Daily Life

Unfortunately, technical difficulties have left me out of contact for the past two weeks but I'm back in business now! 

The seasons are changing here and cool morning meet perfect days as the leaves turn to bright beautiful colors of autumn.

We've had the a/c off for a few weeks and leave our windows open to let the night breeze in.  Minus the stray dogs that make quite a ruckus, it's really quite nice.  

Daily life has fallen into place, as this week marks a month of being here.  A typical day consists of speech therapy with the boys, English class with the oldest children and some of the staff, Chinese survival class, working on grants for SFCV, and lots of hugs with the little ones.  Of course, most days here are anything but typical.  When we wake up and find the water off or when the internet goes out right after you type a long email or blog post, we just laugh and say "Oh China".  

Things of lately: 

Making Jaiozi

from left: Chrissy, me, May
September 12 was the Mid-Autumn Festival (aka Mooncake Festival).  The Moody's invited us over to their house to celebrate and toast the moon.  We learned how to make jaiozi, ate delicious Chinese food, and sat outside toasting the moon (although it was nowhere to be found on this cloudy evening) with our mooncakes.  Dr. Ana asked us if we would like to stay and watch "a silly movie" with her and we readily agreed.  Love Birds (a New Zealand film where Queen is as ABBA is to Mamma Mia) was interesting to say the least and we now affectionately refer to it as "the duck movie".

"The Girls" in Beijing

from left: me, Chrissy, Marissa
Each Sunday we venture in to Beijing to attend BICF, get our Western food fix, and do a little exploring.   Chrissy, Marissa, and myself have been nicknamed "the girls" and we finally got a picture of the three of us! 

In case you were previously unaware of the awesomeness that is Texas A&M and its networking, I have run in to three fellow Aggies since being in China.  

1. The Baker's son-in-law, Taylor 

2. While at a mall in Beijing, I saw a man wearing an A&M hat and got SO excited! After exchanging "Howdy" and class years, I found out he lives in Beijing with his wife and two kids because he works for an oil company there.  

3. There was a physical therapist visiting Shepherd's Field from Beijing and I was told I needed to meet her because she was a fellow Texan.  Not only is she a Texan, she's an Aggie who studied special education! Her husband's job landed her in Beijing, where she has now started her own hippotherapy (physical therapy using horses) program.  

Chrissy and Marissa are both amazed because they had never heard of A&M before me. Moral of the story, I love Texas A&M and am so very proud to be an Aggie! 

More pictures and stories to come soon! If you haven't already, please GO HERE and read Macy's story. Spread the word, tell others, and become a part of Macy's Miracle! 

Macy's Miracle

     Macy arrived at Shepherd's Field in June 2010 when she was only 8 months old.  She was born with multiple disabilities including a serious heart condition, cleft lip, and cleft palate.  Thanks to Shepherd's Field and the people who give to the medical fund, Macy was able to receive a life saving operation on her heart in April 2011.


     Only, due to a complication, this life saving operation almost took her life.  Five days later, she underwent a second open heart surgery.  With her heart finally repaired, she faced a long road to recovery.  Since she was so weak prior to surgery and struggled to get enough nutrition with her open palate, the doctors feared the worst.  The cards were stacked against her, yet He was watching over her and gave her the strength to fight.  In June 2011, Macy was finally discharged after almost three full months in the hospital, including a touch and go month in ICU. 

     Throughout her two open heart surgeries and three month stay in the hospital, Macy accrued a medical bill of 130,000 RMB (over $19,000). 

     Today, Macy is two years old, four months post-op, and getting stronger every day.  Once she is fully recovered, they will schedule to have her cleft lip and palate repaired. She is a testimony of His unconditional love to the people here. The local doctors are baffled by why someone would put so much time, money, and effort into saving such a sick little girl.

On paper, she is: developmentally delayed, physically imperfect, weak, and orphaned

To me, she is: fearfully and wonderfully made, beautiful, a fighter, and a daughter of the King

 

   
    Join me in becoming a part of Macy's Miracle by giving to Shepherd's Field Children's Village.  Every dollar counts and allows Shepherd's Field to continue to care for "the least of these" (Matthew 25:40) in China. 

There are four easy ways to give and all are tax deductible.

