Friday Fun at the Park

New Hope is located in a small village about 35 minutes from Beijing Airport and about an hour from downtown Beijing. The parks in the villages have exercise equipment. When we were there over two years ago, there were a few pieces of this equipment and now there are several more. It is there for all to enjoy and use to stay physically fit!

Field Trip Thursday ~ Second Group

On Thursday, 11 adults and 10 children boarded the bus for the Beijing Aquarium. It was a fun and busy day with this group! The faces of the children were precious to behold as they were mesmerized at God's amazing water creatures! What a blessing to have people who who generous provide funds for field trips. This was a very special treat for the children coordinated by Stephanie who is at hope for two months volunteering.

The decorative lights "under the sea" were so exciting to touch!

It was a long and tiring day...for adults and children!

On the road again...to HOPE!

All in a Day's Play

Field Trip - Beijing Aquarium

By Zo: This morning ten babies and ten adults/students boarded a bus at 7:30 a.m. to go to the Beijing Aquarium. Each baby was assigned to one person for the day. Beijing traffic is horrible so it took about two hours to get to the Beijing Aquarium. In China there are beautiful flowers along the roads so there is beauty to observe on the long trip.

At the aquarium, we went to the Jungle Room that had a huge variety of tropical fish. Then we saw a show with beluga whales, dolphins and seals. It was a great show with all kinds of cool tricks. We ate lunch on-site and the children enjoyed chicken fingers and fries. They were so excited to have this special lunch. The upper level of the aquarium had more fish and the children enjoyed seeing the coral reef. In preschool the children have been studying The Rainbow Fish and this field trip was planned to go with that study.

It is a special outing for the little ones to go the aquarium. Most of their time is spent on-site at New Hope. All of the orphans here have medical conditions and many have had surgery. The children play outside each day, often two or three times a day. They have preschool five days a week for about an hour a day. They are so well cared for at New Hope. Our days are filled with playing with the children and helping in preschool.

Showers of Hope

Our TLC homeschool co-op family blessed the Hope babies with several much-needed supplies. Then, our Brentwood Hills church 5th grade class gave a “Shower of Hope” on Sunday before we departed for China and the 8th grade class also provided supplies. A few adoptive families also gave us much-needed items to bring. Truly SHOWERS OF HOPE!

We left town with bags overflowing with so many blessings for the babies and those who lovingly care for them. We tried to get photos of all the items but so many came in, we missed getting photos of some blessings! It takes so many people around the world helping in big and small ways to care for these precious little sick orphans.

Hope and More Hope!

By Zo: Wednesday afternoon we arrived in Beijing. A longtime driver for Hope met us at the airport and it was wonderful to see his smiling face. We arrived at Hope to see precious babies’ faces through the glass windows of the playrooms. Our hearts were overjoyed to be at “home” with these little ones. We had a home-cooked meal with the Shooks who have been in China serving orphans for several years, their baby, and Stephanie and Emma who are volunteers for the preschool.

On Thursday morning, we went downstairs to play with babies. It made me excited and happy to see all these little ones, yet sad that they do not have parents. I helped with the first class of preschool where the children listened to a story, had a snack, did an octopus craft, and said the alphabet. The sisters helped with the other classes. Volunteers in the preschool speak English so the children hear both Mandarin and English throughout the day.

At lunch we had noodles with Chinese sauce in the canteen here. We enjoy the delicious meals that are prepared on-site for the staff and volunteers. Thursday afternoon a Show Hope team came to visit Hope to see the home and play with the babies. We were asked to join them for dinner in Beijing. We ate at Annie’s Italian Restaurant and it was fun to be with so many people who care about these children.

(Rebecca here – Seeing all these people was a reminder of how big and how small this work is. Four of the people on the trip live in our home community and were people we had never met, yet we had mutual friends and made connections quickly. God works in amazing ways through so many people to care for these precious little ones. It was also great to see some Show Hope staff who were leading this team. They are people I work with regularly about supply suitcases for travelers.)

On Friday, we played with a lot of babies and loved on them. They rushed to us and held their hands up when we entered the room. I hold the babies, tell them God loves them, walk to show the out the window, and sit and play with them. Friday preschool was “water day.” During water play, the children each had a pan of water filled with toys. Some of the babies stood in their pan, some of them dumped their water, and some just played intently with their toys in the water. It was fun time and most babies left soaking wet but contented after such a fun time in the water and bright sunshine!

After lunch we took a walk to the community small grocery. It is always fun to see the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables they have in their stores as well as so many other items. The smog has not been a problem yet on this visit.

We had dinner at a local Chinese Barbeque restaurant. Outdoor dining was fun in this nice late spring weather. Since our family always enjoys a variety of Chinese food, it was fun to try this local place about one mile from Hope in Bei Wu.

We are in China - 2016 Hope Family Trip!

We arrived safely in China on Wednesday afternoon about 3 p.m. which was 2 a.m. in our hometown! Due to numerous problems with our internet and vpn (way to get around blocks on blogspot here), we are just now getting on-line. Within a few hours there will be pictures and more details about our China Hope Trip!