New Hope Foster Home (Saturday part 1)

Saturday we visited New Hope Foster Home. Our wonderful guide, Angela, picked us up at the hotel and we set out. We drove about an hour to the outskirts of Beijing and stopped for some fresh fruit to take as a gift to the nannies and children there. The fruit market was small and the lady inside kept pointing at me and talking to Angela. At one point she walked over and touched my arm in an odd way. Angela explained that the lady had many questions as they don't see many westerners there. She explained we were here for an adoption and the lady had many questions about that. She also said that when she was touching me she was telling Angela she thought I must be freezing. I had a hoodie on and was nice and toasty. Chinese people bundle up and wear crazy amounts of layers. They keep their buildings burning up. I feel like I've been consistently hotter on this trip than any time before in my life and I am a very cold natured person. Outside it has been pleasant 60s to 70s but they keep their buildings very hot and they don't have a way to turn on the air yet because the government controls when air conditioning can be turned on and they say it is too early. So we are hot all the time.

We got to New Hope and were able to deliver the fruit we had purchased as well as a big suitcase full of supplies that we brought. New Hope Foster Home started in the late 90s by a Christian couple who opened their home to care for sick orphans that would otherwise die. Their story is amazing. I just read about it in the book "House of Hope" by Elisabeth Gifford. It quickly grew into a large foster home in Beijing and they have a few other facilities in other provinces, including Maria's Big House of Hope in Louyang. This was a very full circle moment for me as my first thoughts of adoption were triggered several years ago when I read the book "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman. The Chapmans lost their daughter, Maria, adopted from China in a tragic accident and the book told the story of their amazing journey of faith and healing. The Chapman family got involved with the founders of New Hope and when they opened the facility in Louyang, they named it for Maria. When we found out Caleb had been at New Hope, we contacted them and asked them if we could come visit. They were very welcoming to us and we were able to get a suitcase of supplies to bring them from the US and Show Hope (the orphan care foundation that the Chapman family started) paid the extra checked bag fee for us! We were so blessed to be able to help other orphans as we make our son "one less."

New Hope is an amazing place. They take great care of the kids and treasure them. I was able to see the room Caleb has had and the bed he has slept in for the past year. Here is the place where he was given his daily bath.

This is me taking in the room where he slept.

This sign was hung above the door to the bedroom. I cried when I saw it.

 

Caleb's bed.

After seeing the inside of the home, we were taken outside where many children were playing with nannies. Caleb's nanny recognized us from showing Caleb our pictures! She was very excited to meet us! She came over to us and very excitedly began talking. Angela translated for us and she was telling us how she was so glad to meet us and how much she loved Caleb. She said she was so very sad when they took him to back to the orphanage for adoption and she begged us to send her pictures for years to come so she could always know how he was doing. She really seemed to genuinely love him like a son. She told us we were so lucky to get to be his parents!! This meant the world to me! Many people have told us that he is lucky to be coming into our family and while we appreciate that as the compliment that it is meant to be, we feel that we are the lucky ones to get to experience this amazing journey and the blessing of who he will be in our family. It was so kind of her to say this! She told us many things about him, that he is pleasant and fun and busy and happy. She said he loves to eat and we laughed about how that means he will be a perfect fit for our family! She also told me his daily schedule and routine. She showed us many pictures of him on her cell phone and told us that she misses him so much. She wanted a picture taken with us and we absolutely wanted one with her! What an amazing blessing. I thanked her for loving my son so much for me until I could get to him!

 

We spent time outside playing with the children. I got the privilege of loving on a little boy that a friend of mine is adopting. I've never met her as they live in another state, but we connected through our agency's facebook group. I was able to send her pictures of her son and get some video for her as well. These children are beyond precious. It was so heartbreaking to know that they were all abandoned but I am so thankful that they are being well cared for now and I pray that every one of them finds a loving forever family!!

 

This is me, squeezing my friend's son and telling him his mama is coming soon!

 

These sweet boys were full of love for us!

This beautiful little girl had a thing for my husband! She just wanted him to hold her!! She needs a loving daddy!!



 

 

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes."  David Platt, Radical