House the ark

Update Joshua

2012-01-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

Joshua is still in the hospital, and he is still really sick, although he is doing a little bit better than before.

We do hope he will get better soon, and that he will be home before Chinese New Year.

Please pray for this little one.

Welcome Joshua

2012-01-12T17:18:00.000-08:00

Last week on the 5th of January, Joshua came to live with us.

Joshua was born without an anus, like little Bart. He has been operated already, so that everything can leave his body in a normal way now. As he came to live with us, he was coughing, but we didn't pay attention to it in the beginning, because it is wintertime and all the children are coughing. But after the weekend we took him to the hospital, so that they could give him medicines. He was diagnosed with a severe pneumonia. So he is in the hospital right now. On the x-ray you can also see that his lungs are in the middle of his chest, instead of at the side. We hope he will get better soon, and that he just can be in our home.

Joshua is almost 3 months old, and he just likes to be hold and to be very close to us.

Happy New Year and update

2012-01-03T00:34:00.000-08:00

We would like to wish everyone who reads this blog a happy New Year.

We went with Esther to the hospital, and the doctors did all kind of tests on her. They told us that she will need brain surgery. There is no way we can do that at the moment. But we know that although this is a bad result, the doctors don't have the last word.

We also heard that Hope has parents. She will go to America, but we don't know when yet. So this is really good news, and we are thankful and happy for her.

We will probably get a new baby boy in our home soon. He has the same problem as Bart, so no anus. At the moment he is in the hospital after he had surgery. We are looking forward to welcome him in our home.

Timothy died unexpectedly

2011-11-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, November 16th, Timothy died unexpectedly in the hospital because his heart stopped.

About a week before this date, both Timothy and Deborah had to be admitted to the hospital, because they both had pneumonia. The doctors noticed immediately that there was something wrong with Timothy.
After a couple of examinations, they found out his lungs were too small, and also that he had a couple of heartproblems.

After about a week his pneumonia was healed, so they took him off the monitor. Patrick, who was staying with him during the evening saw he wasn't doing well, so he called for the doctor. The doctor came immediately and called for help right away. As the doctors were busy with him, Patrick could see his heartrate became lower and lower. Patrick put his hand on Timothy's head. Timothy looked at him and Patrick was talking to him. He told him that he would go to Heaven and that he would meet Jesus. Timothy was very calm, and after Patrick told him this, he closed his eyes, and he died with a very peaceful expression on his face.

Of course this will always be a not so nice side of our work. The nicest is if we see the children getting better, and that we see one day that they are doing so well, they are ready to be adopted... But, sometimes, it is not supposed to go like this.

How do we deal with this as a family??? We are comforted a lot, because we know where these children are going if they die. This place is far better than any place on earth. For example, Kevin said that Timothy was maybe playing with Sarah at the moment. We know we will see him back later. Than saying good-bye is not so bad anymore... For the rest we are very thankful that we could have taken care of him, even though it was for a very small time. He knew he was loved in our family, and he didn't die alone, but Patrick was with hi and he could talk to him and touch him. He was not afraid and his face had a very peaceful expression.
Timothy, we will see you again!!

Little Paul

2011-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

On October 27th we got another child, called Paul. (we call him little Paul).

Little Paul has one eye, hydrocephalis, probably a heart problem and epilepsy (probably because of his hydrocephalis). This sounds like a big heap of problems, but little Paul is really a very sweet boy and is doing really well. He laughs when you play together with him, he can roll over from his belly to his back, he plays with his own hands and he can sit with help.

We would like to go to the hospital as soon as possible, so that the doctors can check his hydrocephalis, and see if they can do something about it, and also to have his heart checked, to see if he has a problem there.

Deborah

2011-11-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

On October 25th, Deborah came to live with us. Deborah had some problems with drinking her bottles, and because of this, she didn't get all the food she needed.

We use a special bottle and feed her in a upright position, and she is doing very well. She often drinks a bottle and is growing very well.

Boaz has a new mam and dad and a new brother

2011-11-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

On October 24th we handed Boaz over to his new family. We prepared Boaz as good as possible, and we could see that he knew what was going on. Saying good-bye is always hard of course, but we heard that he is doing really well and that he is bonding with his new family. Boaz' new name is Jotte.
We are very happy to know that Boaz also has a new brother. I think they will get along well. In the time we prepared Boaz, we told him he would get the nicest mom and dad, who would come especially for him to pick him up. Now we have seen his new family, we really believe, they are brought together.

Jotte, Han-Willem, Manon and Matt all the best for the future and good luck together.

Boaz is going to the Netherlands

2011-10-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

On the 24th of this month we may hand over Boaz to his new parents. He will go to the Netherlands, very special of course for us.. He is the first one that will go to the Netherlands from our home. His understanding of Dutch is perfect.
In the Netherlands he will have a chance for a good operation, maybe even by the doctor that David and I saw in Xian, he is a Dutch doctor.
This week we will be busy with Boaz' picturebooks and writing down a little bit of history in our home. Boaz himself is really clinging to me, and we know he knows what is going to happen. Please pray for him that he may bond with his new parents in a miraculous way immediately..

Timothy

2011-10-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

Last week Tuesday, we got another baby. We call him Timothy.

One of our guests from Australia named him after her son. Timothy is a premature baby, he is doing well with us.

In the beginning he had difficulties with drinking and sometimes even refused his bottle. Now he is often awake before it is time for his bottle and drinks very good.

Yes, we are debtfree

2011-10-13T02:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are debtfree again. Praise the Lord!!! Thanks to our God and very dear friends who heard about our needs and helped us!!

Please thank Him with us, and pray that we can stay debt free, that more people will help us with the children on a monthly basis, so that we can continue to help these wonderful precious babies and children.

Our workers, like us, are so thankfull.

Urgent Needs!

2011-09-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

At this moment, we have two huge needs.

1. We have to pay our rent for one year by the end of this month. We have only one months's rent right now. We need US Dollars: 6,875.00.
2. We are behind in paying our workers for 18 weeks. They are willing to stay with us even though we can't pay them on a regular basis. they are very committed to us and the children. The total back pay for the 7 workers is US Dollars: 7,313.00.