1. Check to: Philip Hayden Foundation
   40335 Winchester Rd, #E-115
   Temecula, CA 92591 USA
   1.866.JAMES127 (1.866.5263.7127)
2. Online through Facebook Causes
3. Online through Paypal
4. Online through Network for Good

Please write "Macy's Miracle" in the memo section.   

 
     Above all, please continue to lift up Macy and all the children here.

Grace & Peace,
Mollie

Howdy Beijing!

Peter's Tex Mex

Yesterday we went to Beijing to go to BICF with Dr. Ana, Josh, and two visitors from Canada.  Afterward, we got our western food fix at Peter's Tex Mex! Being the only one from this great state among the group, they insisted we stop for a picture.  The food was amazing and I think we all got something with cheese in it! The afternoon was spent bargain hunting at Hangzhou.  Since Dr. Ana has a relationship with many of the vendors, they give her good deals without the hassle of bartering!

My family (especially Sam) would be proud to know I have been eating spicy food.  A native intern here loves to cook and the part of the country he is from likes their dishes especially hot.  I try to avoid the flakes of red pepper, drink lots of water, and usually wash it down with a creamy Magnum bar.  I guess you could say, I'm broadening my horizons.  PTL that my stomach is somehow surviving. 

Speaking of food... today at lunch, Wendy was passing around some kind of dark goop that she insisted we try.  Jewel explained to me that it was a delicacy and she had bought it as a birthday gift for Clay.  I am not an adventurous eater at all and was ready to flee the table yet out of cultural respect, I took a small sample.  It wasn't too awful but I tried not to smell it. Wendy and Stacey did not know how to say it in English so I decided to look it up online but maybe it would have been better not to know... thanks to google, I found out I had eaten THIS.  Oh my, just another day at Shepherd's Field. 

A while back I said to stay tuned for ways in which you can be a part of what I am doing here at Shepherd's Field.  Well, I met with Tim and am super excited to share an opportunity with you soon!

Nap time is over in the houses so I'm off to see the kids!

Macy- my cuddle bug

Zai Jian!

Though We are Many, We are One Body

Now that we are finally awake during the day and sleeping through the night, it's time for a quick update!

On Sunday we went with the Bakers to BICF.  I had the privilege of going twice when I was here this summer and was so excited to go back.  The message was on Matthew 17 talking about unity.  Due to regulations, only foreigners are allowed to attend but over 70 nations are represented in the congregation.  It is the absolute neatest place to see so much diversity and culture all worshiping together!

The Bakers have a tradition of eating Western food on Sundays, so we went to a delicious Italian restaurant in Beijing.  After lunch they showed us where we could find some slices of home (like Jenny Wang's- the Western grocery store, and Starbucks!.

Monday and Tuesday we set up the boys classrooms and mapped out the curriculum for the year.  The afternoons of course were spent in the houses loving on the little ones!

Monday night was one of the summer intern's last night so we went out for BBQ.  I was very tentative about consuming street food but my stomach approved and it tasted amazing!

Marissa & Me at the BBQ place

Wednesday, ready or not, we dove in to school with boys.  The twins acted "too cool for school" at first but we had them laughing to the point of tears during a game in which the object is to not smile.

One of the neatest things being back here, has been to see how much some of the kids changed in just two months! Take a look at Vincent:

June 2011

August 2011

This summer, he was too weak to hold his head up and his cry was barely audible.  Today, he has big plump cheeks, nice strong lungs, and is rolling over independently! PTL!

Just last week, a new baby girl arrived.  Her name is Anabel Lee and she is absolutely beautiful!

Anabel Lee

Precious Moment: This morning we asked one of the boys to start our day by lifting things up to Him.  Philip prayed "Dear G0d, Thank you for sending 3 awesome and kind teachers.  Thank you for my brothers.  Thank you for Shepherd's Field.  Please help us have a good day. A*men" AFLAC (a faith like a child)

Hard at work

Tonight we had fellowship at the Baker's house with the other staff.  Pam had been saving up cheese (hard to find here) and made some amazing enchiladas! It was such a powerful time spent in lifting up requests to our Father. The trials they face everyday from financial burdens to the govt. to very sick children, yet for 16 years they have watched Him provide day by day! Please continue to lift up SFCV and ask that He would grant wisdom and discernment to the staff as they make weighty decisions. 

I'll leave you with this picture of Ethan:

Ethan

In His grip,
Mollie