We caught an early 8AM flight to Pu’Er after a restless night due to the event that happened. We knew it would be an incredibly long day, but the prayers kept us going. The flight was so short that as soon as I got out my Ipad to try to type the blog, it was time to put it away for the descent. When we landed, the new director, a young man in his 30’s, was there to greet us. Our guide, Susan, came too, so we would have an interpreter and help with travel at the airports because basically no one in Pu’Er speaks English. We went in two taxis straight to the orphanage, about a 25 minute drive. It was so neat to see this “small town” rural China (by “small town”, we mean a population of 2.6 million, making it the 4th largest city if it were in America after NYC, L.A., and Chicago!) and the completely different way of life there.

A part of Pu’er, seen from tea Mountain.

Pu’Er from another angle.
We headed up a steep hill to where we recognized the orphanage gate from pictures we’ve seen, and outside the building waiting to greet us were Bo Pin, her daughter and grandbaby, a few of the nannies and a couple of the little toddlers who live there running around. It was a joyous reunion for Chaela as everyone gawked at how tall she has gotten, how “fashionable” she is, how well she is doing.

Chaela was in her element.
Chad was “home”, so he was completely at ease, too. It was great to see him in his element and we were already so glad we decided to make the trip. He is very outgoing and chatty when he’s with “his people”, and we saw the side of his personality that we knew was there, but we’ve seen little of so far. He went inside to get a bowl of fruit, and for a lot of the time there he made sure we were well fed with at least half a dozen peaches and grapes (per person- we knew we would pay for this later!) We spent some time interacting with the nannies outside before heading in with Chad to see his room where he slept. He hates being in pictures and refused sitting on his bed to pose, or at his desk where he does homework, or pretty much anywhere else we wanted him in a picture.

Chaela by her old bed.

Two of Chaela’s academic awards, still on the wall in her old room.

The desk Chad did his homework at this past year (after he moved up to the “big boys’ room”)

Chad;s bed this past year.
The orphanage building itself was a classic run-down looking government white-walled ‘elementary school building’ style- one that would have been condemned and shut down years ago if it were in America. We went into the dining room where the cook was beginning to prepare lunch for the children. She saw Chaela and Chad and hugged them both and started to cry, thanking us for giving them a family, and said she loved them very much. She had me in tears, and I thought at that point it would be a good stop next (since I was already crying) to go into “the room” that I had heard so much about. 26 children reside at this orphanage (the only one in Pu’Er, if you can believe that!), and 7 of them are severely handicapped. I knew what I would be seeing, and how hard it would be, but you can’t really fully prepare for seeing in person what you’ve seen in a video or heard about from someone else. Joey snapped one picture before he was told “no pictures” in that room, but even if we had pictures, in this case I think a thousand words says more than a picture. A picture can’t depict how eerily quiet the room was, or the looks in the eyes of each of those precious lives, forgotten by the world, but not forgotten by God. The only noise in the room was the regular, rhythmic intermittent “beep” sound every 3 seconds that one of the children was making as she rocked on her bed, banging her head on the bedpost and biting her hands and arms. I went around to each bed and held each little hand and looked into their eyes and told them that Jesus loves them. Almost all of them smiled back at me. A couple tried to pull me close, and I looked over at Joey with tear-filled eyes and I noticed a little boy who was clung onto Joey’s leg, holding both of his hands trying to walk around the room. Joey was also wiping away tears- it was just so incredibly sad. Most were tied to their beds for their own safety and the safety of others, and one little boy was literally trying to climb up the wall. They had nothing to do, nothing to look at, and Chalea said they never leave the room. A lady was bringing a bowl of rice into the room to scoop into each of their mouths while lying down.


The sole bathroom.

Our family and the orphanage family.

Jong Jing will be the final adoption from Pu’Er this fall.

One of the neighborhoods the kids walk through on their way to school.

Showing Corin how to navigate the way to school.

Pu’Er from the route to school.

Crossing the highway.

Chad’s classroom (center)

Approaching the school. Coming down was easy…

A little shop the kids commonly stopped at when they had money to buy candy.

About the halfway point up the hill from school, headed back, looking down…

…and looking up.

Corin looking local.

They found a mill, and attempted to break it.

Arranged marriage?

View from the restaurant window.

Bo Pin’s husband got in on the paparazzi action.

Random Chinese women adoring Gwendolin.

Some lunch vittles are ready for cooking! (the green net is full of small frogs)

Sharing what we thought was a huge (and strange) meal with Bo Pin’s family. Little did we know what was to come…

Placing our engraved heart-shaped locks on the old Pu Er “Bridge of Forever Love”, or something.

Much love. So romance. Very reproducing.

Scary bridge in picturesque creek.

Love this girl.
We piled back into the van and headed to “tea mountain”, marveling at how gorgeous this part of China is.

Triad gang members love the baby.

“White people, you will never be as beautiful or popular as you are in China.”

Tea Mountain & Pu’Er

Summit of Tea Mountain. By the way, the English words “terraced”, “tourist” and “terrorist” sound exactly the same when spoken by a Chinese speaker.

The most beautiful part of Pu’Er we get to keep with us!

Chaela looking fabulous at Tea Mountain. Also, the same day we are posting this, we found some “glamour shots” taken by Grace of the girls back home on our Google photos – they are in synch across the world!

She said, “strike a pose”, so I had to throw them up for my homies.
I knew what was coming next, and I had mixed emotions about what we were about to go do- we were going to Chad and Chaela’s “finding spots” before heading back towards the airport. The newspaper “finding ad” is in each of their files, detailing the day they were found- where and when, and with what. We drove to a busy highway and stopped at a toll booth and turned in to a government building lot and parked by a grassy field. We were told Chad was found there as a newborn- probably a day old. His ad described a “deformed baby” found by police, and we noticed the police station just across the street. He was left where he would be found easily by authorities.

Chad’s finding spot.

Chaela’s finding spot.

The scariest eating experiences aren’t when you don’t know what you are eating, but when you do.

“I love the head!!!”

Corin tried to be a good sport.

We are total celebrities in Pu’Er.

Baby hijacking was non stop.

They made a difference in the lives of our children from which we reap the rewards.