My Visit to Shanggao

Greetings from Nanchang, Jiangxi!

I just returned to Nanchang China from my daughter Zoe's hometown Shanggao. The purpose of my visit to Shanggao was to take a second look at my daughter's finding place, have a better understanding of how she lived, and develop a closer relationship with her caregivers. It is customary for Chinese people to be gracious and hospitable. Director Wu, Assistant Director Huang,and the Civil Affairs officials were all so kind to me. I had the good fortune to spend the night at the orphanage and tour all of the buildings. Shanggao is a social welfare institute that cares for abandoned babies,orphans and seniors. I was surprised to learn that a majority of the babies are living in foster homes vs. the orphanage. A family environment is perferred as each child can get more one on one attention. Holt and Altrusa are doing a wonderful job of providing financial support to the foster families. I saw three young babies at Shanggao. One baby has a severe cleft problem, one had a unidentified health issue and the other baby was healthy. I have posted her picture to the right.

I told my kids that I would find them a "special baby" to sponsor. Well kids, I did not find your special baby, but rather a "special friend". I met a sweet little eleven year old girl that arrived at Shanggao in August. The police in another province found her walking the streets. She disappeared from the police station and could not be found. Later the police in Shanggao county found her wandering the street and brought her to Shanggao. Her birth parents can not be located. This sweet girl had evidence of abuse when she arrived at Shanggao. The orphanage staff feel that she may have been stolen from her birth parents at a young age by some unkind people. She then escaped from these people when she was old enough. The Shanggao staff is doing its best to nurture and love this girl. This little girl walks around all day helping the nannies with the babies, helping the cooks and visiting with the seniors. She brings such joy to the babies and seniors at Shanggao. She is a little miracle! I asked Director Wu to take her shopping for some special toys and new clothes for winter. I hugged her a lot and we watched Chinese tv together. She smiled and smiled and smiled! You can see her in the background in the photo to the right.

I was also pleased to see a beautiful new Chrisitan church being built across the street from Shanggao. I offered the suggestion to Director Wu to take the seniors there once a week to give them the opportunity for socialization. He nodded yes, that he would try to do this.

I also spent a lot of time with the Civil Affairs officers discussing the needs of the aging population in China and the advancement of the rural farmers. I visited the country side with them and met several families and their children. I also visited the elementary school in the farming village.

I also noticed that a large High School was located right next to the Shanggao orphanage. I asked director Wu if I could visit the school. In one brief phone call I was on my way to visit the school. Well, let me tell you, I have NEVER seen anything like it!! First of all, the campus was beautiful. When I walked inside I saw several stories high of thousands of roaring Chinese students. The sound of the students echoed throughout the place. When the students started to see me the word spread fast that a foreigner was there. I then had thousands of Chinese students staring and smiling at me in excitement. It was truly astounding! The overwhelming feeling of recognition was good for my soul. It gave me a tiny peak into what heaven will be like when the angels roar and God says, "Welcome home good and faithful servant!" I felt so energized by the students and inspired! I was lead up several flights of stairs to a English classroom. The Chinese English teacher was surprised to see me and a dozen other people walking into his classroom. He did a wonderful job of composing himself and explaining to his class that I came to visit them. I seazed this opportunity and shared my hopes and dreams with them. I explained;life is short, life is not easy,being a young student in China is hard. I encouraged them to continue to study hard, but also to try and find a balance so that they can enjoy life. I asked them to do me a favor and take some time to help the orphanage babies and seniors. I told them that Linda and I are working hard to unite groups and empower these groups to serve. We are determined to transform the minds and hearts of youth, teens and young adults around the world! I invited them to join our army of Kids Care members. The students then asked me questions and I answered. The students were so happy to hear that I adopted a Shanggao baby. I thanked them for their kindness and I told them to stay in touch with me.

If you have the motivation to help kids grow into service minded individuals please contact me. There are groups of kids every where in America and China and we need your help to share our mission with them. If you feel inspired to join us please call me at 480-290-1372.

