Praying for Sichuan

I know many of you may have been watching the news from China this week and have probably been saddened by the images. At our house, it's very personal and sobering. You may recall that The Chunster is from NanChong, Sichuan Province. I don't know the exact location where her birth family resides, but I feel sure it is in Sichuan and is probably not terribly far from where the earthquake and its aftermath were felt. Her foster family lives in NanChong, which we know from reports have felt the aftershock and suffered some damage. In fact, we hear that NanChong Social Welfare Institute No. 2, the orphanage to which Amelia was assigned (but never lived), sustained some structural damage. We also know that children in Chengdu, Chongqing, and other areas were temporarily evacuated from the orphanages for safety. At least one of these orphanages is working to have services restored. I am asking for your prayers on behalf of the Sichuanese people and especially the Sichuanese children who do not have parents to comfort them or hold them during these frightening times. The Sichuanese people are no longer people far away to me - they are my family. They are special to me in away that words could never describe. Their loss and their pain is my own. Please continue to lift them up before Our Heavenly Father.