Earlier this year, an elderly gentleman contacted us, wanting to sponsor a little girl’s cleft lip and palate surgery in honor of his granddaughter. He wanted to change a life; we had no idea that he would actually save one.

We didn’t have any little girls with cleft lip and palate in the foster home at the time, but there was one child on our waiting list who would fit the bill, and a bed had just opened up in the foster home.

Maya arrived February 9, 2012.

She was a healthy little baby. Quick to smile and laugh, we immediately fell deeply in love with her. We assumed that, in a few months, she would be big enough for her cleft lip and palate surgery, and that would be all. We didn’t know that Maya’s situation would rapidly become something that we had never dealt with before. Something that scared us.

In April, Maya began to have stomach pains. As the days and weeks progressed, her nannies began noticing a growth in Maya’s abdomen. The growth was getting bigger. We took Maya to the hospital and had her seen by a specialist. She was diagnosed with a Wilms’ Tumor. Maya had cancer, and it was growing quickly. The tumor was too big to operate on at the time, and Maya was scheduled to start Chemotherapy. At this time, she has had her first treatment.

Because the tumor was caught when it was, Maya’s chances are good. She may loose a kidney to this cancer, but in the big picture, that is not a huge loss, because Maya is alive.

If she had not come to New Day and been in the care of our loving and perceptive nannies, the growth might never have been noticed. If she had not traveled to Beijing to have her cleft lip and palate surgery, she would not have been here where high quality treatment options are available. If it was not for the grandfather who wanted to honor his granddaughter by changing a life, Maya might not be alive today.

Maya still has a lot to overcome in the next few months, but we are thankful that she has been given this chance to fight.

The phone rang on a Friday. Words were rushed but the meaning was clear: He was three months old, abandoned at birth. The orphanage begged us to help him. None of the hospitals in their area could help, and six organizations they asked for help were unwilling to try. How could we say no?

It just so happened that the top surgeon of FuWai hospital was coming to visit the next day. He was gracious enough to review Michael’s file, and gravely told us that if Michael was cyanotic – if his skin was blue – he would need surgery right away.

Michael was very cyanotic.

Chinese New Year was fast approaching and the orphanage was having a very difficult time finding an airplane ticket to get Michael to Beijing. We didn’t think that he would even have a chance on the overnight train, but that turned out to be the only option. It was a miracle that Michael’s orphanage was able to purchase a ticket for him, and we met him at the station where oxygen was immediately administered. Then, Michael was rushed to the hospital to do preliminary tests before things shut down for Chinese New Year.

At the hospital it was determined he had pulmonary artery artresia, VSD and PDA, but was a candidate for heart surgery. Michael’s condition was too unstable for him to remain at New Day during the holiday, his oxygen count was in the 50’s and 60’s and he struggled with each breath. Michael was admitted into PICU where he was kept on oxygen and placed on life-sustaining medications.

Monday, after Chinese New Year was over, we transferred Michael to Fu Wai heart hospital for additional tests and hopefully surgery. Michael had to be kept sedated during the transfer because he was constantly distressed, which caused him to have great trouble breathing. Michael and one of our skilled nannies stayed in the hospital. His nanny was not been able sleep at night for three nights, and was constantly calling for the nurses because of how unstable Michael was. Michael had to be held constantly. We prayed that his surgery would be scheduled soon.

On Friday, February 3rd, we got a call first thing in the morning that Michael needed to have emergency surgery right away. He had been crying and struggling to breathe so much that for the past 24 hours he had been on medication to keep him calm. We rushed to the hospital to sign the papers and meet with the surgeon. It was risky, because of Michael’s weak state. They were concerned that he would not survive the surgery.

But miracles never cease to happen. The complex surgery only took three hours. The surgeon was very happy with how it went, but all were concerned about the next 12 hours. The possibility of blood clotting and clogging Michael’s shunt was high. The next day, though, no bad news came. Michael was taken off of the ventilator Saturday night, just a day after his incredibly dangerous surgery. His oxygen stats were running in the 80’s and it seemed that the worst was over.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012, we got a call that Michael had been released to the regular floor. We knew that we were watching a miracle unfold, and could not wait to welcome our little fighter home.

Friday, exactly one week after Michael went into the operating room for emergency surgery – a desperate attempt to save his life – Michael was released from the hospital. He still has another surgery ahead of him, but for the first time in his life, Michael will not be living in a hospital fighting for his life. Instead of beeping monitors he will be surrounded by laughter and joy. What once was a life that seemed impossible to save, Michael is now a living, breathing, testimony that miracles still happen.

Lily’s orphanage was desperate. She had a serious heart disease, so complex that no hospitals in her city could treat it. They contacted us, asking if we could do something – anything. Lily arrived at New Day on the 24th of June, 2011. Her fingers and toes were cyanotic and her oxygen was in the low 70’s.

The list of Lily’s heart defects was scary. We took her information to the cardiac hospitals we work with, and further tests determined that surgery would be possible.

Lily never seemed to be without a cough, so it wasn’t until January 11, 2012, that she went in for surgery. There were many risks, the doctors told us. This surgery was difficult and might take a long time, despite the fact that the top surgeon was going to be performing it.

Three and a half hours after Lily went into surgery, the surgeon wanted to talk with us.

It was done. Lily was out of surgery. In the words of one of the surgeons, Lily had “A perfect operation!” The doctors couldn’t stop smiling, nor could we.

The next day Lily was taken off of the ventilator. She returned home on January 20th, just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year.

It only took one look at Wendy for us to realize that this little girl was a much more serious case than we had anticipated. On top of having a very sick heart, Wendy also had a very broken heart. Abandoned on her fourth birthday, just two months before she arrived at NDFH, we knew that there were deep, fresh scars on Wendy’s heart.

Testing showed that Wendy had a very severe heart condition: TGA, ASD, VSD and dangerously high pulmonary hypertension. Because of her age, Wendy was at high risk for sudden death after surgery. But without surgery there was no chance of survival.

Day by day we saw changes in Wendy. She learned how to smile, how to laugh and how to trust. Medically she was weakening, but emotionally she was gaining strength. Sad and scared was slowly being replaced by bright and happy.

On the 16th of December, 2011, Wendy had heart surgery. It took six and a half hours and was a success. The surgeon, the top surgeon of that hospital, was able to do a complete repair.

Wendy’s pulmonary hypertension was still very high. At any moment we knew that she could go into heart failure, so we braced ourselves for a long and scary recovery.

The next day Wendy was taken off of the ventilator. Two days later she was transferred out of ICU and ten days after surgery Wendy was released from the hospital. Risks continued to be great so Wendy was kept in isolation for a few weeks. But she was recovering well and did not have to stay there. Now she runs and happily plays with all of the other children.

Wendy has gained strength, and there’s a new spark in her eyes now. It’s the spark of a life reborn.

She joined her forever family in 2006. Allie had lived with us for a year, and when she met her forever family for the first time, instead of being nervous about leaving, she went for her shoes and said, “Let’s go now!” Allie’s personality, and her love to sing and to perform, fit in perfectly with her new family. She was the puzzle piece that, missing for a short time, had been found and was now flawlessly in place.

Allie’s story at New Day Foster Home should have ended on September 17, 2006, but it didn’t. Allie and her family stayed connected with New Day throughout the following years, and in 2011, not yet nine years old, Allie decided to do something big.

She had orphans on her heart. Having been an orphan herself, Allie’s heart-dream was fueled by her personal experience that love can make a difference. So, she decided to speak at small churches and fellowships, to see if that heart-dream could become a reality.

Allie developed a presentation. Then, she and some of her friends drew handmade cards writing, “Pray for the children.” with New Day’s website included at the bottom.

Nervous, Allie mounted the stage in May, 2011. Standing before a small crowd of about 20 church parishioners, Allie told her story. When she was done, her dad and brother played some music.

Hearts were touched, and our little nine year-old graduate raised nearly $300 for her friends back in China.

Four more engagements later, and Allie had raised over $4,000.

