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| The Adoption Wall |
This
past weekend we were visited by IECS team HFU and by four of their
students. They came up to not only spend
the weekend with us but to also visit Shepherd’s Field Children’s Orphanage
(chinaorphans.org). I once visited Shepherd’s
Field back in May and it was an amazing visit.
Shepherd’s Field is a privately funded children’s orphanage that specialize
in treating and taking care of children with special needs. They house orphans with autism, children with
brittle bone syndrome, and many others. My
good friend, Gideon, is an English teacher at the Shepherd’s Field school. He teaches a mixed class of both kindergarten
and later grades. Gideon served as our
guide for the day and he showed us around the orphanage.
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| Jaime, Kennedy, and Peter |
For Gideon and I this weekend trip
was almost like a walk down memory lane.
The last time I went to Shepherd’s Field in May was the first day I met
Gideon. He was still a student at LTU at
the time and he was struggling with what he wanted to be once he graduated at
the end of the term. I returned home to
America after that visit to Shepherd’s Field in May but Gideon stayed. After graduation he became one of their
teachers.
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| Gideon and I in Halloween Hats |
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| Gideon and I in Halloween Hats |
I got to meet several of Gideon’s
students during our visit. I met the rambunctious
Aiden, the funny Kennedy, and many others.
We got to play the kiddos, to give them hugs, to play pretend with them,
to read with them, and to sing with them.
The group split up as to not have too many teachers in one house at a
time. The girls went to go change
dippers and to hold the babies. I went
to the house where the autistic children stay.
The autistic children are very loving.
They all wanted me to pick them up and hold them. However, I only have so many hands. After a while I pulled the pillows off of the
couch and we had a pillow fight. The
kids loved it. The house was full of
laughter. Even the nannies couldn’t help
but laugh at the sight of us bouncing on the pillows.
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| Student Jane with one of the babies and Aiden |
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| Jane Playing with the Kids |
As the day came to a close we all
gathered in the visitor center. Most of
our group rummaged through the gift shop of donated goods but I noticed that one
of the students from HFU was standing alone.
I went over to speak with her.
She seemed to be fighting back the tears. I asked her what the matter was. She told me how she had woken up that morning
with such a bad attitude. That she had
been so selfish in desiring pity for her menial troubles. However, she told me that she ran into a
young crippled teenage girl a wheelchair that had such a lovely positive
outlook on life. The student then
expressed to me how she herself had no right to have such a rotten attitude when
she has so much whereas this girl who has so little can be so happy. She then said to me that she wanted to
change. She wanted to be more positive
and appreciative like the girl in the wheelchair.
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| Kennedy |
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| Me playing with Kennedy |
I’m very glad to report that the orphanage
is doing well. They are a private,
charitable, non-government funded facility and their support comes solely from
the generosity of others. They are
building a new vocation learning center solely on the donation of a local
Chinese company. Most of the houses are built
and sustained by the gifts of local Chinese people and from people in
America. On average the orphanage has 30
adoptions a year. This year they’ve
already met that number and there will be more.
Shepherd’s Field now only houses 60 children so they are actively
seeking more children from other orphanages around the country with special
needs. It’s a good work that continues to
go on.
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| Little Tara dressed as a fiary |
Shepherd’s Field is a life changing
experience. The hardest thing in the
world is leaving those children at the end of the day knowing that they will go
to sleep for the night without a kiss goodnight from a loving parent. There are no bedtime stories from Dad or bedtime
songs from Mom. As I held little Tara in
my arms it simply broke my heart that such a lovely little girl could grow up
without having a home.
If you would like more information
about Shepherd’s Field and about their adoption program then please check out
their website: chinaoprhans.org
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