To China With Love - OPEN for Business

I've been a little quiet on the web for a few weeks, but incredibly BUSY!

I share a LOT about the kids we met at the orphanage.

Words fail me to share about all I've watched God doing in the lives of these children and the families He has called to grow through adoption.  Miracles happening every day!

I often share, especially on Facebook, about the Storyteller Missions team that I will be leading in November to return to the same orphanage.  There are still a few openings for more volunteers...???

AWAA Storyteller Mission Trip November 12-22, 2015

What I don't share much about has been that my family has been hoping, dreaming, and planning to all return with another AWAA Storyteller Missions team in July...

From the moment our plane landed and Miranda and I began sharing our stories about our time with the children and staff at the orphanage, my kids' hearts began to catch the fire of our passionate love for "our China family."  My teenage sons' envisioned shooting hoops on the orphanage playground with the older boys and inspired other team members to collect donated, new soccer balls the team could pack in suitcases to replace the paper and tape balls they saw children playing with in our photos.  Our little girls may not have quite the vision of what they will be able to do for the children and staff at the orphanage, but their lives share the story and testimony of hope for so many of these waiting children.

Dreaming...Advocating...Recruiting...LIVING LIFE have all taken center stage...so I let one thing slide off my mom radar...

How to fund a Wade World Family Mission Trip to China?!?!?

Random comments about "Maybe we should start fundraising soon?" between my husband and I never quite materialized into ACTION.

Now the days, weeks, and months until we are schedule to depart on July 16 are rapidly approaching!

ONLY 88 DAYS!!!!

Uhm...plane tickets, passports, visas...with no fundraising support?

So I proposed a idea to my Facebook friends a few weeks ago...

...a this little idea exploded in a new direction...

...announcing the Grand Opening of...

the TO CHINA WITH LOVE Etsy Store!

To China With Love

Our original inspiration was the artwork project we did with the kids at the orphanage.  

Our family has produced some of our own paintings.

 Then we got really crafty and created some rustic wooden wall art too.

Still feeling lots of creative energy here in Wade World!  Thinking about exploring painting on canvas instead of wood?  Editing some photographs taken over years on our journeys to China to offer as prints.  

Stop by our shop!  Share with your friends!  

I never dreamed or desired a "business."  So this adventure is for the sole purpose of continuing to support our family's mission work with this orphanage in China, for the children we love.

Longing

As Winter turns to Spring, Track & Field season practices are off and running!  

My 8th grade middle school son climbs into my car each afternoon with sore, aching muscles, tired and hungry.  Throwing a shot or discus for the first time.  Discovering whether he is a fast-twitch sprinter or truly a slow-twitch cross country, long-distance runner.  Braving the hurdles with determination to master the pace, stride, and form to fly with courage.

Tuesday afternoon, however, I attended one of my most track practices of each year…

Special Olympics Track & Field Practice

Each year, Peiwu joins  her friends to prepare for the annual Special Olympics Track & Field Meet.  Last year, the actual meet had to be canceled due to severe weather, so the two practices became the defining moments of her experience.

My Princess participates in all the events she can:  

100 meter dash,

softball toss,

and standing long jump.  

Her favorite part?  

Medals, 

friends,

and potato chips with her lunch.

As the three coaches divided the children at practice into three groups, I followed Peiwu's group outside to practice running or walking to race on the track.  The coach walked to the finish line to time each child and asked me to help call out the start for each racer so she could record the most accurate practice time.  Even after Peiwu's group finished, I continued to help the coach with each child.

SO MUCH FUN!!!

Whether walking or running, rabbit fast or chasing a turtle, my other daughter Keziah and I cheered each athlete down the sidewalk.

I love working with kids!  Discovering each child's name, helping them place their toes on the starting line and face the right direction, rehearsing "On your mark.  Get set, GO!" so they knew when to start, and then landing them into their own race, filled my heart with so much joy and delight.

In the midst of all our fun, I suddenly felt the familiar ache and pain of my heart.  Face-to-face with a new little friend and then cheering his walking race down the sidewalk, while silently praying that his muscles, rigid and stiff from cerebral palsy do not cause him to trip, stumble, and fall, my heart longed to return to see "my China kids."

250 days ago I met these precious children.  We didn't speak the same language but communicated volumes during our days together.  So many of the older boys we met had Down's Syndrome and cerebral palsy, yet we laughed and played together.

