(Wo3de xin1zang4 shi4 can2 po4 de.)
Fifteen thousand have died in and around Sichuan Province in central China after a devastating earthquake. Though my friends in Beijing are alright and not injured, my heart breaks for the country that I love second only to the US. Somehow the faces that I see feel like family to me. I am stunned and aching over the incredible magnitude of the loss there. Outside a demolished building in Dujiangyan - parents mourn as the bodies of their children are pulled from the wreckage of the middle school there. Estimates are that 900 children were in the school at the time of the earthquake. For many of these families, this is their only child. This child was to have supported them in their old age and visited the monuments of the ancestors on Grave Sweeping Day to burn incense for them.
Since our visit to China for three weeks last May, its people have rarely left my mind. I have prayed for the last year that God would show me how to serve Him in China. If I could, I would move there to do full-time medical work. If I could, I would adopt again. Right now, neither of these things are a possibility for us. What the future holds for me is in God's hands but He knows that my heart is willing to go and to work where He would have me be.
I wish I could go now and help the wounded and the grieving. The government is allowing foreign aid but not foreign relief workers in at this time. Right now, I do what I know God has given me to do. I pray for China every day. I send financial help when I can. I keep my eyes open for ways He has for me to help.
I look into the the beautiful brown eyes of my daughter and I hold her close. I struggle to learn Mandarin.
Someday if I am honored to be called to do a different work for God in China or for China, I will be ready.
Here is a wonderful link to information about this tragedy:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/chengdu
Here is a link to for sending help:
http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/international/earthquake/china080512.aspx
In the face of this tragedy, God shows me how good He is. I have been praying for sometime for Seth, a baby at the Foster Home we visited. We have sponsored him for awhile and I secretly dreamed we could adopt him. I emailed all the special needs agencies and amazingly, I found his file. I had contacted the agency and they were thrilled to find an interested family. They had his file for some time and hadn't had any really interested families. I prayed about it and it was obvious that we can't adopt again right now (maybe never - who knows). So, I was a little sad but I started sending out messages about him on the adoptive family email groups I am a part of. I have had a tremendous response!! The adoption agency called me today just gushing with excitement. They have had ten families interested in him!!! Seth will have a Mama and Daddy to love and care for him forever and God is so good.
Lord, pour Your love and comfort out on China and her people.
Lori
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