Let the little ones come to me

 

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

—- Matthew 19:14

 

A Daughter Born for China

Burlington, North Carolina – a typical Southern town with generous and hospitable people, religious and traditional.  In the early 1960s, the Clark’s eldest daughter was born.  The girl with blonde hair and blue eyes was named “Laura.”  The Clarks were a typical Southern bourgeoisie family:  Laura’s father was an electrical engineer, and her mother was a graceful and educated woman.  Little Laura remembers moving into a new home when she was five years old:  a two-story house with a garden, lush green lawn, and picturesque view.  Besides the crystal clear stream nearby, Laura also remembers her favorite activity in the yard – tree climbing.

 

Laura’s family was a traditional Christian household, and many relatives from both her parents’ families were faithful, Godly followers of Christ.  Right after she was born, Laura started going to church with her parents, attending service, Sunday school, and various meetings.  To her, Bible reading and prayer were a matter of course – just like eating.  When she was in second grade, a teacher asked her kids what they would like to do when they grew up.  The seven-year-old Laura replied that she will become a missionary.  When she was nine, she had developed the habit of reading the Bible everyday.  She was not truly saved and reborn until she was eleven:  that year, her mother brought her to a new church that emphasized the preaching and teaching of the gospel truths.  On one particular Sunday, having heard the pastor’s gospel sermon, she experienced an epiphany; with silent prayer, she asked Jesus to come into her heart and forgive her sins.  The Bible was only a piece of head knowledge that she believed in, but now she has taken it to heart and received Jesus as her personal Lord and savior.  In recalling her testimony, Laura said, “After I was born again there occurred a change in me – I eagerly wanted to spread the gospel.  Previously I only acknowledged the gospel, but now I want to me involved with evangelism.”

Laura’s parents raised their children with all their love, but also with the word of God.  According to Laura’s mother, there were two important factors in Laura’s upbringing:  one is the Bible – the word of God – that took root in her life, and the other was “obedience” – obedience to God and allowing Him to work in her life.  When the calling came to her, Laura responded with an obedient heart.

When Laura was in second grade, her textbook briefly introduced her to Chinese characters.  Seeing her interest, Laura’s mother brought her to the library and borrowed a book about Chinese writing.  Draw a sun and add a dot, and you get the character for sun, “日”.  Draw a crescent moon, and you get the character for moon, “月”.  These pictograph characters were immensely fascinating to little Laura.

At seven, Laura had a clear vision her heart:  when she grew up, God will send her to China.

Many years ago, Laura’s maternal grandmother prayed for God to call her two daughters into the mission field.  God listened to this elderly woman’s prayer of many years, but the two who were called are not her two daughters.  Instead, among her grandchildren, Laura and her younger sister were both called and became missionaries.

Laura graduated from the renowned Christian seminary, Wheaton College, in 1983.  The apostle Paul said:  “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.”  (1 Corinthians 9:22-23)  With a heart like Paul, so that more Chinese people can be lead to Christ, Laura was sent with a mission.  Before embarking on her journey, the pastor from her parents’ former church laid hands on her and prayed, “Lord, may You change her into a Chinese!”

God listened to the prayer of this shepherd.

 

A man lifted from dust

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

—- Psalms 113:7-8

In the early 1960s, the sixth and youngest child of locomotive engineer Master Zhao was born.  The boy was named Zhao Jian An, and his family resided in the railroad laborer’s dormitory of Xi’an Railway Administration.

When Jian An was fourteen, he was suddenly stricken with jaundice hepatitis.  The disease persisted after two hospitalizations, and Jian An was forced to take a suspension from school.  All day long he grumbled, “I’ll express my gratitude in whatever way possible if someone could just heal me.”

A neighbor came to visit one day during meal time.  As they chatted she said, “There used to be this sickly person in our railroad east village [the strip housing dormitory], and I hear that she was cured of everything after she believed Jesus.”  Of course the neighbor only mentioned this in passing, and she was not a Christian.  But upon hearing this Jian An was very curious:  What is this Jesus business?  Is this Jesus the name of a person, or the name of some place?  The next day he paid a visit to this “Jesus believer”, who turned out to be an old sister.  She received him kindly and said, “The Lord has chosen you.”  Jian An didn’t understand what this meant.  “I’m here to see you, so why do you say ‘the Lord has chosen’ me?  I am diseased and I need prayer.”  So this old sister took him inside a room, set a piece of brick on the moist ground, and had Jian An kneel on it.  She led him in prayer and taught him, “Just say Lord save me, Lord save me!”  After three days of praying thus at the old sister’s house, Jian An went back to the hospital for an examination.  He was cured – and this confused him:  how is it that he was cured without using any advanced medications or shots?  The old sister attended house churches on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and Jian An went along with her.  As he listened to the pastor’s sermons, his heart was filled with joy.  About a year later he understood the truth; he prayed the sinner’s prayer and accepted Jesus as his savior.