The ache in my heart from missing these children has not diminished as the days have passed.  Instead, the longing to return to see them again grows stronger each day.

The staff at the orphanage told us that only an average of 15 children were adopted each year.  Knowing that 25 children have already gone home or been matched with their family and now wait to meet their mamas and babas to go home leaves me humbly amazed each day.  Watching the daily miracles God performs to bring families and children together just overwhelms me.

I have posted on Facebook and even written in this blog about the America World Storyteller Missions team (formerly called ACT Mission Trips) I will be leading in November to return to this same orphanage.  But I haven't posted much about another team that will be returning in July.  The July team is full to overflowing with volunteers, primarily because not only are Miranda and I planning to return with this team but my hubby and four of my other children are also longing to travel to China and serve the children in this orphanage.

Today, I'm sharing this with you because we will need the support of an army of prayer warriors on the front lines and on their knees.

Plus as hard as this is for me to ask, we will also need some financial assistance to make it happen.  I always long to be independent and self-sufficient, but God desires for me to obediently ask others for help and to join the mission and the blessing of this journey through your donations.  Though crowd fundraising sites are popular and often effective, part of the donation us used to pay for the service and fees.  If you feel called to help our family return to an orphanage in China to love on the children and staff, please use the Storyteller Missions donation site.  Just make sure to add the note that your donation is for my family and the July 2015 trip to Guangdong. - Storyteller Mission Donate

Thank you!  Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support.

QUINN!

Sooooooo excited!!!  

Just learned today that one of the darling boys we met in July is available for adoption!!!

Introducing...

QUINN

Quinn is such a sweetheart!

A darling 8 year old BOY!

Yep, all boy!  

Loves boy things like playing with Legos or watching cartoons on TV or playing with his foster siblings.

Yes, you read that correctly!  Quinn is currently living with a Love Without Boundaries sponsored Foster Family.  He also started school for the first time in his life.

We had so much fun with Quinn and all the kids this summer.  Our very first day at the orphanage, the children entertain us as their guests with a wonderful performance!  Singing, dancing, costumes, and makeup on everyone.

Quin performed in several numbers.

On of my favorites told the story of animals boarding a bus.  Such a cute little gray bunny he was!

He was a bit quiet and shy but also appeared very comfortable with his friends.

When we did an art project with the children, my teammate Gretchen's art buddy.  They had a wonderful time together, and he was so helpful as they created their masterpiece.  On our last day, the children presented their art buddy with the framed picture we created together.  Such a treasure!

Oh course, like so many of the kids, he LOVED having his picture taken and loved all our cameras.

Della, our guide, took quite a few selfies with some of her favorite kiddos, including Quinn.

From the perfomance on Monday afternoon, to playtime outside in the courtyard, I captured a few moments of video...

A quiet, curteous, fun-loving, well-mannered, endearing little boy...

Quinn waits for his family to bring him home!

Has he touched your heart, like he touched mine?  

Are you looking into the face of your son?  

Or can you share his story with others, to help his family find their son? 

Or do you long to become a storyteller for children like Quinn who wait?  I still have a few more openings for team members to join the ACT Missions Trips team I will be leading November 12-22, 2015, to return to the orphanage that has been Quinn's home for too long, to love on the children and the staff who care for these precious kids, and to give voice to their stories.

******************************************

UPDATE - Quinn (or AWAA's Bryce) has a family reviewing his file.  Prayers appreciated that they can move forward with his adoption.

Empty Jars

I don't think I've written anything about this here yet?

November 12-22, 2015

trip details

I will be leading another ACT Missions Trips team scheduled to return to the same orphanage our July 2014 team visited!

I was typing a Facebook message to a friend.  Every time I see her face pop up on my newsfeed, I hear this whisper to my heart.  She’s one of MANY people I have asked about joining my team who makes absolutely no sense to my logical and ordered brain (I do have a left-side that operates occasionally!).  As my fingers were flying across the keys, this story from 2 Kings 4:1-7 came to mind…

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

I HATE asking for help!
Actually, I HATE asking for anything.

Recruiting and fundraising are killer for me, because I have to become vulnerable enough to be rejected, again.  “No,” just hurts sometimes.

