Threshold Ministries Linjiang, China

Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) Celebrated at Hope House

2011-10-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Every year on August 15th (Chinese date), it's Chinese traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. It's the second largest festival in China after Spring Festival. The family will try to get together. At night, the family will eat mooncakes and watch moon. Liu, Hai Yan Director of TMI China.

This year, the children at our orphanage, TMI Hope House for Children celebrated this holiday with Threshold's dear friend, Dong, Anhua and his family. Together they shared a wonderful meal and later on enjoyed mooncakes and the beautiful full moon.

Dong, Anhua, his wife and two children treated
the children and staff of Hope House
to a lovely meal, fellowship and of course, mooncakes!

Mooncakes are a pastry filled with either red bean
or lotus seed paste. Mooncakes are usually eaten in
small wedges accompanied by Chinese Tea.

Hope House Summer Holiday!

2011-09-16T13:27:00.001-07:00

In May, a summer a trip was being planned for the children and young adults that live in our orphanage, Hope House. Very good friends and supporters (in China) of Hope House offered to fund a trip of a lifetime for the kids. In early August the children and the staff of Hope House boarded a train to Dalian. Dalian is the center of foreign trade in Liaoning Province and is the second largest international commercial harbor in China. It’s a city that has the look of a major metropolitan hub, but the feel of an island resort. For three days the kids and adults were treated to great fun, food and attractions! Below is a synopsis of the trip put together by our director in China, Liu, Haiyan. What a blessing this trip was for everyone. Something these children would have never been able to experience without the kindness and thoughtfulness of Threshold’s dear friends!

Card games keep us busy
on the long train ride.

12 hours later we arrived in Dalian. We are tired but the
beautiful buildings and the views in Dalian make us so excited!

The sea is so big, but we can’t wait to go in.
It’s lots of fun looking for sea shells and
experiencing the waves!

Found Some!

Lunch at a big restaurant in Dalian.
So many delicious dishes to choose from!

Watching the dolphins and sea lions
perform at Tiger Beach Ocean Park
which is an aquarium and sea life center.

Enjoying the seafood in Dalian. For many of the kids, this was
the first time they had tasted crab, shrimp and shellfish!

What’s a trip to the “big city” without a
visit to Kentucky Fried Chicken???

A Day of Fun with Alpacas, TMI Fundraiser Elizabeth, Colorado

2011-08-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Alpacas enjoying a snack!

Hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy!
Lots of volunteers to feed the crowd!

Liu, Haiyan's daughter, Chen Chen and a friend

Liu, Haiyan and the singers

Pandora Celtica entertains the crowd!

Did you ever see the clowns at a circus come spilling out of their car, one after another until the audience gasps at the impossibility of the number of them…and still they keep climbing out? I was reminded of that childhood experience when I watched the volunteers spill out of their cars on the morning of our “Event”, July 16th.

They came with folding tables and chairs, canopies and tents for the sun, and even a spinning wheel to demonstrate the spinning of the yarn made from the fleece of the alpacas on our farm. They laughed, set up, handled parking, led and played the games, prepared the food, and then they paid for the privilege. They shopped at our store, dropped checks in our box, encouragement and hope in our hearts. Then they packed up, cleaned up, and left us with hugs and promises of help to come, reminding us of the goodness of the God we all serve. We had over 200 visitors that day and earned enough money to send our first food delivery of $2,000.00.

According to the verse we received from God in the beginning of our ministry, Isaiah 43:19, we have begun a new thing again much like we did in the beginning, in Jilin Province, P.R.C., CA, and now in CO.

Our Event was meant to be the “Grand Opening” of our new office. We have officially opened the Western Regional Office of Threshold Ministries, Inc. here on our alpaca farm 40600 Valley View Court, Elizabeth, CO. Our mailing address is: P.O. Box 1170, Elizabeth, CO 80107. Phone: (303)646-4245. Email: COthreshold@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Although our farm is in the country, we are only 20 minutes from 3 million people in the Denver metropolitan area. Many of these people have already discovered that a 20 minute drive will reap many blessings and they have begun to come for alpaca kisses, quiet, prayer, fellowship, to shop at our TMI store for jade, books, assorted Chinese goodies, or just to enjoy a cup of coffee or an iced tea. We keep cookies in the cookie jar for the children and pellets in the barn for them to feed to our alpacas. We are all being blessed; hopefully the children in Linjiang more than anyone.

Our guest room is rarely empty, as we enjoy the visits of family and friends. For the past three weeks, Liu Hai Yan, our director in China, and her little girl, Chen Chen visited with us. What joy! They were our best ambassadors and a source of strength and inspiration to all who met them. We will miss them terribly but are grateful to God that they return to Linjiang where Liu Hai Yan and staff will continue to minister to our very needy and very lovely children.

In closing, we wish you peace, joy, prosperity, and encourage you to join with us in beginning a new thing. At TMI, Fifteen years of listening to and following the direction of a huge and patient God has taught us that even when we fail to hear clearly, He is faithful to rescue us and redirect our efforts in the direction intended. He will provide; we will pray and work. God Bless!

Cindy

2011-06-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

"Threshold Ministries, Inc. is proud to announce the Grand Opening of our new branch office in Colorado! Our kick-off event , "A Day of Fun with Alpacas" will be held at the home of our founders, Dean and Cindy Reynolds, in Elizabeth, CO at 40600 Valley View Court. This will be our temporary office address and will be populated with both volunteers and volunteer alpacas! We so hope that you can join us for a day of fun on the farm, but if you are unable, please consider sending a donation to encourage this new ministry branch office. All proceeds from this event will go directly to our China Office to feed and care for the orphans of Hope House. You may donate online, or send a check to Threshold Ministries, Inc., Western Regional Office, P.O. Box 1170, Elizabeth, CO 80107-1170, or to our main headquarters office, Threshold Ministries, Inc., P.O. Box 2406, Orcutt, CA 93457-2406. Click on the flyer above for larger view.

2010 Year End

2011-01-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

2010 was a successful year for Threshold. Some of our accomplishments include:

At year end a total of 222 children were participating in our Outreach Sponsorship Program; 56 primary school students, 73 middle school students, 48 high school students and 40 university/technical school students. Five children are special needs and do not attend school. In the summer of 2010, twelve students graduated from university and found employment in their field of study.
Our orphanage, TMI Hope House is caring for 33 children and young adults: 12 are in primary school, 10 are in middle school, 5 are in high school and 6 are attending technical school.
Our Gifts of Hope program has distributed summer shirts, athletic shoes and supplemental food (98 bottles of oil, 134 bags of rice and 88 bags of flour) to the 43 children on our waiting list. 22 truckloads of firewood, and 1000 ducks and feed were distributed to the needy families living in the area where we serve.

2010 Christmas at Hope House

2011-01-03T12:51:00.001-08:00

We have some Christmas pictures of our Hope House children. They received puppets and dolls. They also received new winter clothes, boots and warm hats that were donated by a wealthy Linjiang businessman. They look so happy and full of love! Pray that Jesus is planted in their hearts and they know that true love comes from Him!
More gifts from the sponsors are coming to the Hope House and our Outreach children. More pictures to come.......
View the following link to see more pictures!

http://thresholdministries.shutterfly.com/pictures

2010-08-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have good news: the orphans were able to come home on Wednesday, August 18th! Praise God for that. There are still some issues to deal with resulting from the flood waters. Our front gate is still broken and we are waiting to hear if the government will fix the broken water pipes and heating pipes. Only a minimal amount of water seeped in one side door. We are just so thankful that our children and our staff are safe. A copy of an article was dropped off at the office by one of our supporting friends today and here is the link http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2010-08/560341.html
It talks about the flooding in our area and how devastating it has been for many. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. God bless you.

Flood in Linjiang

2010-08-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Flooding on Yalu River

Hope House and Yalu River at normal flow level.

Hi everyone,

We need your prayers! The island where Hope House is located has flooded and has been evacuated. North Korea opened one of their dams last week and since then Jilin Province has been hit with torrential rains. The good news is that our orphans were visiting family and friends when this happened so they, and our staff, are all safe. The not so good news is that we cannot get to the building so we do not yet know the extent of any damage that may have occurred. We do know one outside gate has been knocked down. Hope House is high on its foundation so we pray for protection of the building. It was no coincidence that our orphans were not at Hope House when this happened. God is so good and his protection and covering are over all of our children and staff. Please continue to pray for everyone over there and that the damage may be minimal. Praise God above all.

