as above

Ø      Chun Sheng – Toby – his papers have been released for adoption from the orphanage

Ø      Da Nian – Howard – his information has been found on a waiting list for a US agency specialising in adoptions for special needs children.

            All of these children are wonderful and deserve to grow up in a loving home and we are very excited that this may become a reality for them soon. Check out the website           www.hopefosterhome.com for more info and pictures of each of these.

Love and thanks to you all.

Lee and Becky xx