Bill and Christine Turnbull'e new Daughter Julianne Hope

Below is a letter to Bill and Christine Turnbull that I sent them yesterday about the their new daughter from Qingyuan Orpahange. Hope is seven and will be eight on September 1. I was waiting for permission from the Turnbull's before I posted it. Everyone have a wonderful day, I am heading back to Beijing today to meet up with Jeff and then we will both head home tomorrow afternoon.

Well, were do I begin? What a great day. David picked me up at 9:00 am this
morning and we headed to Quingyuan Orphanage. When we got there the director
and the co-director were at a meeting but he had left instructions with the
Office Director that we were coming to se Julianne. They brought her down to
see us and she was very shy. She has grown a lot since December, looks very
healthy. She came in wearing a Playboy t-shirt and I thought to myself, that
has to go! I had asked David on the way up to make sure to ask her if she
wanted to be adopted and what she thought about it. I told him I thought it
might be a touch subject and to just address it slowly. He did after brief
introductions. By the way, I am Uncle Chris. Let it be known that she will
know me as her uncle, how about that Brother Bill! I also told David to tell
her that her new dad was a big freak and he was very funny, just kidding.
David did tell her that Bill was funny and she laughed.

I gave her the dress I picked up here and she seemed to like it, they changed
her right away for pictures. She was beautiful, I was ready to put her in my
suit case and bring her home. I took some pictures of her in her new dress and
David asked her about being adopted. She said that she was happy about it and
the only thing she was nervous about was her English. David told her not to
worry that she would learn it without any problems. We got out my pictures of
Ellie first and showed her Ellie and she remembered Fei Fei, she smiled big and
pointed and said something in Chinese (Cantonese). We went through all of my
pictures to warm her up a little and then got out the pictures of you all her
new family. David explained to her who each person was and she immediately
knew Jayden (Sou Sou). She was excited to have a sister (Jenna I told her you
were excited about having a new sister). David went through all of the
pictures and she thought the one with Jayden and Bill with the hats was funny.
I gave her the bag I brought with the candy, sweatshirt, t-shirt, note pad,
bear and necklace and bracelet. They put her necklace on and I later put her
bracelet on her. She opened the gummy lifesavers and began to share with
everyone. All this time David translated your letter to her and I asked if she
would like to write you a note back and the office manager asked her and she
did, so I have a personal note to you both, David translated it for you. It
was very sweet! The nanny from before was there (pregnant now) and she got her
school records out for us. I had her make a copy for you so I can send to you
as well. She will be going into third grade this year and had a little English
last year, but will start more this year. Her Grades looked good and David
commented that she was smart (and she is b/c she got us to McDonalds on her own
later). Her birthday is September 1 and she will be 8 years old. I had David
tell her several times that you both were very excited about her joining your
family and that you loved her. I took 30 minutes of video for you. I will put
it on a DVD when I get home and send it to you. Did I mention how sweet she
is? I wanted to grab her and just squeeze her and I did before we left I even
gave her a kiss on the cheek from you both. I asked David if we could take her
to McDonalds and they agreed that it would be OK and she wanted to go. We
went upstairs to see the babies and to take the gifts to the other little girl,
who has had surgery now. She was thrilled about the gifts. I did not take her
to McDonald’s b/c they were eating lunch when we were down stairs with
Julianne. Julianne changed into her super cool low cut canvas tennis shoes, as
you will see on the pictures.

Once we were in the car, I had David tell her what you would be calling her
(English Name) and he did and she immediately repeated it with a smile on her
face, Julianne, she said. We went to McDonalds and all ate and then we headed
back tot the orphanage to drop her off again. When we got there out she went,
I gave her a hug and a kiss, she said bye and we left.

The orphanage was clean and organized this time. When we went upstairs to see
the babies, I went to her room and she had her school books out (which I got
pictures of) and all of her stuff was there.

Did I mention how beautiful she looked in her new dress!!!!!!!. And so sweet,
you could tell she liked her new clothes. She really is looking forward to
coming home with you, I could tell in her tone when she answered, it was not
rehearsed or she was not told to say that, she genuinely lit up.

One suggestion to you is to start learning some Cantonese, specifically phrases
that will help you get things done and to express your feelings, she responded
to that when David told her about you and how you could not wait to have her in
your family. Another thought that David and I had was that we might want to
email the director and have her get extra English lessons before you come.
David said that it could be arranged with her teacher this year since she is
starting to learn it. David said it would only take a little extra money for
the director to arrange.

