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| Luke! |
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Team AWAKE - Blog Entry #3
Today Elissa and Alan remain the only contingent of Team AWAKE currently at Shepherd's Field. We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of Winsome and Katherine in about a week. And the days continue to go by quickly. Today we kept up what has become our routine: visiting classes in the morning and in the afternoon, spending one-on-one time with some of the kids, visiting the children at play in their houses, and making jaunts to the local Walmart to buy items that will be helpful in working and playing with the children.
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| Kennedy & Brent |
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| Cute Kids |
It's also good to see how Shepherd's Field impacts the local community, here. Chinese culture is not, to the best of our understanding, especially warm towards children with disabilities. But at dinner tonight it was clear that the owner of the restaurant, who has developed an ongoing friendly working relationship with SFCV, has real affection for the children; he interacts with them with a warm and easy rapport. We're pretty sure this man is not yet a believer--but the good that SFCV does is something he can share in, a sort of common ground that might lead to an encounter with the One who is the source of everything good.
Well--it's almost time for bed and then, tomorrow--more adventures with the kids!
Blessings,
Alan
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| Seth, Hayden, Alan, Joseph & Grady |
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| Stevie the dog and Hayden |
Blessings,
Alan
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Team AWAKE - Blog Entry #2
We were able to bring in restaurant food for the House of Love on Monday night, before our team member, Annie, had to leave us to go on her mission trip to the Philippines. By the time we got to the house, the food had already arrived - both the children and the nannies were enjoying a six course dinner. Thanks to a family from QCAC who wanted us to treat kids with restaurant food, these kids were all very grateful and kept on thanking us for the delicious meal. The kids then put on an impromptu show of songs for us, with Henry and Eric leading the singing of various Chinese songs as well as some English Children’s Worship Songs.
We had a good time of fellowship and prayer with Annie after dinner, as she went on to pack for the rest of her journey. We said goodbye to her early this morning. It was really good to have gotten to know her a lot more deeply and we are encouraged by her purity of faith and purpose-drivenness.
Alan and Elissa then went back to Noel’s class, taking her out to the Speech Therapist’s office to play with her, reinforcing physical coordination, helping her to sit in a chair to strengthen her core, and to encourage her to use her left hand, which has only 15% functionality. Noel had such a great time blowing bubbles, learning to vary her breath in order to get different size and speed of bubbles. She and Alan had formed this special bond where they’d dip a finger into the bubble solution and dab the other person’s nose with it. Noel would laugh and then pick up tissue to wipe Alan’s nose after wetting it. She also has relegated Alan to be the garbage thrower, pointing her finger toward the waste basket whenever something needed to be thrown away. Alan would make a big show of having to get to the waste basket, not being able to throw it in just right, making Noel double over with laughter.
Alan has found Noel to be an extremely neat and persistent little girl, with exceptional frustration tolerance: she peels every single sticker off a sheet, and places them one by one on the dry erase board. No matter how hard it was for some of the stickers to come off (one of the sets of stickers was especially sticky, designed for scrapbooking), she kept at it, without ever getting frustrated or giving up. Whenever a mistake is made in anything, she simply laughs and keeps on going.
Alan also got to witness how voracious an eater Noel is. She scarfs up food, stuffing it into her mouth before fully chewing and swallowing the previous bite. She quickly wipes off her mouth in between bites. If we laugh at her athletic approach to eating, she’ll giggle with us and then get right back to the business of eating. She can eat and eat and not stop until you stop her!
The temperature here at Tianjin has been in the 70’s and school children went to play today on the sand filled playground. They all had a wonderful time. Noel enjoyed sliding down the slide on either Alan or Elissa’s lap. She then wanted Alan to take her up the steep, curvy rungs of the ladder that seemed to be the most popular playground attraction today. When we told her Alan couldn’t do so (without risking her falling through the steps), she was one unhappy camper…until Alan tried carrying her up three steps and lifting her to the next two. Only then did she give a triumphant, satisfied smile.
