Thursday, July 17, 2008

Day 1 - Beijing

Its Bill posting at 10:27pm Beijing time. Cindi is passed out cold in bed. She just could not keep her eyes open another second. So I will put up a short post and some photos from our day.

We were up at 7am to get ready for our day. We would be meeting our guide, Tony from OCDF, who would be taking us to an orphan care facility for the day.

We were able to get a pretty good set of rooms here at the Best Western Premier in Beijing. It is probably a 2.5 Star hotel by US standards, but our rooms are clean, are next to each other, and have ample space for our 5 night stay here.

The breakfast buffet at the hotel was great. Plenty of typical American food and plenty of Chinese food that we could not identify. More unidentifiable food to come.

Tony was in the lobby on time and we were off to the orphan care facility. This place is run by Children's Hope International . When an orphanage is unable to afford surgery or treatment for a special needs child, they request help from an orphan care facility like this one. They take the kids in, help get them the medical help they need, and then apply them for adoption.

It was a great place and a meaningful day. It appeared that these children receive excellent care. We were amazed at the number of caretakers and the tenderness they showed these children. From some physical deformities, cleft lip and palate, heart surgeries, and cerebral palsy, to blindness, these kids had it all. But, they were so happy.

You will see in the photos some of the beautiful faces of these kids. One little girl with a double cleft lip and palate blew me away. She was the cutest thing. She just laughed and laughed at me. Not a little giggle, I mean make yourself cry kind of laughing. I kept telling her how beautiful she was and that her problem was so easy to fix. I am so excited that they will be helping her get the surgery they need.

It was just a great experience to spend almost 4 hours with these kids. I have no illusions about how much impact we had there. We were certainly more like tourists than useful. But, it was wonderful to have God help us see into the lives of these kids. The memories we have of them will not leave us. May God use them to help us help more.

Here is a slideshow of part of our day. Cindi will be up early tomorrow adding to this story. She held a little baby for quite a while that had recently had heart surgery. The baby could never get enough oxygen and struggled for breath. Cindi knew the baby needed some oxygen but there was nothing we could do. As a result this little one can almost never sleep because he can never rest. I am sure she will share more about her experience later.

Enjoy. More soon.

**********My slide shows are not working correctly from China for some reason***********
***I am going to just paste the link to the album from now on and you can view them on photobucket. I am trying to keep this simple enough and make it not so time consuming******

Here is the link ***** PHOTOS

10 comments:

Elizabeth Bergeron said...

Ok, make me cry. I looked at those little faces and how your kids just spent time with them. Be assured that that alone has impact on each child. Thanks for taking the time for them. :)

Looking forward to more news. Enjoy your time!!

brianmease said...

Looks like a very special day. I'm sure you were all blessed beyond belief and have many stories of how God was working in your hearts.

we miss you already...whatever will we do Friday night??

Molly D said...

Wow...thanks for taking the time to share this with us. I am counting the days with you until you're holding your own little one finally! :)

Bill Simmons said...

The photos are great. Willie, Lee, Noemi, and I have enjoyed looking at them and the blog several times today.
Blessings,
Grandpa Bill

Lisa Spence said...

Wow!

Continuing to pray that baby home!

Amber said...

Thanks for taking the time away from your sleep to post pictures of your day! Those precious little faces. Soon enough the precious little face staring back at yours will be your sweet little daughter getting ready to head home with you!

Anonymous said...

What a phenomenal experience to be with these children at the orphanage! Your boys will be incredible big brothers. I'm so excited for you all and looking forward to reading and seeing more about your trip of a lifetime.

The Writer Chic said...

Cindi and family,

I found your blog in a roundabout way, and have been praying for you as you travel to get your daughter. My husband and I have discussed adopting, and your story pulls at my heartstrings in a new way. Maybe now, for us? We shall see!

In the meantime, we'll follow your story and pray Ahna home!

Anonymous said...

It looks like you had a wonderful day and a beautiful experience with those children.
Enjoy you stay

Arielle said...

I so wish you could bring me back two of the sweet children. Heartbreaking. And yet they smile and laugh. I pray the Lord reveals Himself to them in a special manner!!!