How Are The Kids?

Isn't that a question we often ask friends because we're interested in the development of their children?    I'm glad I'm asked that question too, because so many of you care deeply for the kids in our care who have no parents devoted to their growth and development.  I can't give you details of all our 450 plus children, but here's an update on some of the kids I told you about last year.

Remember Xiao Shan?  In January 08, this beautiful toddler was abandoned on the grounds of our Children's Home in Xining with a note giving her name.  We found that she was deaf and dumb, but she developed into a lively, caring child.  When she turned 3 last January, we told you that we longed for her to have a cochlear implant so that she could have every chance at living an independent life.  Your response was fantastic and by April she was doing well with her first bionic ear. We told you we longed for her to have another one and on May 5 our prayers were answered – it was the day Xiao Shan had her second cochlear implant! Today, she lives happily with a foster family in Beijing so that she can have speech and hearing therapy, which she thoroughly enjoys.  She can understand and respond to simple sentences, such as, "Please open the door"; "go to the washroom" etc, so 'our kid', Xiao Shan is doing very well, thank you!

In September 09 I told you about BeiBei (now called Mia) who had been adopted five years earlier by the France family in Minnesota.  Mia dearly wished to return and visit her friends and carers in Xining Children's Home and Hong Kong. We all wished we could see Mia again, so all our wishes came true last year when the Make a Wish Foundation and a private donor enabled Mia to return to Xining and Hong Kong. In December 09, the titanium tubes were removed from Mia's body due to an infection. She is a brave and tough little girl, and we need to keep praying for the fragile condition of Mia's body.

In November we told you about Douge and also Cai Ran, a 7-year-old boy with severe and chronic hydrocephalus. Sadly, the build up of fluid has caused Cai Ran's head to swell to a circumference of 70 cm. He suffers diminished brain development and is unable to sit or stand. We have worked hard to consult specialists in Hong Kong and Beijing. Please pray for him as he will be seen by a Swiss neurosurgeon at the Qinghai Red Cross Hospital on Thursday, January 14th.

Like you, I wonder what the year ahead holds for all our children. It has been so heart warming to see even more of our children join their adoptive families in the last two months. But while I don't know what the year will hold, I do know who holds all the children every single day in His tender care!  Pray He will guide us and enable us in the year ahead to care for our kids as wisely and as lovingly as He cares for us.