April 09

Hey everyone, 

From fingernail painting to easter egg hunts, here a look at the fun events that have taken place during the month of April!!

God is Good

The past several months have been full ups and downs here in Luoyang. Where one bridge is miraculously built another is quickly burned. It seems that we are constantly walking on thin ice and have to take our steps skillfully and carefully.

I was having a conversation the other day with a good friend in Beijing about this. He has been doing this type of work for a long time and has weathered much bigger storms than us. He listened to me rant a bit and then simply said, "What happens is in God's hands, and God is good."

How true and beautiful is that?

It’s so humbling and freeing to know that all of this is in God's hands. Whether a door opens or closes it is up to God. When a storm rages in our hearts and we find ourselves feeling lost or confused we can find confidence in the knowledge that this is all in God's hands, and God is good.

Happy Easter

This past Sunday we had an amazing Easter celebration with the kids. A local restuarant called New Paradise provided nearly 40 of the kids with an authentic western style brunch. It was truly a sight! After, with the help of several local and foreign friends, we trucked over to a local park and had a massive easter egg hunt. I dont think Luoyang has ever seen anything like it!



Once all the eggs were discovered, our good friend Mike explained the Easter story in detail. The kids and random passerbys alike were intrigued and captivated.



No Easter would be complete without a bit of Easter egg painting so we returned to the orphanage and began an egg painting frenzy. The kids had a blast painting everything from trees and cups to Crosses.



It was truly an amazing day! Thank you to all of our friends here in Luoyang for helping make it possible and a special thanks to Tim and Melissa Bueckers for putting so much thought and effort into Sunday.

Fingernail Painting Frenzy..

Hello China Home Foundation readers.

My name is Chrissy and I have been volunteering with the CHF staff for over a month now. My Roommate Julee and I are here to volunteer with these beautiful children for the next 11 months. But I just wanted to introduce myself since I will be posting blogs for the CHF from time to time.

But we've had an amazing month here with the kids but this past week was probably been my favorite time with the girls. Julee and I thought it would be fun to buy a few things of fingernail polish to take to the orphanage to paint the girls fingernails. After the first night of painting finger nails we realized we had seriously underestimated the amount of fingernail polish little girls can apply to their fingernails. 

10 more things of fingernail polish + 3 containers of fingernail polish remover = 4 amazing nights of fingernail painting madness. 

It was impossible to walk into the "painting" room without leaving with at least 1 finger nail painted. Every night Julee and I left with at least 3 colors on our fingernails and unfortunately some of the boys were even victims of the painting madness. But of course they just turned their painted fingernail into a imaginary fighting weapon or super power. Which was equally entertaining. :)

But it was beautiful to see these girls personalities come out with the different ways they decided to "style" their fingernails. It was evident that the girls were eager to be found beautiful by someone even if that meant they had to apply 10 different colors before they got the perfect color.

 They would finish their fingernails and instantly start showing Julee and I their final product. They faces were priceless when we would tell them how beautiful their fingernails were and how beautiful they were.

 I was more frustrated at those times with my horrible Chinese language skills than ever before because I wanted to tell them about the God that created them in His image. The God that knows the amount of hair on their heads and the God that created them individually. About the God that knew them and loved them before they were even in their mothers womb. 

That nothing on this earth or in the heavens is more beautiful to God than their smiles, their hearts and their little painted fingernails.

A Great Quote from Mother Teresa

"What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful."

 

 

 

 

A Warm Welcome

We have two new exciting additions to our team here in Luoyang: Julee Hartmeyer and Chrissy Adams! They have come to work with China Home for a year and Michael and I are very excited to have them.

It's already visible how much the young girls at the orphanage long for female relationships. Bonds seemed to form instantly between Chrissy and Julee and the girls. We are all so excited to see how these relationships grow and how it will positively affect the kids at the orphanage.

Please pray that Chrissy and Julee will continue to connect deeper with the children and that God will work through those relationships!