Recap of China Trip May 2010

2010-06-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Finally, here is a recap of my trip with the highlights. I apologize for the length and I tried to cut it down to the pertinent parts. There is just so much to tell and I want you to feel what we do, not just read a few facts. Corresponding pictures are attached through the Shutterfly link below. Scroll to the end of this post to view a video featuring the children of Hong Tu Shan. I hope that this post, photos and video will bring you into our work and that you feel a part of it. Thank you for caring about us, thank you for all of your prayers!

http://thresholdministries.shutterfly.com/pictures/10

Day 1- Shopped the wholesale markets in Shenyang. Found the cutest pillows: Ladybugs for the girls and Tiger Paws for the boys. Then stuffed teddy bear key chains for all: Boy/Girl couples dressed up for the girls and Pirates for the boys. New umbrellas for all. New quilts and quilt covers for all. It is always a long day of shopping and we are tired, but it is so worth it to find these wonderful gifts for our children.

Day 2- Left for Linjiang. The 7 hour drive is long, but the view is gorgeous. The mountains are green and the new spring growth is evident everywhere.

Day 3- Went to visit our dear paper cutting man. He always seems happy to see us and he had many more paper cuts to sell to us. We are so grateful to help him in this way. He creates all of his paper cuts by hand with the traditional tools. They are exquisite. Now to find a way to sell the paper cuts!

Next we visited Pastor Zhao who has a house church in a small nearby village. He is bent over completely at the waist due to illness, I think it is rheumatoid arthritis. But the gleam in his eye when he talks about Jesus is unmistakable.

Dinner with Mayor Wang – it was a very pleasant dinner. We must keep up our Public Relations when we are in Linjiang.

Day 4- Went to see a new boy, Yu Guang Yi, in Si Dao Gou village. 11 years old (10 years old in U.S.). It took about an hour to drive up the winding mountain road. At least it was paved. We reached the top of the mountain to see this small farming village. This young boy’s dad had committed suicide in April, and his mom had gone crazy and left Guang Yi to fend for himself. He has three uncles in the village who would help him when they could. We asked one uncle and aunt to take Guang Yi into their home and we would find a sponsor for him as well as their young baby. They refused. At first I was a bit upset. I could not understand. I was overcome with emotions, constantly holding back the tears. This 10 year old boy had to learn on his own how to cook rice, he told us how he sleeps with the covers over his head at night because he is scared and all alone. How could they not take their own family in and care for him? But God revealed to me, and to my heart, the poverty they live in. I soon understood that they are so poor that the thought of another mouth to feed is incomprehensible to them. They just cannot do it. So I told Hai Yan we need to take him to Hope House. He was happy we said that and he was ready to go. Our mamas took him into their arms when we arrived at Hope House and got him cleaned up and fed and a brand new bed was assigned to him.

In the afternoon we visited 3 unsponsored, waiting children. Cao Xin Yue is a 15 year old girl who lives in a small apartment with her mom, dad and grandparents. She has diabetes and must take medicine every day. The mom has extremely poor vision due to cataracts. The father has TB. We gave them some food and left them with a promise to find a sponsor so she can stay in school. I also worry about the medical costs for all of them. It must be overwhelming. Next we visited Wu Wenjia. She and her mother live in one small room together that they rent. There is literally only enough room for the 2 of them to stand between the furniture and the bed. But they are happy and smiling and bright and full of hope. Wenjia is very smart and showed us her school awards. She also sang a couple of songs for us. (Since coming home, we have found a sponsor for her!) Lastly we were on to visit Lu Mingtao. He was born without a cerebellum. He has full brain capacity, but is stuck in a body that is small, tight and twisted. His mom told us he had been practicing his English for us. After walking down the long back alley next to the railroad, we then turned onto a smaller alley to find our way to his home. He greeted us with “Welcome” in English. He was so happy to see us and also told us “thank you” in English. His body would contort and twist and spasm with excitement. We found out it was his actual birthday (31 years old) so we sang to him. His mom gave me a tiny little paper boat and told us how he makes them with his tongue- yes, his tongue! We were all amazed. He used to make one in 10 minutes, but he is getting weaker and so now it takes him about an hour to make one boat. He obviously cannot go to school, but this family needs financial help. His mom’s full time job is caring for him. They have such few resources out there for people in his condition. I am reminded how blessed we are.

