I saw the face of Jesus....

....in a little orphan girl.  (Steven Curtis Chapman)

There are some ladies that I volunteer with that represent the word "selfless" to me.  They give so much time, energy, money, resources, and love to orphans and disabled orphans.  Two ladies that I have met are at their second orphanage starting up an educational program for preschool and nursery ages.  Frequently, they take children into their own homes and care for them when they have pneumonia or other physical problems that the orphanage cannot handle until a surgery can occur or they heal.  A lot of times, babies are left by their birth parents because of physical ailments that are very treatable, but they can't afford to provide for them, or because of the cultural stigma of disabilities.  After surgeries, sometimes you can't even tell that they had a "problem".  These ladies also help to organize portfolios for adoption and raise money for needed surgical procedures.

Due to confidentiality, I cannot show you pictures of the children at the orphanage, but I can show you the wonderful educational area that they get to come to now for school time.  The teachers and volunteers have seen tremendous improvements in the children in various ways due to more dedicated physical therapy, attention, play, and learning.  A lot of times, new children will come to the school area very apprehensive and scared because of the new environment and new faces of the volunteers and teachers.  But after a few days I have seen them start to interact and be happy!

  Here are the two hired teachers, they are so patient and loving.

Here are some pictures of the area around this orphanage, it is about 40 minutes from where I live in the south-west part of Beijing.

Selling chickens

Jesus Loves me this I know

For the Bible tells me so

Little Ones to Him belong

They are weak, but He is strong.

Looking for gifts

Gifts

-Waking up really early to see the beginnings of a sunrise.

 - Color

-Watching locals

-My friend Cello introducing me to her favorite beef guy at Sanyuanli Market
(There is something silly about that sentence, ha, ha!)

-Watching people actually slicing and taking the bones out of the chicken that you just picked out.

-Picking out pork

-Surely I can appreciate pigs hoofs, hearts, and livers even though I will not be buying them.  :)

-Sanyuanli Market with its visuals, smells, and fun times

-My kids actually like salmon and shrimp!

-Watching a.m. rush hour

Thank you God!

Are you weary and burdened?

The loads that Chinese people bare are very heavy.  They carry the burdens of family expectations, government ideology, socio-economic burdens, and just daily life struggles.  I see hard-working men AND women who have labor intensive jobs around the city, jobs that I would never hope to have.  They do these jobs day in and day out, some 7 days a week.  Some of the jobs include picking up/finding plastic so that they can cart it to be recycled for money.  The same for cardboard and other materials that will bring an income.  Here are some pictures of the various loads we have seen being carted.  I have seen some amazingly HUGE loads that I have not been able to capture on camera, I hope to include more in the future.

 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest....

 .....Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,......

....for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls......

 ....For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 Matthew 11:28-30

God's peace is available to all of us, everyday, no matter what our circumstances. 

Day to Day

Here are a few fun photos we recently took from our day to day life.

Jackson playing table tennis with Mr. Li Senior

Tracy playing with Mr. Li junior.  Did we mention they are really good at table tennis?

Less than desireable squatty potty found at small, local, Chinese restaurant. 
Question is, did we bite the bullet and use it?

Relaxing on a Saturday afternoon at IKEA, maybe home away from home for these peeps.

Grace's first time to ice skate!