The joy of the Lord was with little Jian An, and he shared the gospel in school also.  The people who shared the gospel with Jian An also told him:  God can grant insight to man, for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  The night before a particular exam, he prayed earnestly for the Lord to give him wisdom and understanding.  As his prayers continued into midnight, he seemed to hear a voice in his spirit:  “Place it in the Lord’s hand, and give glory to the Father.”  Instantly he felt all the stress relieved.  He did well in the English exam next day, and his classmates inquired:  How did you manage to do so well?  He answered:  Entrust it to the Lord, believe in Christ.

The following occurred in June of 1979.  His teachers at the time found it far-fetched that a seventh grader could “believe Jesus” – and instead deemed Jian An as mentally flawed.  They felt that, for him to speak of God and devils day in and day out, crediting all the good things to God’s grace and all the bad things to “the attack of Satan”, must be a sign of head problems.  They notified his father to come and pick him up; he was now expelled from school.

After leaving school in 1980, Jian An felt that it was a special grace from God – so he could attend more church meetings, and he was not at all troubled about not going to school.  During that time, he attended meetings at various churches, listened to Christian radio, went on house visits, and his joy and spiritual life grew by leaps and bounds.  There weren’t many religious readings available at the time, so his spiritual nourishment came mainly from sermons and radio broadcast programs.  On one particular program he was greatly moved by Dr. John Sung’s love of the Lord:  how he threw his Golden Key and Medal of Honor, from an American university, into the ocean for the sake of the gospel.  Another program said, “If a man is willing to be a minister in rural villages, then he is truly delighting in Jehovah, rather than worldly things.”  Jian An now understood that delighting in the Lord and drawing near Him is the best.  Their pastor taught, “The Lord is our sufficiency in everything, To be without sin is to be free of burdens.”  Jian An loudly said “Amen” to this.

After working as a temporary laborer with his father for some time, Jian An was employed by the city’s public transportation authority in 1985.  As a ticketing clerk on the Xi’an city buses, he was taken along six routes passing through various universities.  Many college students from schools such as the Northwestern Telecommunications College, the Northwestern Industrial University, and the Physical Education Institute rode these buses, and Jian An took this opportunity to share the gospel with them openly; his zeal for the Lord was uncommon in China for the 1980s.  Often he would place a large black leather Bible on the ticketing counter, and people would be curious – the Bible was not widely available at that time.  If anyone happened to ask, he would share he gospel with them, or pass out the gospel tracts he carried.

God is pleased with those with a simple faith.  He was preparing this young man so he could be used in the future.

“Your dyed hair is really pretty!”

In 1983, the door to China is said to be open.  However, for a foreigner to live and work in China it is still difficult.  Thus, Laura arrived in Taiwan first, serving in an orphanage.

By chance God led her on a touring trip to mainland China.  On that trip, Laura was left with a strong impression of Xi’an, and she felt that God was calling her to ministry there.  Xi’an in the early 1980s was still relatively closed, and foreigners such as Laura would be surrounded by onlookers wherever they go.  On their last stop at a museum, the group of foreigners, about ten, was surrounded so much that they couldn’t get out.  One of them finally couldn’t stand it and asked in Chinese, “Why are you looking at us?”  One of the folks looking on loudly replied, “We would like to make friends with you!”  On hearing this Laura shouted in her heart, “Wow!  This is great!  Xi’an is such a great place!  May God lead me step by step and open the door to Xi’an for me.”

Upon returning to Taiwan, Laura started praying for Xi’an.  She had started reading the Chinese Bible by then, and each time she read “Zion” she was reminded of “Xi’an” in China.  She also prayed for a signed from God:  “Lord, if it is Your will for me to go to Xi’an, please lead me to some Xi’an people in Taiwan!”

