It was an especially cold winter in 2008.  Never before has it been so cold in Hainan. The temperature went below 10 degrees Centigrade and on some days were at even 6 or 7.  Everyone was seeking refuge under layers and layers of warm comfort….but not this little girl.

 

Mong Yee, a little girl of 8 years of age was adopted by her parents, when as a baby, she was abandoned by her biological mother.  Her adoptive parents with a son of their own, could barely support themselves with their irregular income as contract workers, shared a house with their extended family.  Home comprises the centre portion of a long and narrow house with Mong Yee’s uncles and their families residing at the front and back portion.  With hardly any furniture dotting their living quarters, Mong Yee and her adoptive parents had to sleep on cold hard floor, atop a layer of linoleum and straw mat and having just a thin layer of moth eaten blanket for covering.  Unable to take the cold, her nose was bleeding throughout much of the winter.  Blessings came in the form of a new metal frame bed, a thin mattress (at least it is away from the floor) and a nice fluffy piece of comforter.

 

Mong Yee was also placed in the Sponsor-A-Child program and when we next saw her in April, her nose was no longer bleeding and she was quick to welcome us into her portion of the house, to show off her bed!  Praise the Lord.

 

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Life Stories - Pang Mei

 

Those who look to Him are radiant……Ps 34:5

Pang Mei, a 9 year old girl abandoned by both her parents and constantly hearing words of rejection and condemnation from her caregivers, is affectionately dubbed the “Little Girl who could not smile”.  It seems such a cruel thing to say about her but it is true.  In all our visits, 4 so far, not only would she or rather could she not smile even once, her face was always expressionless, a total blank!  Each time we visit, we plied her with sweets, balloons, cute stationeries, stickers and lots of hugs, trying to coax her into smiling or to solicit some kind of response…… but we always met with blank.  However, this February, we were much encouraged by a slight nod of her head in response to some of our questions.  Someone then had the revelation and wisdom that we should perhaps buy her some toys and let her discover or retrieve the lost joy of childhood.  This we did.  She was much awe struck by the boxes and boxes of toys and she was also probably thanking the Lord that all these uncles and aunties have not given up trying to get her to smile.  We believe we shall have good news to bear at the next update.

 

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Life Stories - The Lu Ma Sisters
 

 

 

Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say Rejoice….Phil 4:4

There is one sister missing in this picture taken in February ’07. She was hiding in the kitchen, being simply too shy and uncomfortable in the presence of strangers to want to leave the perceived safety of the kitchen. That was the first time we met this family of pre-believers, all with sullen faces and extremely awkward with us no matter how much we try to draw them out with treats and kind words.  They were then, threatened with disruptions to their education as their father was simply too poor to continue sending all four to school.  They were placed in the program and this February, we were greeted with smiling faces, all eager and anxious to welcome us to their home.  The missing sister was leading the brood as head of the welcome party.  She was chatty and happy and they were all definitely smiling.