“Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It's the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. ”
If you have been following my blog for a while, you may remember that a few weeks ago I wrote this post about coming home from China with a broken heart. I came home with a feeling that I wanted and needed to do something more for those children left behind. A feeling that no, there cannot be peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy for these children.
I did not really know what that "something" would be. I contacted some friends involved in orphan care in China and offered my help, and submitted volunteer applications to some of my favorite organizations who work with orphans in China. For weeks, I heard nothing back.
Until a few weeks ago when I received an email from Love Without Boundaries. They had found their way to my volunteer application and had an opening they felt I would be a good fit for. I was beyond excited.
If you are not familiar with Love Without Boundaries and the work they do in China, you should be. They are AMAZING. If you are on Facebook, I strongly encourage you to "like" the LWB page. Do it as soon as you are done reading this. You will find both heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of the amazing ways they are working to help orphaned and impoverished children in China in your news feed everyday.
But what you will not see on your news feed is the even more amazing things that are going on behind-the-scenes. Since joining the LWB team I have been absolutely amazed and inspired by the incredible amount of time, energy and love all of the volunteers put into serving these children. EVERY SINGLE child in EVERY SINGLE program is known and loved by these volunteers. It is truly the most incredible group of people doing the most incredible things and changing the lives of these children every day! I am so honored to be a part (albeit a very small part) of their team. It is being a part of a group of people who share this same feeling that there can never really be peace and joy for us until there is peace and joy finally for these precious children.
But what you will not see on your news feed is the even more amazing things that are going on behind-the-scenes. Since joining the LWB team I have been absolutely amazed and inspired by the incredible amount of time, energy and love all of the volunteers put into serving these children. EVERY SINGLE child in EVERY SINGLE program is known and loved by these volunteers. It is truly the most incredible group of people doing the most incredible things and changing the lives of these children every day! I am so honored to be a part (albeit a very small part) of their team. It is being a part of a group of people who share this same feeling that there can never really be peace and joy for us until there is peace and joy finally for these precious children.
So, what is my small part? Well, one of the things LWB does is bring education to orphans who otherwise would have no hope at an education. Many people do not realize that orphans in China are rarely educated. Children with any kind of special/medical need are not permitted to attend public school and receive no form of education. Love Without Boundaries is working to change this through the “Believe in Me” school program. These Believe in Me (BIM) schools go into orphanages and train teachers and set up classrooms and serve children (mostly special needs children) who may not otherwise have a chance of attending school and receiving an education. Instead of sitting in their cribs or orphanage rooms all day, these children are able to attend school and spend their day playing and learning and interacting with their classmates and teachers. This is an incredible, life-changing experience for these well-deserving children. I only wish Vivian could have experienced something like this instead of spending 22 hours a day in her crib.
I am the proud coordinator of the newest Believe in Me school located in the Lanzhou orphanage. You can read more about this school and see a few of these adorable kids in the link below. There are 34 students and all 34 of these children will need sponsors in order to continue their education.
I am including the official blog post from the LWB web page below. In this post there is a link to the sponsorship page. There are a few kids from the Lanzhou school up on the page right now, and as we (hopefully) find sponsors for these kids, we will feature other students in the school.
I would LOVE it if some of my blog readers would consider sponsoring one of these kids. You can sponsor a child at whatever amount you are comfortable with on a monthly basis, or you can give a one-time donation to a child. Either way you will then be given quarterly updates and pictures of the child you are sponsoring.
I can't wait to watch how these adorable students grow and change and blossom. I am so excited to be given the chance to be small part of bringing some joy into their lives. I hope some of you will consider being a part of this with me. If you are interested, please click on the link below. If you have any questions I would love to answer them. Please feel free to leave a comment on this post and make sure to leave an email address for me to respond to.
Love this! What a great fit for you. I would love to volunteer for LWB or another similar organization. I can't see myself ever detached from the adoption community so something like this would be amazing. Happy for you!
ReplyDeleteMaureen, How Awesome you have found what God has called you too. Mia is a Gansu girl from Qingyang City. We were in Lanzhou for the first part of our trip. It is very close to my heart because that is where they handed our precious daughter to us. Thank you for being the hands and feet to these precious children. We are waiting for LOA and we can't wait to see our sweet Cora. I have been talking to other moms that have adopted older children. We have been blessed so much by getting to know so many people who know our daughter and have been with her. Much love to you. Amber
ReplyDeleteMaureen, this is so cool :) I'm excited that you get to continue your connection to China and work to help so many kids who are still there. Awesome :)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful! I don't remember if I told you or not (we emailed back and forth a time or two), but we are moving forward with adopting a little one from China thru CCAI. We're about half way done with our home study and have all of our documents finished. Just waiting on my husband's passport to arrive. :) I started a blog: findingourchinablessing.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and read through pages and pages of your posts... the tears! Oh my, how my heart hurts for these children. My husband and I recently signed with an adoption agency in hopes to adopt a special needs child from China. Your daughter is absolutely beautiful, and I am so grateful to have found your blog. I look forward to reading it more in depth (especially those first precious days when you met Vivian.). This time, I will have the tissues handy. Thank you, thank you, thank you for blogging your experience.
ReplyDeleteKudos! It's really is quite a feat to give new life to others who are in need of it, and to stretch your resources in order to do that, notwithstanding matters of perceptions and image. Anyways, that's all extraneous concerns. It's the act that counts, long as the rights issues are rightly dealt with.
ReplyDeleteAdoption Network