Alan and Elissa then spent time with Dr. Anna Moody and had a good time of fellowship with her. The takeaway from her sharing is how much the people at SFCV value prayer support. That’s one way that absolutely anyone, regardless of ability to give financially, can vitally support this ministry. Dr. Anna suggested that Alan lead a time of worship with the kids during our stay. We are therefore thinking and planning on how to do so with “all hands on deck,” possibly on Saturday, May 28th, when the rest of team (Winsome and Katherine) will show up, along with two QCAC members who now live in Beijing: Mike and Laura, who will be joining us that day. The thought is that we can have a time of worship with all the kids with an Object Lesson and Bible Memory Verse, and then have QCAC host a meal from a neighborhood restaurant.
We also have been told that June 1st is Children’s Day, which promises to be a wonderfully fun event with a show that the children will put up. We are looking forward to the rest of our time here!
Blessings,
Elissa
We had a good time of fellowship and prayer with Annie after dinner, as she went on to pack for the rest of her journey. We said goodbye to her early this morning. It was really good to have gotten to know her a lot more deeply and we are encouraged by her purity of faith and purpose-drivenness.
Alan and Elissa then went back to Noel’s class, taking her out to the Speech Therapist’s office to play with her, reinforcing physical coordination, helping her to sit in a chair to strengthen her core, and to encourage her to use her left hand, which has only 15% functionality. Noel had such a great time blowing bubbles, learning to vary her breath in order to get different size and speed of bubbles. She and Alan had formed this special bond where they’d dip a finger into the bubble solution and dab the other person’s nose with it. Noel would laugh and then pick up tissue to wipe Alan’s nose after wetting it. She also has relegated Alan to be the garbage thrower, pointing her finger toward the waste basket whenever something needed to be thrown away. Alan would make a big show of having to get to the waste basket, not being able to throw it in just right, making Noel double over with laughter.
Alan has found Noel to be an extremely neat and persistent little girl, with exceptional frustration tolerance: she peels every single sticker off a sheet, and places them one by one on the dry erase board. No matter how hard it was for some of the stickers to come off (one of the sets of stickers was especially sticky, designed for scrapbooking), she kept at it, without ever getting frustrated or giving up. Whenever a mistake is made in anything, she simply laughs and keeps on going.
Alan also got to witness how voracious an eater Noel is. She scarfs up food, stuffing it into her mouth before fully chewing and swallowing the previous bite. She quickly wipes off her mouth in between bites. If we laugh at her athletic approach to eating, she’ll giggle with us and then get right back to the business of eating. She can eat and eat and not stop until you stop her!
The temperature here at Tianjin has been in the 70’s and school children went to play today on the sand filled playground. They all had a wonderful time. Noel enjoyed sliding down the slide on either Alan or Elissa’s lap. She then wanted Alan to take her up the steep, curvy rungs of the ladder that seemed to be the most popular playground attraction today. When we told her Alan couldn’t do so (without risking her falling through the steps), she was one unhappy camper…until Alan tried carrying her up three steps and lifting her to the next two. Only then did she give a triumphant, satisfied smile.
Alan and Elissa then spent time with Dr. Anna Moody and had a good time of fellowship with her. The takeaway from her sharing is how much the people at SFCV value prayer support. That’s one way that absolutely anyone, regardless of ability to give financially, can vitally support this ministry. Dr. Anna suggested that Alan lead a time of worship with the kids during our stay. We are therefore thinking and planning on how to do so with “all hands on deck,” possibly on Saturday, May 28th, when the rest of team (Winsome and Katherine) will show up, along with two QCAC members who now live in Beijing: Mike and Laura, who will be joining us that day. The thought is that we can have a time of worship with all the kids with an Object Lesson and Bible Memory Verse, and then have QCAC host a meal from a neighborhood restaurant.
We also have been told that June 1st is Children’s Day, which promises to be a wonderfully fun event with a show that the children will put up. We are looking forward to the rest of our time here!
