Relationships....

"One who loves with a pure heart and who speaks with grace

will have a king for a friend"

Proverbs 22:11

I was told before this trip that it would be one of relational ministry.  In other words, we weren't going to go in and start handing out pamplets about Jesus but rather simply be the hands and feet of Jesus to the nannies and children at the orphanage.  I was fine with that.  God has blessed me with being present when a hand full of people have accepted His Son, and it has never been because I screamed at them that they had know Him or face eternal damnation.  I dont believe you bring people to His kingdom that way or by reposting things on facebook that say "if you love Jesus you will repost this in the next 15 minutes" but thats a different blog post....

Anyway, back to the point of this blog, the orphanage was much nicer than I had pictured in my head.  I am not sure why, but I had pictured pretty much sitting in the dirt with kids that were being severely neglected (just being honest).  That is not what I found at all.  I found a new, colorful building with a "PT" gym, a clinic, classrooms for school aged children, and rooms for infants to preschool age that were divided by the kids motor skills.  I found nannies that loved the kids they were taking care of and older kids having "best friends" as well as looking after the younger kids.  It was "amazing" (there is that word again).

The first morning we were there we were giving hot water with some leafy things in it, watched a video that was nicely done but in Chinese so I have no idea what it said, and taken on the tour.  After our tour, we went to our assigned rooms.  I had volunteered for the infant room because I felt that was where my skills could be best utilized due to my NICU experience.  I walked in and saw rows of cribs full of infants and smiling nannies.  The infants were dressed in several layers.  If you have ever seen the Christmas Story, you can picture what they looked like.  They use a towel the size of a hand towel and a blanket for a diaper that they hold in place with a string.  Then they put them in about 3 layers of pjs and swaddled them in about 4 blankets that are again tied on with a string.  It is like your grandmother that is always cold got to dress these babies.  They looked like little starfish lying in their beds with their arms and legs out to the side.  The nannies have a system and move quickly tending to these little ones, and if you are in the room and one of them start crying, they are not shy about handing them to you to calm down.

To the left of the room full of cribs is a play area.  There is a mat on the floor where they put the older babies.  One of the babies in that room was 8 months old according to the nannies and had a pretty devastating diagnosis.  He was, however, doing 9 month skills and looked perfect.  So if you are thinking about adopting from China (or in the US for that matter), do some research past the initial diagnosis because the baby could present completely different than the diagnosis would indicate.

The PT in me really wanted to strip those babies down and watch their muscles activate, test their reflexes and assess their tone.  I realize that might not be the best first impression to make to the nannies that were trying to keep their babies warm so I refrained.  I did, however, line about 5 of those little starfish up in a row on their tummies that first day.  There is only so much of me I can restrain at one time. I then thought I better try to explain to them exactly what it was that I was doing so I would be allowed back in the next day.  I pulled out an exercise book that had been translated into Chinese.  The nanny that was about 4'10" tall and was trying to learn English became really excited.  She pulled out this DVD that had been made for them by a diaper company that showed stretches to perform on the babies with the music to "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" playing in the background.  Yes its true; I couldnt make that up.   They continued to play this in loop for the next 4 days while I was there.  Yes, my teammates were very grateful to me that I had somehow encouraged this video to be played in loop, and if you hear me humming that tune or counting in Chinese while I'm in the NICU...now you know why.

The team leader came by and informed me that this fiery little 4'10" nanny, WL, was friends with my friend that had encouraged me to go on this trip.  Maybe this is why God sent me...to continue growing that seed (yes I am trying to figure Him out again).  WL took to the three of us that had been assigned to that room into her little circle immediately.  In fact, she had decided we were all going to be friends before we even showed up as evidenced by her writing out in English on her note pad "we are good friends".  She was so full of energy and eager to learn.  If I could have brought her home with me, I would have.  In fact, I tried but she said "I have no reason to go to Merica" so I said "next time" and she smiled and shook her head no as she made the symbol with her hand for ok. 

For now I must sign off as my kiddo is STARVING and since his older brother is getting to witness the Spurs get their rings tonight, the least I could do is feed him....