On the second day of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, we celebrate the birth of a child. On the second day of Christmas, we learn if the message took.

At its core, the story of Christmas is about God's love for the world made manifest in the form of a child.

Nowhere is this message more fully lived than in a modest building on a side street in Beijing. Within its walls, good men and women devote themselves to infants whose circumstances echo those of the Jewish babe born in a stable because there was no room at the inn.

Mostly this means those born with some mental or physical handicap that overwhelms their families. At Little Flower Projects, these children are not simply taken in.

They are embraced and celebrated as individuals whose presence on this earth — even those who may live only a few hours — enriches the world and all those around them.

The official mission statement states it this way: "Recognizing the beauty and dignity of each and every individual person, Little Flower Projects works to build a culture of life by reaching out to those who are rejected, abandoned, deemed as useless, and who have no voice."

Here's what it means: "We take children no one else wants and make sure they are loved and looked after."

Little Flower was started by two Americans, Brent and Serena Johnson. They met 24 years ago as exchange students in China. In 1991, in America, they were married.

After their own son was born, the Johnsons returned to China as teachers, never dreaming they would end up with nearly 200 children in their care.

But when they received permission from a Chinese orphanage to foster a baby in their own home, they took in one, then another, then another . . . and, well, here they are.

"We do this because we love babies," says Brent. "Babies are the most helpless of humanity. If we don't ensure their care, what does that say about humanity?"

"Our humanity," he adds.

The litany of diseases and disabilities at Little Flower Projects reads like a Dickensian poor house: Down syndrome, cleft lips, club feet, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, heart defects, hydrocephalus, scabies, children who with complicated surgery will get well — and children whom even the best surgeons in the world cannot save.

By all rights, it ought to be depressing. The reality is that to click onto the Little Flower Projects Facebook page is to enter a joyful universe, where such children are not burdens but gifts.

Almost every day features a new photo. "Lan's smile is so big that her eyes nearly disappear!" says the caption under one. Or "two-month-old Ying is our newest arrival. She needs a work-up for an ophthalmologic problem. Isn't she a sweetheart?"

The photos generate hundreds of likes and comments, some offering prayers, some expressing sympathy and all making clear that their day was made brighter for having clicked onto a tiny Chinese face that lifted them out of themselves and into the loving world of the Little Flower.

One wonders as one reads: How many American moms and dads with handicapped children of their own wouldn't give everything they owned to have the rest of us see their sons and daughters the way these children are seen by the Little Flower: precious, beautiful, unique.

Sometimes a child doesn't make it. At the Little Flower Projects, that's OK, too.

If they can resolve a child's physical issue with medical treatment or surgery — and often they do — that's wonderful, and they cheer. It's just not how they measure success.

They measure success in cases like Baby Sen. The caption under his photo reads as follows: "Little Sen (August 22, 2014 – November 18, 2014) passed away on Tuesday. He will be missed by all who loved and cared for them."

And there's the rub. For in the short time Baby Sen was at Little Flower, each pair of arms that held this child gave him something every human being on this earth longs to know: he is loved.

It's not romantic. It's hard and messy, and in their case, a 24/7 operation. Still, Brent and his legion of volunteers insist they get far more than they give.

So on this second day of Christmas, ask yourself this: Where can we find a place that keeps the Christmas spirit year-round, welcoming the stranger at the door and seeing in the face of the humblest child a spark of the divine?

The merry little band at Little Flower Projects suggest the answer may be in a place we're least likely to expect it: smack dab in the heart of China.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

On the second day of Christmas

Dengan url

http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2014/12/on-second-day-of-christmas.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

On the second day of Christmas

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

On the second day of Christmas

sebagai sumbernya