For the Least of My Brothers

‘A', a China-based co-worker. Posted on 22 May 2009.

 

The plight of the needy in China can be horrendous. Poverty is rampant in this vast nation where more than half of the population still lives in rural communities, and in many areas there is a distinct lack of amenities that we in the developed world consider basic necessities. AM-CCSM's mercy work team has been privileged to help change the lives of children in several villages in rural China and to make a difference in a state-run orphanage where 70% of the children have been abandoned because of physical or mental handicaps.

 

 

Rural Children Receiving Sponsorship Aid

Last year I was able to travel to meet one group of needy children sponsored through AM-CCSM's mercy work. These children live deep in the mountains in villages that are only accessible on foot. The schoolchildren have to rise at around 5am in order to make the two- to three-hour hike to school.

Sixteen-year-old Hui Hui's* mother passed away two years ago. Her father, a reed-thin man, works hard on several small plots of land scattered across the steep mountain slopes surrounding their home in order to be able to feed his mother and two daughters. The yield from their crops is only just sufficient to feed the family, so our sponsorship funds have helped enable Hui Hui to continue with her studies.

Another child I met earlier was 12-year-old Mei Mei, who had been abandoned on the street as a baby. In spite of his low income as a manual odd-job labourer, Mei Mei's adoptive father, a Christian believer with a heart full of mercy and compassion, has raised her as his own daughter. During our visit, he proudly showed us photographs of the two of them together, which had been taken in a photo studio when she was younger. They live together in a tiny cave dwelling, which they rent for 30 yuan a month. The walls of their three-square-metre home are covered with school awards that Mei Mei has earned. AM-CCSM's sponsorship has enabled this bright student to continue with her schooling.

Your prayers for these children and others like them, and for AM-CCSM's work with their families, will help to pierce the veil of poverty and darkness and bring the Lord's light and love into their lives. Please do remember to lift them up before the Lord.

Village School Project

The village school provides education to children coming from a 50 km radius around Li Li town. The rural community surrounding the town survives by growing wheat, maize, cotton, vegetables and fruit. A monstrous cement factory nearby fills the air with its noxious fumes.

During 2007's harsh winter, 30 of the children suffered frostbite because of the lack of heating in the school dormitory. So in November 2008, AM-CCSM helped finance a heating system to cover all 56 rooms of the dormitory building. We have also donated some sports equipment and begun to give monthly awards to the teachers to supplement their very meagre salaries. Sports and English camps are now in the pipeline, together with plans to donate some science equipment, so that the students will not have to be bussed to another school to use their equipment in order to prepare for their exams.

AM-CCSM will soon be commencing sponsorship of some of the more needy students at this school. Dong Dong is a bright and cheerful eleven-year-old. His mother died some time ago and his father works away from home, so he is often left to take care of himself in their simple home. Twelve-year-old An An has also asked for help. His mother suffers from mental illness and his father struggles to support the family by transporting coal. As we visit these children and their families, please pray that we can bring God's blessing and healing to them, so that they may come to know Him as the source of all life and provision.

Orphanage Teams

AM-CCSM has been sending short-term teams to JJ orphanage for the past seven years. On one of our teams, I met eight-year-old Lan Lan who had just been admitted to the orphanage four days before. It seemed she had been abandoned by her family. As we spent time with her, it became clear that she suffers from autism and epilepsy. She was unresponsive, had not been toilet- trained, and seemed to be the victim of abuse, as she sought to reject all human contact and struggled and screamed when we tried to change her drenched clothes. Our prayer was that our Heavenly Father's heart of love would be ministered to her to bring healing.

Little did we know that next day one of our team would make the connection with her that would be the answer to that prayer. As Trevor expressed God's heart of love to her, Lan Lan made great strides. Now she smiles, laughs and responds to cuddling, and she is able to go to school. Whenever Trevor is on the team, Lan Lan seeks him out for fun times and cuddles. She is now on regular medication, which Trevor is sponsoring.

Back in 2006, Chun Chun, a mentally handicapped six-year-old, was a lifeless sack of skin and bones, who could not stand or eat. She was wasting away in the corner of the orphanage. One of our team took Chun Chun under her wing and nursed her, giving her lots of hugs and tenderly feeding her with soft foods and liquids. The impact of that special time with Chun Chun was still evident a year later when we returned. Chun Chun was now smiling, laughing and walking!

God has been at work in the lives of these children, bringing people on different teams to carry on the work He has started in each precious life. Do pray that, as we continue to serve in JJ orphanage and in two other orphanages in the same province, we will bring God's healing and wholeness to these very special lambs.

"For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me... Whenever you did it to the least of my brothers you did it to Me," says the King of Glory (Matthew 25). That is the backdrop to the mercy work of Antioch Missions-Chinese Church Support Ministries. Please continue to stand with us as we seek the serve those who have so few if any of the privileges we so often take for granted.

*Names have all been changed to protect the children's confidentiality.