God has really ramped up this obedience thing He’s asking of me!  It’s not like I’m sending out random requests to my entire list of contacts, but He is bringing very specific names and faces to mind.  Even when I could help them write their long list of reasons why they are saying, “NO!” He keeps wanting me to obey and ask.  

I loved this widow story since I first discovered it a few years ago.  It’s not the prophet, widow, and oil story that I grew up hearing repeatedly.  This story intrigued me most because the prophet Elisha instructed the widow to actively become a part of the miracle of God’s provision.  She had to knock on door after door after door of all her neighbors and ask for empty jars.  God filled every jar!  

I often wondered if she questioned in reflection about the door she didn’t knock on and the jars she didn’t ask for?  I’ve pondered how humbling this task must have been.  Begging for more emptiness.  

God required her to have expectant anticipation, hope and light in her darkness and despair.

The friend I was messaging today is in one of those empty places in her life right now.  

Yet this is what God desires of us all, as leaders and team member volunteers who join us.  He does not ask us to come to Him full of ourselves and all we can bring or give or do.  He wants our empty vessels to come before Him.  He will fill us, to be poured out for His glory, as we enter into His love story.

Packing My Suitcase!

Do your feathers ever get ruffled?

Do you get extremely agitated?

Do you ever just want to find an enormous soapbox to stand on so you can shout out to the whole world,

"WHY?!?"

Or is it all just me?

Well, I'm having a moment that I just can't ignore today!!! 

As our ACT Missions team prepared to asy our good-byes to the children we had spent a week falling in love with more and more each day, I fought against the urge to pack all the kids in my suitcase to bring them home.

(Yes, I know that is totally unrealistic and impossible!)  

It wasn't that I wanted to fill my own home beyond capacity, but I just knew that if families could meet these precious kiddos then all the big, scary words used to describe conditions and diagnoses would fade away.  I knew the joy of their laughter that warms your heart, even on a 100 degree, hot and humid day.  I saw their potential and caught glimpses of so much hope for their futures, outside the walls of an orphanage in China and home with a loving and supportive family.  I knew that dates on calendars and chronological ages didn't matter when you are face-to-face with a child longing to be loved.

And...I was right.

TWO members of the November team  that returned to the same orphanage fell in love and felt the urge to bring one of the children home! (uoY KnahT (flip-flopped) and  An Unfinished Fairytale)

Other children whose referral files were not yet prepared for adoption when we left China recently became available, and the flood of requests to adopt some of these children was unbelievable!  More than 20 interested families for children the orphanage staff was uncertain if any family would welcome into their home!?!

So what has me all fired up today?

All the others who are still waiting...

"Caleb"

Caleb blog link

Caleb is such a great kid!  I have no idea why he is still waiting?  Even with a $4000 Love Without Boundaries grant available to his adoptive family (LWB grant info), he continues to wait.

"Logan"

Logan blog link

Such a sweet boy!  Quiet and contemplative at times, but still all boy...and still waiting.

"Jessa"

Jessa blog link

Our entire team waited with great anticipation for her file to become available!  We knew that her family would be so blessed by this darling girl that her file would be matched in a flash!  But she's waiting?

"Marie"

Marie blog link

Such a tiny baby girl when we met her in July.  She had only recently arrived at the orphanage and was still so visibly shocked and traumatized by the loss of her first family.  But even during that one week we spent with her, we watched her begin to emerge from her shell with love and attention.  Her needs seemed so minimal and manageable, we again believed her family would find her as soon as her file arrived, and yet she waits.

"Pia" and "Izzie"

Pia-Izzie blog link

America World had "Izzie's" file for three months, and no family stepped forward to bring her home. Now Great Wall China Adoptions has her file as "Pia," and still this sweet little girl waits for her family.

"Charlie"

Charlie blog link

His smile is ever present!  He's such a darling boy.  When his family brings him home, he will have access to better nutrition and care, education and physical therapy beyond what he currently receives.  He waits for a family to declare him worthy of love.

"Brandon" 

I don't have a blog link for this little boy, but he is such a playful sweetheart!  He just needs a family.

I just don't understand why all these children are waiting?
Especially, when I also know of so many families waiting for find their son or daughter?

Well, y'all can join me on another ACT Missions Trip team schedule to return to visit the same orphanage, November 12-22, 2015 (2015 team information)  Or I am serious, y'all!  I might need to explore my luggage options to find a way to bring all my kids home!

