December in Shenyang

Dear Friends,

There is a very special Christmas book written by Max Lucado and daughters called “The Crippled Lamb”.  This particular lamb is an orphan along with having one leg that doesn’t work well enough to be able to frolic with the other lambs.  Joshua, the lamb, often felt left out because he couldn’t keep up with the other lambs and their Moms and felt lonely.  His best friend, an old cow named Abigail would comfort him by telling him that God had a special plan for his life as he does for all of us.

We had the privilege of hosting our own “crippled lamb” in the person of none other than ZhiLei one weekend in December!  One major difference is that he is always cheerful and seems to never feel lonely!  He was staying with us because of an early morning appointment at a hospital for a checkup and needed to be closer than his usual home at the far-off orphanage!

Since we also were expecting another guest for dinner that night, we needed to make a trip to a nearby restaurant to order some dishes.  Since the weather was relatively warm that afternoon (above freezing!), we decided to take ZhiLei with us.  We weren’t surprised that he was fascinated by everything, especially the tank of fish at the restaurant.  The staff of waitresses were equally fascinated by him and flocked around him and brought all of us hot water to drink while we were waiting.

After getting all the food ordered, we were continuing our walk and trying, futilely, to locate some sun to take the chill away when he decided that he would just soon return back to our apartment!  What really surprised us was that he knew exactly where to turn to get there with no prompting from us!  Have I mentioned what a smart and clever little guy he is?

Once back, he wasted no time in getting his newly purchased toy out of its package and figuring out just how it worked!  He played by himself until the other guest arrived and then we settled down to “chow down”!  He and our friend, Jimmy, were soon old friends and yakking away as if they had known each other forever! 
  
Later, after Jimmy left, we watched some TV before bedtime (he needed to sleep early so he could rise early!) but he insisted that he wanted Migyeong and me to sit with him on the sofa so we could enjoy the program together!  He is so sweet and thoughtful as well as smart and funny!  I think he will be a much more frequent visitor at our place, at least until some kind folks fulfill his desire to be adopted into a loving home in the USA!  They better be ready to join him on their sofa to watch TV!
  
Oh, BTW, because little Joshua was not strong or fast enough to join the flock on their journey to their next pasture, he was forced to stay in the barn with Abigail, the same barn where a young couple and a new baby happened to be staying.  Because of a lack of blankets, the baby was cold and Joshua was able to share his warm fur with the new baby by snuggling down beside him in the hay!  Thus, the special plan of God for Joshua was to provide warmth and comfort to His own baby Son on that first chilly Christmas night!  Never doubt that God has a plan for YOU!  It will happen when you least expect it and it will be GREAT!
  
I’ve included a couple of pics of special Christmas doings with the kids at the orphanage AND the beginning of feeding MannaRelief to our most needy kids.  We’ve had some experience with this supplement in the past and are tickled pink to have access to it once again through the extreme kindness of the company who is supplying it and also Alice who happened to be in the States and brought it back to us!  Thanks MannaRelief and Alice!  And YOU for your prayer and financial support!  We are going on fifteen years as a great team!

Love,
Migyeong and Elaine

Back to News