From the Founder
To say that our lives have been changed by this global pandemic would be an understatement. Wearing masks or not wearing masks, schools canceling classes while holding online classes, food and paper shortages, layoffs and closing businesses, our financial security disrupted. These, along with many other trials and tribulations have affected us all in one way or another.
Uncertain Times Requires Change
If there’s one thing we can learn during these uncertain times, it’s that the recent disruption and inconvenience to our lives may give us new eyes. We can glimpse what it must be like for these abandoned orphans, who have had to go through and experience trauma most of their lives. Think about it. Born with a special need in a place where resources to help the average family care for their special child are almost nonexistent, only to be abandoned by your family and placed into a crowded institution – forgotten along with hundreds of other kids. This kind of life is not exactly a recipe for developing a healthy, secure upbringing.
“How do I make it a better place for those who have been marginalized for far too long?”
Tim Baker
Time to Reflect
The coronavirus has given us time to do things that perhaps we were too busy to do seven months ago. Maybe you have more time to do that landscaping work you’ve been putting off, or that home DIY project (have you seen the parking lot at Home Depot lately?). Or you have time to finally read those books you’ve been dying to delve into, or work on your relationship or a favorite hobby. I think we can all say that this virus has given us more time to reflect on our own lives. For me it’s been, “What can I do to be the change not just for my family, but for my local community, and for the world? How do I make it a better place for those who have been marginalized for far too long?”
7Acres Will Show Love to Marginalized Teens
My family, all of our loyal team members, countless volunteers, and I have spent the past 25 years serving the needs of children who were abandoned in China. Now we’re on the precipice of beginning the next phase of our life’s work, to love, train and support those teenagers who have been institutionalized and forgotten for most of their lives. It was challenging enough to raise our own seven kids, who all went through some level of the so-called “challenging teenage years.”
What’s it going to be like for our teenage kids from the orphanage? Many of them have never been part of a family. They didn’t have loving parents to encourage them or support them, or comfort them when things were tough. This will certainly be a huge challenge, but one that we’re ready to take on. We don’t see it as a burden, but as a gift – really, a privilege, to serve them, teach them, mentor them and help show these teens that they’re loved.
Together We Can Change Lives
Over the past 25 years, we didn’t do this work alone. We value your partnership as we look ahead to some exciting days equipping teenagers! Together, we can help these kids become more independent, develop normal healthy relationships, and find jobs to support themselves. We’re honored with such a high calling. Thank you again for sticking with us during tumultuous times. We have a great opportunity to teach these young people that God has a plan and a purpose for their lives. While doing so they will be part of our BIG family.
It’s Not What I Thought
by Steve Allen
It’s not what I thought. In 2007 I wanted to take a group to serve at one of the three orphanages where my girls spent the first year of their lives – and received three consecutive “No’s.” I wanted to give back somehow and to expose others to the plight of the orphan in China. Then our liaison in China told me about a place called the Philip Hayden Foundation. After a phone call to Tim Baker and Leah Zimmer, our team of 25 was set to spend two weeks there. That trip turned into, I believe, 16 more trips, with about 300 different people and 300 different life-changing stories.
Stories
A lot of the stories were just fun – launching mega-fireworks from the front parking area on the 4th of July, hosting our own 2008 PHF Olympics, throwing Sara Zhou into pools of water, drenching Teacher Wang with our super soakers, camel fights with the kids and Gregg’s leg falling off, dance offs as Cody did Gangnam Style again and again, and sweating profusely in the Langfang sun as we chased kids with water balloons.
Some stories were just needed – cleaning the houses at the original PHF as they moved to the new site, sorting clothes, moving boxes from one attic to another, sweeping the Vocational Center day after day, and painting … lots of painting.
Most of the stories brought tears – holding newborns that would not be alive on our next visit; feeding all of the nannies and staff at our dinner extravaganza, and seeing the joy in their eyes; witnessing adoptive families come to pick up their child, and then hearing the next morning that another child was left at the gate; and watching a child celebrate their 14th birthday, knowing that they just aged out of the adoption process.
Changed Life
But the greatest part was the life change I saw in the people I brought with me. Let me share a few of them with you:
“I don’t have anything to offer, but I know how to work hard and serve.”
Clay Floch
Clay and Jewel. They approached me one night in Spokane wondering if they could come along on a trip, having lost their two sons in a boating accident a few years prior. I’ll never forget Clay’s words, “I don’t have anything to offer, but I know how to work hard and serve.” After meeting one of the kids, Stacey, at Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village (SFCV) in 2008, they returned home and started the process of joining the team at SFCV. For several years they served faithfully before returning home, having adopted two girls with special needs. Apparently, Clay did have much to offer!
Joni. As her team was about ready to go to Thailand, a political coup happened and they needed a new mission. Within a few days I had them connected with SFCV. As she was there with her two biological children, they met Philip, an older boy in a wheelchair. They knew in their heart this was to be their son and brother. A few months later – once dad got on board – Philip became part of their family, and today is a world-class wheelchair racer!
Kirsten. She brought seven of her friends on one of the teams. Though I barely knew any of them when this started, they quickly became my friends too. Upon returning home, Kirsten launched an adoption ministry through her church, which has introduced hundreds, if not thousands, of families to adoption and the foster care program. Story after story comes out of families who decided to say yes to a child.
Emma. A friend of a friend who came along on an early trip, who was young and impressionable. And the trip sure made an impression! She not only convinced her parents to adopt one sweet SFCV kid, she ended up moving there to intern – and then her sisters followed suit. Then her family adopted two more beautiful kids from China! One young girl who said yes has greatly impacted not only her family, but also her future as she sets a new course for her life.
