两地書緣續三地四友五人六天行(中)

晨光之家是三層屋、拾級而上二樓男孩區‧背景是家人和义工照片

自5月20至26日被愛希會ICC(International China Concern)邀請踏上這中国体驗之旅,涵蓋三 地(衡陽、長沙、北京)、四主家堂會友、五人組成員(加領隊Nikki) 的六天之行程；亦是我和弥則繼「二地書」通信往來經年後、在異地重聚同遊的賞心經歷，沿途每日用英文寄錄之見聞感受、此為第二次在逍遙博上的分享！

Day 3 22/5/2012  Changsha Day 1

Justin the Changsha Area Director of ICC came to pick us up for visit to the various ICC projects. We went first to the Light house晨光中心. I noticed there are a lot of changes in the deployment of spaces in Light House. 

傷健一家親

 We met first Josie from UK doing language assessment for the kids. Then we met Lucy from Singapore doing the computer therapy. We introduced ourselves to the kids who happily told their names and showed their taught skills. It was good to see they all have positive self images. Good work Lucy!

自我形象十分健康的小朋友，生命流露喜樂自信 

賀爺爺喻遊戲於物理治療

Then we met Geof or He Yeh Yeh賀爺爺down stairs playing (exercising) with kids lying on a roller skate board.

Then Justin brought me to a Group home near by that houses 3 young adults who can live independently. They have day job and sometimes go to have lunch at the VTC.

Justin帶我們去看屋‧是三位已可完全獨立生活的殘障青年之家

晨光之家位於長沙南區

年青人為本地义工，他很詫異發覺弥則是蘭州來的姑娘

ICC愛希会精神--众志成城！陣容鼎盛！

江思遠長沙主任給我們事工簡介

本地雷鋒江思遠Justin

Then Justin brought us back to the new office with furniture yet to be removed in. For the first time, I totally understand the scope of their projects as follows

1. Rainbow project彩虹計劃– Caring for the disabled  abandoned children(*)

a. En Kwong Tong恩光堂in the main Welfare Centreà the most seriously ill kids. (21=11 boys + 10 girls)

b. Light House晨光中心 -- The mid and low level disabled kids but still special help and therapy.

c. Group Home 1 for young adults male and female who may need carers (8boys / 8 girls)

d. Group home 2 for young adults who don’t  need carers (3+ 3)

2. Vocational Training Project職業訓練計劃

It used to partner with other groups with lighter disability. It put the ICC children at a disadvantage position as they need more attention. Thus there is a plan to separate from them and to build a new VTC that can enable the kids to have more attention and care.

3. Community Outreach project社區外展計劃

To help the parents to keep and raise their disabled children at home and or bringing them to the centre for therapy. There are two service outlets at the Northern and Southern area of Changsha.

(*)The Project in Hengyang is collectively called the Spring  Project春天計劃.

Then Justin led us to tour around in En Kwong Tong and the Butterfly House蝴蝶之家. Both have been relocated to the current temporary places awaiting for the renovation of the original house. It was a great pity to learn that all the good work done by MMM for the butterfly house was wasted. But the good thing is they can have more space to run their palliative service.

Our team members were most deeply impressed by the care and love of the carers towards those seriously disabled baby and young kids. To care for kids of such high degree of disability day in day  out is an energy draining jobs both emotionally and physically. The carers currently are taking a lower pay than the market but still faithfully doing their job. I can only attribute this to the spirit of ICC represented by its mission statement, to provide love愛, hope希望 and opportunity機會 to the most marginalized group. By this conviction, ICC folks are all driven to render their best efforts and making themselves  an avenue or channel of blessings despite of their own tough and overloaded working condition. It does show the very need for the new appeal for supporting the Nanny project so that the basic wages can be raised to par with market and more carers.

If we say the En Kwong Tong is the hard core battle ground for caring for the disabled kids and baby with the highest degree of disability, the butterfly house is virtually the ground zero where battle of life or death is fought with top urgency. But curiously, it is the most lively place above all else that we have visited. Basically, Butterfly house is run by Lyn Gould金林(*), a retired registered nurse from Manchester,UK who has a special conviction to provide palliative care善終安寧護理 for terminally ill disabled orphans. The welfare centre usually will stop any treatment and care programs for those baby identified as hopeless for survival. Normally, they would be dumped in a dying room that once shocked David Gotts in a similar situation in Nan Ling南寧in 1993. Lyn Gould convinced the government to let her take over the care for these double abandoned group, first abandoned by their parents than by the institution depriving them to live a full and dignified life though short. More than half of those identified terminally ill have been rescued and brought back to healthy state ready for adoption overseas or be admitted to the ICC’s care. When we arrived at the Butterfly house, we heard chanting of hymn which were sung by the carers to the kids, amongst which was one new convert who seemingly has experienced new found joy and meaning of life for serving the least one in Christ. The joy was for a few recovered and ready to be adopted children. They were accompanied by their carers sitting on the window sill watching the street scenes with excitement and curiosity. They were once shut out from a world of despise and carelessness about their life or death, but now reconnected to a world that treasure them as a precious life in God’s hands with a bright future in the foster home. This amazing transformation is the vision of the Butterfly house that an ugly cocoon can be transformed into a beautiful butterfly through a life journey of struggling that made them even stronger ever than before. The joy and laughter we witnessed in that room is a results of the love , hope that the carers have poured into the life of those once loveless and hopeless kids with no opportunity at all to live.

 (*) Please refer more about the story of Lyn Gould金林 in my another post 民主信念、生命尊嚴.

