Today we welcome guest columnist, Lynn Crooks, who shares a beautiful story about his experiences volunteering in a Chinese orphanage.
Lynn and his wife, Brenda, are orphan/adoption advocates in Avon, Indiana. They lead the orphan ministry at their local church, are founders of Families for the Children, and lead teams to visit orphans in conjunction with Orphan Voice. They are the parents of 3 children, 11 grandchildren, and are in the process of adopting a special needs child.
What do a business manager, a systems analyst, a computer programmer, a grade school teacher, and a college student have in common? We travelled together to an orphanage in Henan Province, China, just to play with children for a week.
And play we did! We held babies. We blew bubbles with toddlers. We played the Hokey-Pokey with pre-schoolers. We taught English to older children. We took children on outings. We even had a July 4th party to give the older children an American experience!
Babies were in rows of cribs with 2 babies in each. Many looked frail as they laid there quietly. The caregivers did the best they could, but there were too many children and too few helpers. One baby boy broke out in loud laughter with every touch or bit of attention. We tried to love on every one of them—if only a little.
Most of the school aged children, some as old as 17, have lived in the orphanage all their lives. They live in dormitory-type rooms with bunk beds and no privacy. Some were aloof to us and some curious. Many of them wanted to be with us as much as they could. Most were taking English in school so at least basic communication was possible. They asked questions about America, family, and life. Most of them showed a deep hunger to be loved, if only for a few short days.
Upon leaving the orphanage director said we made the children happy. They made us happy too. But it saddened us to leave them behind. It saddened us to know that most of them would never know the unconditional love of a family.
The Bible commands us to visit the orphans. Our team found that travelling to China is not a difficult experience. It is a short time when a few children will experience the love of Christ. Won’t you visit the children too?
For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and
check out my Exploring
Adoption bookstore.