On one occasion, Laura was making church arrangements for a child from the orphanage who was grown and had already left.  When she visited him, Laura met his stepfather and asked, “Where is your hometown?”  He answered, “Xi’an, Shaanxi.”  This was her first sign.  A few days later, after service, Laura met an elderly brother and asked about his home town.  He replied Shannxi and said, “In a few days it’ll be January 8^th [of the Lunar Year], and we have a Fellow Townsman gathering in Zhongshan Hall for folks from Shannxi and Xi’an; you should come and join us.”  At that meeting Laura met two to three hundred people from Xi’an.  She said, Lord it’s enough, enough.  May you open the way to Xi’an for me, I’m willing to obey.”

After serving in Taiwan for two and half years, Laura arrived in Changsha in 1986.  A few months later she went to Xi’an.

Laura has been studying Chinese since 1983, as well as learning to serve and “be” a Chinese.  Coupled with her strong language skills, she was soon able to speak very fluent Mandarin.  When faced with the crowds in China, she did not feel at all out of place.  Her mission and her calling were to China, so she felt instead a feeling of homecoming.  With a heart of “I am made all things to all men” and the Lord’s calling, she was able to overcome many challenges by the grace of God.  The first thing she learned was to eat Chinese food:  bitter melon in Taiwan, snake skin in Guangdong, chili pepper Hunan, garlic in Shaanxi – she adjusted to all of these.  Just like the average Chinese, she slept on a hard board bed, rode the buses standing, and rode a bicycle.  Even though these things were somewhat difficult for an American girl who grew up drinking American milk, living in a house with a garden, she said:  “When a difficulty comes up, I must persevere in the name of the Lord.  When I feel distressed, God reminds me that a lot of people around me are in even greater hardship.  They’ve had to suffer things for so many years, and they were able to endure.  For example, when we take a bus or train, we often have to stand for many hours in a row.  Sometimes, when I can’t stand anymore, I’ll get off and take a taxi for the rest of the way – if my situation permits me to do so.  Unlike them, I don’t stand from start to finish; I don’t suffer as much as the Chinese people.”

“Your dyed hair is really pretty!”  A Shaanxi woman who saw her once said.  She took the blonde Laura to be a Chinese, and praised her for “nicely dyed” hair.

But to Laura, “I am made all things to all men” is not the goal, “being like a Chinese” is not a goal either:  her goal is to “by all means save some”, “for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.”  Laura took on the Chinese ways of living, but more importantly she “kept in mind the things of others, letting the mind that was in Christ Jesus” be in her (Philippians 2).  Her burden is to serve the orphans and waifs of China.

Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Having been born into a Christian family, Laura was brought to Jesus since childhood, raised up by the love of Christ.  She wished that all Chinese children could receive that same love, and to know the Lord Jesus from childhood; she wished that she could be the conduit for Christ’s love, passing it on to all the children of China.

But where are the children of China?

Laura paid a visit to the Xi’an Municipal Administration, requesting a position in Xi’an’s Social Welfare Office (the orphanage).  Not only was her request denied, she was even forbidden from visiting the orphanage.  She also discovered SOS Children’s Villages in Yantai and Tianjin, founded by international organizations, but they also turned down her application because she was a foreigner.  So that she could stay in and serve China, Laura twice applied for Chinese citizenship with the Ministry of Public Security; these were also denied.

The orphanage appears to be a closed door, so Laura settled for a teaching position in kindergarten.  Just like the average Chinese, she rode her bicycle time after time to the Xi’an Education Ministry, explaining her wish to serve in kindergartens.  After a long and fruitless wait, someone encouraged her to inquire again.  As she rode her bicycle, she prayed with tears:  No on can close a door opened by God, no one can open a door closed by Him; she asked God to open a door for her.  Laura cried all the way to the Ministry and was told, “I’ve got everything set up for you.  You’ll be teaching in the affiliated elementary school of Jiao Tong University, not kindergarten.”

Laura started teaching a grade school English class of 900 students.  But a year later, the school told her that the university division is still lacking a foreign teacher, so she was transferred to teach university students.  Two years later, she was again transferred to teach at the Fourth Military Medical University.  It would seem as if she is moving further and further away from the “little children.”

However, the calling of God cannot be mistaken.

 

Prepared by God

 

In 1989, while Laura was teaching in Xi’an, another American couple also in Xi’an shared with her about a young brother.  He was zealous and bold, and openly preacehed the gospel on the buses.  Laura said, Wow!  This is a great brother for whom we should pray.

 

In the fall of 1990, while she taught at The Fourth Military Medical University, the brothers and sisters introduced Jian An to her – so she could know more members of the body and have more fellowship.  When he first saw her, Jian An thought she was kind, simple, and sincere – and she spoke very pleasant Mandarin.  At their first meeting, they talked of only God and the Bible.  As he got to know her more, he noticed that she does not like kid around, doesn’t watch television, doesn’t read the newspaper or any books other than the Bible.

