Imagine

Imagine: wearing the same clothes three days in a row, sharing the same routinely schedule from morning to bed time with at least ten other children, staring at the same four walls, feeling less of a human, and not knowing the feeling of love from a mother and father.

Imagine: being an orphan and having the hopeless thoughts that if someone does not adopt you by the time you are fourteen you will never have that childhood with a mother and father figure. Oh, and if you’re special needs? Pray for a miracle to have a shot at living, because most orphanages will shun you, lock you up in a room, and let you die on your own. Graphic right? Millions of orphans, specifically in China deal with this every day. Believe it or not, the first scenario I gave you is the IDEAL LIFE in orphanage living. That doesn’t even begin to describe the hell like orphanages that most of the chinese orphans live in. 

 

I have been blessed with the experience of being able to play and love on over 100 babies in the past ten days . There were babies with heart defects, children who were paraplegic to children with autism and Down syndrome.  The place we stayed is blessed enough to have many Christian nannies working for them and they are able (not legally) to share the Gospel and Jesus with the children.

So much joy has been brought to my heart this week from these children. God also reminded me about how blessed I am to have my own parents and be born in country where we have such freedom. I feel beyond blessed with so much more than I am deserving of.

 

If there is one thing that God has truly put on my heart after this experience it is this: God has called us ALL to love orphans. James 1:27 says

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

This doesn’t mean only those who can afford it to help the orphans.
This doesn’t mean only those who have time help the orphans.
This doesn’t mean only those who cannot have children help the orphans.
This doesn’t mean only those who can handle the sadness of abandonment help the orphans.

This means ALL Christians, ALL followers of Christ.

Helping the orphans doesn’t mean you have to go all the way across the world to love on babies. This means to pray for them, get involved with local organizations., sponsor the babies, send gifts to the orphanages to share your love, support those who are called, and/or even adopt!

If we as followers of Christ are not helping the orphans…Who will defend them and love them? Our God was gracious enough to adopt YOU into HIS Kingdom, so we should be following His word and loving these kids!

If anyone is interested in getting involved in any way feel free to email me rachel32034@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook. I can give you direct links to anything you’re interested or at least direct you to the right person.

Imagine: what if in an ideal world ALL followers of Christ got involved in some way, shape, or form in loving orphans? Can you imagine how much a difference int he world we could make?

– Rachel 

Zàijiàn Beijing, Hello USA!

A few members of the team are staying in Beijing for an extra few days to do some sight seeing. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to everyone. I miss my family and friends in the states but I will miss the Chinese culture and my team. I would say you get to know people on a different level when you are traveling with them in another country. God has truly blessed me and my group by putting everyone on the team for a purpose. Everyone’s strengths complimented one another. I cannot wait to return to China again in the future to love on these children. Please be praying that I don’t get sick returning back to the states re-adjusting to processed foods and that jetlag doesn’t completely kick my butt.

I will be able to reflect more about my trip when I return to the states.
Yay for traveling for the next 20 hours!

Top Ten…

Top ten things I miss about America: (in no specific order)

1. Being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet
2. AMERICAN FOOD
3. English
4. Country music
5. Being able to brush my teeth using the faucet
6. Ice
7. Normal wall outlets for plugs
8. People working during lunch, rather than taking a 3 hour siesta
9. Youtube
10. American driving

Top ten things I will miss about China: (in a VERY specific order)
1. THE BABIES!!!!
2. The worry free way of life
3. Full contact shopping!
4. Whenever anything is out there or questionable, being able to use the excuse… “Well, it’s China!”
5. $10/hour full body massages
6. Kindness of people everywhere
7. Culture
8. Living is cheap
9. Wal-Mart
10. Sweet and Sour Pork

I’ll be back in the states Monday!

Beau, Grady, & Kennedy

The past few days have been a little crazy. The place we are staying is great, just not as organized as any of us are used to. It seems like when we start one task, another comes up to do. Luckily, everyone on the team has a servant’s heart in doing whatever need be. Today is the last full day where we are, and tomorrow we will serve somewhere else. We have accomplished a lot during our stay. There are many broken bicycles, vehicles, and miscellaneous toys that we have been able to fix, and many more babies we have loved on.

I met a happy little baby boy named Beau, who I am in absolute love with. His gummy smile warms my heart. He has a cleft palate and needs about $1,000 for his surgery. The past few days I have been praying and singing with him. If I could honestly take one child home, this would be the one I would take back with me. I hope his smile will bring joy to his Forever Family one day, just like it did me!

There is another boy here who has touched my heart, Grady. He is seventeen and had really bad scoliosis. His surgery in January fixed it. If recovery wasn’t hard enough, he caught polio. So he has been on bed rest since then. I met Grady after an ayi was trying to explain something to me, so she brought me to him to translate. He speaks a little English. When I saw him he was laying in bed messing around with a toy car. We have been able to get him moving in his wheelchair and playing games like UNO. He is also gaining more confidence as well.

Another little boy that will be hard to leave is Kennedy. I forget what they told me was his diagnoses, but it is along the lines of water being in his head. He is also in a wheelchair. This little six-year-old boy is too smart for his own good. He speaks English very well for his age. I love joking, singing, and laughing with Kennedy. Whenever I walk into a room he always calls me Kennedy and himself Rachel.