She’s got a story to tell and the skills needed to share it. Allie is going to make a difference, already she has helped to save lives. We, along with her parents, are so proud of Allie’s accomplishments. Her story began as a tragedy – orphaned, with a cleft palate. Today, however, it’s a story of victory. And yet another amazing story of Hope.

The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

He didn’t even have a name, that first night as he fought for his life. There was nothing to set him apart from the other children, except for the fact that he was dying and they were about to run out of options. He’s still fighting for his life today, but the last month has been filled with miraculous hope for this little boy.

On November 10th, Marshall was brought by a policeman to the orphanage. As the staff examined him they found an infected surgical incision, leaking puss and excrement. It was swollen and inflamed, so they rushed him to the hospital. Four hospitals later, none of them able to do anything, the orphanage staff was about to give up, so they called us at New Day South.

The management at New Day South had just made the decision not to bring in any more children for the time being. They were struggling, and though there was space for more than six children, there just weren’t enough resources. So when the plea on Marshall’s behalf came in, it was a hard choice. His chances were slim; he probably wouldn’t survive the night. Could NDS emotionally and financially afford his case?

But how could we give up on him? How could we not give this little child a chance? We said yes. And then someone stepped forward with money to change a child’s life.

The next day Marshall was driven to Guangzhou, arriving at 7pm. At 10:30pm Marshall was admitted into surgery, where he was diagnosed with previously repaired intestinal atresia. But after his first surgery, the suture parts of Marshall’s intestine had not healed, leading to peritonis. Subsequent infections lead to even more problems. Marshall was in a critical condition. Despite the severe infections, he was not running a fever, a sign that his organs might be shutting down. The surgeon ended up removing a section of Marshall’s intestine and he was stable in PICU by about 3am that night.

Four days later, the news was good- miraculously good. Marshall was still stable, his kidneys were functioning well and his heart and lungs were good. But his abdomen was still distended and he had not yet had a bowel movement. One other concern was that, because a good portion of Marshall’s intestines had been removed, he might be unable to absorb nutrients and would be malnourished. He was running a fever, which was cause for rejoicing and worry. His organs were no longer shutting down… but there was still serious infection. We prayed, and a few days later the news again amazed us.

On November 21, Marshall was doing well. Not only had the infection decreased 80% and his previously hard stomach turned soft, but he had a bowel movement. When we heard the report we danced with joy. It seemed funny to be celebrating a bowel movement, but that was huge. It meant that Marshall’s intestines had begun to function.

Marshall continued to be fed intravenously for another week, until December 2, when they began to feed him formula with a bottle. His stomach tube was removed and the doctors began to plan for his discharge.

On December 15, 2011 Marshall came home to New Day South. His condition, though significantly improved, is still quite serious. Marshall is severely malnourished and will need another miracle. But in his life, for the little boy who once had no name, there have been many amazing miracles. Marshall’s Chinese name means “Grand” and “Powerful”. It’s been so obvious that a Grand and Powerful God has been caring for Marshall all the time, and we have HOPE that Marshall’s story will continue to echo the power of His Heavenly Father.

To Be Continued…

Miracles Continue

November 11, 2011

“No surgery necessary.”

When we heard the doctor’s words we were shocked. Claire, our miracle-girl, the one who had come close to death so many times, would not need heart surgery.

Claire’s heart was diagnosed with TGA (transposition of the greater arteries) six days after she arrived, May 2009. Because of Claire’s overall medical condition at that time, the heart repair could not be done until she had undergone surgery for her tracheal esophageal fistula and severely damaged lungs. Her diagnosis would have been fatal 20 years ago, but could have been repaired successfully in an infant. But Claire was no infant. She was a beautiful seven year-old girl whose lungs were still recovering, and the time had come for us to find out if Claire was ready for open heart surgery.

The surgery would have been long and hard, and because of our past experiences with Claire and post-op, we were scared. We prayed for her every day; we prayed that her lungs would be strengthened and that her heart would be healed. Despite our earnest prayers for a miracle on her behalf, we couldn’t believe what we heard.

“Her heart is just fine.”

Just the word, “transposition” infers that something is going the wrong way. Now, hearing that Claire’s heart is functioning properly, without any sort of medical intervention, we are amazed. On May 4, 2011, two years after that first diagnosis, Claire’s heart was working normally. No TGA could be found.

Someone very powerful was taking care of Claire when the doctors said that she wouldn’t survive the night, and when they told us that they were out of options to slow the bleeding that was slowly draining the life from our precious little girl. Someone was looking out for her when she coded, still bleeding profusely with unresponsive vital signs. And that same “Someone” has chosen Claire to receive one of the most incredible miracles of all-time: a physically healed and whole heart. We can pour love into the children and help their emotional hearts heal, but our love flows from the One who both physically and spiritually heals. Claire’s story is so exciting to tell, because it is so incredibly amazing.

Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD— and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

Psalm 68:4-5

January 31, 2011

She's coming home! We're getting our happy ending.

After stabilizing following her surgery in October, Claire took a sudden turn for the worse. A course of antibiotics didn't help, and Claire's health deteriorated. Fluid began building around her left lung, and she went into heart failure. Her blood pressure, oxygen levels and lung pressure were not good. She was not producing enough urine, and her doctors suspected a fungal infection in her lungs. They called us in for a meeting on December 17, 2010 and told us they didn't know what else to do.

We did.

We asked people all over the world to pray, and people united on behalf of Claire. Though she didn't begin improving right away, she did stabilize. Her doctors placed her on a $60-USD-a-day anti-fungal medication to treat the underlying problem, and we waited for her situation to improve.

Claire's supervising doctor was the surgeon who performed her operation in October. Realizing that Claire's situation could no longer be helped by surgery, he called a meeting with other doctors at the hospital… experts in blood, skin, heart, respiration, and other internal medicine specialists. On December 24, 2010, this panel of experts gathered together to discuss which department should take on her case. As each doctor heard what had already been done for Claire, considered her situation and potential courses of treatments, all the doctors said it was outside of their expertise and that there was nothing more they could do. They suggested some tests to run and potential medications that could help, but each of them told the surgeon that they couldn't accept the transfer of her case as they didn't have any potentially successful courses of treatment to pursue.

We left that meeting feeling discouraged and overwhelmed -- having been given very little hope by the doctors. Once again we asked everyone to pray and once again Claire had a turnaround. By December 28, 2010 her urine output improved, swelling went down, and her blood pressure stabilized. Though her lung function hadn't yet improved, her doctors were thrilled to tell us she was doing better generally. Things continued to improve… by January 17, 2011 her lung function improved enough that they decided to remove her chest tube! After having it for over one year, Claire was finally free. And after monitoring her health for a couple more weeks, Claire returned home on January 31, 2011 -- a few short days before Chinese New Year, a time when all Chinese come home.

October 12, 2010

After a year of recuperation, doctors were ready to perform Claire's second surgery; a surgery to remove aberrant blood vessels that had sequestered the lower part of her right lung and hopefully to remove her chest tube that had been draining residual infection for the last year. We knew the second surgery was risky, as Claire clearly had a history of excessive bleeding, but doctors felt the time was right to operate. Her surgery went well, but the next day the hospital called saying that Claire was bleeding and they needed to do an emergency surgery. They needed to transfer her to a different hospital to operate, and during the transfer she coded. They were able to restart her heart and intubate her, but by the time she arrived at the other hospital, doctors determined she was too unstable to operate. Several hours later, though, they saw their window of opportunity and jumped at it. After the surgery, the doctors reported that there was not a single major vessel bleeding; the whole area, with many small vessels, was bleeding. They tried to cauterize the area, but it did not work, so they cover it with surgical adhesive. It slowed slightly, but she was still bleeding and they said they were out of options. If the bleeding stopped on its own, Claire had a chance to survive. If it did not, she would die. After being transferred to the high-level PICU at the other hospital, her lead surgeon said that the bleeding had slowed even more but that the next 24 hours would be the most critical.