 

As for Laura?  Even before Jian An visited her for the first time, she had already been earnestly praying to God for a sister who could read the Bible together with her everday; she felt that her spiritual need was greater than what the once-a-week church service was able to provide for.  As an afterthoguht she said to God:  Or, if my future husband would come and read the Bible together with me, then may Your will be done.  She was really happy to know Jian An; he was an honest brother, and they could communicate easily because she understood all his Mandarin.  Unlike the Mandarin spoken in university, Jian An did not use complex vocabulary or phrases that were hard to understand.  The two started to read the Bible together often.

 

Back when she was in Chang Sha, someone introduced a potential spouse to Laura.  She said that she had two measuring standards:  firstly, of course, he must be a believer of Jesus.  Secondly, he must be willing to go to Xi’an.  As it turns out, this person wanted to go to America with Laura, so things did not work out.  While she was in Xi’an, there were plenty of master and doctoral students, as well as tenured professors who interacted with Laura.  For some time, Jian An felt that his own position was too inferior.  After more prayer, he felt it inappropriate to end the relationship abruptly, and so continued the Bible studies with Laura.

 

According to man’s standard, it seems that Laura was closer aligned to the academia, but Laura held a different standard.  The members of the house churches with which Laura had contact were mostly laborers; it was common that the wives were believers, but the husbands were not.  Laura figured that if she too had a laborer husband whose background was similar to those laborers, it would be more convenient for her to share the gospel.  She asked God to prepare a non-English speaking husband for her:  she felt that if his English was too good, then he might end up staying in America, unwilling to do gospel work in China.  In the few years she spent teaching university, most students who came to her wanted to study English and go abroad.  In contrast, Laura wanted to preach the gospel, and that is the criteria on which she selected her mate.  It appears that her relationship with Jian An was prepared by God, and this was somewhat touching to her.

 

A Joyful Mother of Children

 

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.  Psalms 113:9

 

In 1990, CCTV broadcasted a drama series titled “Yearnings.”  The story tells of a woman laborer named Liu Huei Fong who took in an abandoned baby.  The ups and downs of Liu’s life attracted many viewers, and the prime time series was said to have glued entires towns to their television sets.  A couple of years later, some local newspapers in and around Xi’an started to report the story of a “Yang* Huei Fong.”  Of course, what’s openly reported is the altruism of “Yang Huei Fong”, and her identity as a Christian was covered up.

 

*Translator’s Note:  In Mandarin, the word for “foreign” and the last name “Yang” have identical pronounciations.  The usage of Yang as Laura’s last name takes advantage of these homonyms.  Subsequent occurences of this last name are based on the same principle.

 

In fact this was the story of Laura.  Formal ophanages have closed their doors on her, but how can her compassion, a heart from Christ, be contained?  God gave her an inspiration:  “Let the children come to me!”  She started to foster abandoned children.  In January of 1991, someone gave her a baby girl abandoned in the hospital.  Laura named her “Anna”, and took care of her with all her heart.  Even though Laura was involved with the children’s ministry since middle school and had experience babysitting, looking after an actual baby 24 hours a day was quite different after all.  She had to wake up in the middle of the night, and lost a lot of sleep; fortunately the grace of God was sufficient:  an obstetrician who was a believer taught Laura how to care for infants, and many loving sisters helped her out.

 

A few months later, Jian An heard from his mother that, when she went to the doctor, she saw an abandoned baby on the bench right outside the hospital – a baby with a tumor on the back.  Jian An told this to Laura, and she said:  Take her in.  Many people cautioned:  But this child has a tumor on the back!  Laura was heartbroken:  A child with a tumor is still a child!  And thus, Jian An handed Laura her second daughter, named “Tina.”

 

Many brothers and sisters were upset with Jian An; they said that brother Zhao was too young and had no clue about the difficulties of child raising.  He must think that caring for one baby is no different from caring for two, and he’s adding to the Laura’s burdens.  In fact, Laura did not feel “burdened” at all, but considered it a joy.  Jian An also felt “indebted” and tried to make up by giving more help to Laura.