Blessings,
Elissa
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| Elissa, Alan & Noel |
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| Playing dabbing noses |
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| Alan helping Grady with English |
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| Take-out Meal |
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| House of Love Kids enjoying the food |
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| Pre-K at Play |
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| Primary Class |
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| Eric and Henry Singing |
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| Fun in the Playground |
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| Kindergarten Afternoon Free Play |
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Team AWAKE: Almost Awake
Team JAMES' spinoff, Team AWAKE (Annie, Winsome, Alan, Katherine, Elissa) arrived at Shepherd's Field this past Friday (5/13). Or, more accurately, 3/5 of the team--the "vowels"--arrived; we're operating on staggered schedules. (Speaking of staggered--we're staggering a bit, ourselves, just beginning to get over jet lag. The first morning our attempt to sleep through the night was thwarted by major construction work next door--which apparently involves setting off explosive charges at 4AM!)
So far, we've enjoyed great interactions with the children in two of the houses here -- House of Peace and House of Blessing. One of the highlights was a special dinner out; yesterday we brought some of the young girls from one of the houses to a local restaurant, where they gave us a private room. We were celebrating the eighth birthday of Noel Song, a joyfully determined little girl with cerebral palsy. The girls seemed to have endless appetites as they negotiated a parade of new foods. At the end of the meal, when Elissa explained that the evening was in honor of Noel's birthday and produced a small elegant cake, the whole room broke into singing "Dzu-ni sen er cuai-le" (Happy Birthday to you); Noels face lit up with a delighted smile. Afterwards, we wheeled the girls in their wheelchairs down the strip of shops leading back to the orphanage. We put the pedal to the metal and mounted a full-out wheelchair race, and the girls laughed their way through the friendly (but vigorous!) competition.
Yesterday, Annie, the RN on our team, made the rounds with the Village's physician, Dr. Moody. It was particularly meaningful for Annie to begin to better understand the stories behind some of the children's disabilities and also to begin to get a clearer picture of the medical needs here at Shepherd's Field. Annie is wonderfully purpose-driven, and will surely be thinking intently and creatively about how she and others might partner with the Children's Village in order to enhance the health and comfort of the kids here.
Although we're still feeling the time change, and having difficulty staying up until an appropriate bedtime, we're slowly acclimating. We really do want to live up to our team's name.
Blessings,
So far, we've enjoyed great interactions with the children in two of the houses here -- House of Peace and House of Blessing. One of the highlights was a special dinner out; yesterday we brought some of the young girls from one of the houses to a local restaurant, where they gave us a private room. We were celebrating the eighth birthday of Noel Song, a joyfully determined little girl with cerebral palsy. The girls seemed to have endless appetites as they negotiated a parade of new foods. At the end of the meal, when Elissa explained that the evening was in honor of Noel's birthday and produced a small elegant cake, the whole room broke into singing "Dzu-ni sen er cuai-le" (Happy Birthday to you); Noels face lit up with a delighted smile. Afterwards, we wheeled the girls in their wheelchairs down the strip of shops leading back to the orphanage. We put the pedal to the metal and mounted a full-out wheelchair race, and the girls laughed their way through the friendly (but vigorous!) competition.
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| Noel & Noel Joy |
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| Clarissa |
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| Will |
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| Francis |
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| Robert loving Julias' gifts |
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| Moses |
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| Alan the elevator |
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| Noel modeling clothing from Nilda |
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| Alan, Perry & Francis |
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| Noel |
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| Elissa & Noel <3 |
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| Noel beaming with Joy! |
Yesterday, Annie, the RN on our team, made the rounds with the Village's physician, Dr. Moody. It was particularly meaningful for Annie to begin to better understand the stories behind some of the children's disabilities and also to begin to get a clearer picture of the medical needs here at Shepherd's Field. Annie is wonderfully purpose-driven, and will surely be thinking intently and creatively about how she and others might partner with the Children's Village in order to enhance the health and comfort of the kids here.
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| Annie & Grady |
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| Annie & Connor |
Although we're still feeling the time change, and having difficulty staying up until an appropriate bedtime, we're slowly acclimating. We really do want to live up to our team's name.