Today I spent my morning singing with Beau until he fell asleep and then with babies in the clinic. These babies are in the most critical condition. There is a little girl named Leah. Doctors have diagnosed her with something that makes her unable to retain fat. She is about four months old and can’t be heavier than five pounds. Apparently the ayis do not hold her much because they are basically scared since she is so tiny.

Please continue to be thinking about our team and for these kids.

“Save Money. Live Better” the China way!

So as an avid shopper I could not leave the great country of China without experiencing the Chinese Wal-Mart. Incase you were unaware, this experience is completely different than anything like the western side of the world. So I thought I would give you the run down for anyone interested in taking this wild journey.

As you are preparing yourself to walk into the store you will have major problems finding parking, because when it comes to the rules of driving in China, there is no such thing. When you pull up to the two story Wal-Mart as well, you will see this enormous building is too big for it’s own parking lot. After searching and figuring out “the China way” of driving for about five minutes you will find a space and see quite a few vendors outside wanting to sell you random items before you attempt your own shopping list. When you walk in the store there will be a strange stench from the fish section that will get worse as you walk further into the store. The smell won’t be bad until you have maneuvered your very half size cart passed the fruit section. Through the fruit section you will be able to test taste a lot of the fruits before purchasing, which is quite convenient. When you are finished with the food you are able to take an escalator upstairs to the supply and goods area, but don’t forget to stop and get some Chinese caterpillar Fungus at the Wal-Mart special! Upstairs you will be able to find items such as face whitening mask and electric bug zappers. If you happen to have any problems finding any items, there are a number of employees at every corner waiting to assist you. When you are finished with your shopping list you will have to make your way to the checkout counter where you will pay extra for the plastic bags, but hey, at least it encourages being environmentally friendly!

After having a firsthand experience, I highly encourage one to experience the Wal-Mart adventure if they happen to ever be in China.

On China Time

At 6AM this morning I was wide awake in my bed. I guess I can’t expect much though since we all crashed around 8pm last night. I was beyond excited yesterday morning when I saw that breakfast time had a Chinese version of “Cocoa Puffs,” toast and butter, and “Cheerios.” I had prepared myself for dumplings or some sort of rice paste. After eating breakfast, a few other Americans from the team and I met some of the kids. There are many different ages here, babies to a 21-year-old named Wendy who is paraplegic. Some of the older kids speak a little bit of English so it’s awesome to be able to really make connections and communicate with them. In the morning I met this 17-year-old boy named Grady. He had polio and has been on bed rest since January, because of back surgery American doctors performed on him. He told us he should be able to sit up in his bed in two months. I introduced him to some of the other teenage boys on our team and they really connected. Coleman and Nathan ended up going back later and gave him a few different American movies for him to watch. After a productive morning of playing with kiddos, we ate lunch, typical rice with vegetables and some sort of undetermined meat.

All the babies take naps from 11am-2pm so we decided to regroup together and do a study. I really felt Him saying that He can and will use the most broken people to do the most amazing things…for example, Paul. Basically no matter how many cracks you have in you, He can still use it for His glory! He calls the ones who are not perfect. He doesn’t create perfect people and then call them. It was an awesome thing to hear that He can use ME no matter how much I mess up.

After our group study, we played with more kids outside. A few people on our team helped mow the lawn of the huge facility. I sat with some of the kids outside and sang a few different songs with them. There was a paraplegic teenage girl named Blossom who I met outside. She told me her family is coming to pick her up this week. I really hope I get to see the excitement on her face when she gets to meet her Mom and Dad.

On Sundays they do not serve dinner in the kitchen so we all decided to walk to this random Chinese restaurant down the street. “Stevie,” the family dog of where we’re staying, lead the way to the restaurant. I have traveled to China three different times. Last summer I was all over the country for an entire month. This restaurant had the BEST Chinese food I have ever had! It was nice to have something other than just rice, vegetables, and miscellaneous meat.

After dinner we briefly met another group of Americans that are here for the same reason. Everyone crashed pretty hard from jetlag. I got at least 9 hours of sleep. Now we’re preparing for the rest of the day ahead. We may be working with some of the medical team today. Please be thinking of us! Wish I could post pictures but probably will not be able to until I return back to the USA.

Welcome to Communism

I wrote this blog a few hours ago and when I went to post it I had a lot of trouble. Apparently my blog’s website is blocked in China, so I am not sure about how much I will be able to blog…so frustrating. I had pictures I wanted to post as well, but it it is too much trouble right now. I should have better luck on Jarrett’s computer for the next week. Anyways.

After twenty hours of traveling I have finally arrived to China! The flight was the easiest international flight I have experienced, minus the turbulence. When I finished watching “This Means War” and a few episodes of “The Office” I took Dramamine and slept for 8-9 hours. If I wasn’t sleeping, I was praying because the turbulence was so awful. I probably could have slept longer as well if I wasn’t awoken to a Chinese man hurling his brains out behind me, ugh. Hopefully all that sleep will pay off with my jet lag on days to come.