The reason we arin such debt is because for the last several years we have just not gotten enough income for our monthly needs. We have also had to travel to Hong Kong every three months for visas. Now, Patrick is studying Chinese, and we all have one year visas. This has really helped our financial situation but has not helped with our debt. We have asked specific people to help us increase our monthly income, but this still does not help with our debt.

If you can help us with our debt or monthly needs, please make your donation through Paypal on the right side of this page.

Thank you for your interest in us and our children. They are precious to God and us!

Good news Boaz

2011-09-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

We heard that Boaz has parents... We don't know where or when he will go, but it is great news!!! We don't know how far his parents are in the adoption procedure yet, they might be just matched or something, but we hope and believe that this good news is true. The only thing is... we can't go on with his operation now, because of all kinds of official adoption laws and rules...
We just believe that there is a special plan for him. First he went to Chengdu for his operation, but was sick all the time in hospital, as soon as he came out, never had fever again.... But he could not have his operation in Chengdu. Now we were trying everything for Kunming. Operation was postponed because of the summer vacation and his weight. Now he has the right weight, but... because of administration laws and rules, he can't have his operation right now...
We believe he will have his operation in a special place with the support of his "forever family".

Esther in the hospital

2011-09-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

This morning, Esther got an epileptic seizure. Patrick and one of our workers brought her to the hospital. The doctors told us that she has to stay in the hospital at least until Sunday. We are taking turns to be with her, since Esther needs someone with her in the hospital for 24 hours/day. We hope she will get well soon.
(Maybe a little bit strange??? First give her I.V., and we couldn't take off her coat anymore...) In the evening they disconnected the I.V., so we were able to take off her coat for the night..

We have a one year visa!!!

2011-08-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a donation of a friend here, Patrick can go to the university to study Chinese. Because of this he gets a one year visa. Since we also had the opportunity to go to Belgium earlier this year to get all our paperwork done, we can now have a visa for the whole family for one year. We are sooooo Happy!!!

Patrick and Hope went to Guangzhou

2011-07-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Patrick and Hope went together to Guangzhou. Thanks to a donation of friends of a friend here!!!

Guangzhou has a specialized hospital for making pressure suits for people with severe burning wounds. In Guangzhou they did a lot of meizuring. They were really touched, because they never saw a little child with burning wounds like Hope. So Hope stole the hearts of many doctors and nurses there.

After a couple of days Hope was the happy owner of two special pressure suits. She has to wear these suits 23 hours/day. So if she wears one, the other one is being washed and dried for next day. A suit like this normally stays well for 3 months. So after 3 months..... She needs another one. These suits are not cheap, because the material has to come from Hongkong. But after wearing her suit for 3 days, the swelling of her scars came down visible!! Before she had her suits her scars itched a lot, that is gone too!! So she is a really happy child now.

Hopefully Hope can be operated in Kunming in November. A specialized team of Canadian surgeons will come to do operations. She has to weigh 10kg before she can get anaestatics. Since she came in our home she is really doing well and gaining weight, so we hope she will be ready in November.

The operation will be free for Hope, but we still face some expences of course, like traveling expences, money to stay in Kunming for a helper that will go with her, maybe some extra hospital expences. So we still can use your help for her. Also for her new suits, costs for traveling to Guangzhou, staying in Guangzhou for her and a helper, and the cost for the material for the suits.

So all help for Hope is really welcome.

Internet problems

2011-07-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

To post the article of the rainbowsponsors took me a couple of weeks, because of problems with our internet connections. Thank you for your patience and for your interest in our work.

It seems that because of this problem, I am not able to upload pictures. The internet closes down before I have my pictures posted.
I keep trying, so I can also provide this article with the pictures of Jonathan and Boaz.

An urgent need for (rainbow) sponsors!!!

2011-07-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

We are very thankful that God uses us to take care of handicapped children who don’t have another chance. To do this work, we are depending completely on donations. That is why we set up a “rainbow”sponsor program. We really are in need of rainbowsponsors, as well as other sponsors for smaller or bigger monthly donations or one time donations. By every gift we can make a difference together in the lives of these children!!! If you want to know more, look at the tab “what you can do” at the top of this page. You can make your donations by Paypal, or by Bank. If you have any questions about this, or other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Hope is still in need of 7 Rainbowsponsors. We also need money for a special pressure suit for her burning wounds (and scars), and later we will need some money for an operation, so that she will be able to wear prosthesis. (Right now that is impossible because of an unprofessional amputation and big scar growth). Hope’s scars need to be massaged twice daily (two hours for 2 people together) so that her scars won’t grow any bigger.

For example, Hope was abandoned in the hospital by her parents 5 months ago. She was in the newspaper and on television. No one wanted to take care of her. We are very thankful they called us…Patrick wasn’t at home at that moment and I heard it from Geoffrey, our oldest son. They told him no one here wants to take care of this child, but your mom can do it… I was a little bit afraid as I heard about her situation. I prayed and it was like God spoke to me: you once said that you wanted to take care of children who no one else wants… I called Patrick to talk to him about it, and without hesitation he said, yes, I believe that we have to do it. So we called back and two days later Hope came to live with us. Now I don’t even know why I was afraid, or had any doubt. Hope is really a lovely 11 month old baby. Perfectly healthy, both physically and mentally. The only thing is that she can’t walk yet.

Bennie is still in need of 7 Rainbowsponsors. He also needs an operation for his open back (spina bifida). After his birth, his skin was closed, but under his skin it is still open. This is dangerous and asks for a specialized operation.

Bennie is a happy boy with spina bifida. Because of this, he can’t walk yet. He has to do excercises every day. We hope he will get splints soon. Because of these he would be able to learn to walk. In the beginning as Bennie came to live with us, he couldn’t do anything by himself. He just never was encouraged to do something. At the moment he lives for about one month with us, and now he climbs off the chair by himself, and crawls on his belly through the whole house. He is very good friends with David, who (of course) encourages him in every thing he does.

Little Bart is still in need of 7 rainbowsponsors.

Little Bart was born without an anus. After an operation, shortly after his birth, the doctor created an opening, so that everything can leave his body in quite a normal way.

