Here’s a post from Andrew’s blog about what he’ll be doing at The Philip Hayden Foundation Orphanage this August. I’ll be home with the boys this time but am SO excited for Andrew and the team to be working with this amazing orphanage. Honestly, almost every day a precious little face of one of the kids we met in November at PHF pops into my head. Here’s the details:

We are excited to share with you an exciting opportunity Andrew has to lead a team from our church back to the Philip Hayden Foundation orphanage (PHF) this August! This is the orphanage we were both at last November just outside of Beijing. The children and the work there captured our hearts and we knew as soon as we got home we’d start planning the next trip back. This time Jess will stay home with the boys, but we hope to go back as a family in a couple years. Andrew will be taking 13 people from our church, a mix of all ages and stages in life – some of whom are students in our youth group, which is really exciting.

As you might remember from our last letter, PHF cares for special needs children with anything from cleft lip and palette to heart problems, deformities, etc. They have a team of doctors, surgeons, special needs teachers, and other volunteers working to care for these abandoned children. Chinese nannies give daily care and are there for long, consistent amounts of time which helps the children feel stable and secure. Our hearts were especially touched by these children labeled ‘special needs’. After one day of being at the orphanage we realized that although they may have some major health challenges they are like any other child- just wanting to play, laugh, be loved and cared for. You can see PHF’s website and read more info online at www.chinaorphans.org.

This summer’s ministry will consist of helping care for the children and running a day camp for them. The staff of PHF also expressed their desire to have us help teach the nannies how to play with the children for emotional and physical growth and emotional connection. Because PHF is a privately funded orphanage depending entirely on support from donors to operate, we will also be lending a hand and doing practical work that needs to be done around the facility that they don’t have the resources to tackle.

We are choosing to invest in an ongoing basis in the work done at PHF and have a desire to see the needs of these children met and the vision of PHF furthered not only for the children in their care but the surrounding area as well as China as a whole. Yes- we are dreaming big, and hoping God can use us in even a small way in the work already going on in China as well as the radical impact this work will have on our team, church, and community.

We ask for your prayer support- remembering our team as we prepare to go. We also need to raise $2000 for Andrew to lead this outreach. If you feel able and moved to give there are two ways you can do this- by sending us a (tax deductible) check made out to ‘Liberty Lake Community Church’ and the memo line reading ‘China Outreach’, or you can donate online.

Thanks for being a part of our lives and the work done at PHF!
In Him, Andrew

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.”
- Jesus, Matthew 25:40

We drove over to my parent’s house for a fun, long, and relaxing weekend. We got to see lots of family, Jude LOVED playing with his little cousins. Andrew even got to take in a Mariners vs. Giants game (he wasn’t rooting for the home team:) with my dad. The boys are great little travelers and we are so thankful we got to have a weekend away.
Life feels full and busy, but in a good way. Besides being totally blessed to be Jude and Owen’s Mama I’m trying to squeeze in a lot of learning, growing, and doing in my spare time.
The list includes:

*Tending our growing garden. Now sprouting- beans, radishes, lettuce, and zucchini. Andrew just finished making and setting up a compost system out back- more on that to come.

*Reading and soaking in a book called ‘Living for what Really Matters‘ by Stacy and Paula Rinehart. The subtitle is ‘Long terms values in a short term world’. This book has been so good for me- challenging me to look at how I raise my children, spend money, make decisions, etc. in light of eternity. Am I living for only the here and now, or am I looking to what matters in the long run, in eternity? How does this affect my every day life as well as my long term plans?

*Also reading ‘The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food‘ which is packed full of freezing, canning, and dehydrating advice for veggies and fruit. Great resource, I’ll be using it to help me ‘gather the harvest’ this summer and fall to use in winter and spring. I’m trying to move towards even more seasonal eating and also eating from our stocked pantry and freezer in the winter and spring to make the most of our grocery budget, health, and time.

*Trying my hand at making yogurt. I just realized after owning my food dehydrator for about 4 years that I can also make yogurt in it. It’s much cheaper and so easy to make at home so I’m trying my first batch today and plan on sweetening it with a little maple syrup and some peach sauce from last year’s peach harvest.

I am cherishing this baby season with Little O and trying to think of creative, fun things to do with Judo, who seems to soak in and say new long words every day, always wants to be out and about, and loves to make art and of course play cars and trains. Yesterday we were weeding the yard and he came over to me with a bit of grass in his hand and said, ‘look at the delicate spider!’ Too cute. Andrew and I are looking forward to a more relaxed summer schedule and more time together as a family, especially on long summer evenings. We are also very excited about Andrew’s upcoming trip back to The Philip Hayden Foundation Orphanage in China this August. Read more about the trip on his blog!!!

