Happy Gotcha Day! :)

The day is finally here. Miss Olivia met her forever family today!!!!!They arrived to SFCV at 10:30am and weren't able to see her until 2:30pm because she was napping. I could tell they were nervous and dying to hold their little girl in their arms. As I was walking back from teaching my crazy preschoolers, I glanced at the gazebo to see Olivia with her forever family. They were holding her so close which just melted my heart.. I was SOOOOO happy for her that I just wanted to keep watching them the whole time. I even tried to take a picture of it from far away. Is that too creepy? :) Ever since then, i have been in SUCH a good mood. I mean I am just so happy for Olivia that she has a forever family. I'm so happy for the family that they have a little girl now. Today when they were holding her, I saw them talking to some people, introducing her as their daughter. Can you say awwwwwwwwwwwwwww? :) It's funny though because that's all I have been able to think about...like seriously all I can think about. When I was with the other interns, I kept talking about it and they were like "You are still talking about this?" haha I guess I'm just weird like that. Well this blog feels like it is just a ramble but needless to say, I want to do this. I want to help orphans find families for the rest of my life. But is that what G wants? Stay tuned :)

Follow you

Hello all. I have been having this song in my head ALL day and even before i came to China. This song just keeps speaking to me that every time I listen to it, it just moves my heart in so many different directions. This song though is my pr*y@r though....for the rest of my life :) Enjoy :) If you want to know more about the song, please email me about it. You live among the least of these, the weary and the weak And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away All my needs You have supplied When I was dead You gave me life How could I not give it away so freely? And I'll, I'll follow You into the homes of the broken I'll follow You into the world I'll meet the needs for the poor and the needy G I'll follow You into the world Use my hands, use my feet to make Your k*ngdom come To the corners of the earth until Your work is done 'Cause f*ith without works is dead And on the cross Your blood was shed So how could we not give it away so freely? And I'll, I'll follow You into the homes of the broken Follow You into the world Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, G I'll follow You into the world Follow You into the homes of the broken I'll follow You into the world And meet the needs for the poor and the needy, G I'll follow You into the world I give all myself, I give all myself And I give all myself to You And I give all myself, yes, I give all myself And I give all myself to You And I'll follow You into the homes of the broken I'll follow You into the world Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, G I'll follow You into the world I'll follow You into the homes of the broken Follow You into the world Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, G

Pictures throughout the week :)

Hello all! Here are some pictures. Some are recent while others are from a couple weeks ago, 1. This is Wendy. She is 20 years old and has told me that she likes being quiet. :) I teach her English at 1230-130. She can be very sweet but sometimes can be uninterested in English. I've had to talk to G about her lots. :) 2. This is me and Princess. Her name is actually Sierra but I call her Princess cause she acts like me. Whenever anyone sits down, she just plops onto your lap like you were waiting for her. lol 3. This is Noelle. She is in my preschool class and i have just recently fallen in love with her. When I play with Elizabeth in the House of Peace, she is always there and laughs so hard at whatever we are doing. 4. Joseph...this is the face he makes all the time to me! :) He is another student of mine in Primary class. He is very animated and likes to ride his bike around the compound. 5. So these are my roomates!! Ok so the one on the far left is Sara who works at SFCV. Then there is me of course, then that's Annie, my fellow ESL intern, and then that is Irene. Irene actually left almost a week ago. :( She was here for about a month as a therapy intern. Well that's about it, nothing else to report really. Classes are going well. SFCV is busy as usual. Well actually tomorrow is the day that Olivia's family is coming in!!!!! So so excited for that!!!!! Thanks for the thoughts! :)

Playing with Miss Elizabeth

Today I had the privilege of playing with Miss Elizabeth. She is in my primary class and is 8 years old (almost 9!! I get to be here for her birthday :) When I first met her, I thought she didn't like me. She looked so bored in English class and would always be serious. Slowly but surely though, she has warmed up to me. (Thank you J) In class though, she still would say "I don't know" before I even asked her an English question. :) But today, I went into her house and really connected with her. We played Rock Paper Scissors and no smiling contest for SOOOO long. It was so much fun because we just kept laughing the whole time. Anyways, I connected with her so much today that now she is on my favorites list. :) hehe (don't worry, pretty much all the kids are on it) I love her so much and I pr0y G will give her a forever family SOOON!!!! :):):)

Description of the pictures below :)

