February 1, 2011
By Fungyee Lam, serving in Taiwan
The following is an adaptation of an article by Fungyee Lam.
Love, attention, and discipline are lacking in the lives of most children in Qidu. Having to work long hours, complicated in some cases by the challenges of divorce, many parents are left with little time for their children. Sadly, some children in Qidu have been abandoned by widowed parents.
John, who has been without any discipline in his daily life, has been coming to our Qidu Gospel Center for several years. Sometimes he still acts in the ways he wants. Once while we were at the night market passing out tracts, he had a soft drink. After he finished it, he automatically threw the empty cup down onto the floor and ran away. I did not pick up the cup. I waited until he came back and pointed out the empty cup that had been lying on the floor for the past five minutes, telling him that it was his garbage. He then picked it up and deposited it in a nearby garbage bag.
The next week while we were again at the night market, our pastor provided sandwiches for the children who came to help. After they were done eating the sandwiches, John came over and asked me where to throw his sandwich bag. Praise God. Please continue to pray to God for wisdom in how we should discipline John and the other children from similar backgrounds.
Like many who attend our Saturday children’s class, Emily is from a household where the parents are always working. When they are home, drinking and fighting take place. One day during the class, Emily’s team lost a game. As we were transitioning into story time, all the children sat down, and Emily sat in front of me. With her head down, she began scratching her arms hard with her fingernails. This behavior is not uncommon in Qidu, where many children hurt themselves to alleviate the emotional pain of living in a dysfunctional family. One of the most common ways is to cut their wrists with razor blades.
Healing for the Hurting
For Emily, there are deeper reasons for hurting herself than losing games. I asked her why she does what she did, and she said she didn’t know. I told her not to hurt herself because Jesus loves her, and He would be sad seeing her hurting herself. The next time I saw her, I reminded her again that Jesus loves her and does not want to see her hurting herself. The following week, she came to me with a wound on her arm. This time the injury was due to an accident. She asked me for ointment and a bandage!
Two Things You Can Do
In your prayers, pray for John, Emily, and other children in Qidu who desperately need Jesus’ love. Pray also that their parents will come to know Him. Ask the Lord to bring wholeness and healing to these hurting families through a relationship with Him.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries. In doing so, you partner with overseas Alliance workers, like Fungyee, to spread the good news of Christ’s love among those desperate for His touch.