Jiangsu Provincial Children's Center Event

Let me start out by saying this, "The people of China are the most gracious and hard working people!" I feel so honored to be called "A friend of China".

When I arrived at our partner school the Jiangsu Provincial Children's Center two large electric signs read Welcome to Mrs. MaLeesa Meyers, President of Global Child Advocates. I was given a tour of the school and saw children playing intruments, dance lessons, martial arts, English classes, etc. The school was enormous and impressive! The confidence and determination on each child's face as they studied and practiced caught my attention.

I was given the opportunity to stand on the stage with all of the school directors. I gave a brief introduction about Global Child Advocates and informed everyone in attendance about our "My Special Baby" program. All of the kids in our program were invited to join me on stage. I gave each of the kids a honor certificate for their participation in our program.

Later in the day, I met with some of the smaller kids and their parents. I read them a story about adoption. It was hard to get through it without crying as I realized that I may be the first person to share this information with them.I felt responsible to convey this message to the kids and parents in such a way that they could understand and accept it. I then explained to them that sign language is a universal language and that we can communicate with each other without using words. We played the sign language game for a while and then musical chairs. Some of the kids sang songs and played instruments for me.

Later in the evening, I gave my presentation to the older students and their parents. Going into the presentation I had no fear, I was so excited to get to share my message with them.

My message to the children was that we are all human. Even though we have different facial features and cultural influences, inside we are all simply HUMAN. I then explained to them that there are two meanings for the word RACE. One meaning is to compete to win and the other meaning is our nationality. I explained that we as humans are all in a HUMAN RACE. My goal was to ask the kids questions to get them thinking about their purpose for being here. I explained that we are all racing against each other to get a good education, get a good job, make more money, etc. My questions to the kids were;

1. If we are all racing, do we really ever win or lose?
2. Can we discover our purpose if we do not slow down enough to ask what it is?
3. Do we really win if we hurt our fellow man sprinting to the finish line?

I explained that if we do not help each other that we are all going to CRASH. I shared my adoption story with them and explained how the Chinese birth parents' greatest sacrifice is our greatest joy. I thanked the Chinese people on behalf of all of the adoptive parents in America for giving us the opportunity to love their children. Linda and I both had a hard time continuing the presentation through our tears. What an amazing ooporutnity that we had to demonstrate God's love! I can not explain in words the deep feeling of gratitude and respect that I have for the Chinese people. I wish that you could understand.

If you are reading this, I encourage you to join me and learn more about the culture and customs of the Chinese. The Chinese admire America and the American Dream. They crave more information about how we think and feel. This country is crying out for information and because they are seeking it they are growing in knowledge and technology at an astounding rate! Why is it that we do not want to know about them? How will it serve us as Americans if we do not get to know and have acceptance, reality and communication with the people in China? China is a nation of dedication, respect, loyalty, adhearance to policy and a clean slate to be re-written. As the Chinese continue to evolve they will also evolve in their quest for more answers. It is my hope and prayer that we as Americans and a united nation can share our values and beliefs with our Chinese friends. It is not our job to preach to them, but rather to witness to them by our actions. We should support and love them like they have never before been loved. We should be humble and walk with quiet dignity. It is our responsibility as Christians (Christ followers) to pick up that cross and carry some of the burden. To cross cultural barriers and walk many miles (or fly many miles)to help others find their way home. If we do not do this, who will? China is saying, "TELL ME MORE!!! I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!!!" Should we be afraid to tell them? What right do we have to keep the GOOD NEWS to ourselves? How will this benefit our children or our children's children in the future? Does anyone care? I care and God certainly cares.

Linda and I visited with Reverend Li Lan Cheng yesterday. He is the senior pastor at the Mo Chou Road church in Nanjing. Reverend Li understood our intentions and he has agreed to partner with GCA and our US church partners. Together, we are going to do amazing things! We are going to empower our kids in the US and China and inspire them to help those less fortunate! Praise GOD!! I can not think of a more worthy or necessary goal than this.

