REWIND! Okay, so I know it's like mid-way through January right now, but I still have yet to tell everyone about December since we weren't allowed internet then anyway. So here ya go!
Our ministry while we were in China during the month of December was with a special needs orphanage called Eagles' Wings in a city that must remain nameless, but we nicknamed Jay-Zee, partly because Liz and I could never remember how to pronounce the name and partly because we have to keep it disguised in our blogs. Within the orphanage there were 7 groups of children who were grouped together in their living based on their disability. They were:
Eagles' Wings 2: a group of younger kids, around pre-school age, who had an array of special needs and stayed in an apartment in the same complex where we stayed (sidenote: the long-term goal of the orphanage is to get the kids from all the E.W.'s out of the government owned building and into individual apartments)
E.W. 3: children with severe Autism and Down's Syndrome who LOVE to be sung to (as do just about all the kids) and to be taken out to walk/run around; one of the rooms were Mel and I spent the most time; in any song that we sang, anything too Christian-y had to be changed, so we did a lot of re-working lyrics to abide by this rule
E.W. 4: the "non-walkers"; having this be the only way to distinguish them really bugged me all month, but I couldn't seem to find anyone who could tell me exactly what it was that these children had that completely immobilized them; 3 and 4 were conjoined so Mel and I did a lot of hopping between the two, singing and dancing and generally just paying the kids individual attention they may not have normally gotten (the ayi's who took care of them were amazing though!)
E.W. 5: nicknamed the Baby House, an apartment that housed the youngest of the Eagles' Wings children. I'm not very good with babies and had several other things to do, so I actually spent no time here. In retrospect, going at least once probably would have been good, but it just didn't work out that way.
E.W. 6: children with spina bifida, a disability that paralyzes from the waist down; many of these kids have full use of their minds and attend school at the orphanage during the day, but have been cast aside because they are confined to moving around on the floor, culturally the dirtiest place in China. The E.W. 6 kids are SO full of life and honestly just love to be loved.
E.W. 7 & 8: a group of older girls (7) and boys (8) who have a variety of disabilities and are of middle school and high school age; many of these kids attend school within the orphanage during the day. There were two girls from 7 who I got very close with and still pray for all the time. I can't post their names, but, thankfully, God knows so I'd really love it if you could pray as well (:
I'm blown away at how the Lord shows Himself and shines through in a place that is as closed to Christianity as China. Think about the name of this place, which I'll reiterate is in a government building, in China, an extremely closed country, and check out Isaiah 40:31-
31but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
I could go on and on about the Lord's work in this, but I'd rather challenge you to maul it over in your head instead. I'd also love to hear any of your thoughts, so e-mail or comment if you have anything you'd like to share. This was just an overview of the ministry we had, so next I'll be posting more specifics about the month!