The next morning, we checked with the PICU staff and they said that most of the night was uneventful, but that at 5:00 in the morning, the bleeding had suddenly increased again and Claire's doctors discovered that some clots had built up, hindering drainage from the chest tube. An hour later, the bleeding slowed but her heart rate was fast. Her doctors continued to say there was nothing more they could do… if bleeding picked back up, they were out of possible solutions. Over the next few days, Claire's bleeding continued to slow on its own, but the clots remained. Doctors planned an operation to remove the clots, but shortly before they were set to begin, they did another check and found the clots were gone!

Claire was past the worst. Within a few days, she was transferred out of ICU and taken off all the various tubes and wires that had been sustaining her life. The final thing to be removed was the ventilator, and when she came off that, the first thing she asked was if she could eat and color pictures! It seems we have our little Claire back… with more amazing miracles sustaining and transforming her life.

Read more about Claire's Amazing Story.

June 8, 2009

As news spread about Claire’s situation, the look in everyone’s eyes was the same. Though no one verbalized it, everyone wondered if she’d make it through the night. It didn’t look hopeful… Doctors from the hospital called late one evening, asking us to come as soon as possible. They thought that Claire would die soon and wanted us present to sign approval papers for an emergency surgery—a last-ditch effort to save her life.

After surgery to drain an infection in her lung, Claire lost a lot of blood. In the first 6 days after surgery, she lost nearly 200 ml of blood each day. On the seventh day, she lost over 300 ml, and on the eighth day, she lost 500 ml. She was loosing blood faster than the doctors could give her transfusions. For a child, to lose 500 ml of blood in one day is to lose nearly one-third of their total blood supply. During the entire time, Claire received blood transfusions, but by the eight day, her doctor estimated that nearly two-thirds of her total blood supply was not her own.

After receiving the news, we took a few minutes to ask people to pray, and then we left for the hospital, praying she’d still be alive when we arrived. Though we’ve seen God’s faithful and healing hands work in many of our children’s lives in many circumstances in the past, we couldn’t help but wonder if this time would be different. It seemed impossible. The blood loss was so significant that even the doctors told us she probably wouldn’t survive. Our nanny, who was by Claire’s bedside the whole time, told us that Claire was drifting in and out of consciousness.

The blood loss wasn’t the only bad news. After draining the infection, the doctors discovered that the infection had been so severe that it killed the lung tissue. They told us she would loose her lung, reducing her lung capacity by 50 percent. And, they discovered that she had a small tear in her esophagus which allowed stomach acids to leak into her chest cavity – wreaking havoc on her organs and causing more damage to her lungs. Finally, she was diagnosed with a severe heart defect… something no one had known previously.

It seemed hopeless.

Circumstances often speak louder than His whispers. Claire’s circumstances looked grim, and while we hoped against hope for a miracle, we tried to prepare our hearts for the loss of a child. But in the middle of the noise, His voice calls out, asking us to surrender our fears and trust Him. The whisper is always faint at first, but it grows louder and more persistent… a call to trust in His mercy and believe in His goodness.

When we arrived at the hospital, doctors met us with surprising news. The bleeding had stopped. Less than two hours before, they had called us because the bleeding showed no signs of stopping after eight days of continuous loss. We were amazed, and suddenly aware that His whispers were the loudest voice of all. His voice silenced our doubts and reminded us that He is the father to the fatherless. As His people all over the world lifted up Claire, He did something beautiful. He healed her. The doctors asked us to sign a statement acknowledging that at any moment, her condition could take a turn for the worse and she might die. They also asked us to sign papers to permit a surgery to discover the source of the bleeding which they’d scheduled for the next morning, but would do immediately if the bleeding started again.

Though we were rejoicing in the miracle we’d just witnessed, we were nervous about the night ahead. Would the bleeding start again? Would they need to go into surgery in the middle of the night? We went home to try and get a few hours of sleep before we returned to the hospital the following morning, and as the hours of the night stretched into morning, we prayed that God would continue working in Claire’s body. When we arrived at the hospital the next morning, the surgeons told us that they were so happy with Claire’s progress that they thought there was no longer any need for a surgery. They told us that unless the bleeding started again, they would not operate.

Not only did Claire have no further bleeding, but in the following days, the doctors discovered that her lung tissue looked healthier than they ever dreamed possible. Instead of losing 50 percent of her lung capacity, they informed us that she would probably only lose 15 percent! And, when we had a consultation with a new surgeon regarding the perforation in her esophagus, he gave us a much more hopeful prognosis and outlined a relatively straightforward surgical procedure that he could do to fix the problem.

Now Claire is sitting up and playing in her hospital bed. Thanks to some intravenous nutrition she has received, she’s feeling healthier and stronger without aggravating her esophageal problem. The doctors have been amazed at her recovery, and when we told her home orphanage about her healing, their amazed response was, “She made it again?” Claire still needs some more miracles – we’re hoping to see continued improvement in her lung capacity and a completely repaired esophagus. Once those problems have been addressed and she’s stronger, we’ll be able to treat her very serious heart condition. We know that she still has a long road ahead, but with God as her defender, we trust she will win the future battles until she can run and play with the other children with all of this but a distant memory.

So we write this to remember His faithfulness, His mercy, and His love. When we’re faced with another situation where the circumstances speak desperation and hopelessness, we’ll remember the night that God reached down and touched Claire. We will listen for His voice… quietly and calmly whispering amidst the storm.

Updated: September 15, 2009
Things didn’t go according to plan.

When we asked if they could simply patch the hole, the doctors told us that the damage to Claire’s esophagus was too severe. They expected to find a significant amount of damaged tissue surrounding the hole in her esophagus from months of food and stomach acids seeping out of the hole. The only question remaining for her surgical team was how much of the esophagus would need to be removed?

They planned to cut out the damaged part of her esophagus and patch the two healthy sections together. They warned that if a large section were damaged, they would need to remove it all, and she’d live with life-long repercussions. It would be difficult for her to keep food down, and she’d always struggle with severe indigestion.

We began praying that they’d only need to remove a small section of the esophagus. But we also prayed that the doctors would be amazed with what they found.
On the morning of the surgery, they told us it would take at least 6 hours to complete the repair. So when her surgeons came out of the operating room, with beaming smiles and a sense of wonderment in their eyes, we knew we were in for a good surprise.

They found the hole. They hadn't thought it would be possible to locate the exact location of the original damage.
The tissue surrounding the hole wasn’t damaged at all; it was strong and healthy. It showed no signs of exposure to months of stomach acid or the expected consequences of months of an unrepaired injury.

It was perfectly fine. A divine healer had been at work before they ever began the operation, and all they needed to do was patch up one small hole. The surgery only took 4 hours, and her doctors expect her to make a full recovery. Though Claire's miraculous story isn't quite finished yet -- she needs an operation for TGA, a heart condition -- on this day, our prayers were answered and the doctors were amazed.

And so were we… once again, God showed himself mighty in a Beijing operating room. He never forgets when one of his children needs His help. He is a God who does miracles and shows His power among the nations. Psalm 77:14

With every day that passed, Joseph’s chance of survival was growing smaller.

But we didn’t know this.

Our hearts were still aching over the loss of Paige, and our medical recourses were being strained with the care of Carissa. We needed a lighter case, so we brought in Joseph. Supposedly his heart was of medium severity, but when our doctor checked him she looked grave. “He is much more serious than we thought.”

Joseph was struggling with a severe case of pneumonia when he arrived, so we took him to the hospital the next day. The doctors told us that it was “a miracle” he was still alive. Without immediate care and surgery, Joseph would not make it.

Unfortunately, the national holiday was just beginning. It would be a week until the top surgeons could operate on Joseph, and he needed the best. Our only hope was that Joseph would survive the holiday until surgery could happen.

Joseph made it through the week. He was scheduled for one of the first surgeries after the holiday and they operated first thing Monday morning. The very complex surgery lasted four hours and was successful. After the surgery our directors, who were there the whole time, returned to New Day. Not five minutes after they returned, they received a call. Joseph’s oxygen and heart rate was dropping rapidly. He needed to go back into surgery… we jumped back into the car and raced to the hospital again. Because of our good relationship with this hospital, they didn’t wait until we had arrived before they took him into surgery. This alone was a life saving decision.