Jordan. She came with her mom and grandma on a trip. Upon returning, she decided to major in Chinese Language and Broadcasting and got a job in Beijing doing television.
Countless Stories
These are just five families and five stories. Who you don’t get to know are the students (and parents) who threw up on the airplane during their first international trip; a yelling match when one of our members drove his golf cart into a Chinese couple at the Langfang Amusement Park as they demanded an “inconvenience payment”; having to change buses in the middle of the highway (28 people and 56 suitcases) during rush hour on a blistering day; full searches at security check points getting into Tiananmen Square in 2009; singing “Living on a Prayer” at KTV; or the walks for fried bread in the village adjacent to Shepherd’s Field. But you also may have missed the hundreds of hugs, hours of laughter, tons of encouragement, smiles as we arrived, and tears as we said good-bye.
Good-byes Still Hard
The good-byes are just as hard today as they were in 2007, even though so much else has changed. When we started these trips, China was a leader in international adoptions, the One Child Policy was alive and well, people still traveled by foot and bike more than by car, and they were about 12 months away from introducing themselves to the world in the 2008 Olympics. The people were as incredible then as they are now – hospitable, caring and generous.
Shepherd’s Field has also changed quite a bit. When we first arrived, the kids were in houses in Langfang, a nearby neighborhood, and Shepherd’s Field consisted of only about five buildings. We were just the second group that got to sign the wall in the kitchen of the Inn. Each morning, the kids would be transported from Langfang to SFCV in overcrowded vans for the day’s activities, and taken back tired and worn out, but happy. Looking at 7Acres today boggles my mind, with the playground, the Vocational Center, all the children’s homes and the Community Center – all truly a work of the Lord and so many generous people. In the midst of that change, the kids are all the same: wanting love, wanting to play, and showing love that melts our hearts.
“If I had a thousand lives, I’d give them all to China.”
Hudson Taylor
Greatest Change
For me, the greatest changes are not the millions of cars in Beijing or the beautiful buildings at 7Acres – it’s the heart change in the 300 people represented above. To think that two weeks in Langfang – a town none of them had ever heard of – could change their hearts so profoundly. I remember my first time driving in – I was the leader of 24 people who looked to me to guide them, and I was a wide-eyed kid again seeing something magnificent in the middle of nowhere. I think of all of the tears in our nightly debrief, of people confessing selfishness, confessing pride, confessing entitlement. Teenagers and adults, men and women, all seeing God’s hand at work in a staff that loved well, and kids that just wanted to be loved.
I’ll always remember what I wrote on one of my trips. I got on a ladder and wrote Hudson Taylor’s words in the open space between the first and second floor: “If I had a thousand lives, I’d give them all to China.” I know I’ve personally seen 300 lives that were given to China, and they’ll never be the same.
Update on Maggie
Maggie (Tian Xin Xin) has experienced a lot of trauma in her short life, more than any child of 14 should have to endure. She arrived at Shepherd’s Field in August 2007 as a one-year-old with a severe heart condition. Maggie received several surgeries over the years, and in the past few years developed another setback – renal failure. She miraculously received a kidney transplant last year and has been recovering and getting stronger every day. Her nannies, teachers and our team taught her many life skills, including how to cook, clean, wash clothes, balance her monthly allowance, and shop in the market and at Walmart. They also worked on her social skills – to respect others and be polite, using “please” and “thank you”; use proper table manners, and gain more overall confidence. You might say she’s been in training for the next phase of her life.
Maggie Prepares for Life
Maggie’s story is different than most of the kids. She came to us from a church-run orphanage in an underdeveloped rural area, and wasn’t eligible for international adoption. Her home orphanage did not have the ability to care for her challenging medical condition, because there were no hospitals nearby. But now our little Maggie’s health has improved. The good folks at her home orphanage are confident they can manage her health and continue to work with her to prepare her for life.
So Maggie has gone back home to her home province and village. She’s much stronger, much more confident, and such a beautiful girl. While she cannot be adopted internationally, she is able to be adopted domestically in China. Thanks to everyone who loved, supported and prayed for her over the past 13 years. She will be greatly missed, but we know she’s going to do well as she gets reconnected to the folks in the church. This may be Maggie’s greatest adventure!
Luke’s Big Dream
Madison Adoption Associates is looking for a Forever Family for Luke (Tian Yi), where he’s listed as Ashton. And even better, the agency is raising funds for a grant to help defray the costs of his adoption! Head on over to Madison’s blog to read Vicky/Xinlu’s letter to Madison Adoption. Vicky was Luke’s friend at Shepherd’s Field and was adopted a few years ago. She knows how much Luke wants a family. If you’d like to adopt Luke, or help another family adopt him, contact LindseyG@madisonadoption.org or visit their website, MadisonAdoption.org.
Keep the Smiles Coming
Because of Covid-19, more and more of us are shopping from home online. If you’re using Amazon to make online purchases here’s a way to put your purchases to good use for a good cause. Simply by using AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know with the same products, same prices, same service. The only difference is Amazon’s contribution to support the cause you choose.
Now, you can support 7Acres by choosing “The Philip Hayden Foundation” as your designated AmazonSmile charity. Just go to smile.amazon.com and search for and choose “The Philip Hayden Foundation” as your designated charity. You can do this in the Amazon Shopping app as well. Just open the app, and tap settings. Then tap AmazonSmile and follow the instructions. It’s that easy.