A journal from China (part II)

By JESSICA LYNN WEYANDT

My sister Kimberly and I have just returned from a two-week humanitarian trip in China. It has been a humbling experience.

We spent days painting rooms of the Philip Hayden Foundation’s new orphanage buildings. The paint was so diluted that each room needed two or three coats of paint. Hours of taping, rolling and trimming the edges gave us a great opportunity to connect with other members of the humanitarian team and learn more about each other.

Each building had a number of mattresses and cribs and other essentials donated from Americans. Up to 20 children will be held in each building when they’re complete. Along with new buildings and new furnishings, a donated jungle gym was the next main attraction.

When the orphans, most of whom suffer from physical deformities and disabilities, move into the new complex they will have everything they need.

Between all the painting and other odd jobs, we had the privilege of getting to know the children more personally. The most heart-breaking house contained eight to 10 young children with very serious heart problems. As the team was welcomed into that home, everybody noticed baby Fayth first. She sat in a crib with flushed skin, watery eyes and blue fingers. Fayth’s heart condition was the most serious. The foundation had been told that she wouldn’t live past one year old. She was now two. However, there was no surgery that could correct her condition and she could not be adopted. The foundation had decided that it would simply give her the best life that they could offer, and love her.

The next few houses we visited were filled with the happiest children I’ve ever seen. They played with toys, performed a number of songs for us, read to each other, and were held frequently while being smothered with hugs and kisses. The homes were baby-proofed with a large number of high chairs, an open room full of toys and lots of hand sanitizer.

Like the rest of the foundation’s workers, the team had weekends off. We spent them visiting the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. As we walked through snapping pictures, Kimberly and I noticed how we, too, were a focus of attention—a number of people were snapping pictures of us.

Each Sunday we attended the same Christian Church. The second Sunday, the service opened with a live band consisting of guitar, violin, piano and drums. A choir sang along with it, stepping right and left to the beat while raising hands and arms in praise. After a few minutes of singing in both English and Mandarin, the sermon was given. The sermon was about being calm and peaceful because then the Lord will be able to enter us and show through us. It was a sermon that spoke to many hearts, including mine.

Thursday, June 1 marked Children’s Day in all of China. The Philip Hayden Foundation threw a big celebration with singers, dancers, speakers, lots of food and a large blow-up gym. As it was the day before our departure from China, we spent as much time loving the children as possible. The relationships we had formed became evident when particular children ran up to Kimberly and me to play or simply to be recognized.

A few days after our return to the United States, we received word that the Friday we flew home, baby Fayth passed away. It was a shock to everyone. Kimberly and I can’t help but feel that the timing means something. Perhaps our team was the last thing that the Lord had wanted to be revealed to Fayth before he took her home? Or maybe the Lord kept her alive long enough to change our lives? In any case, the trip has been a true blessing and a wonderful, eye-opening experience. I feel not only that we left a mark, but but that we also have been marked by China and its people.