How cute are these soft soled leather baby shoes? They are a much better price than Robeez and the designs are just as fresh and adorable, made by a graphic designer running the business out of her home. (Thus the great price for all leather totally cute will last a long time baby shoes) The company is called Bugaloo. If you buy 3 pairs you get free shipping! 5% of the profits go to the International Justice Mission. My favorite design has to be the blue and brown owl- matches *the boys* room!

The first in my series of pictures from our trip- the kids at the Philip Hayden Foundation Orphanage. This facility takes in special needs children from all over China.

The kids are divided up by age in 3 houses, plus a clinic where there are kids recuperating from surgeries, awaiting treatment, or just getting the extra medical care their condition warrants. The facility is cozy, personal, and homelike. Two of the full time staff at PHF are doctors- a husband and wife who gave up their practice in the states to live in China and take care of these precious kids. They remarked that opening the supplies we’d brought from the states was like Christmas to them, as good quality medical care items are much harder to come by in China.
The kids are taken care of by Chinese nannies whom they call mama. This is by far the best run orphanage I’ve seen. There is one staff to every two or three kids, compared to the government facilities which have anywhere from 10 to 16 or more kids per staff. Being at PHF definately confirmed Andrew and I’s heart to adopt, and made adopting a special needs child even from China feel very doable.

We did a VBS with story, songs, & small group activities with crafts & sensory.
The kids loved it & it was a great way to connect with them & nannies.

The other time we had was spent working on projects around the orphanage- cleaning, moving furniture, etc. Andrew got to help out with some computer questions in the office as well. We had lots of time to play with the kids in their homes or outside. There was a little boy who loved Andrew and would come running to his arms every time he saw him- in the front in the following picture. Behind him on Andrew’s lap is Lucus, who is deaf. There is a program in China for the cochlear implant but he does not qualify so PHF hopes to raise funds to get them for this energetic little guy.

A little boy named Cameron captured my heart- he was one of the first kids to let me hold him and carry him around and when he called me ‘mama’ the last morning of the trip my heart melted.

I spent a lot of time in the clinic. The first day there I noticed a little baby girl in a bouncy chair and through an interpreter found out that she is nine months old and suffering from malnourishment. Her name is Ching-Ling, and she has the body size and strength of a 4 or 5 month old. She seemed to come alive when I would hold her and look into her eyes as I sang and talked to her.

This little guy is so full of life & energy- with a face that lit up the room when he tried to smile. He’s awaiting surgery to correct his cleft lip.

I can’t put into words the privilege it was for me to be with these kids even for a short time or the inspiration I felt from the staff. These children are truly priceless and deserve all the love we can give them. If you have ever considered sponsoring a child, adopting a child, or giving financial help to a program like this one I would ask that you consider these beautiful kids in China. You can follow the link above to PHF’s website to learn more about how they run and what needs they have.
It was with a full and somewhat aching heart that we left these kids, thankful that they are getting the best care possible and knowing we’ll return to see how they’ve grown.

Next up: The Great Wall

Last night we had breakfast for dinner with our youth to break our fasting from the 30 hour famine. It was a yummy meal indeed! The kids seemed to really have an eye opening experience to the needs in the world and the poverty and hunger that is so prevalent in many countries. Andrew showed a movie on Friday night called Invisible Children. Has anyone seen it yet? It’s a documentary made by 3 young guys following the exploitation of children in Uganda as child soldiers- children that are literally ripped from their families to carry a gun and forced to fight in a brutal army of rebels that have wreaked havoc in their country. Powerful movie. Horrible injustice against those children. When watching videos like Invisible Children (or Hotel Rwanda) I tend to get overwhelmed, feeling like I am powerless to help solve such a huge problem so far away, but more and more I’m realizing the truth to the statement ‘knowledge is power’- and have the conviction that the more knowledge we have of injustices and needs around the world, we really do have a responsibility to respond in some way. And the truth is, anything helps. For people who have nothing, $5 can go a long ways. There are many families around the world who live on $1 a day or less. Most of us can’t even fathom that in America and yet, for that very reason, we must not sit back and let someone else solve world hunger when we can give money, raise our voice to the government and cause awareness for these kinds of issues. Having a garage sale? Donate some of the money to a worth while cause and have your kids sell cookies for kids in Uganda. Skip your daily latte for a month and help a family in a developing nation get medical care. For about a dollar a day you can sponsor a child who will then have a chance to get an education and other things they normally wouldn’t. I’ll keep posting various ways to educate ourselves and get involved in these kinds of issues, and feel free to leave your own websites, ideas, etc. in the comments.

If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. Mother Teresa

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. Mother Teresa