I had the opportunity on Christmas Eve to visit 'Mr.Fang' and his family. They live about an hour away from us in the mountains.
Mr.Fang and his wife foster two teenagers with severe cerebral palsy, a younger child who has been abused, and they have two children of their own. A very big family for China!
He is a lovely Christian man who loves the children and treats them all as his own. They have no front door, electricity, or heat, and all the kids sleep in one bed. (It was minus 7 degrees on the day I visited!)
Mr.Fang told me how the Lord has provided for his family through his job of cleaning an International school (which our boys attend) for two hours a day. The school DOES in fact have a front door, heat and electricity – not to mention computers a library and a canteen!
The two foster boys are completely dependent for all cares including feeding and dressing and toileting. They have outdoor toilets (remember, it is minus 7 degrees!) and he sits them on it after meals – it is the best he can do without plumbing!
After I got home and defrosted with a hot shower and multiple cups of hot water, I reflected on the fact that Mr.Fang is one of the true “heroes” of China. And I was reminded again that indeed it is “more blessed to give than receive."
I am trying to organize a team to visit the family regularly and help with the kids. I have spoken to the school who are organizing a fundraiser to help the family, as we really want to help them and show how much we recognize his selfless devotion to the care of orphans.
Keep Mr.Fang and his (very tired) wife in your thoughts and prayers.
Julie Vidler
Things have happened so quickly here!!
At this moment, Julie is in another province, 800km to the southeast of us, where 2 weeks ago an orphanage there discovered that 2 of their children have HIV, and via a British nurse working with them, a request for the care of these children went out across the country.
After some discussion, we gladly agreed to this, and spoke with the orphanage directors, who were just as keen for us to take care of these children.
So......probably later tonight, we will have 5 children under our roof!!! Thomas, James, Maggie and a 2 and a 3 year-old child. 1 boy. 1 girl. Julie and I are so excited to begin something that we have had on our hearts for so long (almost 18 months now!!)
We have already spoken with the HIV Professor here who is very willing to sign the prescription that allows them to have life-long anti-HIV medications supplied free.
Now we plan to care for them in our family until we can rent another apartment, and find a "mama" to live with and care for them.
From there, we will provide all medical care, social integration and education - with the hope that they will be adopted in the future, with the best possible chance to live a long and disease-controlled life.
We would so love to set up a model and standard for care of these children, that the community and other care facilities can then see that this is not a disease to panic over, but to still love and nurture these children. In doing this, perhaps those children when diagnosed in the future can actually remain with their biological families - ultimately a far better place with the proper medical care.
We are so grateful for the incredible response to our previous email for your assistance with this - not only was it rapid but extraordinarily generous.
What wonderful people we have - to be able to call 'friends', from around the world.
UPDATE:
Today I feel like I have just had twins! (Although people who really have had twins may disagree!) I left home yesterday morning with a bag full of nappies and toys and returned at 2 am with 2 children!
Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers for us and the kids . We had a great day and all went smoothly from multiple meetings with orphanage officials to flying with 2 kids!
They are cute, happy little things and have been happy and laughing with us all day. It looks like they haven't been out of their "isolation" room since they were diagnosed in September so they are very interested in the outside world.
Zhang Jian Shi (" Peter ") is the boy - James wanted to call him R2 D2 but we thought Peter was better. He is about 3 and was found last year on the street. He looks pretty healthy and is a real "boy" - loves throwing balls in the house and anything that makes noise.
Zhang Qiu Ni - ("Chloe ") - looks a bit younger. She seems to have a lot of energy and was up until 3 am this morning watching play school with Sam! We hope she has a better night tonight.
The kids are fitting in well. Maggie is in her element having someone to boss around and has been busy teaching them her tricks on how to avoid the day time sleep! James and Thomas have also been great with them.
We continue to look for an apartment and a good carer for them who sees it as her passion rather than just a job.
Please pray that we will find the right person and place. Also for the kids who are mostly happy but sometimes get distressed for no reason - they have had so many changes in 6 months.
Attached are some photos - me trying to get them through the airport - and Maggie and them at rest time.
It is your heart, and your generosity that makes this thing possible. Without it, we simply could not give this love to these children.
Gratefully yours,
Sam and Julie.
Maggie, Peter, and Chloe.
It was truly a miracle. 
Since her schooling is completed, we have been working with Spring to help her find a job. However, she did not like the idea of starting a job, and was making up many excuses from finding work.
She couldn't make the decision for herself, so we ended up choosing for her. Yet on the first day, she was angry and refused to work. She sat around all day, though we noticed she was reading a Bible we gave her.
The next night we had a Bible study and she told us her story: the day before she had been feeling like she had two voices in her head telling her different things and she was very confused. She didn't know why but she had turned to the word. Spring said that for the first time what she was reading wasn't just words. It was real. It really meant something to her and she knew it was the truth. She said at that time she believed in God and she prayed to Him!
We asked her if she believed that Jesus was His son and that He came to forgive her sins and she said "yes". Then we asked her if she asked him for forgiveness and with a big smile she said "yes!" Since that day, she has felt so happy.
Spring told us that she never found peace through Buddhism. She told us after she gave us a hard time about choosing a job and not being cooperative, she expected us to act cold towards her. When we didn't, she was surprised. We all talked to her and smiled at her, and she could see the love.
It's only because of Jesus that we were able to love when someone is giving you difficulty. It's amazing because God has been so faithful to be our strength in every single circumstance we've faced here on the Ranch. Praise His Name!
"This is my goal: When I grow up I want to go to China and help all those orphans too like you and all those sisters and brothers. Because Bring Me Hope inspired me a lot. I think God well have plans for me to do these things and I just need to wait until that time is come." ~Danielle, age 16. She was a BMH camper in 2006 and now has a family in the USA.