This is the third entry in our “TOP TEN Highlights From 10 Years of Ministry” series. Click here to read previous entries>>>

3. Seeing Our Flagship Special Care Center for the First TIme

I was absolutely awestruck in 2008 when we first pulled up to the construction site of Maria’s Big House of Hope, Show Hope’s flagship Special Care Center in China. It was humbling to stand there next to six stories and sixty thousand square feet dedicated to providing life-giving care and love to the least of these. The legacy of precious Maria Chapman certainly lives on and has grown through the three other care centers we have established in Jiaozuo, Zhengzhou, and Xinyang. More than 1,000 orphans with special needs have received care, and more than 100 of them are already in loving forever families!

Read blogs from our Special Care Centers>>>

Grayson under care in 2011

“I was blessed to be a part of the 2013 Geisinger surgical trip to Maria’s Big House of Hope (MBHOH) in Luoyang, China. This was my first mission trip as an anesthesia provider, but it was not my first trip to MBHOH. I was lucky to be able to briefly tour the care center in 2010 when I adopted my second son, Grayson, who was called Dylan when he was cared for there.

“I cannot begin to explain the feelings  I had when I was able to go back to MBHOH to not only give my services to the children in need, but to also spend a week there witnessing the wonderful happenings that take place there everyday. As an adoptive parent to an orphaned child, there will always be questions that I will not have answers to. But after being there, and seeing the loving staff, the beautiful building, and the qualified medical team working so hard to meet every need that they can, I walked away feeling complete. I know that my son was loved and provided for as if that was his home. I will forever be grateful for MBHOH.”

-Kelly Day

Help make this excellent care possible for hundreds of waiting children at Show Hope Special Care Centers. Become a Show Hope sponsor today!

As the Surgical Team departed for China on April 18th, 20 doctors, nurses, and medical staff from Geisinger Medical Center met me at the Geisinger Helicopter Hangar at 5:15am to load the bus and head to Newark, where we were joined by four more team members. After an uneventful 13 ½ hours in the air, we landed in Beijing right on time and were met by Mikey Shook and Robin Hill. Approximately 31 hours after we left Danville, PA, we finally made it to Luoyang, where Maria’s Big House of Hope is located.

Saturday was a day of unpacking the medical gear we brought with us, as well as a pre-op evaluation day for the kids. After Sunday morning devotions, we were off to the hospital in Luoyang where surgery on Kylen, a 7-month-old boy under our care, began at 8:00am. Kylen and another little boy, Halden, each had successful surgeries for cleft palate and lip, respectively, on the first day. The kids are brought back to MBHOH and kept in a post-op recovery area with two nurses and one doctor on the 4th floor for the first day after their surgeries. Then, they go back to their normal nurseries with their nannies after that. After dinner, all of the surgical team members spent time visiting the different rooms here at Maria’s and playing with the kids.

Harper and Landon each received surgery on our second day at the hospital. Usually, the team gathered to play games and chat in the evenings, but all the big plans for ping pong and arm wrestling didn’t happen on Monday. Everyone was so tired that it was a quiet night.

On Tuesday, surgery began at 8:00am as one-year-old Samuel had his cleft palate repaired. His surgery lasted about 3 hours and went great. After lunch,  Herschel had his cleft lip repaired. His surgery was also great. The doctors also put tubes in Don, Fulmer, Gralson and Paco’s ears.

The last two surgeries went so well! Peter is six months old and Jamison is 9 months old and their surgeries were completed by about 1pm on Wednesday. It was a wonderful trip! This is the fourth Geisinger surgical team to visit Maria’s Big House of Hope, and there was a discovery trip before we started surgery, so I have been here five times with some of the team members. I was telling Dr. DeSantis that I don’t have a favorite Geisinger Team. Believe me when I say there were no egos in all of my Geisinger Trips. All doctors might disagree about how to treat sometimes, but it’s about what’s best for the child at the end of the day. The most important thing is all of these team members are here to help the kids thrive, with the hope that they will one day be adopted in to forever families of their own.

I admit I am the most blessed 66-year-old I know to be able to bring these teams over here and experience what I do. God has given me the opportunity to finish strong!

Blessings,

David Trask

Help make more surgeries like these possible! Become a Show Hope sponsor today >

One of my favorite hymns growing up was “Because He Lives.” The words were a sweet reminder that “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, life is worth the living just because He lives.”

I haven’t heard this hymn in years, but on Easter morning the words came to mind and I thought about what this means in my life and in the lives of the children I live with at Maria’s Big House of Hope. It is often difficult in the midst of such physical suffering to remember that He holds the future and that hope is ever present, regardless of what things may look like. As I thought through this hymn, I was reminded that because He lives we have the promise of redemption and that one day He will make all things new. And despite the suffering, we get glimpses of that every day through the lives of the little ones here.