 

Two months later, Anna and Tina suffered diarrhoea at the same time.  As they exited the hospital, Laura saw a boy abandoned at the entrance.  It was the month of July, and this child was naked, skinny, and dehydrated – the boy was handicapped.  There were many onlookers, and Laura went straight to a sister’s house to pray; she did not want people to see a “foreigner” taking the kid away, so she asked this sister to go and retrieve him.  Afterwards, Laura brought him to another hospital for treatment.  Out of “man’s good intentions,” the doctor said:  This kid is on his last leg, and you should dispose of him before you grow attached.  Otherwise, the treatment will be very costly.  Laura’s heart was once again pierced:  This is a life created by God, a child with whom the Lord Jesus is pleased!  She said:  This child… I want him.  Please save him; give him blood transfusion and fluid transfusion.  This is the third child fostered by Laura, named “Enoch.”

 

By fostering these three children, Laura was met with many difficulties.  Not only was her employment at The Fourth Military Medical University discontinued, all the universities in Shaanxi forbade her from teaching because of her adoptions.  She moved out of the house and found a reception house to stay in.  Of the three children she is raising, two of them required medical treatment; she needed to know the path of her next step… she faced immense challenges and pressures.  At times, when all three children start up crying, she felt so helpless that she can only cry before God…

 

But God promised:  and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.  (Deuteronomy 33:25)  In her difficulties, the grace of God was with her.  Many brothers and sisters in Christ gave her generous help, and God even used many non-believers to help her.  “She’s a foreigner and she’s fostering the our abandoned Chinese kids; we should help her whenever we are able.”  Laura also took this opportunity to witness for the Lord and share the gospel.

 

In her most dire circumstance, God gave her the strongest help.  In the reception house where Laura stayed, there lived an education worker from Xuzhou.  She empathized with Laura and looked for a position in a school of Xuzhou on her behalf.  Seeing as how Laura was about to leave Xi’an, Jian An prayed repeatedly and decided to propose marriage.  He wrote a letter of proposal and explained:  This is not my will, but a guidance from God.  Laura was not at all surprised, and her reply to Jian An was:  This is also the guidance God gave to me.

 

These two people, of completely different cultural backgrounds, joined paths because of their fellowship in the Spirit and simple love for the Lord.  They were became engaged in August of 1991.  The school position in Xuzhou did not pan out.  In order to get treatment for the kids, the five of them came to Shanghai.  On December 17, 1991, Laura and Jian An held a simple but solemn wedding in Shanghai Huai Ren Church.  According to a later account by Jian An, his outft was quite shabby at the time.  The pastor saw a brother standing to the side wearing a suit; he said to him:  please lend your suit to the groom.  And so, Jian An had his wedding wearing someone else’s suit.

 

Afterwards, they stayed in Shanghai for about one year.  During this year, they were hosted by ten different families, and moved around ten times.  All day long they lugged their belongings around, staying two months here, one month there.  Brothers and sisters always looked for places that were more remote and quiet; in locations that are more crowded, they would have too many unwanted visitors.  On one occassion, they were hosted by a brother in Pudong.  In those days, Pudong was still undeveloped.  It was an old house, and there were miscellaneous junk like racks, tires, iron barrels, and hay.  Jian An thought to himself, it’s doubtful that Laura will live here; even I, growing up in Xi’an, have never lived in such a horrid condition.  But Laura took one lok and said, this is good, just like Jesus’s manger!  The family moved in; they laid a layer of hay and a thin sheet on the ground as bedding, and it felt pretty warm when slept on at night.  In the evenings, Laura held the eldest while Jian An held the second; they were out of hands for the youngest, Enoch, so they placed him in a cart.  Whenever Enoch cried, Jian An would rock the small cart with his feet; it was very convenient, and the child was easy to care for.  Brothers and sisters prepared a new house for the couple, and scheduled a rotation for babysitting so that they could go on a honeymoon.  In the end, they returned to the house of the “manger” after a three-day honeymoon, sinced Laura missed the kids and broke down in tears.  Thanks to the Lord, the two kids with illnesses were completely healed, and grew up healthily.

 

“Bethel Children’s Home”

 

As their three foster children gradually grew up, God led Laura and Jian An to serve more orphans and waifs.

 

In 1997, Laura brought her three children to a fast food joint near the train station.  At the restaurant entrance, there was a waif of about ten years of age – long haired and dirty – picking up empty bottles.  Laura asked her where he stayed at night, and he replied the train station.  She then asked whether he’s had a meal, and he said no.  Laura invited him to eat together.  The three kids asked him many questions.  He said that his father was a high school teacher, but was divorced from his mother.  His father went insane after the divorce, and his mother did not want him in her new marriage; thus he started wandering the streets.  Laura asked him:  Do you want to come live at my house?  He said yes, and was brought home by Laura.