Little Bart is a qute baby, who definitely knows what he wants. Little Bart is an “expensive” baby concerning diapers. Because of his handicap, he gets a diaper rash very quickly, in spite of the good care with diaper rash cream. He needs to get a clean diaper after every little urine (also at night). He also gets diarrhea quickly (because he doesn’t have a real closing muscle). He will let us know immediately when he needs a clean diaper. For the rest he just loves to sit on our lap and play together. He also really loves his babygym that makes music. He starts this thing by himself by moving his arms and kicking his legs against it.

David is still in need of 5 rainbowsponsors.

We believe God put it on our hearts to adopt David ourselves. This can take still quite some time, because we need a lot of paperwork done and it will cost also a lot of money too, even from China.

The amount of completing our dossier and sending it alone, will cost us 30,000RMB. We ask you to pray for David’s adoption and if God gives it on your hearts to make a financial donation for his adoption, we will be very thankful.

The people in charge here didn’t want to do David’s adoption papers anymore in general. They promised us though that they are willing to do it for us. Now he is still a fosterchild of us (not in our hearts, because there he is already a family member for a long time, like all the others), and we can’t take him with us if we have to go to Belgium or Hongkong. Also if we had to leave the country for whatever reason, we couldn’t take him with us. We have to leave him behind than, eventhough hen ever knew other parents than us. He already lives in our home for more than 7 years now. Because of this, he became a European person inside and a Chinese person on the outside. We would love to give him the security that he never has to leave us (for example going back to the orphanage) and that he can stay in our family forever.

Esther enjoying her ice cream. She is still in need of 5 rainbowsponsors.

Esther is a lovely girl who used to have epileptic insults regularly. She only had one in our home. We believe she will get better completely.

Joseph, severely handicapped, but a miracle that he is still with us. He has 7 rainbowsponsors. Thank you so much!!!

Joseph is happy if everything is just the same every day. Just in time his food, drinks, washing, and his therapy. For example, if he needs to go to the office for his vaccines, he is completely out of his daily routine. Joseph is very happy if you talk to him, or touch him, he just responds in a very happy way than. He just loves it, just to lay outside on the mat and feel a soft wind over his body. Thank you Joseph that you tought us to enjoy these simple and precious things and moments!!

Qiao Qiao, people told us he was authistic, but since he lives with us, he likes it more and more to touch us, and even a hug in time, he can appreciate now. He also has 7 sponsors already. Thank you very much!!!

Qiao Qiao is mentally handicapped, but what we see, not autistic. He loves to go for a walk together with us. He also gets our hands and claps them together with us. In the beginning it was hard for him to remember what he can do and can’t in our home, but now he is completely adjusted to us. He is a lovely boy, who still needs to be watched all the time, because he still is mentally handicapped. He totally loves to play with water.

Jonathan is still in need of 5 more rainbowsponsors.

Jonathan is a very qute boy with micro cephalis (too small brains). He can talk a little bit, and will let you know very clearly if one of the other children is after his toys. He probably had some lack of oxygen during birth, so that he is not able to use his left side of his body very well. Although he is improving because of his daily exercises. He is really very sweet and precious!!!

Boaz is still in need of 4 rainbowsponsors.

At the moment we have a battle with Boaz’s weight. He has to weigh 10 kilo before the doctor wants to operate him. We are almost there… We hope that he can go to Kunming next month for his operation. He could use some more money for his journey and stay in Kunming together with a nanny that will go with him. It is a miracle that he tries to talk a lot. We hope that he can be operated as soon as possible and that the doctor is aware of what he has to do, like they say he is. Because Boaz is really in need of an expert doctor!!!

Hope

2011-07-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

He will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
Isaiah 61:3.

Last Friday Hope came to live in our home. She is 11 months old at the moment. She was abandoned in the hospital. This girl suffered a lot because both her legs were burned away half, because of a terrible accident with fire.
We gave her the name Hope because of the bible verse above. I think this verse especially speaks about hope. A crown instead of ashes.

Hope is a lovely beautiful 11 month old baby. We know Father has a future for her.

New girl coming tomorrow

2011-06-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are going to get a new girl in our home. She suffered a lot because of burnings. We will call her Hope. Hope, because there will always a future for her with Jesus. It also puts my desire into words that all our children will get sponsored by rainbowsponsors, so that we can keep giving them the best care. They are all precious and they all deserve all our love and best care.

Just playing

2011-06-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

Jonathan, Esther and Boaz playing on the mat.

Waterfun with Kevin, Esther, Qiao Qiao and David.

Little Bart's first taste of fruit

2011-06-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

Little babies always make me smile when they try fruit for the first time. They seem to think: "what is wrong with my bottle??"

Cute Boaz and Bingo

2011-06-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

My horse broke down.

It still seemed to be working here.

Good news by the way, I can go for my operation in July to Kunming, only still in need of some travel expences.....

Let me introduce you to Bennie...

2011-06-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 14th of June, Bennie (short for Benjamin) came to live with us. His former fostermom could not take care of him anymore, but we are very happy that he came to join our family. Bennie has spina bifida (open back), but is very clever!!! At the end of his first day in our family he said: You are a very nice family. So we guess he is feeling at home allready.

Little Bart

2011-05-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

Finally a picture of baby Bart.

Our camera was with Boaz in Chengdu, so we could not give you a picture earlier, but here he is, cute baby Bart.

Boaz came back

2011-05-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

Boaz got feever all the time in the hospital in Chengdu. Every time he heard about the operation, he got fever within 5 minutes. So his operation was postponed every time. As Boaz heard he was not going to be operated, he fellt fine again, and had no feever anymore.

In our house he was fine, no feever, so hopefully he can have his operation soon now.

New baby Bart

2011-04-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

Since Thursday April 14th we have a new baby. His name is Bartje. Unfortunately, our camera is in Chengdu with Boaz now, so we can't give you a picture at this time. Bartje is almost 3 months old, and weighs 3 kilo. As he was born, he had no anus, so they operated him, and created one. Please pray your blessings over little Bart.

Update Boaz

2011-04-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

Boaz is in Chengdu to have his first cleft lip operation soon. Unfortunately he got feever, so he has to recover from this feever first, before he can have his operation. This hospital has the best cleft lip doctor of whole China, and he is coming back on Tuesday, so we hope and pray he will be healthy by that time, so that this doctor can operate him. Please keep praying for Boaz.

