The Brentwood Academy Team

Early Friday morning a team of 14 high school students, trip leaders and Cathy Troyer from Show Hope left Nashville for Maria’s Big House of Hope.  The team will spend time in Beijing with Robin and Dr. Joyce Hill at New Hope  Foundation and with another local ministry before heading down to Luoyang for a few days.  They arrived in Beijing Saturday afternoon, only to run into to Scott and David who were at the airport with the Geisinger medical team awaiting their flight home.

During their time there, the team will be sharing their experience and a few photos with us all.   Here is a little news from their first snowy weekend in China!

Joanna Franzke, Co-leader
Greetings from Beijing! Well, we have all survived our first full day here in China. The plane ride was LONG! The Brentwood Academy students were wonderful. This is my second time here and I must say, how strange it is to step off the plane in a different country (which in no way resembles Brentwood, TN)…and feel so at home. I can honestly say that there is no place that I would rather be. We have spent the past day attending an international church service (admittance only permitted with foreign passport), shopping in the markets (all the kids have learned how to bargain like pros) and of course, playing and loving on these precious children. The children are the reason I come here and most definitely the reason why it will be so difficult to leave. When I woke up this morning, I went into one of the rooms and picked up a tiny little girl, maybe only 4 months old. She has a cleft lip and palate. I played and sang to her, rocked her and made her laugh. That laugh was the most beautiful thing I’ve heard since we’ve been here. And her smile was priceless. Although she suffers from cleft palate, she smiles with her eyes and her so called “imperfection” disappears. I look forward to more moments like these.

If you are a parent of a BA child reading this, be proud. Your children are amazing…loving on these babies. Not one of them has complained about anything and they are representing our community so well. We will continue to take care of them.

Accommodations in Beijing

Madeline Dozier, student
We’re in China! Yay! We have had a great time so far, and it has been very different experience! The first night we stayed in the yurts, and it was soo cold! But tonight we got to move into the house because our heater broke! Tomorrow we leave for Luoyang! We are all very excited and will keep you updated!!

Shelby Sanders, student
We have had a wonderful experience and it has been such a blast. As soon as we got on the bus leaving the Beijing airport the bus driver started driving backwards on the interstate. That was definitely a great opening experience to how it is so much different here. The time change hasn’t been bad here, we have adjusted really well. The kids are adorable and so much fun to play with! It is awesome just to see them smile, even if they can’t understand what we are saying. They nanny’s are so sweet, and they love to see us playing with the kids. We have learned some Chinese words which always makes it fun to communicate with them!! Hope everything is going well back in America!!!

Shelby Tucker, student
We are having so much fun and it has been such a great experience so far! The plane ride was really long but we got to the Beijing airport and it was very cool. We got to New Hope around six and played with the kids. They are so cute! The yurts got really cold because its snowing here. We played with the kids again today and they are so sweet and they ate some of Taylor’s birthday cake for breakfast this morning. Hope y’all are well.

Olivia Meers, student
Today was an amazing day. I fell in love all over with a little boy named Ben and I hope he can find a family soon. Agape House is an amazing ministry in Beijing. I can’t believe the love they are sowing to these children with Brittle Bone disease and other disorders. They are doing so much for people who have so little. The bakery they have here, Bread of Life, smells sooooo good. I drooled over the menu of pumpkin muffins, cherry pie, brownies, carrot cake, and pig in the blankets that they are going to make for us tomorrow for breakfast. I have never had more initiative to wake up early before!

Taylor's birthday cake

The special needs school we went to is one experience I will never forget…We were little seeds blossoming into beautiful flowers (literally) and sang “wheels on the bus” but stopped after the translator looked at us with a horrified face saying “no more singing, please no more singing.” Taylor, whose birthday it was yesterday, was a rock star with her 6’ 2” frame and blonde hair. She played basketball for an amazed audience of 360 kids. Tonight I also got myself a “Chinese boyfriend” and a Chinese name, Wu En Huay. It means wisdom and grace from God. Translations between us and the university students were tough but interesting. All in all I had an amazing day and can’t wait until tomorrow.

Scott, David and Dr. Erica McElroy greet the team at the Beijing airport!

The team's first meal in China

My new heroes and I are getting ready to fly off shortly and return home to our loved ones.  The mission at hand was accomplished but much work lies ahead.  A healthy list of items remained to be acquired before the surgical trip in June, but this group of medical professionals can be proud of their dedication, sacrifice, hard work and accomplishment…I know I am.

