Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Getting the word out about Orphans
The St. Petersburg Times did an article about my trip to China. It made the paper Saturday. It was written well and I am grateful that Gail Hollenbeck gave me the oppurtunity to share my story. I hope it touches some lives and leads people to care for orphans where ever in the world they may be, and in whatever way that they are led.
He brings gifts of heart, hope
By Gail Hollenbeck, Times Correspondent Published Friday, August 15, 2008 7:47 PM
SPRING HILL — While thousands of people were traveling to Beijing to see the 2008 Summer Olympics, Pete Paolillo was just passing through. His destination was Xinzheng City in Henan Province, almost 500 miles farther south.
The games he would witness would not involve the world's greatest athletes. They would be games played by 73 orphans during a week of summer camp as part of an orphan outreach program.
Paolillo, a 36-year-old firefighter/paramedic with Hernando County Fire Rescue, decided to spend 10 days of his summer — July 24 to Aug. 2 — volunteering in a program sponsored by Bring Me Hope, a nonprofit Christian organization based in California that is dedicated to bringing love and hope to orphans in China.
Paolillo's China adventure actually began several years ago, in 2005, when he and his wife, Kim, an elementary school teacher, adopted an infant girl from an orphanage in Nan Chang.
"I believe it was God that directed us to adopt Hannah Joy," Paolillo said. "She was a week shy of her first birthday when my wife and I went to China and adopted her. It was an amazing experience."
Touched by the plight of the many orphans in China — as many as 15-million, by some estimations — Paolillo felt he was being called by God to do more.
"A month later, I was searching the Internet, looking for links about orphans and adoption," he said. "I came upon Bring Me Hope. I thought it was neat that they helped orphans that were sometimes special needs or older kids that maybe didn't have the chance to be adopted like my daughter did. I felt this was a good opportunity to give back and do something for some kids."
Paolillo made inquiries about the organization's first summer camp, planned for 2006. He was unable to go that year or the next.
Then he received a call from a friend, Bill Byrne of Tampa.
"Bill called me one day and asked me if I was interested in going to the camp. I said, 'Wow, Bill, it's awesome that you mention that, because I looked into that camp a couple of years ago, and I've just kind of been putting it off.' When he told me he was interested in going, that confirmed it for me. So we went together."
Camp was set up in two cities, Nan Chang and Xinzheng City at Sias Unversity. Not wanting to return to Nan Chang until his family could go with him, Paolillo chose to volunteer at the latter, an area largely unaffected by the May earthquake in Sichuan province to the south.
Between 400 and 500 orphans from several orphanages attended the camps for a week during a four-week period in July and August. More than 200 volunteers from several countries helped. Each volunteer was assigned two "buddies," between the ages of 5 and 18, and a translator.
Paolillo's buddies were Stone, a 17-year-old boy with Down's syndrome, and Dominic, a 12-year-old boy with behavioral issues. His translator, Eric, 22, was an English-speaking student from the university.
"We were there to hold their hands and take them from event to event and spend quality time with them," Paolillo said about the orphans. "We started in morning assembly after breakfast. They'd have dancing and singing. Then we'd go to either arts and crafts time or to the water park, where the kids had a water slide and water pistols. They loved that. Then we'd go to the pool. Most of them had never been swimming before. It was a great time."
It was a week of deep emotions, and Paolillo couldn't help but become attached to the orphans. Eric did as well and told Paolillo that in the future he plans to visit the boys at the orphanage.
"It was extremely touching the whole time," Paolillo said. "They're great kids, and you could see them transform. You could tell that they weren't used to being loved on. They were shy at first and kind of standoffish. But at the end of the week, they had given me hugs and were telling me they loved me. It was really touching."
Paolillo said even though Chinese law kept the volunteers from sharing their Christian faith with the children, he could see God at work in the camp in the lives of the boys and even Eric.
"At the start of camp, Dominic was definitely a tough kid," Paolillo said. "I found out that he'd been at the orphanage four years, and before that he'd been living on the streets. I can only imagine what his life was like and what kind of experiences he went through. But I saw God transform him into a sweet little, kind boy. I will always hear Stone calling my name. I don't think there is a kinder soul that I have ever met. I'll be continuing to pray for them."
Paolillo said saying goodbye to his buddies was the hardest thing he's ever had to do.
"Since I've been home, there hasn't been a moment that I haven't thought about them," he said. "It was sad to see them go. But they went back to the orphanage happy and with hope that they would have a family some day."
On the day he left to return to the orphanage, Dominic gave his new friend a letter.
It read: "Dear Peter, Thank you so much for the hamburgers. I liked it and I am so happy to be with you. I will remember you forever. I will miss you, too. I hope I can play with you in the future. Thank you and I hope you are healthy and everything is okay."
Paolillo said that he will definitely go back to China and that he and his wife continue to pray about the possibility of adopting again. He hopes that others who hear his story consider adoption, too.