Day 5- Today is Sunday and it is the Annual Birthday Party. Today will be a good, fun day. But first: One of our Baba’s at Hope House tells me that Hope House has no running water. WHAT?? Apparently the water had been trickling over the winter so they thought it was just frozen pipes. Nope. The construction company broke the water pipes and now, today, there is none. So we assessed the situation and we will pray, pray, pray for an answer. We ate lunch at Hope House with our orphans before the party. Guang Yi sat with us. He ate multiple bowls of food. I asked him what the best part was so far about living at Hope House. I thought he would say food. He said it was being able to sleep at night and not be afraid. All I could do was hug him and tell him I love him and try to not break down in tears. We were ready for the party now. Obviously our university students and some of the children who live in villages too far on the outskirts of town are not able to come. I made my welcome speech to all of the children, encouraged them to do their best in school and in their lives and reminded them how much all of us love them. Bob read his latest children’s book with Hai Yan translating. Then some of the children performed songs and poems for us. Three of our older children each gave inspirational speeches to help encourage everyone to stay in school. They talked about how their lives have been changed through the love of their American sponsors. Next it was time to hand out the gifts. All of the children were eagerly standing in line to get their goodies. Finally, it is time to eat cake. Although I did make a mental note for next time, that we need to do cake first and then gifts. The poor children had their hands full with gifts and then we are trying to hand them these large pieces of spongy cake on the tiniest, flimsiest paper plates I have ever seen with teeny tiny plastic forks. What a balancing act for the children! But they managed. Next time we will do it in a different order though to help them out a bit. The cake was gorgeous and I always love seeing the cake topper. It is a plastic flower that opens up once lit. I think it plays music too but it is so high up on the cake and the laughter and chatter of 150 plus children and adults drowns out anything else. Cake ended up on faces and in hair. The laughter is infectious. I had cake on my face and in my hair. One of our newest orphan girls came over and gently tugged my arm down. I bent down to her level and she carefully and gently started cleaning my face and hair. The sweetness of it almost brought me to tears. She will be good mama one day. The other thing that is amazing; with over 150 kids, cake on faces and hair, running around, there was hardly a speck of cake or icing on the floor to be seen anywhere. They are all trying so hard to be such good kids for us. Today my heart is happy and lighter.

Day 6- Today we traveled to the town of Wei Sha He. We are visiting some sponsored children who could not come to the party and we will give them their birthday gifts. First we stopped at Zhang Rui’s home. She is around 6 years old and lives with her mom and grandmother. The mom’s boyfriend raped Zhang Rui last year and he is now in jail. The mom is handicapped and unable to work. The sadness in this little girl is evident upon meeting her. She was fascinated with the toys we gave her. She does not have many toys. She sang a song for us at the prompting of her mother. My reward was as we were leaving I told her how much I loved her song and told her I love her and gave her a hug. She finally showed a big smile and Yu Shu Mei was able to catch it on camera. It was the only time we saw her smile. I pray for more smiles in the future for her. We visited two more sponsored girls who are doing extremely well. Li Ran is probably one of the happiest people I have ever met in my life. The hope that Threshold provides is evident in these sponsored children. Although we have to walk across muddy, trash strewn ditches to get to their homes, they are happy because they have the opportunity to go to school and they know they are loved. We took the afternoon to go to a beautiful park and enjoy the beauty of the Linjiang mountains. Pastor Zhang joined us at the office for dinner tonight. What a blessing to hear him talk about how the Linjiang church is growing and that he and his wife are setting up more house churches in the small villages. The spirit of God is moving in this area. We cannot preach ourselves, but we can encourage the local pastors!