Boaz in Chengdu

2011-04-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

Cindy, one of our workers, and Boaz left our house early this morning to go to Chengdu!! Here Boaz will have his first operation. Thanks to all your donations, he can go!! We will keep you updated here about him and his operation. Please pray for this little boy that he will stay healthy so that he can have his operation soon, and also pray for wisdom for the doctor please, because he has such a special cleft lip. That the operation may be very succesful.

Mikey adopted in China and we will be home soon

2011-03-05T03:53:00.000-08:00

On March 1st, Mikey went to his new daddy and mommy in China. Mikey we wish you all the best and we hope that you may be a little light for your new parents.

Here in Belgium we are counting days that we can go back home again. We miss the children there, Geoffrey especially misses his girlfriend. We are thankfull for every person we met here, we are really encouraged and blessed, and found new strength to go back again.

For everyone we met: thank you very much!! Sorry we couldn't meet with all the people we would like to meet, but the time was simply too short to meet everyone, although we would have loved it!!

Looking back to 2010, goals and expectations for 2011

2011-01-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

We would like to look back with you to 2010 and look forward to 2011.

Moving houses

At the beginning of 2010 we could move from a small apartment to a big house. This is a great blessing for the whole family. The children have a small garden behind the house, where they can play. It the weather is not so good, they can play inside in the playing-room. We also have our own therapy room in the house where the workers do fysiotherapy excercises with the children who need this.

Because we have a lot of big windows in our home, there is always enough daylight. Our former apartment was always very dark, and we had to use lights the whole day, even in the summer time.

All children made big progress, since we moved into this house.

Adoptions from our home

In 2010 we had 4 adoptions from our home. They went from our home to their "forever families".

In May, Naomi got adopted to the United States of America.

In November Enoch and Nora got adopted. Enoch went to Canada....

and Nora left to Spain.

In December, also Ruth, now called Joy, went to her forever family in the United States of America.

Sarah

Sarah died on Wednesday 29th of December at 7.30 p.m. Sarah you were very special for us and we will miss you here. We know we will see you later again in Heaven. Sarah Farewell!!

Visit of Theo from Belgium

In October we had our first visitor from Belgium. Theo stayed for 3 weeks in our home, and in that time, he helped us a lot with the children. Theo told us that he lost his heart in China.

Bathtub

After we received a special donation we could buy a bathtub. Before all the children had to be washed in a small baby bath. This was not good for the back of our workers and also not for the handicapped children, who throw themselves completely backwards sometimes.

worker with a little one in the baby bathtub.

New bathtub, here still in the shop, now in our home.

We could buy this bath with bubbles for the price of a normal bath. If we would have bought a normal bath, we had to wait a couple of weeks, this one we could take home immediately. Bathing time is now playtime and relaxation for all the children.

Goals For 2011

All children covered completely by rainbowsponsors.

To be able to take care of the children optimally, we need 7 rainbowsponsors per child, who sponsor every month € 30,-- each per month. At the moment we already have 22 sponsors. Our home can have an average of 10 children, so that means we will need to reach the goal of 70 sponsors this year. Please help to be one of the 48 still needed rainbowsponsors.

At the moment, because we don't have enough rainbowsponsors, our faithful workers have to wait sometimes for a long time until we can pay them their salaries. We can't miss them, without them, we could not do this work. We would like to see that these people never would have to wait for their salaries anymore.

The money of the rainbowsponsors cover the cost for: housing, food, medical basic needs to keep the children healthy, hygiene, part of the salaries of the nannies (workers), milkpowder, diapers, schoolfee, etc, etc. This money does NOT include the cost for operations needed. We can give the children our home, love and care of a family, but for the material costs we are dependent of cooperation with other people. Would you like to become a part of the rainbow above House the Ark??

Visit Belgium

Tuesday January 11th we fly to Belgium. We will stay there until March 11th. If people want to meet us there, they can contact us by our blog, house.the.ark@gmail.com, or at werkgroep.cillen@gmail.com.

We hope we may be a blessing to everyone we meet.

Boaz's Operation

Love without Boundaries received all the funding for Boaz's operation. He will be operated as soon as possible after our return to China. In preparation of his operation he has to wear a nose band now to push down the peace under his nose.

To welcome new children and to have more adoptions.

As soon as we are back in China we have three places available in our home for new children. We think these places will be taken soon again.

We also hope that children from our house will get adopted again soon.

Central Heating in our home before next winter/old iron-action

At the moment it is winter in China, and it is really cold in our home. The children wear 3 layers of clothes and wintercoats in the house. We have electric heaters in the playing room and bath room, but the rest of the house is really cold. Theo started a special old iron-action in Belgium for our Central Heating project. Free gifts are also very welcome to reach the goal. Total price for this big project is € 5.000,--.

New gate and fence: urgent!!

In China a lot of children got stolen. We don't want that to happen with one of our precious little ones. In front of the house we have a nice place where the children could play, but we don't dare to let them play there, because our gate is in a real bad condition, actually it is rotten completely.

We would like to see a change here. We asked for the price of a gate and fence where you can't see through. The fence will get higher as well, so that people can't just jump over it. The total cost for both a new gate and a complete closed high fence of the same material is € 2.000,--

Picture of the complete area where we need a new high fence and gate.

Place where you can see the bad condition of the iron.

And another spot.

These are older pictures already. At this time a lot of these spots already broke off, and there are many more spots. We are afraid it won't take long until the whole gate will fall apart and we won't have a gate anymore this with all the consequences that go with that. At the momen, around Chinese new year there is a lot of burglary and breaking into houses with people, we hope we will stay safe from that.

We want to thank you for being involved in our work in 2010, and we hope you will keep doing this in 2011 as well.

Know that you are making a difference to a child!!!

Boaz's operation is completely covered

2011-01-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

We have great news!!!

Boaz can have his operation. The expences for his operation are completely covered!

Blessed and Happy New Year

2011-01-07T06:55:00.001-08:00

Hereby we want to wish all the readers of our blogspot and people who are interested in our work a very blessed and happy 2011.

We want to thank all our Rainbow Sponsors. Thank you for your support for the children!! One of our wishes for 2011 is that every child will be fully covered by rainbowsponsors.

Good-bye Sarah

2010-12-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

This morning as we called our workers we found out that Sarah died last night.

