Our New Foster Child

This has been an exciting week for our family.

Two people (from a company we are working with) and I [Rick] left at six in the morning on Tuesday to fly to Gui Lin, in Hunan Province. The flight was a hour and forty-five minutes long. When we arrived in Guilin we had to find a long distance bus to get to the small village where we were heading. First off - a fifty minute taxi drive to get to the bus station. We got there at ten o'clock just to find out the next bus did not arrive until

Sightseeing 

1:30 pm.

Our sightseeing boat

So, we did a little sightseeing, had some lunch, and then boarded the bus. The bus ride was FOUR AND A HALF HOURS driving on some really poor roads and in rain. Eventually, we made it to the village and we were met by the lady who runs the orphanage. She took us to the orphanage to see the little boy.

Our long distance bus

Now I will explain about him. He has HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). His body is covered in a major rash and on one of his feet his toenails are all white (fungus). His body is so fragile and so, so skinny. We spent a little time with him and then they brought us to the hotel. To my surprise, it was a very nice hotel (granted it looked like the only hotel around). This small village has about 260,000 people. You may say that isn't small, but, in China, that is very small.

Signing the papers to bring him back to Xi'an

Next we had dinner with the President of the orphanage, the Vice President, the treasurer, and the lady who picked us up. They put on a nice spread for us, though I did not eat everything, as some of the items were  intestines, little fried fish with all the bones and some kind of meat that was crunchy with every bite.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to have a good rest. We were going to meet the officials at 7:30 to eat breakfast and, at eight, start all of the paperwork to bring the little boy back to Xi'an. One of the Chinese ladies I was with thought they wanted to get everything done asap just so we would not change our minds. (There was no way that would happen.) We finished up all the paperwork and headed back to the orphanage to pick him up.

The village we were in

When I held him it was so sad. He was burning up and had no energy to hold his own self up. They had told us he has never had any food to eat and only drinks a little milk powder. He was so good on our journey! First we had the four and a half hour ride back to the airport. Thankfully the government officials provided a ride for us in a very nice car, so no bus. Then, onto the plane.

His first night here (back in Xi'an) he did okay, although he did wake up a couple of times crying. Today he drank milk and ate a little oatmeal. He was checked out by a doctor who said his rash was some sort of fungus and they put him on antibiotics. His ears are also in bad shape with an infection of some kind. Friday he will be going to the hospital that has the authority to put him on the medication for HIV. In China all of his meds.  will be free. He is going to have a long journey, but I know that God is on his side and He is using us to love and provide a home for him. Please lift this little guy up for quick healing.

The officials

Rice paddies

The family mobile

The outside of the orphanage 

~Rick