Hi all! So I finally figured out how to post more pictures on the blog!! :) I have been having though to email each of my blogs so I never know how they turn out. Here are some of the descriptions of the pictures below. These photos are all taken by Annie's AMAZING camera!!! (Yeah for roomates with awesome cameras!!!) Picture 1. Annie painting Heather's nails. 2.Jackson wanted his nails painted like the girls :). He is in my preschool class which I teach in the afternoon. 3.Sara painting Maggie's nails. Maggie is another girl in my preschool class. Oh and Sara is my roomie :) 4.Haley blowing on her nails. 5.April playing with a visitor 6. Hayden showing off her nails. She is in my primary class. 7.Me trying to paint Dianne's nails. Whenever i go into her house, she always wants to be held. When I do hold her, she holds on super tight! :) I love going into her house when I'm tired and just wanna hold someone :). 8.Me painting Mariah's nails. 9. Showing off Lexie's adorable nails!!! 10. Sara and I taking a picture of our hot pink toe nails. 11.JJ had his nails painted too...silly boy :)

Painting nails :)

Sara, Annie, and i decided to go to each house and paint the girls' nails. Some of the boys wanted to have them done too. It was quite fun and the girls LOVED it. Have a fabulous weekend! :)

Jumping with Ling Ling

Just recently (I believe), SFCV has now received a trampoline in their playground area which makes it a magnet for ALL kids to jump on. The kids pile in there with giggles and laughs as they jump and jump and jump and jump. But as the kids have to go back into their homes, there is one girl who then gets on and jumps for hours. Her name is Ling Ling (English name Shelby) and she is about 18 years old. She is not cognitively together but is still such a sweet heart :).  Ling ling is also in my Primary English class and has a couple English words she ALWAYS says: "Be Careful" (She says this ALL the time) "Good morning" (Even in the evening too) "Come on" "See you tomorrow at dinner" (We have never had dinner with her so we are very confused with this phrase :) After I was done with the kids jumping on me in one of the houses, I saw Ling Ling jumping on the trampoline by herself. I decided (well pretty much G did because that's how awesome he is) to go jump with her. So it was just Ling ling and I jumping on the trampoline, laughing and taking pictures of it. I don't know how else to describe it. I think one of my favorite things so far is spending individual time with each kid. When it's all of them together, they can get so wild because they are striving for your attention. But when it is just you and them, it is amazing to see their individual personalities comes out and to see the person G made them to be :). Needless to say, I think one of my goals now is to spend time with each kid alone. 81 kids in less than 8 weeks? Shouldn't be a problem right? :)

Thankful

Hello my friends and family! If you all want to know what I am doing right this second, I am sitting in my room, relieved that I am done with classes for the week, and waiting for Annie to be done with Kindergarten so we can see some of the younger kids who stay in the house! :) I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I left Oregon!!!  It has felt like I have been here forever. I have made so many great connections and I am not even half way through my trip! It is all from G though and I am so thankful for it too. As I walked home from school today, I was thinking to myself how lucky I am. This has been a dream of mine like FOREVER! I have always wanted to be in China working with the orphans and BAM G is letting me live out my dream. It's funny sometimes to think over how I dreamed of being here. This place has beaten all my expectations!!!!!!!!! :) I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! (Sorry, my inner child is coming out) :) Anyways, I am utterly blessed and am again so thankful how G has helped me throughout this trip!!! Sometimes I worry about how and what to teach the kids, but with G on my side, I can do ALLL things. Oh and also, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ENDLESS SUPPORT! It helps me to remember that it just isn't me who is in China but all of you who are here with me through your Pr*y*rs and Support! Again, thank you so much for helping me live out my dream. Well got to go play with some kids :) I'll post some pictures when I can...thanks for being patient!! :) Mel