She has been very sick a couple of times during the last 3 months. We were very happy to hear that Sarah died in our home, and not alone in the hospital.

She was loved and she knew it!!

One of our own sons was really upset about it. We could tell him, that this was our 5th "adoption" this year, because Sarah went from our family to her "forever Father"!! Isn't it great that life doesn't end here, but that when we are in Christ we will live on in Heaven together with Jesus forever!!!

We will meet again!!!

Who helps Boaz so that he can be operated

2010-12-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

Boaz needs an operation on his lip as soon as possible. After this operation he will be able to eat and drink better.

At this moment he still needs US$ 575,00 for his operation.

If you would like to help him with his operation, you can make a donation for him at "love without boundaries".

The link is: http://lovewithoutboundaries.com/medical_sponsor_child_detail.cfm?child_id=1535&mc_id=101

Boaz thanks you a lot!!

David's birthday

2010-12-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

In December we celebrated David's 7th. birthday.

He made the first cut in his cake, then we took over this big job.

We celebrated it as a family, and we all had a great evening with David.

Hongkong

2010-12-27T21:20:00.000-08:00

At the moment we are in Hongkong, because we had to leave China again because of expiring of our visas.

We believe and trust we will go to Belgium so that we can do all our paperwork. If we have all the paperwork from Belgium, Patrick will start studying chinese, and we can get a visa for one year as a family. This will save us lots of money, because than we don't have to come out to Hongkong 4 times a year any more.

At this moment we already have half of the money for the tickets. We pray that the rest of the money will come this week.

Still needed about € 1.800,-- or US 2,400.00

Preparing Boaz for operation

2010-12-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

We received the promise from "Love without boundaries" that they are willing to help to raise funds for the operation of Boaz.

They also know a doctor in Chengdu who is able to do his operation.

The band he is wearing now, should give a better result for the operation.

Ruth, now Joy with her new family

2010-12-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

Ruth, now Joy with her new family.

On December 6th Ruth went to her forever family.

Joy, we wish you all the best in your life, and lots and lots of love in your new family.

At the handover Ruth was happy to see her new family. We pray that she will bond with them immediately.

Good bye, you will always have a place in our hearts and prayers, like all your other brothers and sisters that already went to their forever families.

Esther welcome to our home

2010-12-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

Esther with Patrick in the playing room.

Esther joined us on November 20th. She is doing really well, and she already adjusted to us very well. She understands quite a bit of Dutch yet, and she can even speak some words already.

Esther is a very lovely girl that needs a lot of love and attention.

We think she has really bad eyes, so we want to see a eye doctor as soon as possible with her.

They also told us that she has epilepsy, but until now we didn't see any symptoms, so we just hope it will stay this way.

Sarah out of the hospital

2010-12-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

One of our workers with Sarah in the hospital.

Sarah was admitted to the hospital because of a stomach bleeding. When she left the intensive care unit she got pneumonia. This meant she had to stay longer.

Two of our workers were with her the whole time. They stayed 24 hours in the hospital and then they had a rest for 24 hours.

Sarah came home, and we put her in a separate room to protect her, because she is still very vulnerable.

Ruth will leave us soon

2010-11-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

Little Ruth

We got a telephone call today, and we heard that little Ruth is going to leave us very soon. She is going to be adopted to America.
It is great she will have a forever family so soon!!!

New girl will come on Saturday

2010-11-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

This Saturday we have to pick up a new girl from the office. She is already 5 years old. She is epileptic, but they told us, she only has seizures about every half year.
She comes from Duyun. We will call her Esther. Please pray that she will adjust to us and our family very soon. At the moment it is said that she can't go for adoption, but from the past we learned that things can change, so please pray for this as well, that she will have a chance to go for adoption.

Sarah got a stomach bleeding

2010-11-17T20:42:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday Sarah got a stomach bleeding. We took her to the intensive care unit where she still is at the moment.
She is doing a little bit better at the moment. If she doesn't get feever again, she can hopefully come back home again in a couple of days.
The doctors couldn't check her stomach, because the tube was too big for her throat. Another thing is that her brain is so damaged that it could be dangerous if they would go into her stomach with a tube.
Please pray that Father's will may be done in her life.

Qiao Qiao came to our house

2010-11-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

Qiao Qiao is playing with David and Ian.

Qiao Qiao came to live with us. His fostermom, who took very good care of him for already 6 years got really sick. The family decided that they could not take care of him any longer. We hope and pray that his former fostermom will get better again, so that Qiao Qiao can go back to her. He is a very nice boy, who probably had oxygine lack at birth. This is why he is handicapped now.
We agreed that we will take care of him for the next 6 months so that his own fostermother has the chance to recover.

Nora got adopted

2010-11-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

Nora and her new family.

On November 14th Nora got adopted. She was excited to get a "forever" family, although it was hard for her the days before, and even on her big day, before we went to the place of the hand-over. She is a very special girl and very brave and we wish her the best with her new forever family. Nora means "light", and we trust she will keep shining brightly in her new family!!

Enoch got adopted

2010-11-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

Enoch with his new sister Erika.

On November 8th Enoch got adopted to Canada.

He is really happy with his new mommy and daddy and big sister. We are very happy he has a forever family. We wish him the best in his new family.

Sarah is better again!!!

2010-10-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

We are very happy that Sarah is back home again. She is doing very well. I think she is happy as well that she is back home again and released from all these IV's and all the other hospital things.

In the hospital they shaved half her head, so that they could give her IV in her head. This didn't look so nice, so we had to shave her head completely. This will take some time to get used to, but the most important thing is that she is healthy again!!!

Sarah very ill

2010-10-06T01:35:00.001-07:00

As we were in Hongkong for our visas, Sarah became really ill. She had pneumonia and the doctors in the local hospital gave up on her. They told our workers that Sarah would die.

As Sarah was still alive after two days, the doctors told our workers to take her to another hospital. As she arrived there, they transferred her to the intensive care immediately. She had a very severe pneumonia and there was something wrong with her heart, and some other organs. Her ITP in her blood was also very low, even with a little wound she could bleed to death.

As we came home we were really shocked. She was still in the intensive care unit. She was doing a little bit better, but the doctors still didn't know if she would make it.

