A New Beginning for LSV

By Abraham Poon
LSV Chairman of the Board

After six months of working in LSV, I am glad to report to you what has transpired and also want to share with you the future vision and opportunities that lay ahead. As you may have known, my wife, Lillian, has been the Interim Director from March to August. Her role was to stabilize LSV and to forge a closer working relationship with the Chinese Director and the local staff. At the same time, we are trying to cut the operating budget to eliminate waste, both in the areas of human resources and financial allocations. It is my pleasure to report to you that the operation aspect of LSV has been streamlined and all cylinders are functioning well. Lillian has since been appointed by the LSV Board to serve as their Guangxi Project Overseer.

The existence of LSV is to serve the sixty-two children there. They are our major concern so we have their best interests at heart with everything we do. Upon arriving in LSV, the first impression was that LSV is no longer a Children’s Village. More than twenty of the “children” are over the age of eighteen with a few over the age of twenty-two. The oldest “child” is over twenty-six. With an age span of twenty years (from six to twenty-six), it is quite impossible to try to meet all their needs. We begin to separate the children into three categories – the older group, the middle group and the younger group. Small family groups have been put in place. These groups are made up of children of different age groups with older kids taking the leadership under adult supervision. Our goal is to foster spiritual growth and character development through increased interactions with them.

In the next year, we want to see some of the older children live outside of LSV and be self-supporting. It is a new concept for many of them, some have seen LSV as their permanent home and we need to approach this issue with much caution. Three of our older children are working and they are doing well. We are helping them to save up their hard-earned money for a possible future relocation to outside living. Nanning is not the best place to raise children, some of our older and middle age group children have been exposed to internet pornography, gambling and even drugs. Some have a habit of frequenting nearby internet cafes and bars over the weekend. It is very hard to patrol where they go since they are considered adults and we don’t want to place too much restrictions on them. In China, a person is considered adult at age eighteen.

For the middle and younger age group, we are thinking of relocating them to another place, preferably in the suburbs and away from all the temptations the big cities have to offer. At the Joint Venture Board meeting in August, Mr. Long (Vice Welfare Bureau Chief and also the Vice Chairman of the Joint Venture Board), offered a piece of land for LSV. The property available is near Bei Hai (a coastal resort town), two hours away from Nanning. Four board members were invited to go investigate and all liked the location. We took another trip a few days later to further understand the environment and found the place to be suitable for relocating LSV. Right now, we are taking a prospective donor to view the place and explore the possibility. After that, the LSV Board has to give the approval for this big move. Would you please bring this matter before the throne of grace?

It takes a lot of patience and love to work with the children. Some older children have professed Christ but their faith is not strong by any means. Due to some of their physical situations, it is hard for them to understand that God is love. One boy with disability in his legs confided in me that he wanted to abandon Christ because he had not listened to his prayers for the healing of his legs. Most of the teenagers are experiencing ups and downs. Their mood swings are quite pronounced, more so than other normal, healthy kids. It is not easy to love them and at the same time set limits for them. Love without control is sick love and we don’t want that. However, I am so proud of each one of them. They learn fast and they are so perceptive. It was commented that all of them have become more courteous and polite. Characters are transforming and Christ is once again becoming the center of their lives. Would you continue your prayer for these children and also give towards the operating budget? I hope to report more encouraging news with you in the next newsletter.

At this time, our new Director, Mr. Chris Kidwell and his wife, Grace, have officially begun their ministry at LSV. Another family, the Yeungs, with three young children of their own, are already serving there in the areas of finance, human resources and general maintenance. We are going to have one to two more families joining our volunteer staff and also serving as parents for the children. My goal is to have one set of parents taking care of ten to twelve children, thus moving LSV from institutional care to parental care. God is moving in the hearts of many to support LSV. Thank you so much for what you are doing for Him and the children.

Sponsorship Update

In order to encourage and foster better communication between the sponsors and LSV children, we suggest you to check out our sponsorship guidelines or contact our US office for a copy.

As a part of the sponsorship guidelines, we have also set up specific procedures and guidelines regarding gifts-giving towards LSV children. As Christmas is just around the corner, if you would like to give a monetary gift to your sponsored child, in additional to the USD$35 monthly support, please send your gift to our US office by no later than December 1, 2005. We recommend that the gift be no more than USD$20.

Living Stones Village is a tax-exempt non-profit organization registered in the United States and Hong Kong.
Donations are tax-deductible and governed by the tax authorities of each respective country.

*" LSV Canada is a registered organization with tax exempt status PENDING in Canada". LSV entered an agency agreement with China Care Associates (CCA) that all donation receipts will be issued by CCA for tax deduction purpose in Canada.

Any question about your donation, please contact us at info@livingstonesvillage.org

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