A New Missions Adventure – Visiting Orphans China!

It costs a lot of money go to China. I should know, I’ve been twice and I’m going again. This time I’m taking my daughter.

Chifeng, China
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Dates: July 23rd – August 3rd, 2011
Location: Chifeng SWI

Leader: Frank Pass
Cost: Approximately $3500-$3800 (varies depending on flight costs)

Last April I (Frank) led a Visiting Orphans team to the Social Welfare Institute in Chi Feng, China and we will go back there this July. 90% of the kids in this orphanage are special needs and some of those needs are pretty severe. I saw children with missing limbs and kids with extensive cognitive issues. I especially remember one child who could only lay in a bed. He had fragile bones. We could not play with him or even hold him. We could only stroke his hair and sing softly to him and hope that somehow he understood.

Most of the kids at Chifeng SWI will never be adopted. Many of them will never be put up for adoption and those that are will have difficulty finding a family that is equipped to handle their special needs. There are many stories that tugged at my heart, but 2 did so more than any of the others.

Li Peng Fei is 16 years old. I guess he is 17 now, and Lu Wen Hu was 13 when we saw him last. These two young men are also classified as special needs but not because of any ailment they have. They are special needs because of their age. Teenage boys aren’t cute, they aren’t cuddly and they rarely find a forever family. I remember these 2 not because of anything that was wrong with them but because of everything that was not. They are good looking young men, polite and eager to please. They are athletic and they loved throwing an American football. They even spoke English. They were perfect and there is absolutely nothing unadoptable about them except their age; but because of that they most likely never will be. I wonder if Li Peng Fei will be there this year or if because of his age he had to leave and when he does leave I wonder what will happen to him, this young man with no family.

Li Peng Fei and Lu Wen Hu are why we visit orphans in China. Yes we send teams so that those who go will feel the call to adopt and so some of the children that we visit will find homes, but mostly we go for those children who never will – because regardless of their special need, they are perfect in God’s eyes.

Visiting Orphans will send many teams to Africa this summer and every one of them is needed, and then some. Most of the sites we go to in Africa will receive multiple teams and that will not be enough. We will send 5 teams to China this year and 1 to Chifeng. As far as I know, no other outside group will visit these children. If we don’t go no one else will. In a country that values the collective over the individual and tells orphans they are useless, we will be the only ones to tell these children that they are valued. At present we have 5 signed up. It’s not nearly enough.

If you are reading this maybe it’s because you are supposed to. Maybe God wants you to go to Chifeng this year and tell Li Peng Fei and Lu Wen Hu that you came just to see them. Maybe you’re supposed to pass this on to someone so they can go. I don’t know. I do know that more of us are supposed to go.

Yes, going to China is expensive, but it costs far more to stay home.

Thank you- Frank Pass

If you would like to visit orphans in China with me and meet my friends Li Peng Fei and Lu Wen Hu, email me at frank.pass@visitingorphans.org or check out our China page at www.visitingorphans.org.

UKRAINE BONUS TRIP:

There are 100,000 orphans in Ukraine. Most of these are social orphans which means they have 1 parent who either cannot or will not care for them. Alcoholism, prison, abandonment and neglect have forced these children to live in institutions and to live a life with very little hope. Eastern European orphanages can be very dark places. The conditions and the statistics are sobering and that is why we go – because when we visit orphans, we bring light to the darkness, hope to the hopeless, and most of all a Father to the fatherless.

This August Visiting Orphans will partner with Touched by Grace to visit orphans at the Babynest Orphanage in Ukraine. Babynest houses 130 orphans age 6 and under and Touched by Grace is helping to transform it into a place of joy and love. Our team will do painting and other work to improve the physical condition of the facilities, we will bring in much needed supplies and most of all we have the privilege to be moms and dads and brothers and sisters to children who have none. Through our presence, our time and our touch we will let these precious children know that they are loved, that they are valued and that they have a heavenly Father who loves them.

Won’t you join us this August as we visit orphans in Ukraine. Sign up at our websitewww.visitingorphans.org