Joseph’s shunt had become blocked and he essentially needed to have his surgery re-done. Another four hours later, Joseph was out of surgery and stable in ICU.

Two weeks later he was ready for his second surgery. This time the surgeons would be exchanging the main arteries. It was a complex surgery and took five hours, but was successful.

Already Joseph’s story was miraculous. When we heard for the first time how serious his case was, we were a bit nervous… he should have been an easy case. But now we know that if he had not come to New Day when he did, he would not have survived.

Not 24 hours after Joseph’s second surgery, he was taken off of the ventilator. The next day he was transferred from ICU into mid-care, and a few days later he was sent to the regular ward. And then, on October 31, 2011, Joseph was released from the hospital.

God knew that Joseph needed us when he did, and God kept Joseph alive until we could help him. Now Joseph is home and healthy. He’s been through a lot during the first two and a half months of his life, but in a sense, his story has just begun.

On August 11th, after a long overnight train ride from southern China, a little girl with a severe heart condition arrived in Beijing. She was met at the train station by one of our medical staff who immediately assessed her. She was in heart failure so we took her directly to the hospital where she was admitted to PICU and placed on the ventilator. The next few days were scary. Carissa’s CO2 levels were way too high and the doctors considered doing a tracheotomy.

But they didn’t have to.

Carissa continued to struggle with breathing, but her CO2 levels had dropped to the 60’s and were much closer to the “safe range” of the 40’s. Previously they had been in the 90’s. Carissa’s pneumonia was getting worse, though.

The next day, doctors did a CT scan that revealed a narrow trach and a very narrow right bronchial tube. No wonder she fought so hard to breathe. The doctors told us that she would need a stent placed in her bronchial tube, so we signed the surgery papers for that to be done as soon as possible. When we went in to meet with the surgeons, they also told us that Carissa’s heart was quite enlarged and they were concerned that the pressure would be so high that the stent would not benefit her. But they wanted to give her a chance and so the surgery was scheduled for early the next week.

The day of the surgery the doctors put a scope down into Carissa’s bronchial tubes. Both sides were very narrow, about 2.8mm, very weak and flattened. She went into surgery where they hoped to place two stents in her bronchial tubes. Her situation was very serious and the doctors told us that there was a very small chance that the surgery would work and that we should prepare ourselves for her to die during surgery. But without the surgery she had no chance at all.

A miracle happened. Carissa made it through surgery. But that wasn’t all; the doctor who preformed Carissa’s surgery was Dr. Lui Xi Cheng, who just happened to be one of China’s top surgeons for this procedure. Carissa, an orphan, had one of the best surgeons in the country performing her surgery. She was not forgotten.

Three stents were placed into Carissa’s bronchial tubes, one in the right and two in the left. After the placement, her O2 level jumped from the dangerously low 50’s up into the 90’s. Carissa was moved onto a regular ventilator and her CO2 levels decreased even more. She is not out of the woods yet, but the doctors are encouraged.

To Be Continued…

October 10, 2011

" The condition for a miracle is difficulty, however the condition for a great miracle is not difficulty but impossibility.”

Carissa was at the point where, because of her heart, she would not get any better. But she was very likely to get worse unless surgery was done soon. So we checked her into another hospital in hopes that they could perform surgery on her right away. The report from the surgeons regarding Carissa was not good.

The surgeons told us she would need a minimum of three surgeries. They also said that there was too much fluid in her right lung and that she would not survive surgery. They recommended waiting and trying to get her lungs in better shape before attempting heart surgery. We searched for a second opinion. At another hospital, the surgeons would not even attempt her surgery. They said there is no chance she would survive.

Without a miracle she would not live much longer.

Amazingly, Carissa stabilized. Now was the time for surgery, or else Carissa would quickly deteriorate, the doctors said. She was transferred to Fuwai Hospital (one of the top cardiac hospitals in China). They reviewed her records, did an ultrasound and then the medical director and four other doctors met and decided her case.

Their words shook us to the core. Their conclusion was that there was no hope. So they sent her home to die. We received permission from her orphanage to bring her into the home of our nurse, where we planned to take turns holding her until she went home to be with God.

Though our hearts were broken, we knew that we were in the conditions for a great miracle, so we asked people to pray. And their prayers worked.

Carissa was held, loved on, and prayed for constantly from the moment she arrived home. Just a week after being sent home, Carissa’s lungs were clear, she was eating well, sleeping well and actually gaining weight. In the hospital Carissa O2 level was in the 30’s and 40’s. A week later it was in the 60’s and 70’s. Love was keeping Carissa alive.

The next week Carissa began to contract pneumonia, so we admitted her into the hospital. Within a few days she was released, amazing us and the doctors. We have watched Carissa being held and healed by her Father in Heaven and it’s has left us speechless. This little girl, whom medicine could not heal, is being slowly made whole by love. It’s beautiful to see.

In February and March of 2011 we welcomed two precious little girls into the Foster Home. Sage was almost five months old and had been diagnosed with a cleft lip and two septal defects in her heart. Kendra was nearly two months old with a septal defect and PFO. The girls were tiny when they arrived. They were pale and weak and every bit of love they received was soaked up like a sponge.

Beginning the day they arrived, they were held and loved. We smothered them in cuddles, songs and prayers. Soon they began to grow. Once a fragile baby, Kendra began gaining weight and soon had plump cheeks. Sage started smiling and her grin, wide and joyful, lit up the room. We watched with joy as both little girls grew stronger and lovelier, their personalities becoming more and more evident with each passing week.

Then the time came that their health was to be evaluated. We prayed earnestly that they would be considered healthy enough for heart surgery. The news we received after their appointments was not what we had expected at all. We learned Sage’s results first. The two defects in her heart were no longer there. She was healthy, healed, and whole. Except for a repair to her cleft lip, Sage would not need surgery.

As we rejoiced for Sage we heard the results from Kendra’s doctor. There was no longer a septal defect and her PFO was so mild that she would probably not need surgery. It was another miracle. Miraculously, all three septal defects were closed and neither girl would need open heart surgery. Love truly does make a difference.

Since no one thought she could see well enough to make good use of the limited supplies, Serena was never allowed to color or draw or use pen and paper in her foster family. It wasn't limited to coloring... time after time, she was never given an opportunity to achieve the most basic developmental tasks.

As a result, when she came to live at NDFH when she was 10 years old, she tested as a 3-4 year old developmentally. The first time we gave her colors and a blank sheet of paper, she held one crayon in her hand and scribbled roughly over the entire sheet of paper. She filled page after page with single-colored scribbles, never attempting to draw anything or alternating colors.

Serena knew she was behind, but instead of understanding it was because she’d never had a chance, she had internalized her lack of progress into a belief that she wasn’t smart, wasn’t good enough, and could never accomplish anything. She arrived with rock-bottom self-esteem, believing that she would never be able to do anything due to her vision problems. She didn’t have any hope for the future, and would often talk about how she was a “bad girl.” Her eyesight is very poor. She didn’t have properly diagnosed glasses, so when she arrived she constantly had bruises on her legs from bumping into things. She would run into people, doors, and anything in her path.

But Love worked it’s miracle on Serena…the same amazing Love that changes so many of our children’s lives.

We obtained a proper prescription for Serena’s glasses, and before long, she was riding a bike for the first time in her life, pointing out the birds and the planes in the sky, and improving her gross motor skills so rapidly that we could hardly believe our eyes. Her eyesight is still poor, and glasses only partially correct the problem, but Serena has compensated to the point that most people would never realize the degree to which Serena struggles to see. She no longer bumps into people or objects, and her legs are only blemished by the occasional normal childhood bumps or bruises.

We hired a tutor for Serena, and though at first she strongly resisted class because she thought she was “stupid,” Serena is now starting to see the progress she is making and is excited about learning more. In a few months, she went from scribbles to coloring pictures to learning to draw basic shapes to writing her letters and numbers. She is starting to study Chinese characters. She is now working on a 5-6 year old level, completing 3-4 years of goals in 4 months!!