One other request that I made was for the orphanage to not cut her hair. It
was short like it was in December, but I thought you might like to have a
little more to work with when you get here. They agreed, but you might have to
have it trimmed once you get her. Bill and Christina, I can't tell you how
wonderful she is. She is so shy and very clean, she wanted a napkin at
McDonalds and once she was done she asked if she could go to the bathroom to
wash her hands. What a great thing God has done here. I can't wait to see her
with your family. OK enough, let’s get to the pictures.

Qingyuan Orphanage

Today I had the priviledge to visit the Qingyuan orphanage where Ellie Grace lived for the first 2 1/2 years of her life. It was a great day for me, because I was able to meet with one of the older children who is getting adopted by some friends of mine in California. The director and co-director were not there today, but hey had arranged for the office director to meet with David Kong (guide) and I and to give us a tour of the orphanage.

We were taken up to the fourth and fifth floors to see the older childrens area. They currently have 7 older children in the orphanage and about 10 - 12 babies. The orphanage was clean and the babies were well taken care of by the nannies. I asked how many nannies they had on staff and was told that there were 7 on staff and that they took turns two at a time with the babies.

All of the supplies we brought in December were there including the heaters Bill and Christina purchased. I delivered the small pillows that Elizabeth and her friends made for the babies and we placed them under the heads of the babies sleeping on the floor. We spent about an hour and a half at the orphanage today with the kids. It was a good to see them so well taken care of and the nannies were truely appreciative for all that has been done for the orpahnage.

Ankang Orphanage visit

Yesterday, I was able to take a 4 hour train ride south of Xian to Ankang (where Karly was born). This city has 2.9 million people, but since it is in the middle of the mountains and is not near any other major cities, only about half the people in China have ever heard of it! It is a poor but beautiful city on a river and set in beautiful mountains. I received a nice book on Ankang from the former Director of Karly's orphanage (Mr. He) and I will post some pics of the city/region soon.

We were escorted to Ankang by Mrs. Han, a very high ranking official with the Shaanxi Civil Affairs. She is basically in charge of all the orphanages in Karly's province (Shaanxi) and wanted to know why we were going to Ankang and what we were hoping to accomplish. Marsha, out interpreter and the person responsible for the children's library in Xian orphanage, explained that we had been there last year and we were an organization from America that simply wants to help the quality of life for orphans in China. We explained that our daughter lived in Ankang orphanage before we adopted her and we had a wonderful relationship with Mr. He (although he is retired). She was fine with this and I truly believes she thinks we are there to help!

We had a short but sweet visit at the orphanage and I was able to see all the older and younger children (about 20-25). The best part was showing them the pictures of the children who have been adopted from there, as the nannies and the older kids in the ophanage (Wen Wen, Mei Ling, Ya Ya, Jo Jo, and Fong Fong) helped raise them when they were babies. The smiles on their faces were simply amazing as they saw their long lost friends with their families. In a way, though, it was sad.....as the older kids have not been adopted yet. Some day soon?

We spent about 20 minutes with the kids and then they escorted me upstairs to meet with all of the orphanage staff and 5-6 from the local Ankang Civil Affairs office. We discussed each of the older children's particular case and what are the next steps to either get them surgery or get the paperwork started for adoption. Many of the kids have gone to Xian for medical check-ups and are getting ready (hopefully) for surgery or adoption soon!!! I asked them what their greatest needs were and they said an air conditioner/heater for the playroom, a washer/dryer, and a new sterilizer. Once Marsha was convinced they really needed it, we went directly to the store and purchased them, courtesy of A Mother's Love. They were very happy to be getting these!! It is very hot in Ankang in the summer and cold in the winter, so I know the A/C and heater will get used!!

After the visit, it was time for a huge Chinese dinner at the finest place in Ankang. I told them about our reunion of the Ankang babies we were planning for next year in Orlando and they became very excited and really want to come to America for it!!! No joking! Mr. He told me repeatedly he will pay his own expenses and will be mad if he doesn't get invited. I hope we are able to get a good number of the children together so we can have a good turn-out for them!

Dinner was followed by a round of tea by the river at night and then back to the hotel for sleep. They all met me for breakfast and then took us back to the train station to head back to Xian (and then on to Beijing to visit Hope Foster Home again!). It is always emotional for me to go to Ankang, even though I was not able to visit Pingli (where Karly was found). To be able to help the children there in any way is a privilege.