China has a very distinct smell that you cannot really describe to anyone. As soon as I got off my flight I knew…It was China! The airport is muggy and humid because they do not run the A/C well, and it looks muggy outside. When I got my luggage I tried asking probably eight different airport workers about where I could get coffee and WIFI. They all gave me a blank look. Finally, I was directed to a little coffee lounge. Gotta love caffeine!

Haley will be arriving around 6pm tonight, so I am waiting on her so we can grab some dinner together. Then we will wait for the rest of the group. Everyone else does not arrive till midnight, so it will be a long day. If anyone wants to contact me, I can be reached at rachel32034@yahoo.com or my Skype name is ohrachh

-Rachel

2DAYS2DAYS2DAYS!

video clips and pictures from orphanages in 2010

The story of “Jeffery”…

Many of you have probably seen quite a few Facebook posts and pictures I have posted about a little orphan boy who I absolutely adore. I thought I would retell the story of him for those who do not know, because there will be many more stories to come in the next few weeks!

It all started on a ridiculously hot and humid day in Beijing, June of 2010. Abby Potts and I were playing with babies in the “Nemo” room in the foster home. (Most of the rooms are decorated with Disney or Pixar movie characters to distinguish them).  We both immediately clinged to this room because of how attached we got to the orphans in there, so this is where we spent most of our time.

While playing with a little girl named Naomi in the ball pit, I saw a bloody nose toddler running my way. All the orphans scattered like crazy when they saw this bloody nose boy running at them. They did not realize he only wanted to play. I remember thinking poor little guy. One of the ayis (nanny in Chinese) saw the issue and immediately grabbed him to take care of problem. I asked the ayi his name. After realizing how dumb of a question it was, because I knew I would not be able to pronounce the Chinese name NOR remember it, Abby and I decided he had a Jeffery kind of character. From then on out, he was called Jeffery. Later, we found out he has already been given an American name, Jay. While the ayis were controlling his bloody nose, I continued to play with a few kids singing songs and such. I remember looking over and seeing Abby warming up to little Jeffery. When the kids saw that one of us foreigners loved him, they were welcoming of him too. We all played in the ball pit for a few hours and from then on, little Jeffery became a noticeable favorite for Abby and I. He would walk around the kitchen with us, play on the playground, go on walks, and he even had the chance to Skype my family with me. Abby and I taught him “Old McDonald” the “Chicken Dance” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” I miss hearing him try to make the animal noises and hearing him say “E-I-E-I-O” to “Old McDonald” His eagerness to learn and loving heart are two things that I can not ever forget.

At some point on the trip coming up Abby and I will be able to reunite with Jeffery again!!! It makes me sad to know he has not been adopted yet, but I am excited to see the little guy again! I have been getting e-mail updates on him quarterly and have seen that he has grown to be such a sweet little boy just in the past two years! Can’t wait to post pictures of him in the next few weeks to come.  Be on the lookout for my Jeffery story to continue… 🙂

“Praise You In This Storm”

I am a full time student, with an almost full time job, on top of the other responsibilities with church, family, and friends. Sometimes I truly feel like I am the energizer bunny that just “keeps going, and going, and going,” as if there is no end to the cycle. Recently, I have told my friends that I am excited for this 20+hours of traveling coming up on Friday, to take a break from reality and have time to rest before going again.

As soon as I woke up this morning I felt like God was that little excited kid who is jumping on their mom and dad’s bed on Christmas, pulling the parents out of bed to see what Santa had brought them…but instead it was God so excited to show me what He wanted me to see in His word today! Lately I have been discouraged and stressed with the craziness of the road we call “life.” Between school, work, friends, church, traveling overseas next week, and planning a big move in August it can be a struggle to balance it all.

So this morning God brought me to Psalm 55:22, which says,

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”

It is so encouraging to know the only responsibility I truly have is to care for MY relationship with the Lord, and that God will take care of the rest! All the little curveballs thrown into life don’t matter. What matters is to love God and to continue to build my relationship with Him.

Now I titled this blog “Praise you in this Storm,” off of Casting Crowns’ song because even in the storms and different seasons of life, God tells us to be thankful! He tells us, He is with us through everything. NOTHING surprises him! Now, when there is a million and one things going on, being thankful and being praiseful can be challenging. These acts are so hard to do in today’s society because of how “deserving” our culture pushes people to feel. My generation thinks, “Good things should happen to good people.” Newsflash: Jesus was perfect and ended up suffering the most gruesome, humiliating death one could endure for his time of living. He did this so that WE could have LIFE! How Humbling. Praise God for giving me the storms I have been through and yet to come, because He is always teaching me something about Him through it! I encourage everyone to check out 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28. I truly want to thank all my friends and family who have encouraged me on the days I have been discouraged, weak and impatient. Thank you to those who have been praying for me with the big decisions I have made in the past year, and thank you to those who will continue to pray for me with the many decisions to come. I sincerely appreciate even the quick text messages that say “Hey! I am praying for you today!” I could not be blessed with a better family and better friends (new and old!)  : )

-Rachel