SILENT TEARS: A JOURNEY OF HOPE IN A CHINESE ORPHANAGE (KAY BRATT)

In 2003 Kay Bratt was leaving her comfortable life in the United States and heading to rural China for four years as her husband was sent there to head up a team that was opening a new factory. Amanda, their youngest daughter, would travel with them to China. Heather, Kay's eldest daughter chose to stay behind and live with her birthfather, Kay's ex-husband.

Kay's first impression of China was disappointing at best and it took her quite some time to become used to the poverty, over-crowding, the smells, the noises, and the constant barrage of people. She needed something to do, something to focus on so she became a volunteer at a local children's orphanage.

Kay soon learns about China's one child policy which created an epidemic of orphaned children. Chinese parents didn't value girls because they couldn't carry on the family name so they were more often than not, left abandoned somewhere in a park, at a train station, on the steps to a government building and other such places. Children were also regularly abandoned due to disabilities and illness.

What an eye-opening experience this turned out to be for Kay! She began to keep a journal of her experiences and the book is written in journal form making it pleasurable and easy to read. The journal is a scorching account of young lives rendered disposable. In the face of an implacable system, Kay found ways to work with (and around) the rules to make a better future for the children, whom she came to love. While often painful in it's clear-sightedness, Silent Tears balances the sadness and struggles of life in the orphanage with moments of joy, optimism, faith, and victory. It is the story of hundreds of children, and of the one woman who never planned on becoming a hero but became one anyway.

February 12, 2011

SAVING LEVI LEFT TO DIE...DESTINED TO LIVE (LISA MISRAJE BENTLEY)

Imagine finding a baby with 3rd and 4th degree burns to over 70 percent of it's body left laying in a field to die? That is exactly what the villagers of a poor farming community just outside Langfang City in China found. With approximately 40 villagers seeking the sound of the horrendous shrieking cries scouring the field for the source, only one kind-hearted gentleman was willing to pick up the baby and thus begin the "Saving [of] Levi".

Only when this one lone man found it in his heart to pick up Levi did he really begin a chain of events that would not only save the child's life, but spark an amazing chain of events that would bring people from various countries and faiths together in a successful battle against time to save Levi's life.

This is a compelling and true story, a story of immense love, kindness, caring, faith and God and the power He has to invoke healing where He sees fit. My hat goes off to the many, many people spoken about in this book who aided in Levi's journey, but more so to the Bentley family for their daring, their deep faith and their unconditional love for an abandoned child who needed someone to care!

This story will touch your heart at its deepest level and will remind you that with faith and a solid belief in your God, that all things are possible. Good luck little Levi!

February 8, 2011