Pictures from the week:

This little one is getting paper ready so she can be adopted and go home to live with her new family!

              Peek-a-Boo!

Going for a ride with Sarah Zhou!

Visiting the Summer Palace

The days have been busy and hot but Thursday afternoon it finally rained! If you haven't seen when it rains in China, it pours! The streets and everything flood. Annie, Melissa, Tess, Sara, and I all went out in the pouring rain and danced and ran around in our bare feet. We played in the mud and also went to the windows of the houses and said hi to the children. We also went and played on the playground, and I went down the slide and came shooting out because it was so slippery. It made my week!:)

Please  pray for this little girl, Joelle.  As you can see, she is very sick and said to be the next little one that will probably die.  It breaks my heart as she lays for hours.  Many of the nannies are afraid to hold her.  Not me.  She loves to be held and is all smiles when I do.

He Got Me!

A Note from Mom

Hi, I'm Carrie and I'm Hannah's mom.  I'm going to be Hannah's guest blogger today. I want to take some time and share with you parts of a letter Hannah wrote to me today.  It gives you a glimmer of her heart for this special place called Shepherd's Field and the beautiful children that have captured it:

Today I helped Pam Baker and then us interns took the kindergarten class out to lunch and tomorrow we are taking the older class like Grady, Stacey, Windy and so on. It is crazy watching them be out cause they eat a ton. Like they never stop to take a break. They just eat eat eat.

Today we get a new intern who is 19 and her name is Bethany. And Becca and Linda, who are two of my roommates, leave this weekend. Then I am moving into an aparment with this girl named Tess who comes on Friday my time. She is here for a couple weeks and she is also my age. So, two 17 year olds living in an apartment! wohooo!:)

I really dont want to leave this place. At night I just think that I have to leave here in a couple weeks and I will just cry. I can't even think about it.  I have grown so close to some of these kids, expecially Grady. He wants to go to America so bad. He is always talking about it and asking me questions about it. Then he sees the other kids getting adopted and its so hard on him. He asks about 3 times a week when am I going back home and when I tell him he just sits there all quiet.

I am working with this girl Joelle for physical therapy and she doesn't get any attention because they are pretty sure that she is the next to die.  The nannies won't go by her because they know that she will die soon. Its so sad. She is blind and hard of hearing and something is wrong with her head.  But I just sit there and hold her and cry just thinking that I may be the last person who holds her. Is there any way that I can stay here longer? :)

 

Hannah

 

I also want to take the time to thank you for not only following her journey as she interns in China but also for your pr*yers and encouragement.  It not only means a lot to her but also to her family!

Carrie

 

 

I am Your Brother

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Every moment here is memorable, whether it is getting sick, playing with the kids, or organizing clothes. Every moment here counts. I have been blessed in so many ways here and have so many stories to tell.

Yesterday was Jerrak's Birthday and he turned 7 years old. Melissa and I made a cake for him to share with his class and, let me just say, making a cake with Melissa is very entertaining. We made a huge mess. We had to make the cake by scratch which wasn't very easy. We put these green sprinkles in the cake which Mama Jewel thought were peas. All in all the kids enjoyed it and it was a fun afternoon.

Later that evening Annie, Melissa, Sara Zhou and I went for a walk but ended up riding bikes on campus. They don't have very big bikes so I ended up with a little 4 year old's bike that still had training wheels. Grady got a good laugh when he saw me coming around the corner riding it. Sara and Annie had the big bikes so they kept riding them back and forth so Grady, Melissa, and I decided to play Ninjas or Spies. I am not really sure what to call it, but we made Grady's day when he saw us rolling on the grass and then just freezing for no reason.

During that evening, when I came outside to join some people for UNO, Grady saw me and said, "Who are you?" and I looked at him and said," Who are you?" He grabbed my hand and said, "I am your brother." I will never forget that moment.

Hannah

Happy Blessed Fourth!

With my two Chinese brothers, Joseph and Grady, watching the fireworks.



We had this huge Fourth of July party even though we weren't in the States. It started off with a huge BBQ with hamburgers and hot dogs and all the traditional American BBQ dishes. After we had some dinner the guys went and played football which was very entertaining to watch. When it finally got dark we had a huge firework show and people on the street started to crowd around the entrance gate. Grady and I got hit about three times by each so we finally had to scoot back. That is how we ended the day and it was an amazing Fourth of July.   

My roommate, Becca, and I watching the guys play football.

Changing Me

I think I am finally realizing why the Father wanted me to come on this trip and how He is changing me through this. I have about four weeks left and I can't wait to see what is going to happen. I can't wait to see everyone and share the story the Father is writing. I now know what needs to be done and what needs to happen.  I need to just start walking by f*ith and not by sight.

"Oh, Honey!"

The days have been busy here at SFCV. (That stands for Shepherds Field Children's Village) Over the weekend I played with the kids and went out to dinner.  Most dinners are spent at the inn since interns are responsible for making their own.  Some we cook together. However, on Sunday, Melissa and I went to the Hot Pot with the visiting team of 28 and the Bakers. The team was comprised of parents and their adopted children that at one time lived at Shepherd's Field.

This week it's just the norm of helping in the school and cleaning. This Sunday Annie, Melissa, and I will hopefully be going to The Great Wall with one of the teams.

Annie taught Grady the word "honey" and now it is like a pet name he gives. So whenever I am around Grady he is always saying, "Thank You Honey," or "Oh, Honey." So I look at him and say, "Oh Darling!" and he just starts laughing and says, "You no call me that!"

Below are photos taken from the House of Peace where I have been cleaning and organizing with Pam.  After being closed for 2 years,  it will now serve as a storage house of all the needed resources for the kids, including bins of clothing.

Hannah

                    Before:

After:

Grady scrapbooking: