Progress and setbacks!

Hey all today is day three of camp and things are moving along so fast. The children are having fun and and the translators and volunteers are learning so much. I have been so amazed by the energy that we all have. These kids have Eric and I running around in circles. Hannah does not require that much energy at home thankfully, but I guess I do have a bunch in reserve when needed. When I saw Dominic this morning he ran up to me and hugged me. That was a first for him. That felt really good. He was so excited to see me. It reminds me that, I don't think I told you about the sleeping arrangements. My poor translator Eric has 9 boys with him in his room including mine. So, in the morning, Eric is real tired and I have to take over for him. I think they do that so they know that when we leave at night they learn that we will be there in the morning. It helps build trust and it shows the volunteers that the kids do miss you when they are gone. I think Dominic actually looks foreward to seeing me now. We all went to breakfast this morning and on the way Eric asked me if I was a Christian. I told him I was and asked if he was. He said no but he took theology at the University. He said that his professor said that it is important to be good and that is Okay. I told him that there was more to it and that he needs to seek the truth. God obviously opened a door and I pray that he gives me the wisdom to guide him. I have a couple of bible verses to give him and I will be praying for him that he becomes a Christian....To be continued. I have not written much about my translator Eric but let me just say that He is an extraordinary young man. He is 22 years old but mature beyond his years. He comes from a rural farm home. His father worked construction and was gone most of the time. he has a younger brother who he worked on the farm with alongside his mother. As a child he worked in wheat, corn, pea and cotton fields. He came from a poor village much like the one I visited in Nanchang two years ago. He got very good grades in schooldespite that and was one of the first in his family to go to a University. He is extremely intelligent and he talks of how he admires his Dad for physically working so hard but yet he does not want to have to work so hard. He wants to continue his study and be a successful business man. I know he will be. He is a driven young man. Pray that the Lord leads him to do great things. We arrived at breakfast and had a great time talking and laughing. Stone continues to fill the table with laughter and the more we laugh the funnier he is. Apparently there is a famous musical conductor in Beijing that has down's syndrome. All of the Chinese girls come up to him and talk to him and than they tell me he is famous. He gets a charge out of it. He is quite the hit with all of the ladies. I have been praying at meals silently to myself. At first the boys laughed at me because they thought I was sleeping. Now Stone copies me and prays with me. He is such a sweet spirit. I am reminded that the least of us here on earth will be the greatest in Heaven. He will be too. I know that God has a special place in his heart for children like him. Complete innocence is what comes to mind when I think of stone. After breakfast we had morning assembly and did allot of singing and dancing and games. I really let go of my inhibitions and danced like a complete idiot. It was fantastic. The kids loved it. One boy, Bruce calls me elephant in Chinese and at first I thought he was calling me fat. Apparently he was telling me I was very strong according to the translator. The kids are always jumping on me and they love when I throw them around in the pool and when they saw me dance this morning and being crazy they were amazed. I guess strong elephants are not that graceful on the dance floor. Ha Ha Ha. I love to let my guard down with the kids. It makes them so much more comfortable with me. After assembly we had craft time, which is Dominic's least favorite time of day. He does his craft in record time and wants to leave. This is usually what will start him off on his bad behavior. He does not like to be told what to do. He was angry and it carried over into lunch time later in the day when he ran ahead of us and went to lunch and tried cutting ahead of some other kids. I took him by the arm and brought him to the back of the line and he started to cry and threw quite a fit. He ignored me through the whole lunch and it broke my heart. I felt like I lost so much progress. After lunch we went to the pool and yesterday he ran ahead of us. Today he held my hand the whole way and he looked at me and smiled as if to say I am sorry for letting you down. I got to the pool and helped him get ready and I just hugged him and said I love you over and over in Chinese and even though he did not say it back, he hugged me hard and it really told me he felt the same way. I learned during our quiet family time that Dominic does not know who his parents are. He arrived at the orphanage four years ago. He was on the streets before that for who knows how long. Eric even used the term street urchin during the translation. That hurt me deeply that this child's survival skills were learned on the streets. I could only imagine the horror that he experienced as a small boy living on streets to survive. His behavior is because he does not need me at all to provide his basic needs. He does not know he needs love yet but I think he is wanting to feel that now. It is happening and God is working in him. I just wish I had more time. Please pray for Dominic hard today. our time together is about to end in a short while and I just pray that he finds a home. He is two years away from the age when he is no longer adoptable. Fourteen is the cutoff. I hate that. It is so wrong. I must move on, I am torn up emotionally here. We skipped dinner the four of us and we went to the American cafe on campus. We ordered Burgers, club sandwiches and cokes and the kids liked it. What they liked even more was that they had wine glasses of water and we were all doing cheers over and over. It was a nice time just the four of us. I did it more for Eric because he loves everything American and no one has bought him dinner like that. It was special. He loves ketchup. He put some on his burger but he started eating the rest of it with his spoon. he said I really like this. He was so funny. After dinner we went to evening assembly and tonight the kids performed for us. It was so nice to see all of these children's hidden talent. I captured some on video. the highlight of the evening for me was both of my boys were nominated and won awards for kindness and joy. They were both so thrilled especially Stone. You have to see the video to see his reaction. It probably is the only award he has ever won. What an awesome time. I sat there like my kids were graduating college. I was so proud. There is a little girl in camp, I am not sure if I mentioned her before but she reminded me of Hannah for some reason. She just acted like her in some situations that I observed. She is about 5 or 6 and such a beautiful girl. I finally had the courage to go and talk to her. Her translator Buddy said "say Ni Hao Hannah!" I was like what? Her buddy named her Hannah. I had absolutely no idea. How awesome is that? Just some of God's little miracles that happen here that continue to amaze me. I pray that this camp continues to reach orphans for years to come. The need is great and this ministry must continue. I am pretty drained today but still strong! Enjoy the photos and videos from today. I love you all.

Dominic getting his award for kindness.
Stone getting his award for joy.

The camp song, It's a beautiful day at assembly.