The group stands tall in front of Maria's Big House of Hope

Don’t miss SCC and Mary Beth Chapman as Thursday’s keynote speakers at this year’s Adoption and Orphan Care Summit VI Conference! The Summit is a conference hosted by the Christian Alliance for Orphans, scheduled for April 29-30 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Featured speakers include John Piper, Mary Beth Chapman, Tom Davis, Patricia Arzu, Jedd Medefind, Pastor Fibion Ndhlovu, Doug Sauder, Stephanie Fast and Al Mohler.

Learn more or register here >

During high school, Alana knew that she wanted to adopt one day. When she met and married Dan Rasbach, she asked him to consider adoption. Dan was hesitant at first, but he began having experiences that opened his heart to the idea of adopting a child. First, the couple attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in their first year of marriage and learned about the Chapmans’ adoption journey and Show Hope. The couple then spent several years in China, where they formed friendships with people who were adopted or had adopted children.

Although Dan was becoming more familiar with adoption, the biggest obstacle in his mind remained the finances. An adoptive couple Dan and Alana knew wisely advised, “God loves orphans even more than you do. If you are willing to adopt, He will provide the resources.” This advice provided the needed encouragement in the Rasbachs’ decision to move forward on their own adoption journey.

Dan and Alana were chosen by a birth mother and matched almost immediately, leaving them little time for the fundraisers they thought they would be able to hold. Instead, the couple found themselves shy of the amount they needed with only a short time before their baby boy was due. At just the right moment, the Rasbachs found out they were the recipients of an adoption aid grant provided by generous Show Hope sponsors. Dan writes,

“As you can imagine, we were very excited about adopting Shen, but it was also scary at times from a financial standpoint. My wife and I would like to thank the Show Hope sponsors for the part you played in bringing our baby boy home to us this past year. Every day we feed and hold and cuddle and bounce our big baby, our hearts are full of the joy of life and adoption. We are eager to adopt more children down the road, and now have experienced first-hand that God is able and willing to pave the way.”

As Maria’s Big House of Hope is filled with the excitement and activity of hosting the Geisinger Health Center medical team this week and a youth team from Tennessee next week, we wanted to take a moment to give you a more intimate glimpse into the lives of the sweet children that you read about and see in photos on the blog. We know these teams are joining with our monthly sponsors in doing excellent work to transform the lives of these children. We hope you enjoy watching the video!

Today, the physicians made their rounds to the children who have cleft lip and/or palate at MBHOH, in addition to a few others with different medical issues, to look for anything out of the ordinary before the surgical team arrives in June – an important step. The good news is they didn’t find anything abnormal and it gave the team a chance to take a deeper look into their precious eyes and give a few hugs in the process. It was inspiring to watch the genuine compassion overflow from their hearts and sense the doctors’ connection with these kids.

I was reminded that these little ones share a common bond with you and me. Like us, they are children of God and He deeply cares about them. We share the same identity and worth – made in His image. While circumstances might tempt us to think otherwise, God’s word is true and when it is difficult to believe due to circumstantial evidence right in front of us, we must choose to believe. When we choose to believe as long as it takes, eventually it miraculously gives birth to Hope. And we all know Hope does not disappoint. This team may not solve the orphan crisis, but they have helped lay the foundation in hopes of changing the identity crisis for about 15 children. God knows, after all He is the “…author and finisher of our faith.”

Debra Strausser takes a break from writing evaluation notes with Jasmine

Dr. Ed Fannon, pediatrician and head of International Rotations at Geisinger Medical Center, likes what he sees.

Dr. Erica McElroy checks the heart of a baby who will soon receive an operation

Katherine and the nurses finish their training and gather for a group photo

Resident Sarah Cates puts her stethoscope aside for a moment

Dr. Fannon evaluates a baby with a cleft lip

As the team hits the midway point of their brief journey here at MBHOH, they begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel (and luckily it is not a train). While there is still medicine to organize and children to evaluate in preparation for the June trip, they begin to walk through and discuss a moment by moment surgical procedure and what may be missing in addition to what backups may be necessary considering various scenarios.

As I witness the discussion around the fictitious case, I became increasingly grateful for each of them and it was clear how handpicked by God each one of them were. For example, Debra Strausser, who is the OR Operations Manager at Geisinger, has been doing her job for years, knows exactly what is ideal and how the room should be set up, not to mention certain physician type specifications. She is perfect for the mission and has proven to be invaluable on this trip, just like every one of them. As I listened to them bring critical thoughts together, I noticed Sarah (who has her Doctorate in International Medicine) typing on a spreadsheet, so I walked over and noticed that there were over 100 line items of supplies and instruments listed right down to the detail of things like tape. It is amazing how much goes into getting things set up and how there is more that goes on beyond what we can see. I am grateful for this team!