 

That was the day just before Jian An’s birthday, and Laura said to her husband, “God has prepared a birthday gift for you, a ready-made son.”  Of course, Jian An gladly accepted this “gift.”  In truth, as early as 1987, Jian An had helped a waif and wanted to foster him.  His mother did not allow it, so he arranged for the child to stay at a friend’s house.  Now, united with Laura, they started this ministry.  During one particular prayer, the Holy Spirit moved him:  Go you to the train station again, look for children again.  He met with two street urchins right when he went out, and he also asked them if they would like to come.  They were willing to come.  Just like this, these waifs came in group by group, and the ministry of “Bethel Children’s House” was now started.

 

Through these years, under the support and assistance of many brothers and sisters from the local church, Laura and Jian An have taken in 150 waifs and abandoned babies in total.  In contrast to rearing an abandoned baby, serving the slightly older waifs was a brand new ministry.  Many of these kids were ten years and up, and most of them were backed by miserable family tragedies; a life on the streets not only impressed driftings and sufferings on their young hearts, but also bogged them down with many problems.  The ministry of “Bethel Children’s Home” is to recover these children, provide them a cozy family, share the gospel with them, fill their hearts with the love of Christ, and rebuild their lives with Biblical truths.

 

When Laura and Jian An first started serving them, they went through many hazardous situations.  When a group of kids live together, all kinds of incidents arise if they cannot get along, and fights often break out.  On one particular occassion, when Jian An went out to minister, one of the kids locked all the other kids outside.  Unable to sleep, these kids started a bonfire next to the garbage dumpster outside to keep themselves warm.  When Laura got up at one-thirty in the morning to check, these kids were moments away from being burned.  One of the kids called himself the “Snake King” and was very violent… dangerous situation popped up left and right.  When Jian An returned he made a firm decision:  “You little rascals!  ‘Auntie Yang’ (this is how the kids addressed Laura) spends so much effort to take care of you, giving you food, giving you drink, yet you still misbehave, still fight, hide knives, and do all these dangerous things.  Fine!  Let’s take you to the detention center at the police station and have you educated.”  Jian An really did contact the police station, and called for a taxi to bring all five kids there.  Laura cried at home along with the kids.  Laura said:  How can we send them there?  But Jian An insisted on going.  Originally Jian An wanted to send in only the worst behaving kid.  But since they were all there, he thought they might as well all go in for some education.  Surprisingly, the police station took them all in.  The police asked where they came from, and one naughty kid answered mischievously.  In response, the police slapped him across the face and shouted, “Sit still!  You dare to misbehave here?  This is not your church shelter, talking only about love…”  This display put them in line immediately, and all five of them went in at once.

 

Five days later, all five kids escaped and returned.  The detention center moved them to Weinan, about an hour away from Xi’an by car.  The detention center in Weinan was looser and put the kids to work, picking up bricks and things.  The security was rather loose, perhaps a hint that they could run if they wanted, but just don’t run towards Xi’an train station.  Upon their return they said:  “We were suffering at the detention center, and we got scabies.  We prayed, oh Lord, please let us go home, we still want to see our Auntie Yang, and we won’t ever misbehave or fight again.  We really really prayed… and after staying five days in Weinan, we stole on a train and came back.”

 

All five kids came back, and Laura was very happy.  The day they went to an out-of-town farmers’ village church, they returned to see a pile of clothes in front of their door, donated by an unknown person.  Laura said:  Look, God has prepared.  These clothes are just what’s needed.  These children were twice infected with scabies, which is contagious.  They slept in a tunnel, and were contaminated one by one.  A docotor who worked in a traditional Chinese medical school heard about this and voluntarily came with free medicine, so the children were quickly healed.

 

The ministry of “Bethel Children’s Home” gradually stabilized.  The “Children’s Home” was partitioned for abandoned babies and wandering children.  The abandoned babies that they foster are mostly handicapped in some way, such as hydrocephalus, deafness, cleft lip and palate, congenital heart disease, Down syndrome.  Many brothers and sisters of the house churches participated in the Lord’s ministry, turning many families into “foster families,” each take care of one baby.  These babies are given medical care first, then transferred to the “foster families.”  These “foster families” became powerful helpers and coworkers to “Bethel Children’s Home.”  The waifs, who are older in age, stay in “Children’s Home” to study the Bible, sing hymns, do devotions, memorize Bible verses.  Each child had differing levels of education; some have never gone to school, while others have completed seventh and eighth grade.  This made it difficult for Laura and Jian An to teach the children with formal education materials.  Sometimes Laura would have the kids teach each other – older ones who had gone to school would teach the younger ones new characters – or have them transcribe the Bible.  The methods used were not rigid, but flexible and adaptive.