Although most are yet too young to understand the true meaning of Easter, the activities I got to do with our preschool children over the past week reminded me of how their very lives are glimpses of this Easter hope…the hope of restoration, renewal, and ultimately resurrection and life with Christ. These are all children who at one point may have had little chance of life, but I watched with a sense of awe and gratitude as they ran around in laughter hunting eggs for maybe the first time, decorated and enjoyed an Easter cookie, and sat mesmerized by an egg changing color.

As you look through these photos, I hope you too will be able to see past the smiles and sheer cuteness (and don’t get me wrong, they are cute!) into lives that represent the great hope we are all given, because He lives.

QUESTION: How did you celebrate Easter? What glimpses of hope have you seen this week? Answer in the comments section below!

Hope has called Maria’s Big House of Hope her home for more than two years now. You may recognize her from previous blogs, print pieces, and this recent video Sponsor Update. Hope has come a long way since she first arrived at MBHOH, during which time she was severely malnourished in addition to her diagnosis of cerebral palsy. Cerebral Palsy is a group of multiple brain and motor skill condition. While symptoms vary depending on the type and severity, Hope’s CP results in her body being very rigid and her radiant smile being her primary form of communication.

She attends preschool every day and loves coming. Her nanny recently shared that when she picks Hope up each morning and says “sheng ke!” (class time), Hope gets a huge smile on her face. Each morning as she comes into our classroom, her face immediately lights up as she realizes her surroundings and begins to hear her classmates’ voices. Although Hope is unable to speak, her smile seems to say it all. One by one, her classmates walk up to her chair and greet her with “good morning Hope” and a kiss to the hand.

Although it would be easy to talk about the ways in which Hope has been impacted by the care she has received, an aspect you may not realize is how Hope has impacted those around her because of this care. One of my favorite things each morning is to watch Dr. Steve’s youngest daughter, Charlotte, come in and go straight to Hope’s chair. Hope obviously recognizes Charlotte’s bright blonde hair and gentle voice. If Hope is looking the other way, Charlotte will patiently wait, holding her hand, until Hope looks her in the eyes. I have loved watching this bond develop for over a year now. I truly believe this friendship will leave an irreplaceable mark on each of their hearts forever.

To be honest, I often wonder what Hope would say if she could speak. As I look into her deep eyes, I can’t help but wonder if there is a beaming life just wanting to burst out of her; to dance, to sing, to jump and play, to leave behind this limited earthly body. I wonder what her future holds and whether she will ever know the love of a forever family. But despite these unknowns, I cannot deny the fact that on a daily basis I see what love and compassion look like because of Hope. Her classmates are so tender with her and consistently look out for her. They watch her to see when she is happy and make sure she doesn’t miss her snack. They lovingly touch her hands and give her toys to hold during play time. They like to push her around in her chair and make sure she doesn’t miss a bit of the fun. And these are 3-year-olds doing these things!

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” - Matthew 19:14

March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month. Please join us in prayer for Hope and all children who face this condition without the love of a forever family.

Help make Hope’s care possible by becoming a Show Hope sponsor today.

If you have been following the Show Hope blog, chances are good that you recognize Judah. He was made “famous” by a post a few years ago called “MBHOH has Bieber Fever” which is one of the most-viewed posts in Show Hope blog history (if you haven’t already seen it, check it out here). Besides being a great singer, Judah is an incredibly bright little boy with a truly unforgettable personality. There are few who come through the doors of Maria’s Big House of Hope without leaving with some endearing story or memory of Judah.

Judah loves coming to preschool and becomes quite sad on days when we don’t have class. As you can see in the video at the top of this post, he has learned nearly all of the letters (and thinks “Hui Li,” who you may remember as Jessica, is the Queen. She left quite a regal impression on the MBHOH class before she joined her family!). Judah also enjoys identifying letters he knows in environmental print (books, words on clothing, letters on billboards, etc).

As his preschool teacher, I continue to be blown away by the way that Judah has learned to overcome and compensate for many physical limitations without losing an ounce of life in the process. He is not afraid of trying new activities and loves engaging new people with his charming personality. In fact, just a few months back, we took some of the older preschoolers to McDonald’s for lunch. As we sat and ate, Judah greeted every woman that walked by our table with “Ni Hao, Ayi!” (“Hello Auntie”). It caught most of them off-guard until they saw Judah’s beaming smile looking back at them.

Recently, I met another little boy, James, whose perseverance reminded me so much of Judah. We hope that our blog readers will grow to love James just as much as Judah!! Like Judah, James’ physical limitations do not stop him from enjoying life and trying new things. He has learned to stand up on his own and walk, despite difficulty in bending his knees. James (pictured below) thrives in pre-school and loves to learn and do crafts in class. James was originally admitted to our Show Hope Special Care Center in Jiaozuo, but was moved to the Beijing’s Hope Healing Home for more acute care. He is a sweet little guy and captures the heart of anyone who goes into his nursery. We hope that both of these remarkable boys will one day know the love of a forever family!

