Today we would like you to meet Eddie, a child that our sponsors are helping at Maria’s Big House of Hope.

17-month-old Eddie received a successful heart surgery in Shanghai earlier this year. Upon his return to Luoyang, he was welcomed in to the loving care of Maria’s Big House of Hope nannies and nurses in the Elephant room.

Eddie is a social little boy, always smiling and laughing. His big, beautiful eyes are very expressive of his sweet and responsive nature.

            

Eddie is growing and becoming more independent each day. He can feed himself with a bottle and definitely lets you know that if you try to help him! He is still learning to walk, but he can usually be found speeding up and down the hallways in a baby bouncer with Rihanna, who you met earlier this month.

We hope that his improving health means that Eddie will one day be welcomed in to a forever family. Please pray for Eddie and all the children at Maria’s Big House of Hope that our sponsors are helping. 
 

“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

Acts 20: 24 (NIV)

As I watched this sweet video of Julian and Dwayne’s “race” at MBHOH recently, I reflected on the task of Show Hope–testifying to the Gospel of God’s grace to some of the least of the least, these special-needs orphans. While some may have cast aside these babies as hopeless cases, these children are receiving the love that makes all things new. This love can be seen through the nannies and nurses who are there holding them, sponsors supporting the work of Show Hope and people around the world lifting them up in prayer.

This is the race we are running: to care for orphans in their distress. Sometimes I find that I am Julian, teetering and falling down along the way. I find hope in the reminder that just as Julian’s caregiver picks him up in the video, God in His graciousness picks us up and moves us forward. Enjoy!

Five new children entered into the care of Maria’s Big House of Hope (MBHOH) this week. Our family is growing and we wanted you to meet one of these precious children, Kevin, who just arrived with serious health concerns.

It is sometimes hard to concretely grasp that your investment in this work is directly impacting a specific child somewhere in the world, but it is true. The amazing opportunity Kevin has by coming into the loving care found at MBHOH is beyond words.

As Kevin is adjusting to life at MBHOH, please pray for his transition – that he would feel loved, at home, and secure.  Please also pray for the medical and support staff who are caring for him.  Pray for wisdom and grace as they seek to love and serve him daily.  Your Show Hope sponsorship is bringing Kevin a new hope. Thank you!

Meet Rihanna, a little girl with a HUGE personality that Show Hope sponsors are helping at Maria’s Big House of Hope!

After receiving heart surgery in Shanghai in May, 16-month old Rihanna quickly developed a personality that can light up the room. She is always laughing and smiling! As one of the few children who can walk on her own, she is constantly on the go. This mobility combined with her great curiosity means Rihanna is always trying to get out of her room, the Elephant Room, to roam the halls.

She is very mild-mannered and happy to spend time with each of the nannies and staff members at MBHOH. As her health improves through the daily care she receives in Luoyang, we expect that she will be adopted into a loving, forever family. Please continue to pray with us for sweet special-needs children like Rihanna, and consider providing the love and care for an orphan every month at Maria’s Big House of Hope by becoming a Show Hope sponsor today!

 Maria’s Big House of Hope really is a “big house with lots and lots of rooms!!” This week, we are pleased to announce the opening of a new wing on the Fifth Floor at Maria’s Big House of Hope! Overseen by Mariah Bywater, this area is dedicated to providing the highest level of comfort to children in need of palliative care. It is currently home to eight children. 

These children, the least of the least, are not being forgotten at MBHOH. The walls are decorated with the characters from Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo. Mobiles donated by Harpeth Hills Church of Christ Preschool, Maria’s preschool, adorn each crib. As these children look to the hope of heaven, their medical needs are addressed while they receive spiritual nourishment and one-on-one attention from several nannies. We are so thankful that the support of our sponsors allows us to show hope to these very special children. 

Today, we wanted to bring you a lighthearted glimpse into life at MBHOH, the second post in our “Daily Living” series.  

On Wednesday, the staff at MBHOH officially opened the unofficial “MBHOH Café.” One of the nurses who formerly worked at MBHOH left her espresso machine behind.  The staff set it up on Wednesday and began serving lattes (which are a rarity there!).  We thought we would pass along this video celebrating their good fortune!    

As an added bonus, you will see a cameo appearance by Mikaela.  She is the sweet little girl at MBHOH that we spotlighted last week on the blog.

Enjoy!

Meet Mikaela, one of the beautiful little girls Show Hope sponsors are helping in China.