*****

Information about all of these children can be found through the America World website AWAA Waiting Children

Except for Pia whose file is currently with Great Wall China Adoptions GWCA Waiting Children

An Unfinished Fairytale

When I stepped on a plane bound for China, I thought that a mission trip experience would be defined by the 10-days on the calendar, the six-days we spent at the orphanage and with the staff.  I knew there would be some loose ends to tie up once we got home, but i envisioned an end.

Does that sound harsh or uncaring?

I've heard about "life-changing" mission trips, but typically people re-enter "normal" life and their experience becomes a part of their life.  Rarely have I watched anyone become consumed by a little mission trip, and if they do…well…uhm…they just seem kinda weird and gradually they pull away from "normal" people, so they aren't quite so in-your-face with their passion.

Okay…just read that…harsh, uncaring, judgmental, icy cold hearted are a few censored words that come to mind to describe my attitude.  

So, I went on a little mission trip to China…

…and I never came home…

…a part of my heart remains in an orphanage on the other side of the world…

,,,other parts of my shattered heart have scattered into all the families who are bringing home "my" China sweethearts.

These children fill my thoughts and prayers every day.  I can't close the door and walk away from this experience.  I have become consumed.

The stories of all these children, and their families, and all the connections and intersections of lives from around world blows my mind!!!  Honestly!  I could never make up some of this stuff!

Today, one little Princess I fell in LOVE with has overwhelmed me, again!

I can tell the stories of other children, I can love them, but they never entered that sacred place in my mama's heart where they are loved as one of my own.  This darling girl…I truly love her as a daughter. I have begged my husband to consider adopting her.  I have shed more tears and prayed more prayers over this baby girl!

Seen By The Unseen One - My Story of JOY

The ACT Missions team that returned to the same orphanage had another team member fall in LOVE with this same Princess.  This young lady, however, was still a teenager so she was asking her parents to consider adding a little sister.  Her mama said yes, but her daddy sounded like a exact copy of my own husband's arguments against.

Another piece of this princess's story…

A family fell in love with her, they pursued her adoption, traveled to China, met this Princess, and then…

...fears, doubts, challenges, struggles…

...the enemy attacked with a full onslaught…

…and the family disrupted the adoption, the princess was returned to the orphanage, and the family returned home brokenhearted with empty arms.

In May, hearts were crushed, dreams were lost, and a fairytale ended…

…or so it seemed…

But God has been writing this story! 

And He's not done yet!

To save you a bit of the head spinning from the unbelievable, impossible, unimaginable plot twists and turns woven together in this fairytale, I will shorten this a bit…

*  I "met" the First Adoptive Mama through the internet.
*  I "found" the referral file of the princess with another agency.
*  I "met" another adoptive mama interested in adopting the princess.
*  I "introduced" First Mama to the New Mama.
*  I connected the New Mama to the November ACT team leader.

That's a whole lot of "I"…but the real star of the story is GOD!  

He is writing this story, all for His glory!  

I am so humbled that He has allowed me to sit on the sidelines while He orchestras and creates a 

masterpiece!

Today, First Adoptive Mama shared links to two blog posts...

#1 A New Perspective

#2 He Is Not Finished

Did you read these?  Is your mind blown?  Yes, you read that right!  First Mama is advocating to help New Mama's family bring the Princess home!!!

From Monday morning needing $3,300 by Wednesday, the family received $2,450 in donations by Monday evening so they needed just another $950 for this stage of the adoption!!!

What is God asking of you?  What is your part of the story He is writing?  Are you called to adopt?  Is He asking you to become a storyteller by joining a missions team?  Are you financially able to assist a family adopting or some one traveling as part of a missions team?  Are you a prayer warrior on the front lines for a family or a missions team?

Don't miss your opportunity to enter into this fairytale of God's passionate love for all!

"uoY knahT" (flip-flopped)

So are you familiar with the oldie but a goodie Ray Boltz's ballad "Thank You"?  

The image of a person arriving in heaven and being greeted with the people and stories of how lives intersected and were impacted through this one person's life.  A crowd wishing to express their gratutude.

"Thank You" by Ray Boltz

This song came to mind today as I pondered the picture in reverse...