Help make care for children like Judah and James possible through Show Hope Special Care Centers. Become a Show Hope sponsor >

We hope you enjoy meeting Sabrina through this month’s Sponsorship Update Video! Sabrina is one of several children under care at a Show Hope Special Care Centers who has been diagnosed with biliary atresia, a condition which affects the liver. Each month, you are making a life-changing impact for hundred of children like Sabrina through your Show Hope sponsorship.

To extend the impact of your sponsorship, we invite you to do three things:
1) Share this video on your social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. We encourage you to include a sentence or two on what you love most about being a sponsor.
2) Sign up for our monthly prayer updates. www.showhope.org/pray
3) Invited a friend to join you at Show Hope’s 10 year Anniversary Celebration this Memorial Day! www.showhope.org/10yr

On Valentine’s Day, many people have love, chocolate, flowers, and hearts on their minds. Here at Maria’s Big House of Hope, our preschoolers took a short break from the Chinese New Year festivities to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We learned a song about “Haley Heart” as we painted hearts, did Valentine-themed alphabet activities, made Valentine cards, and decorated heart-shaped cookies (and then ate them, of course!).

Hearts are something we talk about and have on our minds very often at MBHOH and our other care centers, not just on Valentine’s Day. It’s not the heart-shape that may initially come to mind this time of year, but rather the physical, beating, life-giving heart. This week, we were not only celebrating Valentine’s Day, but we were also particularly mindful of children all around the world living with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).

Many children with CHD live in our very own home… children such as Fahlin, Maria Claire, Nathalie, and Dante, and many others whose photos appear at the bottom of this post. Today and every day, we celebrate that these children are given opportunities to live and thrive. We pray for healing to come to their physical hearts, but also for their emotional hearts to be tended to and molded as they are loved and cared for.

To conclude Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week, we are trying to raise the funds to provide a surgery for a child with CHD. Give a gift from the heart!

In most parts of the world, the New Year holiday has given way to Valentine’s Day and will turn to St. Patrick’s Day later this week. New Year’s resolutions have run their short course and we are back into the habits of everyday life.

That’s in most parts of the world….But here in China, the excitement of the Chinese New Year (also know as the Spring Festival) is just beginning! This Sunday, February 10th we celebrated the Chinese New Year with a very literal “bang” as amateur firework enthusiasts like myself lit up the sky with questionably-produced pyrotechnics to ring in the Year of the Snake.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important traditional holiday for this country of 1 billion plus residents (and many other Asian countries). In the coming weeks, Chinese people will travel home to be with family, enjoy copious amounts of dumplings, and light off more fireworks than New York’s Fourth of July extravaganza.

Here at Maria’s Big House of Hope, we also joined in the excitement and celebrations. In preschool, we made dragon masks and painted pictures of fireworks to hang up around our home. Maria Claire, Weston, Judah, and Hope among other children smiled and laughed as they colored, painted, and glittered (is that a word?) each piece.

We also had the privilege of traveling to our other Special Care Centers this week – Zhengzhou, Xinyang, and Jiaozuo – to prepare for the New Year with some of the other kids you have recently met through the blog, like Dante and his friend Debby.

May your Joy be full this Chinese New Year – Chun Jia Kuai Le!

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Did your family celebrate Chinese New Year? Leave us a comment with your tips and ideas for teaching kids about this holiday!

Become a sponsor and help make more moments like this possible for waiting children at Show Hope Special Care Centers!
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Every year in March, children across America celebrate the birthday of an iconic children’s book, The Cat in the Hat, and its author, Dr. Seuss. As a preschool teacher, Dr. Seuss has become a beloved author to me, and his stories have a way of reaching children in a unique way…even for children half-way around the world!

I recently came across a few Dr. Seuss books in our preschool classroom at Maria’s Big House of Hope. It seemed nearly wasteful for them not to be read, so I started researching some fun projects we could do to incorporate some of his stories into our class time and also cross the language barrier (non-sense rhyming words don’t translate quite so well!). Come to find out, Dr. Seuss is great in any language, and kids love it!

We read Green Eggs and Ham in the older class. Although they were a bit confused the first day, by the second day of reading they caught on to the fact that he did not want green eggs and ham. Each time I’d turn the page, they’d call out “ta bu yao!” (he doesn’t want!). By the end of the story, they agreed that he in fact did like the green eggs and ham and that trying new things is good. So, we gave it a shot and tried green eggs and ham… it was a hit all around! Judah especially loved the ham!

With the younger class, we enjoyed several readings of Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? I am sure I was quite the spectacle the first day as I made all sorts of ridiculous sounds, but Weston was gracious enough to join in. By the second day, we were all mooing, crowing, slurping, and stomping. Maria Claire was still a bit hesitant and wouldn’t make the noises, but she had a huge smile on her face the entire time. Hope smiled as she listened to all of the crazy sounds coming from her classmates. We later used this to explore more noises with musical instruments…they made quite a band!

Thank you for making these moments possible at the MBHOH pre-school through your monthly sponsorship!

Weston and Hope

The MBHOH pre-school band!

Everyone LOVES green eggs and ham!