Giving God the Glory

A few of our staff members recently visited China to see how we could expand our outreach there. During their trip, they met with a ministry called China Little Flower, which is run by Nebraskan-born Catholic Brent Johnson.

The ministry operates five homes around Beijing for premature babies and critically-ill children who were abandoned or sent from local orphanages without the means to provide for their specialized medical needs. Each home has a hospice unit, a preemie unit, a club foot unit, and a special care unit.

“Though some of the children are too far gone to help, they can at least leave this earth knowing they were loved and well-cared for in their last days,” said Brent, who added that many of the children they help make complete recoveries and are then adopted.

Their goal, Brent said, is to promote a culture of life through their work and give a voice to children who are cast away or overlooked.

Every year, around 30 million babies are born in China. Due in part to the country’s one-child population control policy and policies restricting adoption by Chinese couples who have children, many babies — especially those with disabilities — are abandoned.

If it wasn’t for ministries such as China Little Flower, many of these abandoned children would have no one to care for them. Recognizing the importance of their work, Cross has agreed to support China Little Flower and other like-minded orphanages in China.

Sometimes it’s difficult to understand why innocent children like the ones helped by China Little Flower are born with such devastating problems, but the story in John’s gospel where Jesus is being asked why the beggar was born blind gives us some insight. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus said, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:3)

We must remember that when we reach out to children like these we are revealing the works of God and giving Him glory.