Now she is doing much better, and she is no longer in the intensive care, although she is still attached to a monitor, she is in pediatric ward now. Normally she could have come home today, but she has a small bacterial infection again, so she has to get more medicines before she can come home.

Please pray for her that she might recover completely very soon and that we can take her home soon. The pressure on the workers is high at the moment, because Sarah needs to have someone with her 24 hours. Please pray for them as well that they may receive the strength they need!!

visit of our first fosterchild

2010-09-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

Our first fosterchild is going to visit us with her parents on Monday. We are so happy to see her again after 7 years.
We are really looking forward to this visit.

Finances

2010-09-17T01:33:00.001-07:00

We are very happy to be able to tell you that because of all the gifts we received last month we were able to pay for our rent, and all the salaries of the nannies!!! We want to thank all of you who helped us with this!! As the nannies received their money, their first reaction was: God is good!! They never complained once in all the time we owed them so many weeks of their salaries. We are really happy with them. We hope a lot of people will respond to our sponsor action, so that we will never again be in a situation like this. That there will always be enough money to pay our nannies and all the other things we need to pay.

Going to school

2010-09-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

Nora, David and Mikey go to school.

Nora changed schools this year, and she loves her new school. She already made more friends then she had before.
David just loves everything about school at the moment. He always comes home really excited. Mikey was crying as he heard Nora and David were going to school, so we decided to let him go to kindergarten. He really likes it. Last week he tore up his homework by accident...

A little hope for Boaz and Ruth???

2010-08-26T20:41:00.001-07:00

Good news, today we received a phone call. Tuesday we have to go to the hospital with Boaz and Ruth to see a doctor, he will decide if they can be operated now. Please pray for a doctor who is able to operate Boaz, and who will give them a chance to be operated now.

We have been to the doctor and the babies now need to be 8 kg instead of the 10 kg they told us before!! The doctor said he was able to do the operations.

Projects

2010-08-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

At the moment we have three big projects for our house that we want to share with all of you.

Central heating: The temperature in Guiyang will probably not go under -5 degrees Celsius, but because of the high humidity here the temperature feels really cold. Especially because your clothes don't really dry completely. Since we have some severely handicapped children, that only can lay still, we really are in need of heating.
We don't get enough money to heat our home with electric heaters, since electricity is very expensive here.
There is a company here that can put central heating in our house. They first calculated a price of 63.355 RMB, which is at this moment
US$ 9,290.--, or € 7.310,--. But as they saw we are taking care of orphans, they immediately lowered their price to 41.180 RMB., which is at this moment US$ 6,036.-- or € 4.750,--.

New gate: Here in China a lot of children get stolen. So at this moment we don't let the children play in the front of the house, because everyone could come in this place easily and take one of our children away. The gate we have now is also very weak because it is worn out completely. This causes lots of stress, because when we are all busy, sometimes children just go there, although they know they are not allowed (children are just children everywhere). We will have to replace the gate, but we also will higher the walls with the same material as the gate, so that people just can't jump over the wall anymore. We would like to have the new gate made of material that you can't see through. Complete costs of gate-door, fence next to the gate, and the fence on the walls at the side of the house: 20.000 RMB, which is at the moment 2,932.-- US$ and € 2.307,--.

Bathroom: At this moment we have a small plastic baby bathtub. In this we have to wash all the children, including Joseph, who is almost 6 years old and very severely handicapped. He, as the other children with cerebral palsy really are in need of a normal bath. We also would like to put a toilet in the bathroom, since we only have a squatty potty there right now. This is also easier for the handicapped children. This bath is also very inconvenient for the nannies, because the bath can't be on a standard because of the weight of Joseph, so the nannies have to wash the children on their knees, or bended over, which is very bad for their backs.
Total cost bathroom (bath plus toilet) is about 15.000 RMB, which is US$ 2,200.-- or € 1.730,--.

We understand that it is impossible for people to realize this by themselves, but every amount helps, and all the amounts together will be a big help. Maybe it is also possible to save money for one of these projects as a group of people.

If you make a donation by paypal, the money arrives at the ngo we are connected to, Moved for all Nations, and you will receive a letter that they have received your gift. We will receive the gifts monthly from them and receive a specification from them as well, so we will know who donated the money.

Operation Boaz again delayed???

2010-08-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

Last week we heard that here in Guiyang the children have to be 10 kg before they can be operated on a cleft lip. Before it was 6 kg.

Boaz reached the 6kg and now they tell us he has to weigh 10 kg. He will probably over 1 year old before he will reach that weight.

I think we will have to see if he can go to another place to have his operation.

Waterfun

2010-08-26T04:02:00.000-07:00

Put water in a boat, and it is a reason for lots of fun for the children. Here are Nora and Enoch playing in the boat. Maybe Enoch did't want to be recognized...

Watering the plants

2010-08-26T03:57:00.001-07:00

If the weather is hot, there is nothing nicer than playing with water. So here David and Mikey are watering plants..... and each other!!!!

Update rainbowsponsors situation August 2011

2010-08-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

To take care of the children we need 7 rainbowsponsors for every child.

The situation of rainbowsponsors is as follows for every child in August 2011:

Hope, still in need for 7 sponsors;

Bennie, still in need for 7 sponsors;
Bart, still in need for 7 sponsors;
David, still in need for 5 sponsors;
Esther, still in need for 5 sponsors;
Jonathan, still in need for 5 sponsors;
Boaz, still in need for 4 sponsors;
Joseph, completely sponsored;
Qiao Qiao, completely sponsored.

We want to thank all the rainbowsponsors we have at this moment. Thank you for helping to make a difference to these children. We can't do this work without your help!!

We hope all the children will be covered soon with rainbowsponsors.

If you want to become one of our rainbowsponsors, please look in "what you can do".

Not America, but Canada!!!

2010-08-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Enoch will not go to America, but Canada. The people here thought that this was the same, but this week we received a package for Enoch of his new parents, and it became clear that his new country will be Canada.

He loves the pictures of his new family that were included in the package as well as a toy car. We copied the picture of his new family and put it next to his bed, so now he can say night night to his new family as well as he goes to bed. It is amazing that he is still shy if strangers come to our home, but that he so loves the people in this picture. They get a big smile every time he sees them. We just know God made the perfect match again!!!

