Not Everyone has a "Happy" Holiday…
Orphans by default do not ever get to experience the merriness of Christmas or the joy that is associated with the traditional holiday season. Because what makes the holidays so special? Is it not the warmth of home? Is it not the fellowship one enjoys as he or she spends time with family? Certainly the wonderful foods and sweets that fill our tables make for a great time. And who can forget the presents that are given and received? And yet the true orphan does not experience any of these things because they have no home. They have no family. And they don’t get to eat good food or receive presents because they are poor and have nothing.
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But Thanks to You Some Orphans had a Super Holiday Season!Certainly the China Mission was not able to make the holidays happy for all of China’s 600,000+ orphans this year. However, because of your love and generosity over 500 orphans got to experience a joyous and fun-filled time this past month. Thanks to you, the orphans were able to have a great time complete with food, decorations, gifts, games, laughter, and sharing. At the North Canton Christian Care Center, in particular, children and caretakers celebrated the season with a special party that involved over 60 performances including songs, skits, stories, dances and plays. Yan Xiao Mei, one of the young orphan girls acted as emcee. For many of the children, it was their first time to experience the joy of the holidays.
Thank you for making the holidays so special for these children!!!!!
Because of you, these orphans who previously had no home now have a home. Because of you, these orphans who previously had no family have a family they can be a part of. Because of you, these orphans who previously had little if nothing to eat now have food. Because of you, these orphans who previously had never known the joy of receiving a gift have received many gifts. And because of you these orphans who previously never had anything to look forward to at the holiday times can now look forward to them with excitement and joy.
Complaining or Counting?
“AHHHHH! This house is a wreck. And I hate cleaning it!”
At least you have a house. Many orphans in China live on the street, on park benches, etc. A couple years ago we found one orphan, Lu Fei, living in a haystack. Try cleaning a hay stack!
“I can’t believe the price of electricity and gas these days!”
The fact you are talking about electricity and gas probably means you have them and use them in your home. You may use gas to heat with. You probably use electricity for your lights and to power various other appliances in your home. Many orphans in China live without electricity and gas. And that means (in January) no central heat and air. It goes without saying that it is very cold without these modern conveniences!
A typical kitchen in China...how does your's compare?
“There’s nothing on TV tonight!”
TV what? Well, you guessed it; at least you have a TV. You probably have cable too. And I may be stretching it here but I bet you even have a nice comfy sofa that you sit on to watch your TV. A TV for most of China’s orphans would be considered a great luxury. Whether they had 1 channel or 100 they would be tickled pink just to have a TV.
Common New Year’s Resolutions
I just looked up the top ten most common New Year’s resolutions on an internet site and was surprised to find that #9 on the list of resolutions was to help others. Obviously it is popular to be unselfish. And that is a good thing if you ask me. Of course, “volunteerism can take many forms. Whether you choose to spend time helping out at your local library, mentoring a child, or building a house, there are many nonprofit volunteer organizations that could really use your help.” However, we all know how terrible we are at keeping New Year’s resolutions. Most of us downright stink when it comes to following through with our New Year’s commitments. Therefore I want to encourage you in your endeavor to be faithful in helping others this year. Our favorite 3 people are often “me,” “myself,” and “I.” May we look beyond ourselves, however, to see the vast sea of humanity who desperately needs our help. They are hurting. They are downtrodden. Some are depressed. Others are disappointed while still others feel lonely and afraid. Yet all long for acceptance and a loving touch. Whether it is your neighbor down the street or a poor orphan in China, may you be that loving touch to someone this year!
NTCCC Under Construction
All the children are very excited as construction at the Neil Taylor Christian Care Center is finally underway. A new 2 story dormitory is being built that will house the children. Their eyes are wide with anticipation as they look forward to the day when they will be able to move into their new home. This will be a big improvement over NTCCC’s current conditions. But not only that, it will allow us to take care of even more orphan children. 26 orphans currently live at the care center. But with the new building we should be able to house 50, almost double what we have now.
Please keep NTCCC’s construction in your prayers that the work may go quickly while maintaining safety for everyone involved.
Medical Update
Dong Meng had open-heart surgery January 19, 2007, at the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, MN. It will take several weeks of recovery before he can return to China. Dong was inoperable in China. We express our sincere thanks to the Mayo Clinic for donating approximately $140,000 to save Dong’s life.
Dong’s family are very poor farmers in China. They could never afford to bring him to the US for open-heart surgery. Now he will live a normal life. Everyday about two thousand children die in China of congenital heart disease. You can save a congenital heart disease child in China by donating two thousand dollars. For every two thousand dollars we can save the life of one child who would die without the surgery. You can give the gift of life to a dying child.
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Thank you for your generosity. Truely, you are a blessing!!!!!!!!
IN MEMORY OF
Angelyne Brown
Jim & Helen Costello
Maureen Murphy
Howard & Florence Hoshall
Les Tome
Naomi Tome
Helen Wilcox
Lee & Marilyn Wilcox
IN HONOR OF
Jim Warren
Ron & Tracie Brunk
Bill, Mary & Kaitlin Warren
Ron & Pat Brown
Mary Ann Farmer
Marvin & Mary Jo James
Scott and Kathy Ionson