We could go on and on describing Serena’s progress: She can walk on a balance beam, run towards and kick a ball, sort similar and dissimilar objects, adeptly use scissors, take part in reading books by “filling in” words and phrases, and classify things like animals, foods, dishes, people and pets. She also now knows all of her colors. She can now recognize the difference between the 1 yuan bill and the 100 yuan bill, and she is also learning to count to 20 and has nearly mastered that task.

Perhaps the most astounding transformation has been the one we’ve seen happen in her heart. This little girl who never had any hope for her future wants to be a doctor when she grows up. She is so much more confident in who she is and what she can do; she finally sees her own potential. She has learned that with hard work, she can achieve her goals – and she’s starting to set more and more of them! She loves music and sings all the time; it seems she finally has joy… she finally has something to sing about.

A Miracle at New Day- a Doctor’s Perspective

As a physician, I have spent years learning and studying the human body. I was taught that all diseases and healing can be explained scientifically. There was little room for miracles. But this all changed in September 2010 when I met Ajay.

When I first decided to volunteer at New Day, I thought it was going to be more of an educational trip for me. I was prepared to serve by providing some teaching sessions and assisting the staff on some cases. But I was not prepared to meet a miracle in a child named Ajay. On my 2nd day in clinic, I reviewed his file. His problem list consisted of multiple cardiac abnormalities. I tried logically to figure out his anatomy. After a couple of minutes, I realized that his heart was so badly malformed that it would be near impossible to repair. More shocking was the fact that he was 2 years old and alive! I couldn’t medically explain how a child with such an abnormal heart was alive, let alone sitting in the playroom smiling and reading a book!

After 10 years of practicing pediatrics, I have seen lots of interesting and amazing things. But nothing like Ajay. My scientific mind tells me that he shouldn’t have made it past the newborn period. The fact that he is still alive is a testament that medicine and humans are limited and we should never lose our faith in miracles.

Shirley J. Leong, M.D.

At only 4-months-old and about 7 pounds, Caleb arrived on June 30, 2010 at New Day suffering from both pneumonia and bronchitis. His greatest need, however, resided in his heart. Caleb was born with a serious heart condition that included a double outlet in the right ventricle, TGA, VSD, PDA, and hypertension in the pulmonary artery and narrow aorta. He was desperately in need of corrective heart surgery and he had battled pneumonia for several months.

About ten days later, Caleb was transferred to a hospital’s PICU because he had difficulty breathing due to his heart condition and pneumonia. He was soon put on a ventilator to help him breathe. When the hospital considered him too weak for surgery, New Day transferred him to another hospital willing to do surgery on him.

The director of surgeons there had done surgery on a patient similar to Caleb; Caleb’s case, however, was far more complicated. The surgeon said that only 100 cases of Caleb’s condition have ever been reported around the world, and though it would be better to wait until he was stronger, they had no choice but to operate as soon as possible. The surgery took place on August 4, 2010 and lasted 14 hours, with most of the re-structuring work completed around the 10-hour mark. Caleb bled continuously afterwards, but after four hours, doctors finally got the bleeding to stop and he went to PICU for recovery.

Since then, Caleb’s healing process has been incredible. His surgeon said that Caleb recovered faster than all the other heart surgery babies in the ward with him--though Caleb’s surgery was far more complicated than the others. The doctor also indicated that if they had not operated on him at that time, Caleb would probably have lived for only two more days. After being released from PICU less than two weeks after surgery, he is on the road to a full recovery and a healthy life.

January 5, 2010

Cora wasn’t getting any better.

For seven months, she needed daily nebulizer treatment to treat her congested lungs. Though she didn’t have pneumonia or bronchitis all the time, her breathing always sounded as if she did. Thick and rattling, her lungs wouldn’t clear no matter what we did. On her good days, she needed only nebulizers. On her bad days, we were fighting to keep her from going into the hospital with pneumonia.

Her cardiologists kept advising us to wait. “We can’t do heart surgery with her lungs in such bad condition,” they’d say. Finally they did an angiogram, but told us they needed to wait to operate until her lungs improved more. But two months passed from her angiogram, and they saw absolutely no improvement in her lung condition.
They knew she couldn’t wait much longer.

With the winter cold, flu, and pneumonia season arriving, they told us that if she got sick with a simple respiratory illness, she probably wouldn’t survive. In Cora’s beautiful and perfectly formed little body, she had a fragile heart, wrought with 8 separate heart defects ranging from common to complex. So many factors pointed towards the danger of operating… her small size, her poor lung condition, the high pulmonary artery pressure and hypertension that medicine just never seemed to correct.

When the morning for her tentatively-scheduled surgery dawned, we sat down with the surgical team to discuss the operation. It is a routine meeting we attend before every operation with the doctors and surgical team. But this morning was different. The director of surgery and the vice-director also joined us for the meeting. They had reviewed the case and wanted to make sure we understood the risks.

“This is a gamble,” they told us. “She won’t survive without surgery, but she has a slim chance of recovering from the operation.”

Our hearts sank. We knew her heart condition was serious, but we didn’t anticipate such a bleak prognosis.

“The operation she needs is not too complex for our team. It is difficult, but within our technical expertise,” they explained. “But as Cora fights to recover from the surgery, her body is going to have a difficult time adjusting to the new blood circulation patterns. Also her lungs are very congested, and that will impact her post-op recovery. We expect that she’ll be on a ventilator for a very long time after the surgery. You have to know that this is an extremely risky operation. If we thought her physical condition would improve, we would advise waiting. But over the last 7 months we have seen no improvement, and we really feel like an operation at this point is a last-ditch effort to save her life.”

When we looked at the smiling, happy, bubbly little girl, it was hard to imagine that death lurked so close. She seemed so vibrant, so full of life – so healthy even! It was easy to forget that she was even sick, except when the palm of your hand rested against her chest, and you felt the odd flutter of her heart under your fingertips.

Choosing to send a vivacious and giggling little child into an operating room when you know she might never come out is a decision no one has the strength to make on her own. But we have seen His good deeds in the past, and we know in the deepest parts of our being that His heart is for the fatherless. So we took a deep breath and whispered a prayer. “She’s yours. We love her, and we’re so thankful for the time You’ve given us with her. We know You alone can heal her heart, and we trust that You can use this as a testimony to many.”

And we signed the surgery papers.

Six and a half hours later, on December 15, 2009, the operation was complete. The doctors told us that though they had a little trouble stopping some bleeding, they were very pleased with the results of the surgery. But we knew little Cora’s journey was really just beginning. All along, the post-op period was the most risky part of her operation. So we settled in for the hardest part of this journey… waiting.

The giggling and vibrant little girl lay still under a maze of tubes and wires. Monitors beeping softly and machines humming gently... The ventilator kept oxygen supplied to her battered little body. We waited and we prayed. We know we were joined by many around the world, lifting this little girl up and trusting that her Father was hiding her under His wing, knitting her back together again.

On December 18th, 3 days after her operation, her medical team gave us news that nearly left them speechless. Cora was off the ventilator. There was no medical explanation for her progress and rapid healing. So they offered only one: “You are a Godly people. God hears your prayers,” said the senior cardiology nurse when she gave us the news.

Cora continued to amaze the pediatric cardiothoracic team, as she was moved to a regular ward on December 21st, only 6 days after her surgery. And on Christmas Day, all of her doctors and PICU nurses came to her hospital room to say goodbye. Each of them wanted to see this little miracle baby one more time before she left. In a place where they often must give horrible news to traumatized parents and watch little ones suffer and die, they each wanted to be a little closer to this sign of hope. Our prayers were answered. Her adorable giggle and sparkling smile were a testimony to many.

He came to give us life and life abundantly. Born into a manger two millennia ago, His message of hope, redemption, and transformation is still alive and real today. We know, because we see it in a little girl named Cora; a little girl who needed His touch and received it; a little girl who now has life… abundant, beautiful life.

How fitting that she came home on His birthday with a restored life, the greatest gift of all.

