Allow
me to share a bit of a story. It is like the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series
of books, where the reader is given several opportunities to make choices that
lead to different endings. Like those books, what happens next is up to you.
Once
upon a time, in a land far, far away (aka southern China), there lived a poor
little orphan girl. She lived with her foster family in a small village outside
Kunming. While she was not living at her home, she lived at school, because it
was too far away to make the journey daily. During her many years at her foster
home and school, this girl made several friends, some close ones, especially
with other orphans like her. The loss of parents has a way of binding people.
One
day, just a few days before her 14th birthday, she was abruptly
removed from everything she had ever known, brought to the orphanage for a
weekend, and then handed over to two odd-looking, big-nosed, foreign strangers.
Forever.
Over
two years later, this girl has grown in her new land, her new home, her new
family. She has blossomed into a lovely young lady who is becoming more
self-confident than before and is sweet to her core. During this time she has
kept in contact with her friends in China via phone and QQ (Chinese Facebook).
It happened that in one of her first calls to her foster family she talked to
one of her friends. This friend had become her foster sister, as the foster
family needed a replacement to keep up with all the work the orphan girl was
used to doing. During the phone call, the new foster sister was crying and
asking, “Why you? Why were you chosen and not me? What’s wrong with me?” Enter
survivor guilt! The conversation didn’t end well to say the least. This past
spring, the former-orphan-turned-daughter was able to take a trip to visit her
former foster village, family and friends. She was treated like quite the
celebrity! The foster sister who had originally cried and accused on the phone
was hugging this girl’s neck, claiming her to be her best friend. Two other
former friends also came to spend the day with the girl, reconnecting and
sharing their lives for a day.
Just
as school has started in the US, school has also begun in China. These three
girls, the former friends and foster sister, have been given the opportunity to
continue their education, which doesn’t always happen for orphans in China. Two
have made the decision to go to trade schools; one is continuing on in a high
school. These schools are residential; much too far to travel daily and the two
friends have been removed from their foster homes. They have no other place
to go.
Here
is the part in the story that you have a chance to alter the outcome. Love
Without Boundaries has taken these three girls into their program to raise
funds for their education. Right now they can attend school—but if funds don’t
come in, they will be removed.
My daughter was given the opportunity to give them their
Westernized names seen on the site. She researched name meanings and tried out
dozens while looking at their photos. J
Will you please consider sponsoring one (or all three!) of these
girls every month? My daughter prays for them regularly and is waiting with anxious
expectation as to what will happen next. I rarely plead for financial
assistance, but as a mom of a girl who has heard the call to action, I will do
my part as well.
All my best,
Amy