The team gathers around the operating table to discuss a mock case.

Peter jots down anasthesia scenerios

A storage room discussion between the three docs!Sarah and Erica review and add to the list of supplies.

I woke up this morning and found the French press, the coffee grounds and the kettle at the second floor kitchen and thought – pfhew, I found it - this is just what the Doctor ordered. Then I chuckled to myself because I realized, it really is what the Doctor(s) ordered J! Well, they didn’t really “order” it since coffee is the universal medicine for jet lag and to start the day right, but they were right behind me waiting for the water to boil.

Another key ingredient to starting the day right, at least for me anyway, is to dig into God’s word and listen to what He might have to say. Once I had a hot cup of coffee in my hand, I turned to Ephesians and leafed through to what I underlined a while ago, which is Ephesians 5:2 and says “Live a life filled with Love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins.” You can’t really love yourself and others at the same time, at least authentically speaking. One must take a back seat to the other (actually, loving self shouldn’t even be in the car!), especially if we are to take this exhortation seriously and “Live a life filled with Love for others…”

I was thinking of my new heroes and thought about how they are here in China over 6,000 miles from their homes and families because of their selflessness and longing to make a difference for others, namely these kids in our midst. It is a blessing to see a group like this committed to living out this mission. Today is a busy day for the team and great progress is being made. Over 400 lbs of supplies are being organized, filling empty shelves and being carefully laid out as if they were in their own operating room at their home facility. I had the pleasure of witnessing, Katherine Brady, a Pediatric Physical Therapist teach the head nurses here at MBHOH the techniques needed to care for some of the orphans here with special needs, like Cerebral Palsy. Meet Carissa, a vibrant five year old who seems to enjoy being the subject of today’s teaching lesson for the nurses.

Carissa grabs the reward...a piece of chocolate!

Carissa holds herself up with some help

Nurses listen to Katherine for instructions.

Show Hope's very own David Trask with Geisinger Resident Sarah Cates

Dr. Erica McElroy sifting through medical supplies

Show Hope is surrounded by Heroes! We will often refer to the adopted families we are fortunate to come alongside and the many sponsors who make it possible as “heroes of the faith”. This week a new set of heroes have emerged in the next chapter of the beautiful story God is writing at Maria’s Big House of Hope. The chapter storyline – get the operating theatre at Maria’s Big House of Hope not just functional, but as Dr. Joyce Hill of New Hope Foundation (our operating partners) said at dinner last night, “a high quality operating room equipped, set up and ready for anything.” The cast of characters in this chapter for the week are six medical professionals from Geisinger Medical Center in my back yard in Danville, PA each with a very specific role and expertise.

This is the first trip to China for the majority of the physicians and thus far the jet lag is bringing them back to their tiring days as a resident student. There won’t be any surgeries done this week, but what I have found, as many of you have, is that when you are among the fatherless, surgery to your heart is needed. While I am blessed to be around so many wonderful physicians and medical professionals on this trip, I am especially grateful to be surrounded by, covered and loved by the GREAT PHYSICAN who heals our broken hearts that bleed for these kids by infusing Hope as we cling to Him and serve on behalf of the fatherless. Stay tuned this week for daily updates and more details about the heroes of the mission at hand.

While the United States celebrates the last two weeks of wins on the ice at the 2010 Olympics, we are celebrating the amazing accomplishments of a youth ice hockey player in Texas. Jordan Cornell, who is in sixth grade, led his community in raising over $5,500 to support the work of Show Hope. Through the Lone Star Leadership Council, Jordan learned that even youth can be leaders in their community and the world.

When it came time for him to organize a fundraiser for the Leadership Council, Jordan remembered the amazing work that his family participates in through the Show Hope sponsorship program every month. Jordan developed the idea of combining something he and his friends love, skating and hockey, with his passion to help others. He collected donations for a raffle and for the the event space, and encouraged other youth in his town to get involved with Show Hope by raising donations for their participation in the “Skate for Hope” Skate-a-thon.

The small contributions of many families really added up for Skate for Hope!

Jordan’s enthusiasm caused the movement to care for orphans to spread in his town. In the spirit of our Change for Orphans campaign, Jordan took something he enjoys and used it to engage others. Proving that “giving a little can change a lot,” most individual donations were small amounts that quickly grew into a large sum when put together.

We hope that Jordan’s story will inspire you to launch your own Change for Orphans campaign and change your world for orphans!

Jordan (center in Show Hope shirt) used an activity he loves to bring hope to orphans