I want to thank you for taking your time to come to my blog and read about my mission. I am excited to share and I am grateful for your interest. Please tell others and invite them to join us in this mission!

Today is a BIG day!

Romans 10:14

But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in Him, before they believe in Him, they must hear about Him, and for them to hear about Him, someone must tell them, and before someone can go tell them, that person must be sent.

Today, I am being sent to share God's message to many children, teachers and parents at our partner school in China. I will be giving a presentation entitled "What Does It Mean To Be HUMAN" and this message serves God by encouraging others to care for others and orphans.

I will also be traveling to a local orphanage with the school administrators to solidify our new GCA advocacy program called "My Special Baby". The program allows kids at our partner school in China and youth in the United States to be matched up with a orphan baby. The kids in our program will save their pocket money and donate it to their special baby!

What a glorious day for me as I get the opportunity to feel God's love with each word, hand shake and step that I take today. Praise God!

Greetings from China!

Good morning friends!

Well, I have made it to China in good order. It has been smooth sailing! The long flight to China is always daunting, but once you get off the plane and a new world unfolds, you forget the pain.

I stayed in Shanghai my first night. Traveling from the airport to the city was really cool! Shanghai at night is amazing! It reminds me of Las Vegas and New York City combined. The traffic is always interesting to watch. It was a bit unsettling when I found out that the seat belt was broken. Linda told me that no one uses seat belts in China. "All of our drivers are experienced",she said with a smile.

Yesterday I traveled by train to Nanjing. This was really fun! The thousands of Chinese friends looking at me with eyes of curiosity made me blush and giggle. I wish I knew what they were thinking as they passed by. Linda said, "They think you look like a Barbie doll. We always want what others have, blue eyes, blonde hair, etc."

The hotel boy that helped us with our luggage wanted to know how Americans felt about President Obama. He also wanted to confirm the name of our Phoenix Suns basketball team.

The cute little kids on the street are so happy to see me. They smile and try to engage me by practicing their hello in English. SO CUTE!!!!

Today I am meeting with Linda (my China Program Director) to discuss the itinerary for our event at the Jiangsu Provincial Children's Center tomorrow. I have finished my presenation and I look forward to meeting all of the kids in our Kids Care program. I will post more about this later.

Tonight, I am getting treated to an authentic homemade Chinese meal at Linda's house. Her husband Vincent purchased silverware and plates for me as they do not use silverware here, they use chopsticks.

I am off to China on November 11!!

Hello Friends,

I am busy packing today as I am off to China on November 11. I will be returning to Arizona on November 23, 2008. It is my intent to post to this blog while I am away. However, it may be difficult as I will have to use the hotel business office to do so. I may not have internet access while staying at the Shanggao orphanage. I plan to journal every day and then post these journal entries when I return home. Please check back later.

Thank you to all of you that gave donations toward this trip. Your kind donation will be used to provide aid to the orphans after I assess their needs. I also want to thank you all for your words of encouragement and kind prayers while I am away.

Hugs,

MaLeesa

"We all smile in the same language"

Adoption Options Seminar a huge success!

The Adoption Options seminar hosted by Phoenix Children's Hospital was a huge success on Saturday! We had over 60 people in attendance! Thank you Phoenix Children's hospital doctors and staff for partnering with us! November is National Adoption month! We were so glad to see so many Arizona families interested in adoption. Should any adoptive families have additional questions please do not hesitate, give me a call!

Channel 12 news helps GCA!

I would like to thank Phoenix Children's Hospital and Tram Mia (Ch 12 news anchor) for helping us to spread the word about our mission to help disadvantaged children. I am so grateful for their kind support and we are optimistic that families will be united with children as a result of these collaborative efforts! You can view the channel 12 news segment by going to the GCA website at www.globalchildadvocates.org and looking in the Who We Are section.