The Heart of “Gold”
Your support helped to shut down an orphanage
Sui with his wife and three of their own children
“That food is not for the likes of you,” Sui’s aunt shouted! Sui’s heart was broken. Ever since he had lost his father at age 11, Sui had been living with his aunt. There was obvious discrimination in her home, along with bullying by Sui’s cousin. Sui (whose name means gold in English) resolved in his heart, “When I grow up, I will help children in this situation so they don’t have to experience the trauma I am enduring.”
When he grew up, Sui stayed true to his promise. One day, his mother called him and informed him of the death of a close friend. She also told him, “The children’s father has sent the children to live with a relative, and things are not going well.” The comment immediately reminded Sui of his own painful experiences. “I thought of how I felt as a young child, living in a home where I was not wanted,” he recalled. “I knew right away that I must help.” So Sui and his wife took these children into their own home.
Before long, Sui was caring for seven “orphans” along with his family’s own five children. They could not provide all the individual love the additional children needed, but everyone was well fed, well clothed, and receiving a good education. Sui thought he was fulfilling his childhood resolution.
Then one day, social workers supported by your gifts came to Sui’s town and held an awareness seminar. What they had to say was offensive to Sui! They had the audacity to claim that the children in his orphanage would be better off at home with their own family. Sui strongly disagreed. “I argued with the social workers,” Sui explained. “I felt like the children in our home were a part of our family.”
But Sui kept coming back whenever the social workers held another event in his area. It wasn’t until the fourth seminar that Sui realized the social workers were right. The children in his home deserved to grow up in their own families!
Since then, Sui has helped all seven of the “orphans” he was caring for to return to their original homes and families. He returns for periodic visits to ensure that they are being well cared for. “We had three children from one family living with us,” Sui said. “After returning them to their home, I went back one day to do a monitoring visit. As I drew closer to their home, I saw them happily working together. When they saw me, they all ran happily to meet me. I don’t know how to explain the joy I felt when I saw this family together again. It made my heart full!”
Sui is now a part-time social worker and has become an advocate in his town for family-based care. Your support has helped seven children avoid years of potential trauma and heartache by convincing Sui of the emotional harm that results when children are separated from their families. On their behalf, we say thank you!
Jonas
Orphan’s Tear