Xian City Orphanage - Library Project - Foster Care Program Day 2

Well it was anther incredible day as we went out of the city about an hour or so into the mountains to visit a small village that has some of the foster kids from the orphanage. Almost all of these children were special needs, ranging from dwarfism, emotional issues, retardation and physical problems. They range in age from 18 months to 13-14 years old. We were told that we were the first foreigners to ever vist this village, and from the looks from the foster care parents this seemed to be true! There was a big turn out for our visti, as all of the foster care parents came to show us their children.

After visting with them for about an hour and taking many pictures we were treated to traditional chinese lunch prepared by the grandmother of the village leader. This consisted of noodles, pickled cucumbers, bean curd, albino-greenbeans and super hot chili pepper paste, which the orphange driver insisted we mix into our noodle bowls! Lets just say Fire! This was all washed down by a thirst quenching cup of hot dirt tea also prepared by the grandmother, leaves and all. The cold bottle of sprite we had about an hour later never tasted so good!

Next we drove back to the city close to the orphanage to see the smaller children in foster care. Again, all of these children were special needs, ranging from cleft pallets, retardation, and physical disabilities. The conditions were not what we are used to , but the foster parents seemed to love and care for these children. We took many pictures and visited with them for awhile. These foster parents receive approximately $40 -$50 USD per month for caring for the children. Most of them are grandparents whose children have left the home.

Finally, we arrived back at the Xian orphanage to finish the library. While we were away the children logged in approximately 1000 books for the library. We were able to finish catagorizing the books on the shelves before we left. There were about 3000 books of all subject matters. This library will hopefully provide long term educational benefits for orphans living here. The driver commented to us on the way home, that this would be beneficial for years to come.

The kids we worked with are normal teens with little chance of furthering their education by going to college. Most of them will go to vocational school at best and the rest to the labor force. The cost of going to the university is about $1500 USD per year, including spending money. The kids seemed very proud of their new library and we saw them reading the books as they were logging them in to the system.

Xian Library Project

Well it was another incredible day. First, we are sorry we posted a very detailed blog last night and it did not post. We will try to recreat for you tonight and add in all of the pictures. For now we are both headed out Jeff to Ankang, and me to Guangzhou to visit our daughters orphanages. For now here are a few pictures frm yesterday.

Xian City Orphanage - Library Project - Foster Care Program

Today was yet another incredible day! Chris and I went to the Xian City Orphanage to visit the children and begin installing the library there. We were able to order about 3,000 books as well as very nice bookshelves, desks, and chairs. Overall, the orphanage is pretty clean and organized.

The children were incredibly helpful in organizing the books and getting them ready for library use. This includes hand-copying each title on a slip of paper, glueing the back pocket for each book, and inserting the check-out cards (which were also done by hand!). Needless to say, each book takes a tremendous amount of time and energy before it goes into the library! We were able to complete about 1,100 books in a 10-hour period and the rest will hopefully be finished tomorrow. No, Chris and I did not attempt to copy the book titles in Chinese! We could not believe how well the kids got along with each other and how hard they worked doing extremely tedious tasks. No way would this happen in America with children aged 10-18!!

They were all very excited about having books to read and a place to go enjoy them! All of them seemed very appreciative to us and kept practicing their English throughout the day with Chris and me. We were surprised at how much of our language they knew at such a young age, especially since many of them are not very educated.

There are about 400 children at this orphanage and another 150 in Foster Care. Approximately 350 of these orphans are special needs or have had surgery at some time. The love and appreciation they shared with us today was overwhelming and we can't wait to get back tomorrow to complete the library and spend more time with the kids. They long for attention but are happy and healthy.

The smaller children in the above picture live in the building across from the "dormitory" which houses the older children and the library. Most of the 30 or so smaller orphans we saw were special needs which ranged from blindness, lack of arms or legs, cleft palates, and some type of physical disorder. They were outside playing with the nannies on the playground equipment.

Xian (Terra Cotta Warriors)

We arrived in Xian yesterday afternoon and Marsha Ma from Hope Foster Home met us at the airport with little Jimmy (her 18 mo old son). We got to the hotel, The Bell Tower Hotel, and the orphanage had arranged for us to have their driver take us to the Terra Cotta warriors about 45 minutes out side of Xian. Jeff and I spent about two hours with a tour guide explaining all of the details of the eighth wonder of the world. We then came back to Xian city and grabbed a bit of dinner with Marsh at Pizza Hut.

