Day 4 (August 4th) A work project and playing with kids

I can't believe it's taking me so long to catch up on all of this! It is so hard because I have to go and gather everyone else's pictures -from facebook or snapfish- and organize them in the right order on my computer. Everyone else got such good shots I didn't want to only share my pictures on here. Anyways... moving on!

Day 4 was our first day with nothing huge planned. The days previous consisted of meeting everyone, flying and arriving in China, and climbing the Great Wall. This day was much more mellow but still amazing!

At breakfast we gathered out all of the different products we had. It was so interesting to see Chinese 'Sprite' or 'Coke' It sometimes tasted the same but other times it would taste very different from what we're used to!

Our agenda for the day was cleaning out this 'shed', which was more like a warehouse, about the size of... a 4 car garage? maybe? either way, it was big and FULL of donations. We had to remove all the donations then put them back inside, in order. The dust was unlike any other dust I've encountered. Add to that the fact we were so hot and sweaty, and you'll get a gross group of people! It was SO exhausting but fun at the same time. Here's a picture of about half of us. Can you tell how dirty and disgusting we were?!

This project took 3 or so hrs, if I'm remembering correctly. Afterwards we cleaned up and went to find some kids to play with.

This is sweet little Anna, she has a disease that affects her legs. She cannot walk and drags herself around, it was so sad to watch. She was such a beautiful girl and praise GOD she left halfway through our trip to go get adopted! (I'm not sure why only this part is underlined, and I can't figure out how to fix it!)

I love these next 3 pictures. Ben - the boy in the picture above - is one of the oldest orphan boys at Hope Foster Home. He LOVES to take pictures. He got a hold of my camera and went around the room, getting people to pose for him. This picture is of the 3 nannies, or Ayi's, that are in charge of this room. Each nanny is responsible for 2 or 3 kids. One of the girls on our team brought sunglasses for the kids, but the nannies liked them too!

This little girl was so beautiful and precious. Looks like a little doll :)

This little guy broke my heart and changed my life. I'm not sure how exactly, but he did.

Up until this point, all the kids we had been playing with had been overjoyed to be with us. They would immediately greet us, with hugs or huge smiles, then lead us off to play. You couldn't help but be happy. You forgot about how serious their situation was. This little guy, however, had the most heartbreaking expression. I had seen him with other people and he was happy and playing, but when I went in the room to be with him, he was not. I'm not sure if he was tired or what, but either way, he pierced my heart. He looked so forlorn and was whimpering, so I picked him up. He didn't stop. I tried to make him more comfortable, holding him in different ways, yet still he whimpered. I can handle just about any kid crying, but for some reason, his cries broke my heart in half. It was like I was sensing his sadness, this lonely life he is living. I realized, for the first time since being in China, that yes, these kids may act happy and excited to see us ( like the kids previous had) but at the same time, they are orphans, with no family. They are deprived of love. That absolutely tore me up. Tears wanted so badly to flow but I fought them back. I wanted to be strong and just love on this little guy.
I finally got myself together, at least a little bit. I took a picture with him and held him some more.
The rest of day 4 consisted of eating supper and having our first devotion. It went really well and we all slept good after a long and busy yet life changing day!