Boaz and Ruth no operation in Xi'an

2010-07-19T20:47:00.001-07:00

Boaz and Ruth won't go to Xi'an to have their operation. The hospital in Xi'an refused the team that was coming from America.

We are looking now for a good doctor here in Guiyang that can do the operations.

Hot water again!!

2010-07-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, as Patrick went to a shop to ask for more prices, a shop owner really got interested in the work we do. He wanted to come to our home and visit us. He looked at the waterheater and told us he could fix it for 300 RMB.
The next day he sent someone to fix the waterheater, and they told us we didn't have to pay, and that they wanted to do it for free because we take care of children.

Nora is better!!!

2010-07-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks for thinking about Nora, she got better!!! This week we had to check her urine every 24 hours, and we saw her getting better everyday, but this morning her protein loss was back to ZERO!!!

Nora's nephrotic syndrome

2010-07-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Nora can use good thoughts of everyone!! The protein in her urine is really high again, so that means no swimming, and not eating salt for her again. It was really well with her before, but she started coughing last week and as we checked her urine, protein loss was really high again.

I am happy to have contact with a nephrologist here in China. Waiting for his advice.

Please think about her.

Esther for one weekend

2010-07-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we welcomed Esther. Esther came from an orphanage far away in our province. She will be adopted on Sunday. The people from the orphanage had to bring her to Guiyang on Friday for her official paperwork at the main office of the police here in Guiyang. Since it is a couple of hours drive the people of the orphanage asked us if Esther could stay in our home for these two days, since they didn't want to put Esther through all the trouble of going back and coming out to Guiyang on Sunday again.

Yesterday Esther was really sad, she lost all her familiair people, things and environment. We prayed for her, and we love her for the short period of time she is in our home. Today she is much better, and playing and laughing with the other children already.

Tomorrow she will go to her forever parents. Although we were part of your life for a very short time, we hope it will help you. Esther we hope you will adjust to your forever parents very soon and we know God has a plan for your life. He will accomplish His goals in your life and He goes with you wherever you may go!

Enoch will go to America

2010-07-05T22:20:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we heard that people in America are interested in adopting Enoch. So yesterday Patrick went with him to the fostercare office to give some details and make some pics. We are very happy that he will be adopted.
If Enoch gets adopted, he will be the 5th child that gets adopted from our home.

Help! No Hot Water anymore

2010-07-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

Last week our boiler exploded, big amount of water on the floor. And no hot water anymore to wash the children or to do the dishes.
Expenses new boiler (same as we had) € 1.500. A new watertank on solar system would be more expensive about € 3.000, but much cheaper in the future. It would pay itself back in 5 years, because of the cost of electricity it would save us each month.

Lots of love out of boxes

2010-06-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Last month we received 6 boxes of some good friends. They filled these boxes up with lots of love and clothes, cd's, books, 2 bumbo chairs, candy, craft materials, medicines and lots of other things we can use for the babies.
They were not alone, also the junior High group from Oakwood made a difference for all our children. They made for every child in our home a beautiful handmade blanket and these were in the boxes as well.

Eventhough the weather is hot, David and Mikey insisted to have their blanky on their bed already.

A little bit earlier, we already got a box with Dutch videos and some goodies of the Netherlands of a friend in Shanghai. The videos are all in Dutch, the first language spoken in our home, and all the children just love to watch them. Thanks dear people for remembering the children in such a way as you all did.

Introduction Ruth

2010-06-18T20:48:00.001-07:00

Ruth is a baby of almost 7 months old. She came to live in our home in April.
Ruth is a very cute baby, and her only problem is a cleft lip and palate.

Boaz and Ruth play a lot together, and copy each other in their development.

Ruth will have her operation on her cleft lip in July, if everything goes according plan. Thanks to the help of Starfish home in Xi An.

Introduction Boaz

2010-06-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

Boaz came to live in our home last April. He is a cute baby, almost 7 months old now.

He has a cleft lip and palate, and fumbled ears.

He is growing fast and developing in a normal way. If everything goes according plan, Boaz will be operated on his cleft lip in Xi An in July this year, thanks to the help of Starfish house in Xi An.

Introduction Jonathan

2010-06-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Jonathan is a little boy of 2.5 years old. He has cerebral palsy and he needs therapy every day.

Jonathan is making a good progress, he even starts to crawl now, he also found out how he has to say "no", which he enjoys very much.

Introduction Sarah

2010-06-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sarah came to live with us as she was 6 weeks old. She was a premature baby and she was not able to adjust her own temperature. This meant we had to check her temperature every hour of the day and night.

Sarah is four years old now, she has cerebral palsy. Because of this, she needs therapy every day.

Sarah is a very lovely child. Probably due to her sickness, she grows very slowly. At the moment she still fits babyclothes for a 6 month old baby.

Sarah is very social, she is loved very much and she knows it!

Introduction Enoch

2010-06-02T18:25:00.001-07:00

Welcome in our home Enoch.

Enoch was already over one year old as he came to live in our home. In the beginning he was really sad and missed his previous fosterfamily.

Now he is a happy healthy boy, and adjusted well in our home. He is in a period now that he is afraid of people he doesn't know.

You have to watch him all the time, maybe he will be a new musketeer.

Introduction Joseph

2010-05-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Joseph and his first fostermom.

Joseph's story:
Joseph was a baby with hydrocephalis. Some loving people (his first fostermom and later other friends) who took care of him in the beginning of his life took him to the hospital in Kunming for medical treatment.
After a while Joseph was diagnosed with a lethal form of meningitis...

The doctors told our friends Joseph was dying, he had 10 days left at the most.

A lot of people prayed for Joseph..... Joseph didn't die, he still lives, and we are very happy to take care of him.

Joseph in our home.

Joseph is handicapped due to his medical past, but he is a lovely boy, with a strong character! He speaks his own language, which we most of the time don't understand, but he is very social and likes to communicate in his way.

Joseph now.

Joseph needs therapy for all his muscles every day, so that his muscles don't become stiff.

Joseph's name means "added". People said Joseph would die of his sickness in ten days, but God already added almost 6 more years to his life! He lives because of God's glory. We have learned one big truth from him:

Real love is unconditional!!