Day 7- Today we went to the city of Baishan. It is about an hour away. We met with the Director of the Red Cross and the Director of the Blood bank, along with two top employees and volunteers. We have agreed to help them by providing 1000 ducks to the poor villagers in their area. We hope to partner more with them in the future and to spread the outreach of Threshold Ministries. It was an afternoon with good conversation and good feelings. We pray that continues. On our way home we stopped to visit two more of our sponsored children who could not make it to the party. We gave them their birthday gifts and they told us how happy they are and how well they are doing.

Day 8- Today we visited the village of Hong Tu Shan. It takes about 3 hours to drive to this village. It is extremely remote and poverty is rampant. Cindy and Hai Yan found this village a few years ago. Now we have many sponsored children there and we work closely with the school director to help this school and the children in any way we can. The difference shows. These children are well behaved, clean and focused. The children were sitting at their desks out on their playground waiting for us to arrive. They had many songs, poems and skits to perform for us. It was incredibly delightful. The best one was the fashion show! Those kids strutted their stuff walking “the walk” across that dirt playground. I was able to get everything on video so we hope to get them translated and up on YouTube. After the performances were done, we handed out cake to every child. They each got their own individually wrapped cake to eat at a later time. I am guessing the teachers will gladly send them home to eat it so the parents can deal with the effects of the sugar rush to come! Our staff will deliver the gifts to the sponsored children at a later time. We did not want to do it in front of the other children.

Day 9- Today we are visiting more unsponsored, waiting children in villages outside of Linjiang. The first young boy we visited, Chen Xin Yu, had never seen Americans before. He was so scared that he took one look at us and turned and ran back out the front door. His patient father coaxed him back in and then it did not take long for him to warm up to us. He started bringing out all of his awards from school to proudly show us. He is a bright young boy. His father has leukemia and is not doing well. His grandfather is sick as well. The next young man is 12 years old, Wang Qian. He is very smart. His mom has heart disease and cannot work. I promised to find him a sponsor so he can stay in school. Next we visited the Zang family triplets. The father has cystic fibrosis and he is homebound. The mom was out farming when we visited. Again, the promise to find a sponsor was made. It is heartbreaking to see these people, living in these small homes, no larger than our garage. To hear the stories of divorce, abandonment, illness, disability…the weight of knowing the poverty they live in and how it could affect their ability to attend school, to have healthy meals each day and yet it can be changed with a sponsorship. We have over 40 children waiting to be sponsored. I need to come home and find many sponsors……

Tonight was dinner with the Director of the Welfare Department, some old “friends” and some new “friends”. The dinner went very, very well!

Day 10- Dinner was so successful last night that this morning the owner of the construction company called (our new friends from last night) and are buying new clothes for all of the orphans. Good, good news! The example Threshold has been setting for 13 years is reaching more people. We toured Hope House more carefully today. Our beautiful building is showing the effects of the weather it must withstand each year. Parts of the building are breaking down. So we have documented, taken pictures and we will search for donors and grants to help us maintain our building. The safety of our orphans is of the utmost importance. Our Hope House staff has the old water pump working to pump river water into Hope House to use for bathroom and kitchen facilities. We will buy bottled water for the children to drink. Since being home, we have just recently found out that the water company has agreed to pay for the repairs of the water pipes! AMEN and thank you Lord for answered prayers. Pray they follow through on their word. This is such good news!! We were concerned after our problems with the heating company last fall. Tonight we had our last public relations function. The top three mayors joined us throughout the evening. It has been a long time since the number one mayor took time to meet with us. They all spoke about the wonderful work we do and how they should follow our example. The best part…they followed through! The mayor told the Welfare Director to buy some gifts for the orphans for the upcoming Children’s Holiday. We still need a lot of financial help, but the fact that the local officials are stepping up and helping us is truly tremendous.

Day 11- We are on our way to Beijing and the final leg of our trip. This will be our time to decompress and see the sights in Beijing for a couple of days. We will find a few more treasures to bring back to the states to sell and help provide a bit of income for us. It has been an incredible journey once more. We see things that are heartbreaking, but we see so much hope as well. I am encouraged and hopeful myself. The task to find funding and find sponsors is big, but my God is bigger!! I can’t let those sweet faces down. They need our help and they need hope. We saw more signs of Christianity in homes, crosses hanging on walls, the growth of the local church. China is changing and we have to do our part to help them. Acts 1:8 states “…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” May we all be living witnesses of the love of Christ every day, all day, wherever we are and may the glory of God and His love encourage us and fill us with joy.