December 1, 2009

We are thankful Melody’s surgery went far better than the doctors expected -- another miracle! Before the surgery, they were concerned the growth (Meningocele) on her neck involved some of her nerves, and that after surgery she could potentially lose control of body functions. It turned out that no nerves were involved -- it was simply tissue that they removed and stitched shut. Another pre-surgery concern was that they would need to place a metal plate at the base of her skull to cover up the opening left from the meningocele. This was not needed and Melody is now at home; a healthy and happy little girl.

 

 

In December 2008, six-month-old Debra arrived at New Day. She was born with a congenital heart disease and needed surgery. About two weeks after she arrived, nannies called our management staff in the evening. Debra was having trouble breathing and couldn’t stop crying. We instructed the nannies to give her oxygen and see if her condition would improve. After a couple of hours on oxygen, she had not improved. At midnight, we took her to the hospital where she was admitted for heart failure.

Little Debra fought for her life, and after about a week of hospitalization, she stabilized enough to return to New Day. We scheduled her heart surgery for the first week in February. The day of her surgery, doctors told us that Debra’s pulmonary artery was narrowing – correcting it would involve a very complicated surgery that was expected to take at least six to nine hours. Prepared to spend the whole day in the waiting room, we were surprised and excited when the surgeon came out to talk with us less than three hours from when he began the surgery. He explained that a ligament had been attached to her pulmonary artery, causing it to kink and limit the blood flow. As soon as he cut the ligament, her blood began flowing normally. The operation turned out to be much simpler than he was expecting, and Debra was doing wonderfully.

Soon after her surgery, we were able to go into ICU to see her; her color was already much better. And since that time, her condition has only continued to improve.

When we first met little Evan, he broke our hearts. He was so thin and weak, he didn’t have the strength to sit on his own or even turn his head. At nearly 3 years old, he weighed only 10 pounds. But more painful than that, his face was expressionless – it seemed he had given up the will to live.

In his hometown, Evan had lived both in the orphanage and with a
foster family. But for unexplainable reasons, he just couldn’t gain weight. He had a lot of difficulty eating, and as a result became severely malnourished. His orphanage took him to Shanghai for testing, but nothing could be determined. They called us in desperation, telling us he would not survive if we didn’t take him. When he arrived, we knew he needed a miracle. We began pouring love into him and feeding him small portions, slowly increasing the amounts over time.

Less than a week after arriving at New Day, Evan gained nearly 5 pounds. Each day, his personality emerged a little more and we watched in amazement as he grew stronger. We cheered when he was able to sit up by himself. We rejoiced at each milestone – as he scooted across the playroom in a walker, played catch with us, and then walked with help. In less than a week, he raised himself to a standing position and took his first wobbly steps by himself. Now he can climb and walk just about anywhere he wants to go!

Evan started attending our pre-school, and we are overjoyed to see him continue to grow and develop.

We brought Ruby to New Day just before Christmas 2008. It was during a time when our staff was emotionally exhausted. We already had several children in our care with very critical medical conditions, and two of our babies had passed away in surgery the summer before. We just didn’t feel ready to bring in another serious case.

As we decided which child should come to New Day, we chose Ruby. She was born with tetrology of fallot, a serious heart condition but one that is also relatively simple to treat. We were expecting a straightforward case. But within hours of her arrival, we rushed Ruby to the hospital – she was going into heart failure and fighting for her life. She was put in a medically-induced coma as doctors worked to stabilize her. As soon as she was stabilized, she went in for emergency surgery. The doctors almost never perform these surgeries on a Sunday, but they believed Ruby’ condition was so critical, they couldn’t wait another day.

Her surgery went remarkably well and she immediately began to improve. While she still had a long recovery time in the hospital, it was clear that Ruby’ health made a complete turnaround after the operation. Now she is a happy and energetic little girl who is a delight to all of us. Though we thought we were bringing in an "easy case" when we accepted Ruby, we are thankful we received her instead. For we know that if she had not come to us, she would not be alive
today.

As a baby in our formula project, each month we would visit Gracie. And each month, we would hope to see her gain some weight. But it never happened. Due to her uncorrected heart condition and premature birth, she failed to grow. In her first 6 months, she didn’t even gain a full pound. Knowing that she wouldn’t survive if her growth continued to flat-line, we brought her to our Foster Home so that she could receive the medical care she urgently needed.

When she arrived at our Foster Home on October 11, 2008, she weighed 10.5 pounds at 7 months old. In Western countries, it isn’t uncommon for a baby to weigh at birth what Gracie weighed at 7 months old.

While we knew Gracie would make quick progress, nothing prepared us for how quickly she would improve.

Within her first month and a half at our facility, she gained 2.5 pounds, and her surgery went perfectly. The best way to understand how quickly her health was restored is to look at her growth chart. Children below the bottom red line are considered malnourished, but children following the yellow line are considered average. Though she was dangerously underweight when she arrived, little Gracie’s line spiked when she entered the foster home. Though it is just a line, it is a crystal-clear picture of hope restored and life given.

Though her heart defect wasn’t as serious as many we treat, Polly also suffered from pulmonary hypertension, essentially high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries. Though it is common for a Down’s Syndrome baby to have pulmonary hypertension, it made her operation even more dangerous.

Her doctor gave Polly medication in an attempt to lower the pressure enough to operate. While they were able to bring it down enough for surgery, the surgeon told us before operating that there was a significant risk that the pressure wouldn’t remain low long-term. And, if the pressure increased after the surgery, he feared Polly would not survive. There was nothing more that he could do.

As he began the operation, her pressure dropped to its lowest levels. It remained low when the surgery was completed and she was transferred to the recovery ward. In fact, it never returned to its pre-surgery levels. Since he’s already seen such a remarkable change in her arterial pressure, her doctor thinks that it will continue to drop until it is at a normal level.

God saw what the passengers in the trains rushing past could never see outside their windows. Lying in a dark, cold ditch beside the tracks and wrapped in a thin cloth with a small note pinned to the front, the baby's piercing cry roused the angels. He was never alone… not from the moment hands placed him on the ground and then turned and walked away. God was always near, and the Father who never abandons or forsakes his children orchestrated events in a divine way – bringing salvation and life to a little child left for death in a dark, cold ditch.

According to the note pinned to the cloth wrapping up his small body, Judson was born at around noon on July 30, 2008. He was found on July 31 and brought to the orphanage around noon the same day. We'll never know all that happened in Judson's life in his first 24 hours, but the fact that he was found alive in that ditch beside the railroad tracks was the first miracle among many. When the orphanage doctor unwound the cloth, the reason for the child's abandonment grew painfully obvious. His stomach and intestines were exposed, a congenital birth defect called gastroschisis. Judson weighed about 4.5 pounds, but his strong cry told all who stood around that he was a fighter. In addition to the birth defect, Judson suffered from the effects of hypothermia after his first night of life was spent outdoors, unprotected in a high-altitude province where the cold night's breeze reminds all that winter is never far away.

Realizing the severity of the child's case, the orphanage doctor immediately took Judson to the hospital, where he was told that it would be mere hours before Judson would die. But Judson didn't die. On August 1, the orphanage director called our foster home, deciding that if Judson wanted to fight, he deserved a chance. The director asked if we could help; we told him we could, if they could get him to us. Later that afternoon, the hospital staff told the orphanage that Judson was worsening, and that surgery would be a lost cause because he couldn't possibly make it. The orphanage director decided to wait until the next day to see if Judson was still alive. Though none of their treatment or interventions should have worked, Judson was touched by the Divine Healer during the night, and on the morning of August 2, the surprised hospital staff told the orphanage director that Judson was improving, but he needed surgery soon if he was to have a chance. It was a surgery the local hospital couldn't do, so the orphanage called us again, asking if we were prepared to take his case. We told them to bring him to Beijing as quickly as they could. The director's last words to us were, “Though we don't think he can make it, he deserves a chance.”