A great crowd gathered around one person with joy and thanksgiving for the honor and privilege to have been a part of the magnificent story God was telling through this one person's life!

In the middle of this celebration, I saw one beautiful, smiling face...

THE MAYOR!!!!

Just in case you haven't ever read anything I've written before about our time in China...

There's No Crying In Football

Boys

15

I LOVE THIS BOY!

And I have longed for his family to find him and bring him home!

Our whole family prays for The Mayor and his family.  Stories of our time with him in China are frequently repeated and often requested.  Keziah has even asked, more than once, why we didn't just adopt The Mayor so he could have a home and a family?

So hard to explain this feeling...

...but...

...The Mayor is not my son.

My love for him is strong, passionate, and slightly possessive, but it is not the love I feel for my own kids, my six-pack of sons and daughters.

I love him like children I have babysat for, teens I've worked with in dramas, Kids Choir kids, Children's Worship kids, friends of my own kids...lots and lots of kids.  Some I categorize as part of a whole group.  Some claim a special part of my heart.  They may never know how dear they are to me, but I love silently watching them grow and mature even if from a far.  Memories tigger spontaneous prayers.  They have become my special kids.

The children we met in China in July have become part of that special-to-my-heart group...and yet at a new, more intense level all their own.  "My" China kids are like family.  I stepped into an orphange and discovered  I'm an "Auntie" to 40-50 kids.  The care, concern, and love I feel for these children daily!  It truly hurts my heart!  They are all so far away.

I must confess, though, the joy I experience each time I learn one of my sweethearts has been matched with their family, or when one of them comes home, or watching them grow and blossom through cyber images and the typed stories from their new families...

...Y'all!  I struggle to find words to express the overwhelming, emotional flood of Joy, pure, unfettered, boundless JOY!!!

My best comparison would be the stories people tell about the emotional experience they feel at the birth of their first child.  How suddenly they discover a new and different kind of love, joy, pleasure and pain that is indescribable and inecsapable for the rest of your life.  This new realtionship changes you at the core, from the inside out, forever.

Yep!  

That works!  

That's what happened to my heart in China!  

I "gave birth" to an entire new family of 50 kids and exploded this new found life changing love inside me.

I can't watch it fade away, 

I can't forget it, 

I can't get over it, 

and I don't want to!

So, back to The Mayor...

Yesterday, I began casually reading a recent blog posting from a team member who visited the same orphange in November...

Loving the Least of These

I had to stop reading silently, I couldn't focus, I couldn't process the words, so I began reading it aloud to my two little girls in the room with me.

BIG UGLY CRYING!!!

Snot dripping from my nose, tear streaked cheeks, damped shirt from the flood, hypervenhilating as I attempt to read and comprehend each word!

The Mayor has a family!

He is loved and chosen!

He will come home!

Let's just say, that blog post has created quite a celebration!  

Because God has been writing this story since the beginning of time.  He has intecritly woven together so many lives and hearts centered around this charimatic, hysterically funny, naturally strong leader, SMART, talented boy!  Every team, every team member who has visited this orphanage has fallen in love with him!  You can't really walk through the doors without encountering him, becoming engaged in his plan, and being enchanted by his personality PLUS!

I've tried to warn the family...

PARTY AT YOUR HOUSE!!!

...once this extroverted, social butterfly lands.

We all just long to see our buddy!  Long to see him home!  Long to see him take the world by storm!!!  Cuz trust me on this one, HE WILL!

So my mind created that beautiful new imagery today...

all the lives of all the people who have loved The Mayor...

surrounding this boy in the throne room of his Heavenly Father, his Big Daddy God...

a celebration of thanksgiving for the honor and priviledge of being a part of The Mayor's chapter in God's story!

All these precious children and the stories God is writing through their lives, the beauty mingled with the broken pieces, rising from the ashes...I am so humbled to watch the pages turning before my eyes and witness mysteries unfolding...so many...too numerous recount them all...too complexly intertwined to unravel...and yet...so many unfinished...so many waiting to be told.

The only ending I can find for this post is ask a question...

DO YOU WANT TO GO TO CHINA?

Another America World ACT Missions Trips team will be returning November 12-22, 2015, to continue the story.  (ACT Missions Trip information)  Will you be a part of the celebration party in heaven as we gather together to rejoice in the Greatest Story Ever Told?  What part will you play?