In His Service,
Erinn Copeland
Executive Director

Annual Birthday Party for Sponsored Children

2010-05-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

Every day is jam packed and there is so much to tell! But let me talk about the Birthday party on Sunday, May 16th. We had around 150 of our children come to Hope House for the annual birthday party. We had a cake that stood as tall as Mrs. Wang! It had bright yellow icing and flowers that were gorgeous. Music played and the children ran around greeting each other, laughing and joyful.

I gave a quick speech, hoping to inspire them to stay in school and study hard so that they will have a better future. Then Uncle Bob (Wedaa) gave a speech and read his new book to the children. Then the children took turns singing for us and reciting poems. I don't have a clue what they said but I got it on video! Lastly, we had three of our older children give inspiring speeches about their life before Threshold and how their lives have changed for the better since receiving sponsors and staying in school.

FINALLY the children lined up to receive their birthday gifts. We had new umbrellas for each one, a pair of teddy bear keychains (girls received a set with a boy and a girl, boys got pirate teddy bears) and then the girls received a big ladybug pillow and the boys received a tiger paw pillow. I have to admit the tiger paw pillow is adorable and I am trying to figure out how to smuggle one in my suitcase. I knew it would be a hit when I saw it at the wholesale market. The trouble is it is such a hit that many of the older girls were coming back and asking to switch their ladybug for a tiger paw! It all works out. Rain has stalled the delivery of new quilts and quilt covers, so our dear ladies will deliver those to all of the children later on.

NOW we are on to eating the cake. The little ones could hardly wait to get a big piece. Huge pieces on tiny paper plates with even tinier forks. Yet, as Robin noticed, there was hardly a drop on the floor. Our children are so wonderful. Near the end cake started ending up on faces. So much fun and so much laughter. What a joyful day. Yu Guangyi has already fit right in. He is running and playing and you would never know what life for him had been like only a few days before. I met with him today and asked him what he likes best about being at Hope House so far. He said being able to sleep. I also asked him what he wants to be when he grows up. He said he wants to make a lot of money. I asked him why and he said "so I can repay my uncles for helping me". I think he is going to be OK!

Erinn

From Linjiang, China May 14, 2010

2010-05-17T14:36:00.004-07:00

Today was a hard day. After breakfast we took a long drive up a very long and winding mountain road (I tried not to look down!). After about an hour we made it to the Si Dao Gou village on the very top of the mountain. We were going to visit a young boy named Yu Guang Yi. His father committed suicide just one month ago. His mother suffers from mental illness and disappears for long periods of time leaving Yu Guang Yi alone in their home to fend for himself. He is only 10 years old. He does have family members nearby who check on him and sometimes let him stay in their homes. But for the most part, he has been taking care of himself. We walked the muddy road to his home, carefully watching our footing as we stepped over broken pieces of wood, glass, and corn cobs buried in the mud. As we walked into his home, there were 3 small, dark rooms. He lived out of one of the rooms. There was a pile of dried peas on the floor and his bed had the coverings and some clothes pushed to the side. He told us he had learned how to make rice for himself using wood to heat the small cement stove. He is only 10 years old. He said that many nights he would be scared and would pull his quilt over his head. My heart was breaking. I could barely hold back the tears. Yet, he looked content and bright. As we talked with him, we could all tell what a smart young man he is. He has also proven he is courageous and a survivor. We asked the aunt and uncle that were there with us if they could take him in and we would find sponsors for him as well as for their children. They all said no. You have to wonder how poverty can affect people. Even when we offer help they will not want to risk taking in just one more child. As we talked with the family members trying to convince them to take him in, I realized they would probably just let him come back to this empty home. So I asked him if he would like to come live at Hope House. We just simply could not leave him where he was. His eyes lit up and he said yes. We told him to go gather his belongings. At first he said he had nothing he would want to take. Then he remembered something over at his uncle's house. He came out carrying an old, dirty, plastic toy water gun. That was his treasure. We asked him if there was anything else and he did want to take a few books. So once we found those, we loaded up in our taxi van and headed back down the mountain and off to Hope House. He was warmly greeted by our children playing on the swingset and one of our mamas swooped him up and off to get showered and see his new bed and his new home. No more scary nights alone for him.

