Questions, Questions, and more Questions

Yesterday while we were traveling on the bus to the orphanage I had the opportunity to talk for a while with our guide Mabel. These chances don't come very often because our schedule is very busy and our group is so large. I asked so many questions I think I wore her our but here is some of what I learned from her.

Mabel lives in Beijing with her younger brother. Her parents live about 2 hours out in the countryside from Beijing and that is where she grew up. She became a Christian when she went to university here. In China primary school is from ages 7-13, middle school 14-16, high school 16-19, and university from 19-22 or 23. She is in her late 20's and she said that most people of her age/generation do not have any brothers or sisters. Her family is very lucky because her brother was born just 9 days before the one child policy went into effect in her hometown.

Her professor at the university is the one who told her about God and having a personal relationship with Jesus. She said that as she studied the Bible and talked with her teacher personally she began to understand more and more about how God loves her. She said it was in the spring and she saw all the small green blades of grass growing and she finally understood that the God who grows all things and who sees even when the small birds fall loved her very much and she accepted Jesus as her savior. She told the story much better than I can relay here - what a beautiful testimony!

I asked if it is illegal to be a Christian here - she said no and it is not illegal to talk to people about God and Jesus - as long as it is one on one. It is against the law to gather in a group and talk about spiritual things - unless it is on Sunday in a government sponsored church. The government has certain things that it does not allow the church to talk about, but it was difficult for me to understand exactly what those rules are. I don't think that many Chinese people are interested in attending the government church.
Mabel worked for the 700 club before this job working for A Helping Hand. She was helping them do charitable work with orphanages, but she was laid off when there were no longer enough funds to continue. That is when she began working for Peter with A Helping Hand. Peter is the main guide/supervisor who works here in China for A Helping Hand. They are both wonderful people who care very much for both the orphans here in China and for the families coming to adopt them.

I asked Mabel what happens to the children in the orphanages who are not adopted. She said that they can stay at the orphanage until they are 14 years old. If they are handicapped or disabled in some way they go to live at the home for the elderly (like the place that was directly across from the Shao Guan orphanage). If they are healthy and able they go to middle school. They actually leave the orphanage and go and live at the school. I asked if people looked down on them because they were from the orphanage - and she said no - and that the custom was for the teachers to give special care to the children in this situation. I asked if there were any orphans who had attended school at her school and she said no. She also said that the government provides the very basic education for children but that families have to pay extra for any extra activities. Since she listed both math and piano lessons as extra activities I am not sure exactly what makes up a "basic education" but I am sure that it is heavily focused on language (the Chinese language has over 5,000 characters and children memorize all 5,000 of them at an early age) and history because everything here is related to the past. History is incredibly important to the Chinese, it is so much a part of understanding their language that they are reminded of and use their knowledge of history constantly. Obviously an orphan would not have the means to have any "extras" at school but they do have access to basic education.

I asked if Chinese families ever adopt - and she said it is not common. 1st because of the one child policy and 2nd because the older generation is not very accepting of adoption. She said it is very difficult for the children because the extended family does not accept them as really being in the family. I asked what happens when a baby is abandoned. She said it is very sad for the Chinese people. She said that the mother will always wonder what happened to her baby - if she is dead or alive. She said that Chinese mothers generally do go to the hospital to have their babies but that they don't keep records and birth certificates like ours do. Instead it is the "Committee of the Neighborhood" where you must register your child that causes all of the trouble. It is only with this registration that you can receive health care and education for your child, and this is where the one child policy is enforced.

When a baby is found and taken to the orphanage, the orphanage places an abandonment ad in the newspaper asking the parents to come forward and claim their baby. The orphanage then waits at least 3 months before forwarding healthy baby's records on to the Province level Adoption Authority. The Province then forwards those records to the CCAA (the Central Chinese Adoption Authority in Beijing). This is the office that decides how many babies from each orphanage will be eligible for adoption and matches them with applicants like us! It was very interesting talking with her and I am so thankful that God has put her and Peter here to lead us through this process. They have both been so friendly and caring - and that really makes a difference when you are so far from home.

Angie

P.S. Dave is at a paperwork meeting right now (he has been gone for 2 hours!) starting to do the American-side of the paperwork.