As those of you who follow our news know, the number of orphanages contacting us now for medical support is beyond our financial ability to help them all. That is just a reality that we are coming to terms with. We have taken in so many children recently with emergency medical needs that we have exhausted our general medical fund, and so I had to make the very painful recommendation to our Board of Directors to close our “ER” until we once again had general funds to use.
The main issue is that we are not able to fundraise for the most critically ill babies, as they have to go immediately to the hospital. As most of you know, we normally put the children on our website who need surgery, and over a few weeks they are usually sponsored and then moved for their operations. But the urgent kids have to be moved without funding in place, which is why the general funds are so essential. With those funds currently exhausted….we had to say “no more urgent kids” for awhile.
Christmas morning, however, I woke up to the news of several newly abandoned babies who were in critical condition. I had told the LWB volunteers that our foundation would be closed for a few days over Christmas, to spend time with our families, but the sad reality is that babies become orphaned every single day, and there is no “holiday schedule” when a child is urgently ill. Of course our offices never really close.
And so on the day that is normally one of great joy, we were notified of two tiny little babies who would not survive without immediate care. One little boy was left in Anhui province, with an enormous tumor on his back which appears to have split open. The other tiny baby was left in Henan, again with a spinal tumor which was broken open and bleeding.
Both babies look so completely tiny and vulnerable in their photos. Both babies would not survive without immediate medical intervention. And it was Christmas Day… and we were being asked to give our answer on whether we could help save their lives.
So what do you say on Christmas Day when your ER is closed and yet two beautiful newborn boys are in need of someone to step forward and say, “yes we want you to have a second chance at life”?
Well….what would YOU say? My guess is that our answers are the same. And my prayer is that both boys will get the miracle they deserve.
The main issue is that we are not able to fundraise for the most critically ill babies, as they have to go immediately to the hospital. As most of you know, we normally put the children on our website who need surgery, and over a few weeks they are usually sponsored and then moved for their operations. But the urgent kids have to be moved without funding in place, which is why the general funds are so essential. With those funds currently exhausted….we had to say “no more urgent kids” for awhile.
Christmas morning, however, I woke up to the news of several newly abandoned babies who were in critical condition. I had told the LWB volunteers that our foundation would be closed for a few days over Christmas, to spend time with our families, but the sad reality is that babies become orphaned every single day, and there is no “holiday schedule” when a child is urgently ill. Of course our offices never really close.
And so on the day that is normally one of great joy, we were notified of two tiny little babies who would not survive without immediate care. One little boy was left in Anhui province, with an enormous tumor on his back which appears to have split open. The other tiny baby was left in Henan, again with a spinal tumor which was broken open and bleeding.Both babies look so completely tiny and vulnerable in their photos. Both babies would not survive without immediate medical intervention. And it was Christmas Day… and we were being asked to give our answer on whether we could help save their lives.
So what do you say on Christmas Day when your ER is closed and yet two beautiful newborn boys are in need of someone to step forward and say, “yes we want you to have a second chance at life”?
Well….what would YOU say? My guess is that our answers are the same. And my prayer is that both boys will get the miracle they deserve.
