More Unknowns & News from Nanchang Camp

Hey Everyone, Wow, another busy week in China with unknowns around every corner. The Olympics started and everything is just CRAZY! At the beginning of the week we heard that we might have to cancel the rest of summer camp. And currently we are not allowed to leave the camp premises. But each day has led to another day full of smiles and hugs and permission to continue. One more week to go at our camp in Xin Zheng. I'm also excited to send you an update from our camp in Nanchang. This was our first year running two camps in different parts of China. Great job Nanchang! I can't wait to talk with you all!

Week 1 Nanchang Update:

Our first week in Nanchang was amazing! Swimming, making memory books, dancing, singing, eating together were all highlights for the kids. We even had an impromptu water fight out by the hotel lake (with only one small casualty who briefly fell into the water) and enjoyed a firework show on the last night of camp. Yet simply hanging out and playing during free-time were some of our favorite times together.

From the kids:

“My delightful friend, this week I felt really good. I got not only happiness, but also friendship, unity, and security…The existence of you is just like a beautiful picture in my life.” –Tom #1

“Your name is pretty interesting. We all know that Jordan is a basketball player and he is a well-known basketball star…Before I know you, I just like a wild child who had no idea how to treat people. But now, you change me a lot. I have to get rid of some bad habits such as impolite and mean. I really appreciate you.” – Tom #2

Difficult Week 2

We just finished another week of camp. This week was really hard. I was talking with a friend and they said that people love to hear the truth; so the truth is that the first part of the week stretched us to a breaking point. We had several kids with severe special needs that we were almost unable to handle. With the added stress on volunteers and staff, it just felt like everything was in a downward spiral.

I can’t even explain what happened, but by mid-week the tide begain to change. We got diapers for one of the kids, moved one of the girls into a room with just staff, and overall learned how to care for them. Our volunteers and staff were incredible as they were pushed to new limits. When it came to say goodbye there were many changed hearts.

One of my highlights was a boy that we nicknamed Strong. He had Down Syndrome and just kept us smiling the whole week (he’s shooting a watergun at the camera in the Week 2 Youtube). In a staff meeting we were talking about the verse, “He who is least will be the greatest.” I was thinking about Strong and how he is a beautiful person; so loving and caring and full of joy although I'm sure he has been frequently treated as the least. Some day I hope to serve under him in heaven.

Youtube of the week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYo3Ou-VFkw

From a volunteer about the child he spent the week with:
"I showed my little buddy the pictures of my four girls and wife. Billy stopped, looked at the picture and then looked at our translator, Andrew, and said "Two Chinese?". Andrew told him how we adopted both of them to give them love. He then said that I was a good person with a big heart to adopt two girls. Billy stopped again and said with a serious but sad face, "Why has nobody adopted me?". There was no way I could hold my tears back so I put my head down to hide them. I heard Andrew tell him that I was praying. I lifted my head and said, "No, I am just sad". Billy could see the tears on my face. He paused and then said, "Don't worry, God has adopted me".

From the kids to us:

"Katie, I’m a boy with few words. I lost my parents when I was young. I never feel the warmth of a family and stay at the orphanage. Though the time we stay together is very short, I have felt the love and warmth. I felt very happy. At last, hope you happy every day." Tom

"I’m sunshine. I am very happy to stay with you and form a family. These days I feel the true love from you. It is like the mother’s love. I will become a good child and go to visit you."

"Dear Uncle, I really appreciate your kindness. It is you that make me feel more love. You also make my life more colorful and meaningful. These several days will be my permanent memory. Thanks a million Uncle. If it was possible, I will return to your kindness and love." Love yours, Zheng Yuanyuan

"I’ve been having a feeling of being happy and having a home! Although we have only a short time together, we learned a lot! For example, we make the “suncatcher” together, we swim together, we play in the waterpark together, we have meals together, etc... All of these have given me a home! You know that we are from the orphanage and we grow up there. So thus, we have no home actually. To be honest, this is the first time I’ve been feeling with family." Yours, Qi

Weekend Update - Camp #1

Here's the weekend update from China. Thank you all for your part in making these smiles possible for the orphans of China!

From the kids: "This wonderful week made me feel our relationship is just fish and water, we cannot depart..." "I can say I am the happiest girl in the world."

Youtube videos of the week: From Zheng Zhou Camp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It2qTAG6q9c

From our Staff: (Nicole Chmelar)This afternoon when we told each other our life stories, we learned so much about each of our girls' lives... things that hurt to know. Things like the fact that most of the girls from my team were orphaned because their parents killed each other. When they started telling, it was like a water fountain broke loose... they were almost sobbing so hard they couldn't talk. How can you comfort an eleven girl who lost her parents only four years before? We listened and I told them that I was so sorry, but that we love them so much. We held hands. We cried. I wanted to pr so bad... I am so thankful that our Father can see their little broken hearts and He cares for them so much more than we ever could.

Beijing Pre-Camp Update: Plan B

Hello from Xin Zheng, China! About 1 week ago we had some news that none of us saw coming. We found out that our Beijing camp would need to move because the government was shutting down the hotel we were staying in. I still don’t understand exactly what happened. But everything is CRAZY in Beijing with the Olympics coming. Anyway, we had four days to be out of the hotel. So we prayed! The months of preparation for the Beijing camp were gone in just a few seconds. And we still had over 400 people coming. We began putting the word out and ended up really connecting with an orphanage that has about 600 orphans. We found a college university (www.sias.edu.cn) that was willing to host our camp and within 2 days we were off to explore. We got the approval from the school and had the rest of the team leave Beijing and take the train to our new camp. One of my favorite memories was unloading the truck with ALL our random camp items. One of the translaters said, “You brought everything but the kitchen sink… But I saw that you brought one of those too.” Kids and volunteers and craziness arrive at the train station tonight. I’ll let you know how the week goes!

Leaving for the unknown

In just a few hours I'll be on my way to China. Even though I've been so many other times, this trip feels different. There are more unknowns than ever before. But it is a God summer and I'm really looking forward to seeing God perform miracles in the hearts of people and with the obstacles we face. Thank you all for your prayers. I'll be keeping you updated.

A couple days ago several of us went down to Mexico. I met this little girl at the orphanage. Her name is Chloe and she is getting adopted soon. The mom that is adopting her wanted to bless us before we left. Chloe put her hand on our heads and then her mom prayed. At the end Chloe said, "Amen!" This little girl gave me the most amazing send off for China I could have ever hoped for!

May Update (Click to Enlarge)

Night Walk Phone Call