Zhanjiang!

Out last stop on this PRO Journey in China was to Zhanjiang.  ZJ as we refer to it is in the southern part of the Guangdong Province.  It is based near the China Sea..   We were welcomed by tropical warm weather.  It felt great after our cool weather in Hunan.  We also stayed at a great new hotel.  If you are traveling to this part of China, check out The Sovereign Hotel..  You might wake up thinking you are in India..  We loved it!

Two Special Women:  The Asst. Director of ZJ, and beautiful Julie from PRO

Pearl River and the Zhanjiang Social Welfare Institute have had a relationship for a very long time.  We have seen a lot of our Bamboo Babies adopted from this program.  There is still a huge need for foster care here.  The orphanage is still full with babies of all ages.  We met a little premie who had just been found 2 days before our visit.  She was the tiniest little miracle!

We started our morning much like out time in Changsha..  At a park visiting with the three children we have in our program.  "Hattie" had just been adopted before we arrived!!! 

It's hard to explain the blessing in meeting our Bamboo Babies in person.  I see their photos every month, but meeting them is such a gift...  There was one little lady I have waited a long time to meet..  Her name is "Gabriella" and she is so very special to us...  You see "Gabriella" has been with us for far too long..  We have prayed for a long time for a forever family for her... Unfortunately, she is very delayed.. And therefore, she is still waiting...  But she is in a loving situation..  And, we are working on a new program opportunity for her to get more help with her special needs..  But for this moment in time, I got to see her in her world...  At first she was so tentative and scared of us..  She felt safe in her foster Mama's arms..  But after a while she must have decided we were worthy of a little trust...  I reached out my hand to her and she took it...  I motioned to see if she wanted to go for a walk with me..  And, she did...  hand in hand we strolled..  Slowly she took my arm and put it around her neck..  We strolled some more this way....  As we walked I looked into her eyes and sang, "Jesus loves me.."  As the tears ran down my cheeks she just stared at me with her gorgeous eyes.. A treaured moment from this trip I will never forget...

And then there was Aiden..  What a joy it was to meet this sweet, happy and fun little guy!!!!  We got a great report on Aiden..  We were concerned that he had a loss of hearing..  But, things are looking very positive and he is starting to work on some words!  The orphanage has asked us if we would be willing to fund a program for him where he can go to school to help him catch up developmentally..  We are going to do everything we can to make this happen!!!  We will continue to pray for a forever family for Aiden!  As you can see from these pictures, he LOVED Aislinn!  He needs a Big Sister!

Aiden safe in his Foster Mom's legs!

Out last little blessing that we finally got to meet is beautiful Ava!!!  She spent most of her time checking us out with those big gorgeous eyes..  She is very cautious, and so darn cute!!!  She is teething like crazy and starting to walk..  Her foster Mom is so proud of her!  This little beauty is a heart baby.  She has a repaired CHD and it sounds like she is doing very well!  My guess is once Miss Ava is paper ready she will find her forever family soon.

After this special time with our Bamboo Babies, it was time to visit the orphanage..  Miss Yi invited us to spend some time in the baby rooms...  Camera's were not allowed..  Which in the end was a blessing..  It gave us time to focus on what these babies all needed... A Mama to hold them..  And that we did..  One by one we picked them up, loved them up, prayed over them, and shed our quiet tears together.  We saw arms lifted up, smiles, kisses, hugs, and faces stained with tears..  It was hard! Not one of us left that room the same...  We left with the prayer that somehow they will all find their forever families soon..  And, until then if we could, we would put them all into our program...  We know one baby will come from this room that we were in soon..  But that is not enough.. We need to do more!

It's true..  Once you hold an orphan in your arms, you can't ignore the problem...  So, we move forward with the goal of giving as many children as we can the hope of a future!

I feel very blessed to be part of Pearl River Outreach...  And, I am thankful for all of you that support us... whether it be in prayer, encouragement or financial.  You ARE making a difference!

Many of you have reached out to help.. My next post is going to be all about that!!!!  I won't lie..  We need sponsors..  And, in the next two days I hope to have that all ready to share!!!!

Thank you for following our journey to China.. It was truly amazing!!

Blessings,

diana@pearlriveroutreach.org