As he wrote in an online blog to his friends: "The trip is over, but the journey will continue."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/article772807.ece
To learn more
To learn more about Bring Me Hope or to sponsor a child to go to camp, visit
http://www.bringmehope.org/
He brings gifts of heart, hope
By Gail Hollenbeck, Times Correspondent Published Friday, August 15, 2008 7:47 PM
SPRING HILL — While thousands of people were traveling to Beijing to see the 2008 Summer Olympics, Pete Paolillo was just passing through. His destination was Xinzheng City in Henan Province, almost 500 miles farther south.
The games he would witness would not involve the world's greatest athletes. They would be games played by 73 orphans during a week of summer camp as part of an orphan outreach program.
Paolillo, a 36-year-old firefighter/paramedic with Hernando County Fire Rescue, decided to spend 10 days of his summer — July 24 to Aug. 2 — volunteering in a program sponsored by Bring Me Hope, a nonprofit Christian organization based in California that is dedicated to bringing love and hope to orphans in China.
Paolillo's China adventure actually began several years ago, in 2005, when he and his wife, Kim, an elementary school teacher, adopted an infant girl from an orphanage in Nan Chang.
"I believe it was God that directed us to adopt Hannah Joy," Paolillo said. "She was a week shy of her first birthday when my wife and I went to China and adopted her. It was an amazing experience."
Touched by the plight of the many orphans in China — as many as 15-million, by some estimations — Paolillo felt he was being called by God to do more.
"A month later, I was searching the Internet, looking for links about orphans and adoption," he said. "I came upon Bring Me Hope. I thought it was neat that they helped orphans that were sometimes special needs or older kids that maybe didn't have the chance to be adopted like my daughter did. I felt this was a good opportunity to give back and do something for some kids."
Paolillo made inquiries about the organization's first summer camp, planned for 2006. He was unable to go that year or the next.
Then he received a call from a friend, Bill Byrne of Tampa.
"Bill called me one day and asked me if I was interested in going to the camp. I said, 'Wow, Bill, it's awesome that you mention that, because I looked into that camp a couple of years ago, and I've just kind of been putting it off.' When he told me he was interested in going, that confirmed it for me. So we went together."
Camp was set up in two cities, Nan Chang and Xinzheng City at Sias Unversity. Not wanting to return to Nan Chang until his family could go with him, Paolillo chose to volunteer at the latter, an area largely unaffected by the May earthquake in Sichuan province to the south.
Between 400 and 500 orphans from several orphanages attended the camps for a week during a four-week period in July and August. More than 200 volunteers from several countries helped. Each volunteer was assigned two "buddies," between the ages of 5 and 18, and a translator.
Paolillo's buddies were Stone, a 17-year-old boy with Down's syndrome, and Dominic, a 12-year-old boy with behavioral issues. His translator, Eric, 22, was an English-speaking student from the university.
"We were there to hold their hands and take them from event to event and spend quality time with them," Paolillo said about the orphans. "We started in morning assembly after breakfast. They'd have dancing and singing. Then we'd go to either arts and crafts time or to the water park, where the kids had a water slide and water pistols. They loved that. Then we'd go to the pool. Most of them had never been swimming before. It was a great time."
It was a week of deep emotions, and Paolillo couldn't help but become attached to the orphans. Eric did as well and told Paolillo that in the future he plans to visit the boys at the orphanage.
"It was extremely touching the whole time," Paolillo said. "They're great kids, and you could see them transform. You could tell that they weren't used to being loved on. They were shy at first and kind of standoffish. But at the end of the week, they had given me hugs and were telling me they loved me. It was really touching."
Paolillo said even though Chinese law kept the volunteers from sharing their Christian faith with the children, he could see God at work in the camp in the lives of the boys and even Eric.
"At the start of camp, Dominic was definitely a tough kid," Paolillo said. "I found out that he'd been at the orphanage four years, and before that he'd been living on the streets. I can only imagine what his life was like and what kind of experiences he went through. But I saw God transform him into a sweet little, kind boy. I will always hear Stone calling my name. I don't think there is a kinder soul that I have ever met. I'll be continuing to pray for them."
Paolillo said saying goodbye to his buddies was the hardest thing he's ever had to do.
"Since I've been home, there hasn't been a moment that I haven't thought about them," he said. "It was sad to see them go. But they went back to the orphanage happy and with hope that they would have a family some day."
On the day he left to return to the orphanage, Dominic gave his new friend a letter.
It read: "Dear Peter, Thank you so much for the hamburgers. I liked it and I am so happy to be with you. I will remember you forever. I will miss you, too. I hope I can play with you in the future. Thank you and I hope you are healthy and everything is okay."
Paolillo said that he will definitely go back to China and that he and his wife continue to pray about the possibility of adopting again. He hopes that others who hear his story consider adoption, too.
As he wrote in an online blog to his friends: "The trip is over, but the journey will continue."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/article772807.ece
To learn more
To learn more about Bring Me Hope or to sponsor a child to go to camp, visit
http://www.bringmehope.org/
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Inspiration for Olympic Prayer Band Arrested
The below article was sent to me, I thought I would pass it on.
Pastor Zhang “Bike” Mingxuan, known for traveling across China on a bicycle to evangelize, was arrested by Chinese police just two days before the Olympics began. Pastor Bike was the inspiration for the recent partnership between The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association to create the Olympic Prayer Band.