Trust

Hello all! Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. I have been quite busy in the mornings along with hanging out with fellow interns at night. Here are some updates of what has been happening this week. Sunday, I had my first chance to barter!! It was quite fun actually and I got some good items from it. For example, I bought Kung Fu Panda 2 for a dollar! We(Annie, Irene, and I) spent about 4 hours shopping! It was a fun time and I'm glad I did it even if it seemed like I was being mean to the people I was bartering with :) So starting this week and throughout the summer, Annie and I will now be tutoring the Baker boys. The Bakers are the founders of SFCV and have adopted 4 kids from China. I am working with Philip, the youngest of the Baker boys. He is 9 years old and has SOOOO much energy. For example, after he completed some math problems, I gave him 60 seconds of pure freedom which he used by running around a table...enough said. He can be quite a handful but I like the challenge and I am excited to be helping out the Bakers. Also this week and throughout the summer, I will be teaching a preschool class English. It is so different teaching primary to now teaching preschool but all the kids there are of course, ADORABLE, so I can't complain too much.:) We are teaching them the alphabet and having them color pictures. For example, yesterday was the letter A and so they colored an alligator. Which now brings us to today, At 4:30am, I woke up with an upset stomach. I immediately went to the bathroom and just lied down on the floor waiting for it to pass. Sadly from it, I threw up 4 times which felt good at the time but now I have felt gross all day. So now, I have just been sleeping and completely bored! :( I couldn't go to any of my classes today. Oh and I guess everyone knows I threw up here cause when people asked where i was, the kids would tell them I was puking..yeah... But I am trying to look on the brighter side of it. I have been thinking a lot and talking to G about what His plan is for me. I just need to trust in Him and know that He IS IN CONTROL! Maybe I just needed a day to reply more on G...who knows but for now, i am just trusting.

Fw: What to do if I lived in China......

So, for those of you who don't know, I have quite a strong interest in China that I believe G may be calling me to serve Him here. I mean that's why I'm here for 2 month!. I am here to see if this is what G has in mind for me, to serve the orphans for His Glory. But sadly I haven't figured out what occupation would best serve here. I was planning on becoming a nurse but I don't know if that is what He wants. So I have come down to these two occupations: Teacher and Occupational therapist. Each one I can see myself becoming but will one of these occupations help me serve Him in the best way I can? So for Teacher: I NEVER imagined I would be thinking about teaching. Many people have come up to me before and said: " Oh Melissa, you would make such a good teacher!" I would laugh to myself thinking, "I will never be a teacher!" This thinking has processed throughout my mind until this year. I believe it was my mom who kept persistently saying: " You should be a teacher Mel, you love working with kids and that's what teacher's do!" So now with thinking over her thoughts and realizing I actually do teach in my Ch*rch, I have now considered maybe teaching is the way to go but would it be beneficial for my outreach in China if that is where I'm suppose to go....i don't know!?!?! And then there is Occupational Therapist: This occupation is actually brand new to me. I don't know all that I need to know for it but I do know the main purpose. An occupational therapist helps someone to perform activities of daily living which the circumstances they are living with whether it be mentally or physically disabled. This one I actually find quite interesting and I can so see doing this in China. There are many kids with different ailments such as Cerebral palsey, missing limbs, and even Autism. If I became an Occupational therapist, it would be such a privilege to help kids live their lives to the fullest even with a barrier. The only problem with this is schooling. It takes a lot of years (I have to go to grad school) and I need to do well in my science classes(not looking so good with that either) Is this what G wants from me also?? So yeah here's my dilemma, I will be writing about my future career choices and would LOVE your input on what you think would be a good match for me. :) Must importantly though, I hope that G*d will reveal the job He wants me to do. Good night all! It is almost 11pm and I must go to bed :)

Fw: What to do if I lived in China......

So, for those of you who don't know, I have quite a strong interest in China that I believe G may be calling me to serve Him here. I mean that's why I'm here for 2 month!. I am here to see if this is what G has in mind for me, to serve the orphans for His Glory. But sadly I haven't figured out what occupation would best serve here. I was planning on becoming a nurse but I don't know if that is what He wants. So I have come down to these two occupations: Teacher and Occupational therapist. Each one I can see myself becoming but will one of these occupations help me serve Him in the best way I can? So for Teacher: I NEVER imagined I would be thinking about teaching. Many people have come up to me before and said: " Oh Melissa, you would make such a good teacher!" I would laugh to myself thinking, "I will never be a teacher!" This thinking has processed throughout my mind until this year. I believe it was my mom who kept persistently saying: " You should be a teacher Mel, you love working with kids and that's what teacher's do!" So now with thinking over her thoughts and realizing I actually do teach in my Ch*rch, I have now considered maybe teaching is the way to go but would it be beneficial for my outreach in China if that is where I'm suppose to go....i don't know!?!?! And then there is Occupational Therapist: This occupation is actually brand new to me. I don't know all that I need to know for it but I do know the main purpose. An occupational therapist helps someone to perform activities of daily living which the circumstances they are living with whether it be mentally or physically disabled. This one I actually find quite interesting and I can so see doing this in China. There are many kids with different ailments such as Cerebral palsey, missing limbs, and even Autism. If I became an Occupational therapist, it would be such a privilege to help kids live their lives to the fullest even with a barrier. The only problem with this is schooling. It takes a lot of years (I have to go to grad school) and I need to do well in my science classes(not looking so good with that either) Is this what G wants from me also?? So yeah here's my dilemma, I will be writing about my future career choices and would LOVE your input on what you think would be a good match for me. :) Must importantly though, I hope that G*d will reveal the job He wants me to do. Good night all! It is almost 11pm and I must go to bed :)