 

Besides learning from the Bible, Laura put the kids to to actual practice in serving.  Sometimes she would divide them into small groups to hand out tracts on the streets.  “Children’s Home” had a lot of clothing donates by brothers and sisters, some of which are adult-sized.  Since Weinan had a high number of homeless people, each group would bring some adult clothing and food and look for the homeless.  Once found, they said to them:  “Jesus loves you!”  First they used the name of Jesus to suppress their flesh, then they shared the gospel to them, giving them food and clothing.  Small groups formed by boys would also bring these homeless people to the bathhouse for a bath.  Jian An said, some are lunatics, difficult to share.

 

These children stay at “Children’s Home” for variable amounts of time.  Within two three years of launching, “Children’s Home” had seventeen transient children who brought the gospel to their homeland.  A majority of them were forced onto the streets because of parents’ divorce or imprisonment, and they now stay with grandparents or other relatives.  Some children often call back, and some even returned because they liked the Bible studies and hymns – and they wanted to belong to this big family full of love for one another.  On one occassion, they found the parents of four different children.  When these parents came to pick up their children, they were all moved to tears.  “Only the love of God is the greatest and truest love in the world,” they said.  They were all willing, after they returned, to attend local churches for sermons, and to study the Bible seriously.

 

Some other children continued to grow up at “Children’s Home”, moving out at seveteen to work for a living.  A few were sent to house church seminaries for training.  All the children were very grateful for the amazing grace of the Heavenly Father; they could not have fathomed that, a few years after losing parents, family, and wandering the streets begging for food, they could belong to a warm family once more.  Furthermore, those who had the chance to return to school especially thanked their loving Lord from their hearts.  They said that after they grew up, they would be willing to actively help and empathize other people.  A few boys also said that, once they grew up, they will run a bigger orphanage to help more homeless children.  Laura and Jian An were truly joyful and gratified to hear them with such enthusiasm for repaying the Lord’s grace.

 

The children also developed deep sentiments with Laura and Jian An.  Originally they called Jian An “Uncle Zhao” and Laura “Auntie Yang.”  But later, the child who stayed the longest in “Children’s Home”, closest to Jian An and Laura, started to call Jian An “father.”  After hearing this, the other children followed suit and called him “father.”  After this child left, he often called back to inquire:  “Dad, how have you been?  Are you in good health?”  But they still called Laura “Auntie Yang”, probably too shy to use mother.  But in their hearts, the kids were closer to Laura.  When the children had minor illnesses or whatnot, Jian An thought nothing of it; according to the child rearing methods of the Chinese people, minor sicknesses were irrelevant – just weather it out and the child will be fine.  But Laura always took care of them personally, taking them to the hospital for treatment.  The sugary medicines that were brought back were fought over by the kids:  “Auntie Yang, I have a little ache here too, I want to eat some medicine too!”

 

On one occassion, the coworkers of “Children’s Home” gave an assignment – to write an essay about Auntie Yang – and the children wrote very sincerely.  A child named Zhang Bin was given over to his father after his parents divorced, but his father was addicted to gambling.  Zhang Bin did not receive proper care, and was forbidden from going to his mother.  He recorded “Auntie’s Yang’s” many-sided love:  “When I had a cold, or when my hands were infected, Auntie Yang took me to the doctors.”  Lastly he wrote:  “How I would like to call you ‘mom!'”  A girl named Zeng Huei said, everyday I saw my fellow students being picked up by their mothers after school, but I did not a have a mother to pick me up.  The best thing in the world is to have a mother, but having someone I can call mother is not a matter of course.  Auntie Yang took us to the doctors and cared for us, and that’s very precious.  She said we really wanted to call Auntie Yang mother in her presence!

 

Over the past years, Laura and Jian An also launched orphaned and homeless children ministries in other cities in addition to “Bethel Children’s Home” in Xi’an.  They would pick up a few children, entrust them to brothers and sisers they are acquainted with, and have them continue the ministries locally.