Blessings,
Alan
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Summary of Visit to New Day & Shepherd's FIeld (January 21st to January 28th)
Note: My life in the States quickly resumed to the busy normal that is my life and blogging about my time at New Day and SFCV was put on the back burner. I apologize for the lateness of this entry and I thank you for reading. Much needed medical supplies, diapers, infant formula, as well as educational materials were purchased with the financial contributions from generous brothers and sisters. Thank you, thank you for all your prayers and support!
By His Grace,
Angela
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Friday January 21st: SLOW START… I woke up with a sore throat and cough =(, spent the morning resting in the apartment, and worked on finishing up the training material for Lillian. Elaine spent the morning in the preschool, modeling ways to incorporate speech and language activities within the classroom. The staff learned that by modifying activities and setting up the environment, the children’s speech and language skills could be enhanced.
In the afternoon, I went to New Day and participated in what Wendy termed, the first IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting at New Day (for Hannah and Jenna). Many team members were present: Hannah and Jenna’s foster parents, the preschool teacher, the speech therapist, Wendy, and the home tutors. We had a productive meeting, with everyone leaving the meeting on the same page, and with a clear idea of how to proceed forward with Hannah and Jenna’s education.
Saturday January 22nd: REST DAY 1… Elaine and I woke up real late, sometime after noon. We google chatted with each other for about 15 minutes in our separate bedrooms, before we emerged, giggling as we came out. Oh, what technology does to us.
We went into the village for breakfast(?), split a jianbing 煎餅(“yummmmmie”), walked around the village, and popped into the different shops. I bought a few children’s books with Chinese characters and pinyin with the hopes that I would learn a bit of Chinese. We spent A LOT of time in the supermarkets checking out the snacks, the baked goods and of course buying them too! We spent the entire day in the village, stopped off for dinner at our usual dumpling place, headed back to the apartment with dinner in hand, spent the evening eating snacks and watching movies on my “large”10 inch screen netbook (as compared to Elaine's 9" screen netbook)..
Sunday January 23rd: REST DAY 2: Elaine and I attended a BICF service and then went to the Great Wall.
Monday January 23rd: WRAP UP DAY
Elaine woke up feeling sick and rested in the apartment. Boy, she and I are such weaklings!
The medicine helped to alleviate the cough but I was feeling fatigued. I had a final meeting with Wendy, L-ST and Grace. It felt great to review all that we had accomplished in the two weeks. I provided them with speech therapy resources to serve as a foundation for their continued work with the children. I also offered to serve a consultant and have regular skype meetings with them. I had a sense of closure but also a great deal of sadness because I wanted to spend even more time at New Day, to develop friendships with the staff, and to spend more time with the children.
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| Left to right: Grace, Lillian, Wendy, and me |
Tuesday January 24th: TRANSITION DAY
New Day celebrated Spring Festival 春節 in the cafeteria with dumpling making, performances, and hanging out time. It was a great way to end our time at New Day and it was almost like having a party for our departure (keke).
As we left the New Day grounds and the apartment I called home for two weeks, I couldn’t help but shed a few tears. I was grateful for the amazing experiences but so sad at the thought of leaving and the uncertainty of when I would return. We were all quiet during the car ride from New Day to SFCV…
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We arrived at SFCV, first greeted by Stevie and then by Clay. I felt like I was returning home =). Clay even prepared the same room I had stayed in last year. After we dropped off our stuff in the rooms, Elaine and I got to work and met with Laura (speech therapist) and Dr. Ana, while Clay spent time with Jeff and gave him a tour.
For dinner, the three of us went to a local restaurant to eat. The food was yummie:
But… the electricity went out in the middle of dinner, so we had a ‘romantic’ candlelight dinner (LOL):
SFCV: January 26th to January 28th
Over the course of three full days, Elaine, Laura, and I assessed ten children. Elaine also gave Laura a training on cleft palate assessment and treatment. Though our stay was short, we accomplished a lot! It definitely helps to have three speech therapists present!
We made the obligatory stop at Walmart to purchase diapers and formula:
On our last night, the Moodys treated us to dinner:
I had the wonderful privilege of bearing gifts to the children from Team JAMES members:
In His Service,
Angela
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