Mel's Monday-Friday Schedule

Hello!! Thanks you all for being so patient about this blog!!! Patience is a virtue. hehe but really, thank you all who are interested in this little journey I'm in. First of all, I must inform you, I don't play with kids 24/7. This would be nice but Clay and Jewel(intern coordinators) keep us interns VERY busy. So here's my schedule (or was my schedule for the past week) 7:00am-This is usually when I get up, shower, etc. etc. etc. :) 10:00-11:00am-Teach Primary class English!! This is the class I will be with throughout my time here. It is a wide variety of 8 kids. 8 years old is the youngest to 16 years old as the oldest. 11:30am-LUNCH (This is when the staff eats lunch) 12:30-1:30pm:Annie and I teach Wendy, Grady, and Stacy who are teens that are around our age. We also get some adults who come in to learn English too. 2:30-3:30pm: Teach Kindergarten class English. This includes lots of songs, crafts, and stories!! Next week, she will be taking the Kindergarten class while I take the Primary class. 3:30-5:00pm: After we are done with our classes, we immediately put our school stuff away and go hangout at a house. At SFCV, there are about 5 homes. We always have a hard time deciding which house to go to but that's when we are able to spend LOTS of time with the kids :) This is one of my favorite parts :) Around 6-6:30pm depending on what we are cooking, the interns and I cook dinner. For example, tonight we ate banana pancakes and talked for a while. :) After we might hangout or something but then I am usually in bed by 10pm because I'm usually sooooo tired. Tomorrow will mark the first week I have been at SFCV! Wow, it's amazing to think I have only been here for a week when it seems like I have been here for a while. It took some time to adjust to the daily schedules and such but I truly love it here. I love how everyone's focus is of course serving G but also to LOVE ON THESE KIDS!! :) This is my kind of place then. haha

Can you say PICTURES OF LOVEABLE KIDS?

 This is Olivia. She will be adopted by the end of the month!!! Can't wait to see my first Gotcha Day! :)

 So pretty much every time I go into one of the homes around 4pm. I always get stuck with a rowdy boy who wants me to tickle him and will jump ALL over me. But I do enjoy it though :)

 Robert!!! Best animated boy ever! :)

 So this is Preston, right now he does not like me. He wants everyone to carry him BUT me. This will change :)

 Zechariah :)

Sweet Noelle and some ladies from the Jonni and friends team.
Hope you enjoyed some of these pictures!! I promise there will be more!! :)

Melissa meets Melissa

Before I started this trip, Annie (my fellow ESL intern) told me there was a girl at SFCV named Melissa. Annie would tag me in pictures of her and I just died every time I saw little Melissa. I made note that Melissa and I would have to do some serious bonding! :) She looked so sweet and so perfect. What could be wrong with her?
So when the time came to actually see her in person, I was just SOOOO overwhelmed. She was absolutely adorable!!She is about 20 months old and has a heart condition I believe. She let me carry her when I first saw her which just made my day. I just kept holding her and saying funny sounds to make her laugh.
Needless to say, seeing Melissa at the House of Peace (there are about 5 children's homes at SFCV and House of Peace is one of them) is now my new ritual. I love making her laugh and sometimes she even will come up to me and ask to be held.
I hope one day she will be adopted into a forever family.  She has many nannys that love her but I hope one day she can have parents to call her own. 