There were 3 more children we saw, but I will have to write later. Tomorrow is the birthday party at Hope House. We will have more than 200 children there, cake and gifts and laughter. I can hardly wait to see Yu Guang Yi tomorrow and give him another big bear hug.

Erinn

2010-03-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

The children and our staff look like they are having so much fun in the Spring Festival pictures! My mouth is watering just looking at the jiaozi! In one of the pictures below there are very large golden objects on the table. I found out from Hai Yan what those are: Fireworks! Hai Yan called them "Fire Flowers". She said they look like a beautiful flower when they are lit and you can see people all over town with them, lighting them and enjoying their splendor. We will have to see if we can find a picture to show their full beauty. And here I thought it was a centerpiece decoration!

Spring Festival News

2010-03-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

Spring Festival has come and gone. Our sponsored children are back in school after having a few weeks holiday. Linjiang’s weather forecast this weekend calls for snow with an average daytime temp of 24 F and between 1-6 degrees F during the night. Doesn’t sound like Spring weather at all!

Anyway, we wanted to share some photos that were taken at Hope House. The children are shown here, along with the staff, making jiaozi. These handmade dumplings are one of the traditional foods served during Spring Festival or Chinese New Year. Our loving staff at Hope House have taught the children to make this traditional dumpling from start to finish. A skill the children can someday share with their own children. The dumpling filling is usually a mixture of pork, cabbage, green onion, ginger, cilantro, soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil. This mixture is placed on a small round piece of thin dough that is crimped closed in the shape of a crescent. The dumplings are then steamed in chicken broth and ready to eat! If you have never tried jiaozi you are missing out on a yummy treat!

Some minor remodeling took place at Hope House over the holiday. The paint on the walls in the dining area was peeling really bad. This was due to the fact many of the dishes prepared are steamed. The steam was flowing from the kitchen into the dining room and causing the damage to the painted walls. Dong, An Hua who is a good friend and supporter of Threshold suggested that we remedy the problem by installing moisture resistant panels on the walls and ceiling.

A party was held at Hope House to celebrate Christmas. Dong, An Hua and many local government officials were invited to attend. During this celebration donations were received that covered the cost of repairing the dining area. You can see the shiny new walls and ceiling in the photos. Threshold was so blessed to receive these donations. Our director in China, Liu, Haiyan is working diligently to fundraise and this renovation was possible because of her efforts!

February 15....Let the blog begin!

2010-02-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

We have been wanting to start a blog for sometime now so that we can share current news and photos with our supporters and with those who are interested in our work . We think it will be an easy way to stay up to date with the ministry. Check back often to see what's new!

Our staff in China and sponsored
children are currently on holiday.
Can you guess what they are celebrating?

Answer: Chinese New Year/Spring Festival. The holiday celebrates the beginning of a new year according to the lunar calendar. It is considered to be one of the most important holidays for Chinese families. The holiday is celebrated with big family gatherings, gift giving, the eating of symbolic foods and display of festive decorations--all focused on bringing good luck for the new year and celebrating the coming of Spring.

Just like American holidays there are traditional foods that are served during the celebration. Some popular foods include: dumplings (because they look like golden nuggets), oranges (because they are perfectly round, symbolizing completeness and wholeness), and long noodles (served to symbolize long life). On the eve of the Chinese New Year it is customary to visit with relatives and partake in a large dinner where these foods are served.

It is a traditional practice for adults to give children little red envelopes--hong bao in Mandarin-- filled with money in order to symbolize wealth and prosperity for the coming year. It is also common for elders to bestow red packets to unmarried members of the family.

The most important aspect of Spring Festival is for families to come together. Families travel to visit relatives, share meals, and to just be with one another during this special time. This year Spring Festival begins on February 14th and continues for 15 days. 2010 is the Year of the Tiger.

We pray that our staff and sponsored children are enjoying this special time of the year. In late January all sponsored children were given warm boots and coats. These were provided with sponsorship dollars. Many children, who were in need, also received extra food and firewood through our Gifts of Hope Program. You can learn more about all our programs by visiting our website www.tmihope.org

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