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>>>

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!

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A few months back, a request was made on our blog asking for anyone willing to knit slippers for our nannies. The response to that post was overwhelming, and the literal amount of slippers we received was even more so. Church knitting groups, families, and individuals spent many hours lovingly making these slippers by hand. During a trip to Nashville in November, I stopped by the Show Hope office to pick up the slippers and was floored by the amount that had come in (thank you Cathy and Melissa for graciously holding these in your office). We returned to China with two very large (and heavy!) suitcases full of knit slippers.

As we celebrated Christmas at Maria’s Big House of Hope, what a joy it was to be able to give heartfelt gifts to the ladies who care for our children every day. And these gifts would not have been possible without the help of countless people who were willing to use their time and talents to bless these women this holiday season.

In total, we wrapped and distributed more than 400 pairs of slippers! These slippers were gifted to our staff at Maria’s Big House of Hope including our nurses, office personnel, laundry and cleaning staff, and of course the ladies who tend to our babies. With such an outstanding response, we were also able to send slippers to our nurses and nannies at our other three Show Hope Special Care Centers in Zhengzhou, Jiaozuo, and Xinyang! Show Hope sponsors and their families were also invited to send in Christmas coloring sheets that said Merry Christmas in Mandarin, which we we included with each package.

Thank you to our sponsors and volunteer knitters for loving our staff and children in this way. These ladies give so much love and care to our children, and it is a blessing for us to be able to do something for them in hopes that they would know the love and appreciation we have for them.