WHEN YOU THINK OF CHINA, WHAT COMES TO MIND?
Do you think "BIG?" Yeah, China is a big place.
Do you think about the "Great Wall"? Yep, China is home to the Great Wall.
Do you think about "Chinese food?" Ummm, Chinese food is really good.
Do you think about the "Forbidden City" or "Tiananmen Square?" Yes, those are 2 very significant sites in China, both historically and culturally.
And the list could go on... Jackie Chan, Kung Fu, NBA--Yao Ming, booming economy, communist...
But I want to CHALLENGE you to look beyond the peripherals (the Wall, the food, and all the other interesting stuff you know about China) and I want you to see the people. Yes, the people (1.3 billion of them). And then more specifically, scattered among the people you find the orphans. There are hundreds of thousands of them, even millions. You see them and they are dirty. Some of them are homeless. Most of them are helpless. Where is their next meal coming from? How will they clothe themselves and keep warm? How can they go to school without money for supplies or books? With no mother or father to nuture and raise them up, who will be their guide?
The questions outnumber the answers and yet the questions do not go away. The questions demand answers. The subject is too important. And the orphans are too precious to be ignored. Will you hear their cry for help? Will you stand in the gap to say, "Yes, because Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him."
CHINA…CONVENIENT?
“Come!” shouted Taylor to the fisherman. “Drag over this spot. A man sank here and is drowning!”
“It is not convenient,” was the unfeeling reply.
“Don’t talk of convenience!” cried the missionary. “A man is drowing.”
“We are busy fishing and cannot come.” they responded.
When Taylor urged them to come at once and offered to pay them, they demanded to know how much. His offer of $5 was refused. He then said: “Do come quickly and I will give you all the money I have – about fourteen dollars.” Finally the boat was brought and the hooks let down. Less than a minute was required to bring up the body but all efforts at resuscitation failed. Life was extinct.
The Lord Jesus commands me, commands you: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." And specific to our work in China, we are told to "visit orphans and widows in their trouble."
Shall we say to Him, “No, it is not convenient?” Shall we tell Him that we are busy at fishing or other businesses and cannot go or cannot help?
May we never be too busy for the LORD or his little ones!
THE GIFT OF LIFE
Questions about the value of life involve some of the most important considerations made in the fields of religion, medicine and medical ethics. How do we make decisions regarding the value of a given life, and who ought to make these decisions, is difficult to discern. How valuable is a life?
Since our first open-heart surgery in China, we have saved the lives of 142 children. All of these children would have died in a few months or years without the life-saving surgery. Today, they are leading normal and productive lives because many people decided their lives were valuable.
This year, we will conduct another Gift of Life open-heart mission to China. In 2007, we propose to save the lives of one hundred indigent children. Fifty will be saved by the Gift of Life medical mission. The cost to save each life will average about fifteen hundred dollars ($2,000.00) per child. The same surgery in the US would cost between fifty and one hundred thousand dollars. We feel that $2,000.00 is a very small investment to save the life of a poor child in China.
We would like to give you an opportunity to be part of this great program. You may give as little or as much as you desire to help save the lives of these children who will die without open-heart surgery. Each donor will be assigned a child and you will receive a report on the surgery and recovery of the child. We would encourage you to write to your child and, hopefully, they will also write to you.
Your contribution to the Gift of Life should be mailed to the Peachtree City church of Christ, 201 S. Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City, GA 30269. Please consider the value of life and send your donation today. You can have a part in saving a life which has great value.
Dong Meng after sucessful open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in January
DELTA SKY MILES TO SAVE LIVES OF CHINESE CHILDREN
Delta Airlines has permitted the Peachtree City church of Christ (China Mission)
to collect Delta Sky Miles into one account for the transporting of congenital heart
patients to and from China. These children will die unless we can bring them to the US for
open-heart surgery. We bring the children who are inoperable in China. US hospitals
donate their services free of charge or at reduced rates to complete the open-heart surgeries.
Would you consider donating Delta Sky miles or letting us write a ticket on another airline
which flies to China (United, Continental, Northwest or American) using your sky miles.
If you would like to be a part of this program, please contact Ron Brown, Peachtree City
church of Christ, 201 S. Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City, GA 30269 or
ronbrown20@charter.net for more details on this program
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your generosity as well as your love and care for the children in China!
IN MEMORY OF
Ron Latimer
Mary Anne Hayes
Liz Tune
Hillsboro Church of Christ