Today we are heading to the only orphanage in Xian to assemble the library for the children. Marsh was able to secure about 3000 books for us to organize and make ready to be checked out. Imagine two sales guys pretending to be librarians. Marsha has arranged for bookshelves and all the needed materials to be there for us to put together. The orphanage donated two rooms for the library to be housed. This orphanage has about 600 children ranging in age from infant to school aged children and it has quite an extensive foster program in the community.

We wanted to post this picture of a girl that begs outside of our hotel for now. She is roughly 18 and her mother works a local labor job and her father is sick and cannot work. She volunteerd to go on the streets and beg for her family. Her mother dropps her off every morning and picks her up every evenening around 10 -11:00 PM. This one grabbed both of our hearts in a big way. Have a great day!

BICF and the Great Wall.

We went to Church today at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. It was great to be in Church in Beijing. We had quite a treat this morning, as the guest speaker was Max Lucado. Even better, we were able to meet and talk with Max and have our photo taken with him. He message was simple, Psalms 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd". No matter what your circumstances, or what you can or cannot control in your life, The Lord is my Shepherd. There were probably 1000 or so people in the auditorium and not just because Max was there. Let me tell you there is nothing better than worshipping in a Church in China. The sad part is, you could only enter the building if you had a foreign passport.

After we left Church, we headed to The Great Wall. We went to a section of the wall called Mutianyu about an hour outside of Beijing in the mountains. We hired a cabbie to take us and bring us back and this guy was good, because he took us through the countryside through the small villages, the places most people who visit China never get to see. Of course we picked the hottest day since we have been here in Beijing to go, it was hot with about 125% humidity. Now imagine two americans from Florida who are used to hot and humid, sweating like pigs as we climbed the wall. The best part of this section of the wall is the cable care ride we took to the top and the Alpine Slide we took to get down. Those things go fast and beleive me we were vying for the world record in the Beijing Olympic Alpine Slide, they were not very happy with us, so we rode it again. More tomorrow.

Hope Foster Home Visit

Today was another incredible day as we visited Hope Foster Home. This is an awesome facility run by Dr. Joyce and Robin Hill outside Beijing in the Shunyi district. The home takes in special needs babies(cleft lips, heart defects, bladder problems, etc...) and provides surgeries, physical therapy, and other medical attention and works to place them in foster home until they hopefully get adopted. Hopefully the children above will be part of a forever family.

As with New Day, the love and attention these children receive is phenomenal! There is one nanny for every two children, the facilities are spotless, and the children thrive as they bond with the staff at Hope. It is truly amazing to see the drastic improvement of these children in the before and after pictures -- often in only a few months!

We were able to deliver blankets to Hope (which were collected from Jeff's church in Orlando)as well as "premie" diapers which are hard to get here in China. There are many volunteers who visit from all over the world and typically stay for a week or more and live in special "yurts" behind the home. Almost all of the babies eventually are adopted into forever families - most of them in the US. Lee and Becky from Hope were superb hosts for us!

After visiting Hope, we took a quick tour of the Hutong in Beijing. These are extremely old living sections of Beijing which are over 500 years old and have been relatively untouched since then. Families still live in these ancient quarters in spite of the modern growth around them. Speaking of growth, you can definitely tell the Olympics are coming in 2008! Many buildings are sprouting up, clean-up is everywhere, and sporting facilities are being constructed all around. Beijing will be a different looking city in a few years.

New Day Creation Foster Home/Philip Hayden Foster Home

Today was an incredible day as we visited two phenomenal Foster Homes outside of Beijing run by Christian American families. First we started our day at New Day Creation, where we met Karen and Byron Brenneman, founders of New Day. What wonderful people! They have around twenty or so children all with special needs - many with life threatening heart conditions. They also run a preschool where the older children learn English among other things. All the children were happy and received a lot of attention from the nannies and staff of New Day. They have approximately two nannies for every three babies which rotate every other day. There are so many incredible stories of how God has worked in the lives of these children and those that take care of them, too many to tell now. Just know that God works in wonderful miraculous ways! We spent about four hours there and were able to meet all of the children that live in the home including the three that A Mothers Love has sponsored for surgery (Mica, Kimberly and Brett). Above is one of the pictures we took visiting Kimberly with her new foster parents.

We then took a ride over to Philip Hayden in Langfang village. We visited the various houses on property where the children live and play and drove over to their new facility called Good Shepard's Village. This new place consists of four new building/Dorms for the children and a beautiful new play area. They also have a Wall of Faith commemorating those who donated funds to build the village. The amazing thing about this location is that the Chinese Government donated the land to Philip Hayden to construct their new facility.

We had a great time with all of the children. They all loved the extra attention and especially our cameras.