June 2009 Newsletter from De Joyce Hill

Dear Friends and Supporters,

This month, as part of the awards bestowed upon individuals on the Queen’ of England’s birthday, the Australian Government has honored me with a medal and the title of Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for the work that Rob and I have done in China over the past 10 years. While I am truly grateful for this recognition, we want to give all glory to our Father who has blessed us with the privilege of caring for His precious little ones. If not for Him, we would not be doing what we do now. Come what may, we know we have served Him to the best of our abilities. If many lives have been saved or changed by what we do, it is because He has deemed it so. The only “award” we strive for at the end of our short lives, is to hear the words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servants.”  We want to thank all those who love, appreciate and support us in this work.

Our financial situation is much the same as last month. After paying all our bills at the end of June we will have 1 ½ months running cost in the bank. Thank you all for your continued support.

1)   Hope Healing Home Beijing

This month 5 babies (DQ Tong, Gordon, Neil, LillyAn and Jack) went to the Operation Smile hospital in Hangzhou to receive surgery for their cleft lips and palates. Neil was rejected for surgery as they said there was a problem with his lungs. We will try again when he is bigger and healthier. Rob and I visited the hospital prior to sending the children and were impressed by the facility. The surgery was free and the transport of the children and their nannies was paid for by Portion for Orphans.  Please check out their website http://www.portionfororphans.org/ Their next Hope run in February 2010 will benefit our children.

New Admissions:

We had 5 new admissions this month. FQ Chuan, FH Jie and WY Yin are all survivors from our special care units who need extra surgical care. FQ Chuan was admitted immediately to Beijing United Hospital in respiratory distress. He is in need of heart surgery soon. We are grateful to the United Hospital Foundation for covering the cost of his admission. DW Wang and DT Cheng were also admitted from a different SWI in Henan Province. They need to put on a fair bit of weight before we can put them up for surgery

Our toddlers had a great time helping to harvest the peaches in our orchard. They probably ate more than they harvested. There’s nothing like sweet, fresh fruit straight from the trees.

Adoptions

This month Emma, Sting, Justin, Sofia, ZM Chun and Alex have forever families and have left us. Emma spent about 18 months in the US having surgery on her face and she has been transformed.  It was a pleasure to meet her wonderful family. We are so grateful to Mariah B and all those who have been part of the journey of healing for the beautiful child. Sting received several surgeries to repair his anus and is now well and healthy. Justin, who has been with us for several years and has had 3 heart surgeries in Singapore, has finally been matched to a family. Sweet Sofia has also left to be with her family. Her heart defect has been repaired.  Chun’s clubbed feet have been corrected. Alex’s family has requested that he not have surgery in China, but he has put on so much weight and is doing very well. His family will soon be in China to pick him up. We will miss them all very much.

2)   Maria’s Big House of Hope, Luoyang

We have moved the children from our Special Care Unit in the Luoyang SW into the new building and everyone is getting settled in. It was quite a mammoth undertaking with several trucks and taxis ferrying babies in their nannies arms. We have the children on 2 floors at the moment and will bring in more babies as we open up the other 2 floors. We are coming closer to the official opening of the building on July 2nd . Many official guests have been invited and the Chapman family will be present for this special dedication in memory of their precious daughter Maria who went home to the Lord in May last year.

3)   Love Without Boundaries Shunyi Outreach Foster Program.

ZM Chun ( above) has been adopted and the other 14 children who are in foster care are doing well. We will soon move Joseph to Foster Care while he awaits his adoption to be completed. He no longer requires much medical care and we need the beds in-house for seriously ill children.

4) NHF Special Care Units, Jiaozuo, Luoyang and Xin Yang, Henan Province: ( 75 beds)

These units provide humane and loving, hospice care for infants and young children with severe congenital defects who are unlikely to survive under normal circumstances. Those who survive are unexpected blessings.

Jiaozuo ;Faye was admitted and died a few days later. Our staff was able to comfort her in her last few hours and she passed away peacefully and painlessly. She was a beautiful child with severe brain damage and malnutrition. Baby Jessica weighing 1.09kgs was admitted and died a few days later as did Jenny. They had the best care possible. Premature baby Steve was admitted but only survived a few hours.

Luoyang: Mariah, Aubrey, Agnes and Katrina also passed peacefully. 2 premature babies, Hayden and Maricar were admitted. All babies have been moved to Maria’s Big House of Hope.

Xinyang( Alexandra Yeo and Open Arms Children’s Foundation Unit) Jean passed away peacefully. The Kingdom of heaven belongs to such ones such as these.

5)   Love Without Boundaries Heartbridge Rehabilitation Unit (18 beds)

New admission L Ke has quite severe clubbed feet and we have started the treatment. He is otherwise a healthy boy and we hope to achieve good results. HR Qun’s abdominal surgery went very well and he has recovered.

6) Our Needs

When asked what we need, the answer is always the same. Our very basic needs are funds, food and medical supplies. These are what keep these babies alive and healthy. God willing, with your support, all these needs will be met during these difficult financial times. 

7)   Our Most Sincere Thanks;

1)     To  Portion for Orphans who covered the cost of travel  for the 5 children who went to Hangzhou.

2)     A very special thanks to Zara, Zena and Zola, sweet daughters of Charles and Rebecca Dorris in Brentwood TN who set up a lemonade and fruit tea stall in their front yard and raised $200 for our babies. Babies helping babies. What a special blessing.

3)    We thank students of Dulwich College who donated beautiful new toys for our children. These toys will be sent to our children in Maria’s Big House of Hope in Luoyang.

4)     To a local Chinese group of doctors and their families and friends for a large donation of very useful medicines and baby supplies.



With our deepest gratitude

Joyce and Robin Hill

“I would rather walk with God in the dark than go alone in the light.”
Mary Gardiner Brainard

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