Sweet Encouragement 200/365

By Wednesday, I'll be honest.  I was tired.  Not really emotionally, just physically.  For the first time in China, I did not like the food.  I was beginning to struggle with my food choices just wanting something I thought was edible.  Well, my sweet friend from camp last year, Matt, knew I was beginning to fade.  He is on staff this year, so it gave him lots of freedoms that we didn't have.  So during lunch he surprised me with street food.  Now generally I would run from street food in China, but this time I scarfed it down like it was manna from Heaven.  It was exactly what I needed!  He also disappeared during one of our late night meetings and got me a pizza.  It tasted nothing like Pizza Hut, but it was Pizza, and I was thankful!  What was so sad is that by this point I was just so tired that I only ate two small pieces.

So, this all leads me to tell you about the people who sacrifice their entire summers to run these camps.  Simply put, they are an amazing group of young people.  They go to China long before the first campers come to camp and they prepare.  They negotiate food, bus fares, rooms, supplies, activities etc so they can run four consecutive weeks of camp in each of the four locations.  Once the last campers walk out the door, then they quickly clean up and get all the materials ready to store until the next camp year rolls around.  Then they branch out and do follow ups with the kids that we have just loved on.  They find out how we as a community can meet the needs of the lives that our now so intertwined with ours. Then, just as they would be fired from their jobs or their schools start, they head home.  Half of them are Chinese and half of them are Americans.  They all however have these huge hearts that know without a doubt that the work they do makes a difference in the lives of children that society locks away out of sight.

Back to Wednesday, we had a busy day, and I guess I really didn't carry my camera, because I only have pics of Matt.  However, I spent a good portion of my day meeting with the director of the SWI for the kids that we were serving this week. She was delightful, and we hit it off.  She and I went over all of the kids and discussed what they needed, if they were adoptable, where their paperwork was in the process, and what we could do to help her advocate and continue to fund the great things she does for the kids.  It was hard to go one by one and look at each child and to sometimes here that a child wouldn't be adoptable.  I had to choke back tears a few times so I could complete my task, but it just kinda rips your heart apart.  When watching these kids in their little family groups, it is obvious that what each one of them needs the most is a family.  But she and I both know reality well, and we know that most likely families wouldn't come for some of these kids.  Their needs are two severe, or they are approaching 14 which is when their eligibility to find a family ends so they just won't get the chance.  If that doesn't change your perspective on life, I don't know what will.

My older girl, Susan, who had her walls built up so high around her was one of those, UNADOPTABLE.  She never said it, but you could see it.  She has watched other kids come and go, and she has just been there watching.  What goes through the mind of a 13 year old when she begins to feel that she just wasn't worthy enough to be chosen?  I'll tell you what, she breaks.  And that is what I had a broken, hurt little girl.  It was after meeting with the director, that I began to pray, "Lord, let me see Susan just as you see her.  Let me get a glimpse of her heart, no matter how broken it may seem, let my eyes be opened."  Tomorrow, you will hear all about how the Lord showed me over and over the heart of this girl, and how I am forever changed!

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. Ephesians 1:18