Learn More about the Olympic Prayer Band here
Pastor Asks for Prayer BandEarlier this year, Pastor Bike pleaded with VOM staff to ask Christians to pray for persecuted Christians in China during the Olympics. The pastor voluntarily preaches the gospel openly in China despite being persecuted. He has asked for his identity to be revealed to bring continued attention to the persecution of Christians in Communist China.
Thanks to Pastor Bike’s inspiration and the commitment of concerned Christians across the United States, more than 800,000 prayer bands have been circulated. On Aug. 6, Pastor Bike was arrested while trying to deliver medicine to his ailing wife. His wife and another pastor were also arrested. We have also learned this week that Chinese officials are opening a full investigation of the Olympic Prayer Bands that were distributed to house church members within China. Despite this increased pressure from Chinese authorities, Chinese Christians continue to ask for prayer and to make their plight known.
Order your Prayer Bands today!As the Olympics goes on, the harassment of Chinese evangelists continues to increase. Please help remind others to pray for persecuted Christians like Pastor Bike by ordering your prayer bands today!
More about Pastor BikePastor Bike, president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, rode his bike more than 10,000 miles, visiting 24 Chinese provinces to introduce nonbelievers to Jesus Christ. Armed with a Bible and his business card, which declared “Believe in Jesus, Earn Eternal Life,” Pastor Bike brought the gospel to thousands of people. He and other Chinese evangelists have been repeatedly harassed by Chinese officials during this Olympic year. Please pray for the release of Pastor Bike and his wife.
Order Prayer Bands
To order resources about the persecuted church or to donate to VOM, visit http://www.vombooks.com/.
Pastor Zhang “Bike” Mingxuan, known for traveling across China on a bicycle to evangelize, was arrested by Chinese police just two days before the Olympics began. Pastor Bike was the inspiration for the recent partnership between The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association to create the Olympic Prayer Band.
Learn More about the Olympic Prayer Band here
Pastor Asks for Prayer BandEarlier this year, Pastor Bike pleaded with VOM staff to ask Christians to pray for persecuted Christians in China during the Olympics. The pastor voluntarily preaches the gospel openly in China despite being persecuted. He has asked for his identity to be revealed to bring continued attention to the persecution of Christians in Communist China.
Thanks to Pastor Bike’s inspiration and the commitment of concerned Christians across the United States, more than 800,000 prayer bands have been circulated. On Aug. 6, Pastor Bike was arrested while trying to deliver medicine to his ailing wife. His wife and another pastor were also arrested. We have also learned this week that Chinese officials are opening a full investigation of the Olympic Prayer Bands that were distributed to house church members within China. Despite this increased pressure from Chinese authorities, Chinese Christians continue to ask for prayer and to make their plight known.
Order your Prayer Bands today!As the Olympics goes on, the harassment of Chinese evangelists continues to increase. Please help remind others to pray for persecuted Christians like Pastor Bike by ordering your prayer bands today!
More about Pastor BikePastor Bike, president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, rode his bike more than 10,000 miles, visiting 24 Chinese provinces to introduce nonbelievers to Jesus Christ. Armed with a Bible and his business card, which declared “Believe in Jesus, Earn Eternal Life,” Pastor Bike brought the gospel to thousands of people. He and other Chinese evangelists have been repeatedly harassed by Chinese officials during this Olympic year. Please pray for the release of Pastor Bike and his wife.
Order Prayer Bands
To order resources about the persecuted church or to donate to VOM, visit http://www.vombooks.com/.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Coca Cola Olympic commercials
Here are a couple of great commercials from Coca Cola and the Olympics. I thought I would share them.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
God's Confirmation
Kim and I had a much needed date night last night with a nice dinner , OK movie, great ice cream and excellent conversation. We talked about everything and we really were tuned in on adoption. Kim wanted to go for it last year and I did not . This year I have been wanting to and Kim has not. We both have been so scared for a lack of a better term. We both want to be on the same page with each other with God leading the way. I pretty much told Kim last night that we need to just do it and not worry anymore. God will take care of it. He is in control. He has already told us once. He will reveal himself again. We talked about special needs and healthy and age of child etc. etc. As I told you all in an earlier post, I came home from China recently feeling blah. I felt like God would have put adoption on my heart real heavy but when I got home it just was not there. I was depressed and in the valley. I explained how we are so heavy under all of our stuff and how we need to clean out the clutter and excess in our home and our lives. Well, today after we got home from Church Kim, Hannah and I started just that. We started with our bedroom, bathroom and closets. We collected and sorted and discarded and came up with three boxes of items for a garage sale, A huge bag of clothes for Goodwill and about 2 bags of just plain garbage. It was a good feeling but we still have the rest of the house to conquer. A little at a time I think will be the right course of action. We will move to the next part of the house during the week or next weekend. Kim and Hannah called me during the cleaning of the closet and showed me a piece of white paper with a paragraph typed on it. Kim does not remember where it was from or who wrote it, but it is very powerful and I know God is telling us what He wants us to do. So here it is and tell me what you think......;)
(click on image to enlarge or you can just squint to readit LOL :) )
(click on image to enlarge or you can just squint to readit LOL :) )
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