In another quiet corner of the Butterfly House lied a dying baby with life span numbered by weeks if not days or hours. Yet she was surrounded by light music tendering her vulnerable souls and special equipment to relieve her pain that is consuming her life bit by bit towards the end on this earth. In front of prominent death, we saw no sign of fear or desperation but rather peace and readiness to embark on the last leg of this short life towards her eternal better home in heaven, embraced with lot of loves and cares from the God sent angels shown in the life of all those carers. Leanne felt this was the highest moment to her throughout this trip to get a real understanding of the sanctity of life生命神聖, the number one value of ICC Core value system on top of Faith堅定信念, Team團隊合作, Compassion心懷憐憫and Servant hood全心服務.

After that, we took an early break to return to the hotel. I made use of this opportunity to do my briefing of what is happening in ICC and the possible way that CFC can be a partner to work along side with ICC to ultimately preach the gospel and bring salvation to the disabled kids. The not clearly spelt out hidden rules of no explicit evangelism action through preaching and distribution of Gospel materials was re-emphasised. The risk of jeopardizing the work of ICC as a professional caring group here in China was stressed.

Day 4 23/5/2012  Changsha Day 2

We finished the Changsha visit on the second days to the Vocational Training Centre(VTC) and Community Outreach Program(COP) in the morning.

At VTC, we were met by Clive who introduced us to the facilities and work of the Centre. I did not pay much attention to his introduction as I had been there every time in my previous visit. It was good for my three team members to see how ICC materializes its third mission statement of equipping the growing up disabled kids to have equal opportunity to get integrated back into the society that was not receptive towards them. The equipping is more than just vocational skills but confidence and self respects boosted by the love they have experienced from the carers I advised my team mates to choose and buy as much as possible some craft made by the disabled kids. Their self-values would certainly be greatly boosted knowing that their hard work is appreciated and bought by someone acknowledging their achievement as a contributing force in the society. We hope that ICC will find a better place to start a new centre on their own right to cater for the heavier training needs of the disabled kids.

最偉大的媽媽‧有膊頭、有腰骨、一力承担、叫自閉症女兒常見歡笑臉

We then went to the COP office in the south side of Changsha, Jon Sun a devout Christian called to come here from Taiwan is heading this program developed and handed over to her by Sam Hills. She was assisted by six colleagues serving passionately for those struggling parents with disabled kid that they are determined to keep and care for them at home despite of all the difficulty and discriminative eyes. While we were there, a mother arrived with her daughter with autism to receive therapy. Because of rain, some other have opted to cancel the appointment, but this mother taking all the trouble to turn up to show her care for her daughter and the appreciation of the support from the COP staff. She appears to be an ordinary mother, but behind her life is a story of great struggling of battles against all fronts. She has to care for her husband who has got cancer staying at home out of work but not short of temper venting against her wife and the disabled daughter. Apart from the extra efforts required to bring up the autism daughter, she has another 4 years old son to look after. In the meantime she has to deal with the non-acceptance of her mother-in-law against the Autism grand-daughter, possibly blaming her for bad luck bring to the family and to her ill son. Even the neighbour in her local community are not all supportive, wondering why she is so determined to waste her time and efforts in keeping and caring for the autism daughter. So, you can conceive a great graceful heart of that lady when she finds true and real support from the colleagues of the ICC’s COP project. She showed her gratitude by a banner and a commitment to come for any appointment without fail, weather permitting or not.

後面錦旗便是那最美靈魂的媽媽送給愛希会社區外展中心的心意

In this woman’s life, I see a great soul beyond boundary and barriers striving for the equal right of her disabled daughter to live a fair, decent, dignified and meaningful life as one of the valuable members in the society. She has paid all the prices bearing it solely on her shoulder at all costs, but giving the crooked society a strong testimony that the struggle she, her daughter and her whole extended family are bearing would transform and transcend the recognition of values of human life as it is irrespective of ability and social status. This process of transformation will be slow but steady and will bound to impact each and every life in China. It is such a worthy cause that has drawn the heart and life commitment of Jon Sun to come again after a three month short term experience trip now heading up this small but growing community outreach service under the banner of ICC.

另一母親的謝函，這些愛的生命的交流，叫COP孫主管從台灣被牽引到此

 I am also glad to learn that the parents attending the COP appreciate the help they have got and are potentially keen to be trained by the Rapha course provided they are given help to mind for their disabled kids when they come for the course.

湖南博物館馬皇堆出土二千年漢朝乾屍

We got an afternoon break to do a bit of sightseeing. I eventually can visit the Ma Wang Due Mummy馬皇堆墓不朽女屍at the Hu Nan museum湖南博物館 after three previous trips coming here just for the ICC visits and the Rapha training.

多重棺廓-內廓

           多重棺廓-外廓

全世界獨一無二的乾屍、肌肉尚保持柔軟性，出土時胃內尚有最後一餐的甜瓜核一百多粒＇表徵古中囯科技發達

長沙步行(購物)街，記念革命先烈黄興 ， 時值淒雨綿綿 ， 滿有憶古思今之感慨！

中午和江主任及他兩位中国助手午餐，藍背向為自星而來之事工訓練主任

In the evening, we dinnered with all the expatriates. Then rested early for tomorrow flight. I was most impressed that Meikoh asked Li Ming to spare a Rapha book for Mize to read if in future she would like to join this course in September. Li Ming came right away to deliver the book to me for Mize. I briefed Mize again my vision and prey that God will give her the right callings.

ICC 長沙外國义工，有從英、澳、星、菲、美、台來華的基督徒