LWB currently sponsors 13 children into foster care in Fuyang. Following our orphanage visit, we were able to visit with some of these great kids, and each home we stopped at reaffirmed our belief that every child deserves a family.
At one house where two little boys are fostered, we witnessed one of the cutest moments we had ever seen in China. Their foster mom's biological daughter, who looked to be about 8 years old, had decided to walk the boys a few doors down the street to buy them a snack. She was trying to get these two very rambunctious boys to hold hands so she could safely walk with them to the street vendor. She might as well have been herding cats. Finally, realizing she was fighting a losing battle, she gently put her arms around them like a little mother hen and then firmly told them in the cutest scolding voice who was boss. With grins on their faces, they complied. It was one of those tiny moments that might have seemed insignificant to most, but to us...after just having come from an orphanage, it was such a sign of normalcy and family that it almost brought us to tears.We also got to visit with one of our individual nutrition babies who is on a special diet to help her gain weight. Jan Champoux, our nutrition director, got to hold and love on her for awhile, and the family told her that they hoped the special formula would continue as she was quite picky and "only likes the good stuff". :-) She was absolutely the picture of health.
Our final stop was to the village of a little boy who wanted absolutely nothing to do with us, but we loved seeing him immediately reach for the safety of his foster mom when such strange looking ladies from America showed up to meet him. We really thought we were never going to see a smile, until he spied someone's cell phone and then he was happy as could be pretending to call everyone he knew.
It was a wonderful afternoon. Thank you to everyone who gives the gift of family.