 

Let the Children Come to Me

 

During the Christmas holidays of 2003, on an overhead pedestrian bridge in Guangzhou, a handicapped little girl laid on the ground.  She was paralyzed from the waist down, and her thin legs were covered in wounds – bloody and horrifying.  People’s eyes shied away… the girl’s body shook in the bitter wind… even more shocking was that someone cruelly cut her wounds open again when they were about to scab over.

 

Someone was forcing this girl to beg using this cruel methond!

 

On January 2, 2004, a Christian couple in Guangzhou, Brother and Mrs. Liu, along with another pair of Christians, carried the girl from the side of the road to Guangzhou City First People’s Hospital.  After medical treatment she was brought to Brother Liu’s home.  The brothers and sisters of the church prayed earnestly, and the child started to recover gradually.  This girl was named Gong Xuan Xuan.  She was twelve years old, and her mother already passed away; her blood father sold her to a person who forces handicapped children to beg as a get-rich-quick theme.  Brothers and sisters shared the gospel with Gong Xuan Xuan, and she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior.  At the time, many major media reported about this event.  Brother Liu clearly identified himself as a Christian during interviews, but the official reporting only described them as “kindhearted citizens Mr. Liu, Mr. Lin.”  Afterwards, little sister Gong Xuan Xuan was accepted by a welfare agency, while the person who controlled these handicapped children was also brought to justice.

 

Brothers and sisters in Guangzhou began to pay more attention to this disadvantaged group.  They went to the relief shelters of the social welfare agency to help over 70 homeless children.  Through Christian Life Quarterly, they also requested for brothers and sisters with experience in serving orphans and waifs to go to Guangzhou and help them establish this ministry.

 

In January of 2004, Jian An and Laura arrived in Guangzhou to serve.  Thank God that some brothers have already donated a housing unit for their use.  In a recent prayer letter, Jian An and Laura wrote:

 

“On many occassions in last December, the house churches of Guangzhou invited us to come, because there were an exceedingly high number of homeless children on the streets.  We have been here for less than one month, and we’ve had to bring three children to the hospital for emergency treatment:  a five-year-old girl was dragged around on the streets by an old man from Anhuei to beg for money… another slept under the overhead pedestrian bridge in the train station, and was critically infected because of a leg injury from falling.  Laura passed by at eleven p.m. and took him to the emergency room, where the doctor ordered hospital stay for treatment.  He was only fourteen, came from Guangxi, and was recovered half month later.  During his hospital stay, a number of doctors and nurses who knew we were Christians came to visit often, brining milk and bread.  We took this opportunity to share the gospel with them and with other inpatients.  The last child was a mute of 16 year-old; he was robbed by a few drug addicts and stabbed once, spilling his intestines.  His fellows called us for help, and after taking him to the hospital we also dialed for 110 to investigate he incident.  As a result, the hospital expenses were paid by the authorities and we did not have to cover the costs.  We truly thank the Heavenly Father for continuously helping us behind the scenes, allowing us to have boldness and faith in this work.  All glory belong to the Father, for God setteth the solitary in families.”

 

A special prayer request they have is for God to prepare three suitable coworkers; because the orphan ministry has a very heavy workload, and because the waifs “were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper.”…

 

When a baby is abandoned on the bench in front of the hospital, on its last breath, Jesus is in tears!

 

When a handicapped child is put out on the streets, begging with bloody wounds, Jesus is in tears!

 

When a handicapped child is neglected, abused, and abandoned – because of blindness, cleft lip, or illness – Jesus is in tears!

 

When a child is locked in a room and starved to death due to the adult’s delinquency, Jesus is in tears!

 

Jesus’s heart is full of compassion!

 

Jesus said:  “Let the little children come to me!”

 

Laura heard Jesus’s call, and was willing to give up all she had for this call, willing to change into a Chinese, willing to use her whole life to commiserate those whom Jesus commiserated, to serve these weak and small wanderers, and to bring little children to Jesus.

 

Jian An heard Jesus’s call, becoming the “father” of many homeless children and the best coworker for Laura.

 

The brothers and sisters of Guangzhou heard Jesus’s call, taking up Gong Xuan Xuan and bringing her into Jesus…

 

May every Christian who has received salvation be willing to respond to Lord Jesus’s call, and become a conduit for Christ’s love.

 

May every church that is filled by the Lord’s love be willing to respond to Lord Jesus’s call, sympathizing and serving those in need.  “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

 

May the gospel in which we trust, through we who have been delivered by the same, be spread to those living in the bottom tier of society – the poor and homeless people for whom Jesus shed His tears!

 

An Pu — from mainland China, and is currently serving full time.