PLEASE HELP LUCAS HEAR!

Lucas (Fu Chang Song) was born on May 26, 2006 and came to Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village from Jiaozuo on 9/1/06. His special needs are cleft lip and palate and deafness. His lip was repaired on 12/2/06 and the palate 4/2/07. He has been evaluated for his deafness and the studies indicated that he needs a cochlear implant. He is a very active and friendly boy and has been in good health.

Team JAMES met Lucas in the House of Blessing at Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village (SFCV) in Tianjin, China in January 2010. Team JAMES’ mission was to personally engage these special needs orphans and also explore ways to support and partner with the foster home in the future.

During the trip, SFCV workers shared on a number of occasions with Team JAMES a particular need for one of the orphans, named Lucas, who was born deaf. Lucas was assessed to be a candidate for a cochlear implant, but is fast growing up and reaching an age where the implant will no longer be effective in helping him to process sound and learn to speak.

SFCV has already received estimates that the cost of a cochlear implant in China is between US $25,000-$35,000. They have determined that it would be impractical to start the process of giving Lucas the implant without being able to see him through all of the follow-up, mainly hindered by the cost that is. So the current path for Lucas is to wait to be adopted before getting the implant. But since Lucas will soon be 4 years old and the adoption process in China can now take 3 years or longer, his time is quickly running out.

Will you help us champion raising sufficient funds for Lucas to get his cochlear implant and have the hope of learning to hear and speak in the non-deaf world before it’s too late? We feel that God has given us this assignment and even if the funds we raise do not entirely hit the mark, that God will provide a way; perhaps through other teams’ efforts for Lucas similar to ours and bringing it all together. We hope to achieve this target in 2010.

Please help us spread the word by sharing this story and praying! If we could recruit 3,000 people each donating $10 or 600 people each donating $50, we can easily achieve this goal! Your donation will be tax-deductible.

Please visit http://www.yourcause.com/Group.aspx?GroupID=74 to make a donation; remember to indicate “LUCAS” in the Designation box.

Thank you and God bless!