The Home of God's Love

Last weekend Brittany and I went to a wedding with Mary at a restaurant near Guan Tian Xia where we met Debbie, a local English teacher. She invited us to go to church with her the next Sunday (today) and help at the adjoining orphanage. Curious (past Fulbrighters have volunteered at the orphanage), we said yes. And that brings us to today.

We met Debbie bright and early outside of our apartment. After a beautiful drive through the country side, we arrived at the church and orphanage. Actually, the church services are held in the orphanage's multi-purpose room. We followed Debbie through a door and into a living room with babies, well, everywhere. There are currently 19 babies in the home, to be exact. Some are awaiting adoption, while others will grow up at the orphanage because their mothers didn't consent for them to be adopted. Either way, everyone there was so dedicated to these children.

I was surprised to enter the kitchen and see a slew of American faces. One couple was there with their daughter who had been adopted two years ago from the orphanage. On Tuesday, they will take home a beautiful baby boy, as well. Another family of four was there not to adopt, but to volunteer. Earlier in the fall when the orphanage was overwhelmed with 25 babies, they fostered two at their home. The children, Abigail (5) and River (7), compassionately played with the babies and spoke of one of the foster babies as though she were a little sister. "Look! She's on her knees! All by herself! She's never done that before!" River excitedly showed his mom, as Grayson, the baby, started to pull herself up on a leg of the counter.

So, it was overall just a pretty awesome experience. We'd bounce from kid to kid, keeping the walkers out of trouble and everyone from crying. I ended up with one little boy, Gao, by the end because he wouldn't stop fussing. After some rocking he fell asleep in my arms just in time for the 11 o'clock feeding. I couldn't wake him up, but Judy, the nurse, advised that sometimes he'll eat in his sleep. She said he's a failure to thrive baby, but if you hold him right he'll eat. And I got him to take the whole bottle while sleeping! (I also tried to burp him while sleeping, but ended up just holding his head in my hand as he continued to sleep sitting up.)

I think the experience was so interesting, because it was a very different view of adoption than I've ever had before. I've only ever known people who were adopted or wanted to adopt. But here, I got to see the other side -- the behind the scenes of adoption. The mass organization necessary to care for so many babies didn't diminish the love and attention each one had. Records were carefully kept about who had eaten how much and when and that their diapers were changed. And even the family adopting a child still pitched in at the orphanage. But I think the collage on the door spoke the biggest volumes. This is a small scale orphanage...only about 220 adoptions in several decades. But there were pictures of Christmases, birthdays and high school graduations. Those families remember the orphanage and are remembered at the orphanage. So instead of a stepping stone between families, it is really a community. For those who are not adopted, Judy said, many in college will come back on weekends just to hang out. This is the family they have grown up in. How amazing that potentially very sad situations have turned into such a positive community!