When one considers all the needs an orphanage must fill with an incredibly small budget, it is nothing short of a miracle that the orphanage director decided to invest considerable resources in a child who he thought probably wouldn't make it. But, he purchased two airline tickets to Beijing for the same afternoon, sending Judson to the capital with the orphanage's doctor and nurse. Before boarding the plane, however, Judson faced two more hurdles. The airline said that a child under two weeks old couldn't fly, and they would not allow anyone with a stomach tube or catheter to board the plane. In a desperate attempt to give Judson his only chance at survival, the orphanage director created new documents, saying that Judson was two weeks old. And, the hospital removed the stomach tube and catheter, wrapping Judson's abdomen up as best as they could for the journey. Getting on the plane with a newborn infant who very well may not get off the plane alive must have been a terrifying experience for the doctor and nurse responsible for his care, but God's presence was there in that moment… calming fears and sustaining life. It seems people can sense the Father's presence around Judson's life, for the flight attendants paid special attention to their youngest passenger. Upon landing early in Beijing, the flight attendants ushered the doctor, nurse, and Judson off the plane first, sending him on his way with a small Olympic bookmark, on which they wrote, “We hope you recover from this soon and that you lead a very happy life.”

At 4:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, August 2, our staff was at the gate when they walked off the plane – a milestone no one expected Judson to reach. An ambulance was waiting at the airport to take everyone to Beijing Children's Hospital, where the emergency room staff was expecting us to arrive and had an operating room on stand-by. In China, ambulances are not given right-of-way, but the Defender of the Fatherless was clearing a path for this child, and the ambulance had permission to use the newly formed “Olympic Lanes” for official Olympic traffic, getting him to the hospital in 20 minutes, when normally it would have taken at least an hour and a half. Rushed into the emergency room, Judson's check-in procedure was expedited, and by 6:00 p.m., Judson was being evaluated by Beijing Children's surgical staff.

Again, the prognosis wasn't good. His tissue had suffered significant damage from hypothermia, and his gastroschisis was more severe than most since it wasn't just his intestines, but also his stomach, that was exposed. The first 2 surgeons who evaluated Judson told us that surgery wasn't going to help; he was going to die no matter what, and to do surgery would be putting him through more trauma and would be a waste of resources. But Judson had come too far for everyone to give up on him, so we persisted and said that as long as he was alive, he had a chance. Realizing we were committed to operating on Judson, the doctors called in the chief surgeon, who gave us an equally bleak prognosis. Ten percent – that was Judson's chance of living through the next few days. The surgeon gravely told us that they'd done hundreds of similar surgeries, and they'd never lost a single child. But, he believed Judson would be the first loss, due to the severity of his case and the damage caused by hypothermia. He was willing to try, though, and we told him we wanted to move forward with treatment because we believe our God is a Healer who moves in the 10 percent as well as the 90 percent, and so Judson was prepped for surgery.

At 9:30 on Saturday night, Judson entered surgery, and by 11:15 p.m., he was finished. In addition to treating his gastroschisis, they discovered during surgery that Judson had gastric perforations in two places, which they closed. Overall, the surgery was a success, but only time would tell if Judson could make it. The surgical staff told us the first three days would be the most critical. During that time, he would be most likely to succumb to the effects of hypothermia, and the efficacy of the surgery would become apparent. Sunday afternoon the hospital reported that he was not getting worse and that his status was okay; a positive report overall. By Monday, the hospital told us that though he hadn't obviously improved, he was not getting worse and they thought his condition was good. He made it through the first two days of his three day critical stage, and we fully expect to continue getting good reports.

We know that the Father was in that ditch with Judson, and the reason he didn't die of hypothermia is that he was being held by the One who wants to restore all things. We believe that the reason he made it to our foster home and through surgery is because the Creator was moving on the hearts of all the people in charge; gently prompting their spirits to not give up and reminding them that every life has dignity and purpose. And, we know the reason that he is stable today is because the Great Healer is touching his little body in that isolation unit. Through Judson's new life, we have seen clear examples that God moves mountains and the hearts of men to protect and rescue those He created. It causes us to catch our breath, for we see the mighty hand of God moving in extravagant ways for a child who was believed to be a lost cause, whispering of the day coming when justice prevails and all is made right; when babies aren't discarded and all of creation isn't groaning.

We met Philip, who was born on February 9, 2006, when he was 3 months old. He had spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Unable to have him transferred to New Day at the time, we were saddened the next year to see that the orphanage had been unable to get him medical assistance locally – the surgery was too complicated for the local hospital – and his conditions had worsened rapidly. The lump on his back from spina bifida was the size of a softball, and his head had grown to 53 cm in circumference. We brought him to Beijing for surgery. Both surgeries were successful, though the surgeon told us that an MRI revealed that he only had a 2 cm rim of brain tissue around the inside of his skull remaining; the entire center of his brain had been filled with water. They told us he was severely brain damaged. However, as Philip recuperated from the surgeries, the doctors were amazed to find him alert and responsive. Today he responds to and tries to kiss his foster mother and interacts with other people – none of which should be possible. The doctors think it is a miracle, and we agree!

Four months before his second birthday, Luke was abandoned at the gate of the local orphanage. When we met Luke shortly after his arrival at the orphanage, he was a sad little boy who was clearly grieving the loss of everything familiar. We were immediately struck by his strong resemblance to Paul, a little boy who lived at New Day and died the previous year during heart surgery, so when we learned Luke had the same heart condition as Paul, we were surprised. The orphanage, knowing the surgery was too complicated to be performed locally, asked us to help Luke. While we knew we wanted to help him, taking home a child who both looked like and had the same issues as Paul was not easy to do; we were scared to go down the same road twice. However, we knew we had to help. When Luke arrived at New Day, he was very weak and cyanotic from lack of oxygen. Two months later he was able to have surgery. The surgery went very well; in 2008, Luke will have the second, more serious heart surgery. We hope that the second surgery goes as smoothly as the first so that Luke will have a long and happy life.

Drew, who was born on March 11, 2006, came to New Day with two treatable medical needs. Both were successfully treated, but after Drew's surgery for the umbilical polyp, he developed pneumonia. While being treated at the hospital, the doctors discovered that half of his left lung was not functioning, a condition called pulmonary sequestration, and he also had a 10.2 mm hole in his heart. Both of these problems were unknown before this time! We did surgery to correct the pulmonary sequestration right away, but the doctor feared it did not go well. After completing the surgery, he sadly told us that Drew wouldn't live through the night. But Drew pulled through and 10 days later, he came home from the hospital. In March 2007, we took him in to have heart surgery, but the shocked doctors told us it was no longer necessary because the 10.2 mm hole had shrunk to 5 mm. Watching little Drew toddle happily around our home, we are so thankful that we brought him home to New Day, where he was able to have treatment for life-threatening conditions that might never have been discovered until it was too late.

Lillian is another of our little heart babies. Born March 14, 2007, she was diagnosed with Tetrology of Fallot and ASD and came to live at New Day shortly after she was abandoned. In July of 2007, she had what was supposed to be a 4-hour, fairly routine heart surgery. During the course of the surgery, her heart was placed on bypass. When the surgery was complete and the doctors took her off bypass, they were unable to restart her heart. After evaluating the situation, the surgeon realized that the pressure in her pulmonary arteries was too high. They immediately put her back on bypass and began to do a second, unplanned surgery to correct the arteries. The entire process took 10 hours. When the tired doctor finally came to give us an update, he was not hopeful. He said her blood pressure was too low and her circulation wasn't good; he told us her heart might stop at any moment. However, Lillian pulled through the night and began to show signs of improvement the next day. Today, she is another one of our healthy babies and a true success story!

Victoria, who is 3 years old, arrived at New Day in October of 2007. She was brought to the orphanage only 6 months prior to her arrival at New Day, probably because her parents knew they could not obtain the medical care Victoria needed to save her life. Victoria had 2 holes in her heart; a VSD of 32 mm and an ASD of 10 mm -- by far the largest VSD we've ever faced. When she arrived, Victoria's heartbeat was 40 beats per minute (normal is 100-120), making it necessary that we send her to the hospital right away. At the hospital, the staff found that while she was sleeping, the rate would fall to the 20s; so low that they needed to wake her up to keep her alive. When meeting with the surgeon, he told us that normally children with this severe a heart condition do not live beyond 1 month after birth. Going into major heart surgery while also grieving the loss of her family and handling the stress of multiple moves in 6 months, little Victoria faced a tremendous hurdle, and we were all concerned about whether or not she had the will to live. We've learned that she is a fighter, and the surgery was a big success. They were able to correct both problems, and they installed a permanent pacemaker. Now, Victoria has a hope and a future, and we can't wait to see what it holds.

