The SFCV Journal

On February 2, fifteen-month-old Ginger will go to the hospital for a two-week evaluation period by the surgeons.  They will determine whether she will need one or two surgeries–she has a chest/heart deformity and an abdominal deformity, both of which need to be corrected.  The surgery may happen in that two week period, or just after the two week period, or “not for quite some time.”  Please cover Ginger in prayer!  Cover the doctors–both the surgeons and our medical team, as they make life-changing decisions.  It’s a miracle that Ginger has survived as long as she has with so little medical intervention.

The surgery costs are about US$15000, and thanks to the efforts of PHF friend, Dawn Choate, we’ve already raised half of the funds needed, and this amount will get her into the hospital.  Other costs will include the nanny who will stay with her, transport to/from the hospital, and post-op care.  If you are interested in helping sponsor Ginger’s surgery and after-care, please go to http://www.chinaorphans.org/donate.htm and mark it “Ginger’s Care,” or go to www.healinghannah.com.

It’s her eyes that catch you first–the sparkle, the curiosity.  And then you notice her thin, turned-in legs and her inability to lay on her back, a result of the spina bifida that first brought her to us.   Usually, the holidays find us with many children in hospital, but in the last month or so, ten-month-old Lily-Diana is the only one to have stayed in hospital.  Doctors are to determine today whether she’ll need another shunt surgery tomorrow to help correct the hydrocephalus (water in the brain) that was discovered after she arrived.  We hope you’ll join us in praying for complete healing for her, that her body would respond to her current shunt and that she would grow in strength.

Without speaking a word, nine-year-old Moses seems to catch just the right chord in so many visiting hearts.  He arrived three years ago, with multiple special needs, including total hearing loss, an unrepairable heart condition, and dwarfism.  Though he attended school at Little Lambs–and was much loved by his house nannies, he was clearly struggling with his inability to communicate.  His frustration translated into more and more aggression towards his housemates, nannies, and himself.  We needed to do something different.

My assistant, Shelby, and I traveled to a few different deaf schools, including one in Kaifeng, to find a good fit for our boy but met with little success.  And then, one day, Shelby saw someone signing outside of her apartment building and went up to ask the lady if she knew of a school in Langfang for deaf children.  The woman’s sister taught at the school, and she gave Shelby some contact information.  A few days later, we arranged a tour and decided it was a good fit.

But, after a few days of class in January 2008, the teacher decided it wasn’t a good fit.  Moses was slowing down the class, making them late for lunch three days in a row.   He didn’t pay attention, and after a week, they told us not to bring him back.  When Shelby returned for the exit interview, a necessity to repair a relationship when given bad news, the headmaster said that though it had been too much trouble to bring a new child into the already established routine, they were willing to try Moses again at the beginning of the following school year.  Seven months later, we enrolled him again.

His is a totally different story this time around. His classmates adore him–they all clamor at the second-story window to shout goodbye to him at the end of the day, treating him like their favorite younger brother.  Initially, the older girls helped him get lunch, and the older boys made sure he found the bathroom.  His mid-year “Parent’s Report” declared that he behaves very well in class and has impressed his teacher with his behavioral progress.  Though he is great as a classmate, he does struggle with the schoolwork.   The teachers would like to move Moses to the lower class, but we are so grateful they are giving him a chance to catch up with his same aged classmates.

At home, even though his nanny doesn’t sign, he is far happier, too.  We are so grateful we found a solution in our own backyard that has given this sweet boy new life in expression!

Two are itty-bitty, their little bodies smaller than a loaf of bread.   The oldest, at nearly three, is giggly but mostly immobile.  At six months, another is super-bouncy, no matter if she’s in your lap, in bed or in her bouncy chair.  Brain scans show that six–labled malnourished or developmentally delayed–have cerebral palsy.   They’ve all quickly settled into their new homes at Shepherd’s Field, and the nannies are enjoying having babies in the houses again.

All twelve need eight sponsors each for their daily care.  We hope you’ll consider committing to one of these sweet babies this year by sponsoring one of them or raising up more sponsors in your community.   Until we’ve updated our website, you can contact our sponsorship coordinator at Desiray.Christen (at) ChinaOrphans (dot) org with more information about their individual special needs & how to go about sponsoring them!

I (Leah) have been home in the US for the last five weeks, so I’m just getting back to blogging about our sweet kids!  Some of this news might be a little older, but it’s stuff I would have shared if I’d been here.  : )

Oh! And there are a few new albums at our Picasa site! Check it out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/PhilipHaydenFoundation

Thank you to all who take these bits of news and use them to pray over our kids & work!

Blessings to you in the new year!