Six months later, I have yet to find a way to fully explain what took place during those three weeks. I am realizing that I cannot share it all… for it is overwhelming and difficult to find the words. Each child has their own story. The abandoned and disabled children in China have no voice. They are not heard. Each child’s story is important and they need to be heard. Their stories need to be shared.
That said, I want to attempt to share one of their stories with you. It is a story of a little girl with Down’s Syndrome. I am told that she was abandoned the beginning of January because her family was unable to provide for her. They are guessing she was about one although it is hard to tell because she is so little. On the 2nd floor of the welfare center, she spent most of her time lying in her crib with very little physical contact. She was slow with her feeding and the caregivers would only spend so much time holding the bottle for her. Usually, she got about half.
As time passed, she became malnourished and she watched other girls in her room die. Not long after this is when my story begins with her. We came to China in March. I can still remember seeing her for the first time. A volunteer, Jade, from International China Concern (ICC) was there holding her. She was wrapped in a big comforter looking blanket and all you could see of her was her head poking out. You could tell she was malnourished from the way that her face was skinny and sunken in and her hair was short enough to stand on end.
Three from my team volunteered to work on the 2nd floor every day with Jade. We would go in to bring snacks, have play time, and sit with the children. You would often find Jade lovingly holding this little girl. After snack time for the older children, Jade would try to feed her some baby food that she had brought. During our time there, I also spent some time holding her. She weighed very little. It was like I was holding an infant… not a one year old girl. Holding her and looking down into her scrawny little face, she looked back up at you with big eyes. She reminded me of a baby bird… especially when we were feeding her!
She was growing weaker and the additional baby food that Jade would bring for her was helping her to hang on. Then we got the news that she was having diarrhea. The caregivers in that room blamed it on the baby food and told us not to give it to her any more. We were dismayed. She needed this food to live yet we didn’t want to risk the relationship established with the caregivers for they could tell us to leave and not allow us back. It was a privilege to even be in that room to begin with.
So we did the only thing we could think to do… we snuck it to her! It was easy when the caregivers weren’t around but there were times we enlisted someone to be a look-out and help hide the fact that we were continuing to feed her. Then she got sick with a cold or something of the sorts but because of her malnourishment we were very concerned for her and weren’t sure if she was going to make it.
Good news arrived! ICC (a Christian organization that cares for abandoned disabled children) had a spot open up in one of their baby rooms and they would be able to take someone from the 2nd floor. There was hope for this little girl. They were willing to take her. Only problem was, they wouldn’t take her until her sickness was over. They did not want their children to catch it from her. We prayed that she would recover and be able to go to ICC. This was her only hope….
March 21st her day arrived. She had recovered from her sickness and ICC was willing for her to come. One of my teammates had the privilege of carrying her off the 2nd floor and over to ICC. A great day and a moment that we celebrated. But this is not the end of her story…
She was taken over to ICC but was so malnourished they admitted her to the health clinic. She was hooked up to IV’s and they said she was in critical condition. They weren’t sure if she was going to make it. The next two days they asked that someone from our team sit with her in the clinic. My teammate sat with her the first day. It was very hard on her and the following day she asked if I would sit with Valerie in the clinic. I agreed.
I walked into the clinic to find Valerie up on a table with the IV tube sticking out of her forehead. She was so tiny and frail looking. I pulled up a chair to be near her and they told me that I could hold her. Looking down at this precious little girl in my arms, I began to pray…
Oh God, how can this be?! She has been brought to ICC. They want to love her and give her a chance at life. She has hope and opportunities now. But now she may not experience them. You’ve brought her this far… how could you take that from her? You can’t take her now…
I struggled to hold back tears to no avail. Tears began to fall and I wiped them away quickly so no one else in the clinic would see. It was then that I remembered my prayer that morning on our 45 minute walk to the center. I had prayed that God would rest on me and that anyone I touched would feel His touch not mine. With that in mind, I began to pray again. This time I prayed for healing.
I prayed and sang. The songs I sang were just as much for me as for Valerie. But at some point something changed. I experienced something I have never experienced before. I began to sing songs over her that were not worship songs, not songs that I’d ever heard before. It was meant for her…
Valerie, Valerie
Jesus loves you
Jesus loves you,
O, Valerie…
and then it became more than that. I felt as if God was speaking/singing to her through me…
Dear Valerie,
you are healed now…
and as she fell asleep in my arms I continued to sing.
Rest easy, dear, I am here now…
Don’t worry, dear, I am with you…
As I sang, I couldn’t help but think: Is it true?! Could she be healed?! Do I dare think that?! I’m not sure how long I held her and sang over her. But what I do know is that when the nurse/doctor came in to check on her, they pulled out the IV and released her to go to her new room. When they told me, I stood up with her in my arms and had the privilege to carry her to her new home. I can’t tell you how excited I was as I walked out the clinic doors with her in my arms! She was going to make it!!! 😀
I carried her into her new home and her new caregivers lovingly welcomed her. I sat with her and fed her until it was time for me to go have lunch with my teammates. I couldn’t wait to tell them the good news!
There is HOPE but there are still many on the 2nd floor. Many that my heart breaks for. ICC wants to be able to help more children like Valerie. Will you join me in helping them? ICC has an annual 10k walk/run, Walk the Wall, to raise awareness and raise money. The 10k is on September 24th. Visit www.walkthewall.org for more information, to find a location and sign-up. There is no registration fee. They just ask you to help raise awareness by asking people to sponsor you. If you can’t participate, please consider sponsoring me! The money goes to ICC to help them:
· Give life to disabled children by hiring and training more therapists and workers, dramatically impacting health and welfare
· Prevent abandonment by expanding services to an ever-increasing number of families who have children with disabilities, who once thought there was no other alternative
If you would like to sponsor me you can give online by going to my Walk the Wall page.. click here. All donations are tax deductible. Reading this after the 24th? No worries! You can still give. Donations are still accepted into October.