Though we knew she was born on May 30, 2006 and was 3 months old, Anna was as tiny as a 1-month-old baby when we brought her to New Day. On the overnight train home to Beijing, we woke up throughout the night to check and make sure she was still breathing, as she was in such poor health that we were concerned she wouldn't make it through the night. Anna was diagnosed with a heart disease and umbilical hernia, and when she arrived at New Day, she weighed only 6.34 pounds. We needed to wait until she was healthier to treat her medical needs. In March of 2007, when she was healthy enough to have her heart surgery performed, we were sent home from the hospital by the doctor when he found that the 6.5mm hole in her heart was completely healed! Furthermore, her umbilical hernia is getting better and better, too, and the doctor has said that she will not need surgery for that, either. Seeing Anna change from a tiny baby with a small chance at life, to a pretty, chubby little girl with a bright future—all without any medical intervention—has been an amazing thing to watch.

Abigail was born on October 3, 2005 and abandoned 10 days later. She was diagnosed with anal atresia, a birth defect resulting in no anal opening, and underwent emergency colostomy surgery. When Abigail was 23 days old, she arrived at New Day weighing 5 pounds. She would need 2 surgeries; one for anal, vagina and urethra reconstruction and the second to reverse her colostomy. When Abigail was two years old, she was finally able to have the first 15-hour surgery. The doctor left Abigail with a colostomy, intending to wait at least one year to perform the second surgery so that her body could fully heal. However, within 2 months of the first surgery, we knew she couldn't wait a year because she was not getting enough nutrition; she had to undergo painful therapies; and she was very unhappy because she wasn't able to eat what the other children ate. We had her evaluated for the second surgery, and the doctor agreed to go ahead and perform it, 10 months ahead of schedule. The surgery was very successful, and within a few weeks, she started to gain weight. Now, she can eat all the foods the other children enjoy, and she is a beautiful and happy little lady!

When Jacob arrived at New Day, he was a sickly, skinny little boy in need of heart surgery. Unfortunately we could not provide him with the heart surgery he needed right away because he had pneumonia. Jacob spent his first few months at New Day in and out of ICU trying to get over an infection, but because he was malnourished, his body could not fight off the infection and it spread to his heart. This caused Jacob's heart to become abnormally enlarged, making the heart surgery he needed completely impossible. Doctors recommended a treatment that would eventually bring Jacob's heart back to normal size. However this treatment was costly and would take a year to complete – and, according to doctors, would probably not even work! We decided it was a chance we had to take. We brought Jacob back to New Day and began the treatment, praying for a miracle. A month later we took Jacob in for another check-up, and we received our miracle. Not only was Jacob's heart back to normal size, but the hole in his heart was closing on its own. He no longer needed surgery and today is a vibrant, healthy little boy today who enjoys living with his new family who adopted him in January 2007.

Chloe was first noticed by a family that was at the Hohhot orphanage to adopt another child. As soon as this family could, they contacted us to see if we could help Chloe. Chloe is a beautiful albino girl who had severe developmental and behavioral problems. When Chloe came to us, she was five years old and could not speak or interact very well with people. Chloe's condition was caused mainly by a lack of stimulation in her developmental years. After being with us for a short time, she began to utter her first words and interact with the other children. Within a short time of living at New Day, Chloe was no longer deathly afraid of new situations and experiences, and thankfully she was adopted in May 2007 by a wonderful and loving family in the United States!

Eve is a beautiful young lady who was born into a silent world on July 15, 2003. Because of her deafness, she was abandoned and sent to a nearby orphanage. For two years, this delightful little girl was unable to hear what was going on around her. Eve came to New Day after her Cochlear Implant surgery was completed. She came to Beijing so that she could receive the regular adjustments to the implants that she needed. The new “loud” world was scary! She cried whenever her caregiver turned on her speech processor. However, after a short time, she grew accustomed to being able to hear. It wasn't long before she started talking! She was always an outgoing little girl who loved being around people, but the Cochlear Implant did make it easier for her to interact with others and she became even friendlier. Eve is a charming little girl who won our hearts with her delightful disposition. We are so thankful that she was adopted in October 2005 and knows the joys of being treasured by a family.

Abby was born on February 6, 2003 with little hope of a normal healthy life. She had a severe cleft lip, tumors on her head and in her nose, and hydrocephalus. Things began to look up for her two weeks later when she came to live at New Day Foster Home. On April 15, 2003 she was able to undergo her first corrective surgery. She continued to undergo a variety of surgeries throughout the next year until the last one was finally completed on July 8, 2004. It was wonderful to see the changes that took place in this little girl's life. Right before our eyes, Abby changed from a very timid baby who was afraid of so many things, including unfamiliar people, into a very outgoing, active little girl who actually enjoyed being around visitors! Now the transformation is complete, as she was adopted by a loving family in March 2007. Like so many of our children, to look at her now, you'd never guess the journey her life has taken her on.

Brett is one of our miracle children. When he arrived at New Day Foster Home on January 11, 2005, little did we know what was in store for this precious little boy. Within the first hour of his arrival, he was rushed to the emergency room. He was turning bluer by the minute and was having an extremely difficult time breathing. When he arrived at the Beijing Children's Hospital, he was immediately admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. The medical staff told us that he was suffering from malnutrition, bronchitis, pneumonia, a serious heart condition, bed sores, and a hernia. The doctor informed us that he had a very slim chance of making it through the night. Thankfully, Brett had an extremely strong will to live and fought very hard for his life. Four months later, after repeated hospital stays, Brett had gained enough weight to be able to have the much-needed heart surgery. After the life-saving operation, Brett became a completely different child. He grew more alert and more interested in his surroundings. We grew to love Brett dearly, and his time with us went by so quickly! He was adopted in September 2006 by a loving family in the USA.

When we saw Matthew in one of the local orphanages, we knew we had to help him. He was born with a tumor on the right side of his face that continued to grow with each passing month. On November 15, 2002, he came to live with us here at New Day Foster Home. Four months later, on March 19, 2003, he received an operation during which much of the tumor was removed. On June 24, 2004, he underwent radiation treatment to help keep the tumor from growing back. Matthew is an observant young boy who pays close attention to details. Whenever he notices something that is not right, he likes to make sure that the “problem” is fixed. He is very meticulous about taking care of everything that is around him, especially items that belong to him. Before he was adopted, his soon-to-be adoptive mother sent him a box of toys. Each time he played with them, he made sure that they were carefully put back in the box. Matthew was so excited when his adoptive family arrived on November 6, 2005; we are so thankful that now he does not have to face his medical challenges without the loving care of his very own family!

Daniel is a very special little boy who has already faced many complications in his short life. When he was born on August 10, 2003, he suffered from hydrocephalus and spina bifida. When we first saw him, it was love at first sight - we immediately were taken by his cute personality and knew that we needed to come to his aid. On April 8, 2004, after being released from the hospital following a seven hour surgery in Shanghai, he came to live with us at New Day Foster Home. He arrived very weak and was scared by all of the changes. He didn't like interacting with people and faced developmental delays due to his many problems. After many hours of tender loving care, Daniel started opening up and responding to what was happening all around him. When he was ten months old, he finally was able to sit up on his own and feed himself small finger foods. Even though this is normal for children his age, we were thrilled to see Daniel be able to do these normal activities. As Daniel grew older, his strong, fighting spirit became even more apparent, as he learned how to walk with the assistance of a walker and patiently completed several hours of physical therapy every day. In December 2007, Daniel was adopted – fulfilling his dream of someday having a family of his own. We are so happy for Daniel and are excited to see all that his future holds.