Introduction Mikey

2010-05-26T02:51:00.000-07:00

Mikey not so long in our home yet.

Mikey came in our home as he was about 7 months old. He is a healthy and full of life little boy. Mikey knows what he wants!! He knows how to keep you busy and is full of life!! Hij loves to go out with us, eventhough it is only going shopping together. David is his best friend. He also has his quiet moments, then he really enjoys to read a book together, or just chat. He doesn't talk that much yet, but what do you want, if you learn Chinese, Dutch and English at the same time...

Wrestling for fun with daddy is also one of his favorite things. Yes, Daddy, this is how you stay young!!

Ssssst, don't tell anyone...

Good-bye Naomi

2010-05-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

Naomi last day of playing in our garden.

Giving her the finishing touch

Naomi with her new daddy.

Naomi's adoption went great!!!

Naomi had been sad for the whole day, although she didn't cry, she told me she was sad. In the afternoon as I spend some time alone with her, I had to cry. I saw a child that was sad, that didn't want to leave us. This was undoable, I needed help from God to be able to let her go. The only thing I could do was pray... I prayed again what we prayed during the whole week, that she would love her new mommy and daddy right from the start. That God would work a miracle and help her in a supernatural way, and that she would be able to look back on a very happy time in our home, but understand that this would be her new life. This is too much to ask from a 4 year old, but it worked out like this. As soon as she saw her new parents she had a real happy smile on her face, she was so relaxed, she kept playing with our boys, and asked her new daddy all kinds of questions, and wanted to show him all kind of things..
Thank you God!! Thank you for trusting us to take care of Naomi for almost 4 years, and thank you so much for her new parents, and that You will stay with her, and that You will work out the plan You have for her life! Without Him, I could never do this work, it is for Him and through Him alone!

Introduction Nora

2010-05-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Nora, 3 years old, just arrived in our home.

Nora, now a lovely 8 year old girl.

Nora is a joyful 8 year old girl. She came in our home as she was 3 years old. She has nephrotic syndrome, but will probably grow out of that as she gets older. As she came in our home she was very sick and needed to take a lot of steroids, because of her kidneys. Now she is much better and only has to take a very low dosage of these medicines every other day.

Nora is a very sweet girl with a lovely character. She likes to help in every way with the babies. She will miss her little sister Naomi very much as she goes for adoption soon.

Adoption

2010-05-10T01:29:00.001-07:00

Naomi goes for adoption this month to America. She will be the fourth child that got adopted from our home. Naomi came to live with us as she was 7 months old. She had spina bifida (open back). She was operated in 2007. Naomi is now 4 years old. We are very thankful that she will be adopted. But of course we will miss her. We hope she will adjust to her new parents very soon. In our home she was 1 of the "three Musketeers".

We are back in Guiyang

2010-05-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our flight was 2.5 hours delayed, so almost all our children were already in bed as we finally came home. Naomi woke up, just before we came home, so a nannie took her out of her bed and let her wait until we came home. She was so excited to see us all back, and so were we to see all our children this morning again. We really missed them. Happy to be back!!!

Introduction David

2010-05-05T02:45:00.000-07:00

This was David as he came in our home.

This is David how he looks right now.

How COOL!!!

David came in our home on children's day (June 1st) of 2004, he was a half year old in that time. He had a very severe cleft lip and palate, and he has a syndrome that causes dwarfism. For the rest he is a very healthy and athletic boy of 6.5 years old.

We had his lip repaired in 2004 and his palate in 2007. The doctor left still a small opening in his palate on purpose for medical reasons. Amanda de Lange (a lady that has a big fosterhome called Starfish in Xi'An)had a medical team over from The Netherlands that would do some cleft lip and palate operations. Since I was wondering if David already needed his final closing operation, Amanda invited me to come to Starfish in Xi'An, so the doctor could see David, and operate him if necessary.

The doctor examined him and told me that David will need a bone transplant later, at the age of 9-11. At the same time they can close his palate as well completely. An operation is a big thing, especially for a child, so that is why we decided to wait untill he needs the bone transplant operation.

David had the time of his life, spending time with mom alone, traveling on an airplane, visiting the terra cotta army with the nanny, and going to the hospital without getting an injection. He surely loved the whole thing.

The whole medical team was so excited to hear this little boy speak Dutch to them. Also the people from the Starfish home were amazed that he could understand English and Chinese.

All the children that are raised in our home will leave with three languages. In our family we speak Dutch to each other, because that is our mother language. The nannies speak Chinese to the children, so they learn that as well, and then if we are together with other foreign friends, we speak English, so they learn that as well.

We think this is a great advantage for them, and we do hope that if they get adopted, they can adjust to another language if necessary very soon.

Hongkong

2010-05-04T17:11:00.001-07:00

At the moment we are in Hongkong for our visas. We will be back in Guiyang on Friday. We just spoke with the children on the phone and they were all missing us. I hope we will get a solution soon for our visas, so that we don't have to leave anymore.

Our three musketeers

2010-05-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

We really enjoy them. Like the rest of all the children, they are all so special and precious.

Trip with David.

2010-05-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

David is sooo funny. As he went with me to Xian, he wanted to run after the suitcases as we checked them in.

As we were watching the planes taking off, he shouted:"look mommy, these planes are really running fast".

Later in the waiting room he was telling everyone that wanted to hear that he was going to Xian to see the doctor.

What we do

2010-05-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

The most children in our home are so called special need children. The children stay in our home until they go for adoption.

We want to give these orphans the opportunity to grow up in a "normal" loving family situation. They all live together with us in our home and family.

We can't do this work all by ourselves (imagine that you have to take care of several babies, toddlers, some severe handicapped children, all by yourself). Because of this we have ayis (chinese for nannies) that help us from 9.00 a.m. until 5.00 p.m. We like that the children get a lot of personal attention, so we have 1 ayi for 2 children.

How we started

2010-05-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

In August 2002 we (Patrick, Hetty, and our three sons Geoffrey, Kevin and Ian) sold our house in Belgium and went to China. In our hearts we had the desire to work with the Chinese orphans. Not long after we arrived in our city we got involved in the foster care program. In September we fostered our first child, now we foster 10 children in our own home. Some of the children we fostered got adopted to America and Europe.