I had an incredible experience a few days before Christmas that will impact me for many years to come and I would like to share it with you. A friend of mine here, Ethan, has been working with handicapped and disabled orphans for many years now. (Many of you may remember giving to his organization “Little Fish” by buying cards the orphans had made when Heather and I were home two summers ago.) This year he has seen a lot of progress in his work with these kids.
So it was only a few days before Christmas when Ethan and his group of orphans put on a performance at a local school here and that is where I was really impacted. The first thing that really touched me was watching these handicapped and disabled orphans perform. They sang a bunch of songs and even had a fashion show, which was super cute. Seeing the confidence, joy, and life that was coming out of these kids was amazing. To me, their smiles and attitude perfectly reflected the love that Ethan and his co-workers have given them. It moved me to tears.
The second thing that really impacted me happened near the end of the performance. One of the orphans came up to me; struggling to walk, struggling to control his movements and having difficulty communicating and handed me a pamphlet about the Little Fish project. Despite his circumstances he thought of me and wanted to give to me. I wish I thought of others the way this young man thought of me in that moment.
The reason I’m writing this, if you couldn’t tell from the post title, is that I want to help Ethan raise some money for his work. In a month Ethan is going to look for an apartment to rent and will use it as an office. What’s exciting about this is that the Little Fish group will use this office as a place to move some of the orphans who are more capable of living on their own. It will be a place for them to begin a new life outside the walls of an orphanage. It will also be a place for the staff to meet together to train and to pray for this work. I’m also excited because for future guests who visit Xian it can be a place for us to go love on these guys.
My goal is to raise $800 for Ethan's project. Ethan has already raised much of the rent money he will need for a full year, but this money will fulfill what he needs for rent. It will also be used in furnishing this office/living space and cover additional expenses like utilities. What's cool is that someone has already committed to matching donations up to $400! So that means that for every dollar you donate, two will be given to this work!
I don’t know what your financial situation is, but if you care about work being done with orphans, or work being done with disabled/handicapped, or if you take the words of Jesus about "loving the least of these" serious, then this is a great opportunity for you to help. Even a donation of $15 can be a tremendous blessing to this project. If you’re interested in helping, please write me an email to discuss how you can make a donation at mattpeterson83@gmail.com
Also, help me get the word out! You can post links on your own blog or Facebook page, or simply click the like button at the bottom of this post to get the word out for how to help this group. Heather and I love you guys, thanks for reading all of this!
We have a month to raise this money and I will keep everyone posted on how it’s going! Check out the total on the side of our blog to see where we’re at.
"A day lived without showing love to others, is a day not worth living." -Mother Theresa
With hope,
the petersons
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