Small Successes

Living in a foreign country is almost never easy, and definitely something one must feel called to before doing it. The hardest parts are being away from family and always being "the foreigner".

This morning I brought Vera to the Future Hope classroom. She played with the toys, and I watched the kids. Something to remember about the kids... A little more than a year ago some couldn't walk. Some couldn't talk. Some were afraid of strangers. We started with four kids in the Xiamen program. There are now 8 full time and a few part time. We just moved to a much larger classroom and within the next couple of weeks, 7 new kids are coming to the program.

Looking at the lives of these children before the program and looking at them now reminds me why we have chosen to live a life that is not easy. We've chosen a more difficult life, but the rewards are great. Here are some of the successes I've seen recently.

--A 12 year old boy with CP that is just learning to read and write. Today after tracing the number 16 a few times, he proceeded to write it by himself. The loop on the 6 was really difficult. If you could have just seen his smile when he figured out how to make that loop!

--An 8 year old mentally handicapped girl that used to run and yell when a stranger came near. She is receptive to the teachers, okay when new people come in the room, always smiling, and a joy to all of us!

--A 10 year old boy with CP that was "hopeless". He didn't do anything for himself. He is becoming very independent and is learning to read, write, add, subtact. He loves to sing, greet visitors, and has a big, beautiful smile. He's the star of his class!

--A three year old blind boy didn't want anyone near him when he started coming to class. Today two teachers were working with him trying to teach him to walk. It's hard to know what to do when you've never seen someone else do it.

--A 9 year old girl with CP. She has the spastic kind where her muscles are really loose, and she has trouble controlling her movements. She is unable to talk. Despite her disabilities she is VERY smart. A year and a half ago, she couldn't crawl, stand, or walk. Today I saw a short video of her walking about 7 steps from one teacher to another. She looked like a baby taking its first steps. Our special educator could only say, "It's a miracle." Noone would have ever thought we would see her walking!

For those of you who support us and our work here, thank you!