ChinaBird

Through the years of having this blog, I've been pretty vocal about several aspects of living and working in China and for a non-profit organization. I've often shared about the kids, advocating for their adoptions, about our therapy program, and about God's goodness to me and us. ALL of which are true. There's no recanting any of those statements but there's so much more. I originally starting writing this blog to share with family, friends and supporters back in the U.S. about life and work here - but there's always been a part of me that has somewhat cushioned the realities so that it's more relatable. I don't feel that's necessary anymore. I'm sharing the rawness and realness of life. A while back I came across an article on WeChat (the main method of communication and social media here) that was titled, "Ten Things That Your Missionary Will Not Tell You". This article was thoughtfully written by a man, husband, and father of 11

If I've learned anything about China in the last 4+ years it's that understanding and living in China is like holding water. The second you think you've got a good scoop on what it's like or how it's going to be, it's changed and slipped through your hands. It's always changing and flowing. It's the only way to describe this place. While it can be frustrating to some, it keeps life interesting.  Last month I shared some of the changes that have taken place here in our children's village in the last year. Change has just been one of those things you can't prevent but don't always know how to prepare for. These last few months have left a lot of us asking, "So...What now?" Shortly after the kids began returning to their home orphanages, our leadership team sat in a room, just looking at each other and asking ourselves this same question. As we sat there, we began to brainstorm how we could continue to support the orphans and the spe

2018. What. A. Year. Am I right? For me, it was a year of growth, stretching and heartache. As you may have noticed, this is my first blog post in over a year. I took all of 2018 off from writing and blogging, while it was unplanned, I just wanted to live, to be in the moment, to make memories, and I'm sure glad I did because those moments are now the fuel for my future and our organization here in China. It's been 208 days since the first group of kiddos left our campus. For the last 10 years we had been fostering, educating, providing therapy and life-skills training for over 50 special needs orphans from all of China. In late July of last year, we were notified that new policies had gone into effect in regards to orphan care. These new stipulations required all orphans to receive care (education, therapy, medical, etc) within their home provinces. While this news brought heartache and tears for those of us who's desire is to purely serve the orphans, this decision wa