Mikaela is currently receiving care at Maria’s Big House of Hope in the Peter Pan room. She really started coming out of her shell after receiving heart surgery earlier this year. She is constantly smiling and  has a funny little laugh that sounds more like a whistle. At just under a year old, Mikaela is crawling but isn’t quite up to standing or walking just yet. We are hopeful she will become a candidate for adoption. Please continue to pray with us for sweet special-needs children like Mikaela, and consider supporting Maria’s Big House of Hope through sponsorship today!

Are you wondering what day-to-day life looks like at Maria’s Big House of Hope? Well, we’re going to start a new blog series giving you a sneak peak into Show Hope’s more behind-the-scenes work in Luoyang!

Imagine cooking for a household full of hungry people. Maybe that doesn’t sound so bad, but multiply that by six floors of mouths to feed!! You quickly realize the labor that goes in to planning the menu and preparing the food at MBHOH.

Many people who recently returned from trips to Maria’s Big House commented how incredible it was to find a huge, fully-stocked, professional kitchen there. Unlike many large cafeterias we experience in the United States that serve pre-prepared frozen food, the meals at MBHOH are prepared fresh by the kitchen staff.

If you follow Show Hope on Twitter, you saw that today’s Photo of the Day is of two cooks preparing baozi dumplings. These delicious dumplings are usually filled with some type of vegetable or vegetable/meat mixture. Baozi is unique in the dumpling world due to its bread-like texture. The baozi pictured here are filled with a stuffing made of celery, spring onion, pork, and several different seasonings.

To make these delicious filled buns, the cooks chop up of all the filling ingredients and mix them together in a large bowl, adding the seasoning along the way. Once the filling is prepared, they make and roll the dough. When the dough is ready, they roll out little individual circles and begin to fill them with the stuffing. The sides of the full shells are folded in and twisted together at the top to seal the filling in to the dough. The last step is to throw the dumplings in the steamer and let steam for about 30 minutes. Here at the Show Hope offices we hear the finished product is awesome! If you’re interested in learning more about the preparation of this Chinese dish, click here.

We are so excited to be a part of a ministry that is touching lives of special-needs orphans, but we know we could not do it without a lot of help along the way. We’re thankful for the support that comes from people all over the world, from the Chinese cooks at MBHOH to our sponsors a little closer to home.  If you’re interested in joining our movement to care for orphans, learn about becoming a sponsor here.

We are so excited about what God is doing at Maria’s Big House of Hope, we couldn’t wait to show you the newest video that shares the story!

Thank you to all the supporters and sponsors who are making this possible. Tell your friends, and become a Show Hope sponsor today to be a part of bringing comfort and saving the lives of these amazing, precious children!

Many of the children here at New Hope in China are healing from surgeries or waiting to have them, and it is such a privilege to hold a child and to be able to pray over them specifically or to pray for the nannies who care for them. In our devotion the other night, our team talked about how it isn’t by chance that God calls us to “visit” the orphan in their need, because as anyone who has held an orphan knows, the overwhelming statistic of over 130 million orphans in the world becomes 1 orphan in your world—you know them by name and love them—they are no longer a part of the nameless, faceless statistic we often quote. Those children are real, they steal your heart, and you are compelled to love as the Father loves.

We have also had the chance to do some work around New Hope Foster Home and spent a day cleaning out a storage shed that houses many of the donated items for this home among other things. At times the donations may not be needed immediately, things like old air conditioners or heaters, extra furniture, or various other item, and in recent months the large storage shed had become packed full of these types of things. One of the staff at New Hope said he had gone to the garage a few times to try to work on this, but realized about 15 minutes later there was just no way to do it! The 20 of us spent the day clearing out this shed, which was no easy task to undertake!

When they first opened the door, I thought it could potentially take us the rest of the week to clean it out! By mid-morning it became evident that we would have it completed by the end of the day! Hanna, a team member from Washington State, laughed and said at some point during our endeavors that “many hands make light the work”, and I don’t think that saying ever had more meaning to me than at that moment. That truly came alive to me as I realized all that we had been able to accomplish by mid-afternoon and seeing the end in sight. It was such a huge blessing for our team to be able to do this work for New Hope, enabling the nannies to get into the storage area to see what items they could use for the kids and hopefully lifting an overwhelming task off the minds of the staff.

Please be praying for our team as we continue to seek God and serve His children here in China!