So during this time, you will be seeing MANY photos of her :)

No worries...I did not die while traveling to China :)

Hello all!
Sorry I haven't posted in like FOREVER! Internet has been weird for some of the networks but now it is working!! YEAH!!!
So Saturday was just introducing myself to the other interns and such. We had dinner together, checked my email, and fell asleep..aka JET LAG!
Sunday has been quite busy. The interns and i went to a ch*rch in Beijing. It was ginormous!!! And small world has it, I say a girl who went to my old church (Marinda Parks) there. It was a lovely service with a Chinese man kept turning around and taking pictures of my friend Annie and I ( She has blond hair and I have curly hair..very unusual in China) It was an English service which included worship songs, message, and communion. After service, we headed toward lunch. Some of the interns were in one taxi car while a visitor named Becca and I were in the other taxi. While we were driving, our taxi driver pulled over to the side and opened the top of the car indicating to us something was wrong with the car. To make the long story short: we had to sit on the side of the road while our taxi driver was trying to fix the car. I wasn't worried at all which is surprising because first of all, we had no phone and both of us couldn't speak Chinese. (I pretty much just laughed through this whole situation :) Everything worked out though, the other taxi driver took us to the lunch area and we scarfed down noodles!! ( For me, I had breakfast around 8am and didn't eat lunch until almost 3pm so I was starving)
After lunch we caught up with the other interns and then did lots of shopping. It is amazing to see how many Caucasians are in Beijing. I was so suprised with how many but then a couple hours I realized...IT'S A TOURISTY COUNTRY! haha silly me.
Oh....I forgot to tell you all...I SAW SOME OF THE KIDS TODAY. I was seriously so overwhelmed to see them! I was trying so hard to not ball my eyes out because I have waited so long to see them!! I met the other famous other "Melissa" She is about 20 months old and ADORABLE!!!! I am completely in love with her and I'm think of making someone from my ch*rch adopt her...any takers?  Anyways..I met more of the kids too and they were just all sweet and you can sense how much love is in this place. No worries, I'll make sure to post pictures of these adorable kids!!!!!!!!! :)
I can still tell that I have jet lag. I am quite emotional and very tired!!! But G*d is pulling me through which is all I need. Tomorrow we will just be doing prep work and also doing an older kids class.
Well, I think all the interns and i are going to watch a movie hopefully I won't fall asleep during it! :)
Love and miss you all very much! :)

Mel

So here's how it all started

Hello family, friends, and whoever else feels the need to stalk my blog :)
First off I want to thank you all for your pr*yers and support as I take this journey into China w/J*sus! :) If it weren't for you all, I would not be able to go so I thank you. I feel so blessed by you and so I just want to emphasize again...THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! :)
So many of you might be wondering, "why is this crazy 19 year old girl spending her whole summer in China?" Well as I think of that, I realize more and more that this dream is all from J*sus because who would do what I am about to do in 13 hours, 58 minutes, and 7 seconds. :) Soooo here's how it all started...
When I was in Junior High, some family friends of ours (Hi Mannings) said " We are adopting from China!" As they were telling us more about it, I was amazed of how there could be facilities filled with unwanted little girls!!! I immediately became fascinated with this whole process of adopting from China. After I believe a couple years, they were able to adopt their little girl from China. I remember going to see them at the airport and just being overjoyed in seeing how much love they had for Olivia.
 Ever since then, I have become obsessed with China. Whenever anyone talked about China, I so badly wanted to hear what they were saying. I would borrow many China books from the library and literally spent HOURS looking up any American- run orphanages located there. I even decorated my room with a lovely Asian theme. :) As I said before, I was obsessed.
Finally, the summer of 2008, I and 14 boys and girls from different parts of the US were able to  travel to Southern China, teaching English to older students and helping with construction at a Children Home. At 16, I was finally able to go to the place I had been dreaming my whole life!!!! It was such a big deal for me!!I had an amazing time there and to make a long story short, I just loved it! :) I remember our last Sunday there, we were all singing some Chinese song. (or at least trying to) At a time when I should be so sad to leave this beautiful country, I wasn't. I had such amazing peace and knew I would be back to China.
So here I am, J*sus has given me an AMAZING opportunity to live out my dream in working in a Chinese orphanage. I will be at Shepherd's Field Children's Village from June 11th-August 17th. There I will be teaching English and loving on kids all day!!! I will make sure to post as much as I can but if you have any questions please just email me.
China has always been my dream, working at an orphanage there is my dream and this summer I will be able to fulfill it!! I can't wait to take this journey and see what J*sus has in store for me :)