Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight... (James 1:26, 27 MSG)
This, by far, has been the toughest day here for us in China. Schedule-wise it was hard - we had to leave the hotel at 6:30am, travel 2 1/2 hours by van to Jedidiah's orphanage in Baotou, stay for about an hour, travel 2 1/2 hours back, quickly pack up the remainder of our things, stop by the Inner Mongolia museum on the way to the airport, then take a 3 hour flight down to southern China, to the city of Guangzhou. We got to our hotel at 10:30pm. A very long day. And the visit to the orphanage and Jedidiah's place of abandonment made it an extremely emotional day.
SWI - Baotou (Jedidiah's orphanage):
We still aren't completely sure how long Jedidiah lived at his orphanage. It seems like he was there the first 9 months of his life, and then he moved to the medical needs foster home, New Hope, in Beijing. We will visit the foster home at the end of our trip, and find out for sure, but we do know when Jedidiah was 1 day old he was brought to this orphanage in Baotou. We know for sure that he began his life here.
The building where the younger children live
The wall as you come into the building
However, there were definite bright moments to our visit. The nannies seemed really happy and were really engaged with the children. I saw smiles on the kids' faces, and lots of excitement when we handed out dum-dums and these minature oranges (at least that is what they call them...they look like an orange, but they are the size of a large grape and when you eat them, you eat the whole thing, peel and all) to the kids in each of the rooms we visited.
One of the kids holding on to his suckers
The area we visitied was where Jedidiah lived. It is for the younger children. There are a few hundred children who live in this building. We were able to see three different rooms of children. They also showed us his crib.
Jedidiah's crib
Some of the nannies and babies in the area where Jedidiah lived
Jedidiah was with us and I was unsure how he would respond to being there. He wanted to stay right with Brad and I. When a nanny would reach out her arms for him to go to her, he would shake his head no. I was happy he felt safe and secure with us.
Seeing the orphanage and interacting with the children there is something we will never forget. It only strengthened our resolve to keep the message going, 'do for one what you wish you could do for many.'
Where Jedidiah was found
Ever since we found out Jedidiah was found at a day old in a park in Baotou by a policeman and brought to the orphanage, I have longed to go to this park...to be in that very place that his parents made, what had to be the hardest decision of their lives. His mother, abandoning her baby at a day old...I cannot imagine the pain of that decision. It was a very emotional time for us in that park. And such a busy place...people everywhere. We know without a doubt, that Jedidiah's parents were sure he would be found in this place. I am glad we can tell him that some day!
Inner Mongolia Museum
Once we returned to Hohhot and checked out of the hotel, we visted a beautiful museum on our way to the airport. It was nice to learn more about the province where Jedidiah was born.
After the museum, we took a 3 hour flight (which was not without challenges with a 20 month old!) south to the balmy city of Guangzhou. Wow, a completely different place than Hohhot. Hohhot was extremely dry (always feeling thirsty and needing tons of lotion), highs in the 60s and very 'brown' looking after the winter...trees and flowers were just starting to bud. Here in Guangzhou it is very green and unbelievably humid. At night the temps are still in the 80s.
Our hotel here in Guangzhou
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