A Bit of an Update...

Excerpts from emails sent by my friend in Asia:

Dear Friends,

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to the hospital to see a doctor about the continuing saga of my month-long cold. It has moved into my eye and ear now. I had woken up on Thursday with my right eye-lid swollen and Friday with my right ear fairly impacted and starting to hurt. When the doctor saw me, she asked the various questions of how long I had had the cold, various symptoms, etc. Then, she asked if I was ok with “bitter”. She wanted to know if I was ok with taking a bitter Chinese herbal medicine to deal with my symptoms. I said I was ok, but would also prefer some antibiotics as my ear was moving toward infection. She was ok with that, but also gave me the prescription for the Chinese herbs.

As I waited for the pharmacy to bring me my medicines, one of the ladies from the front desk saw me and called me over. She had apparently spelled my name wrong in their system ... and was worried I would not be able to reimburse it with my insurance. As I was waiting for her to correct it, one of the nurses brought over a large bundle to the front desk. Inside was a 1 month old little girl. Apparently 2 men had just come into the hospital, dropped her off in an elevator, and then ran out and disappeared. She had a bruise on her forehead, some medical tape on the back of her skull, and was not breathing so well. A doctor came up and she and the nurses were visibly moved. They wanted to find the men to figure out what was going on. They wanted to help this poor infant girl. But, their hospital was not equipped for infants. They called around to some other hospitals to find out which had facilities and made arrangements for her to be transported over. I left my number in case I could be of help, although not sure how.

As the pharmacy called me over to get my “bitter” medicine, I was in kind of a daze. I have heard of infant girls being abandoned here, but this was my first time actually see it happen. What must the mom and dad have been going through to be brought to this decision? The mom had not come … was she too distraught? They obviously wanted their little girl to live as they had brought her to a hospital. They were likely migrant workers with no one to turn to, very little money, and were trying to find a way to help their little girl.

Today (Sunday), we had a family worship. It is snowing pretty heavily and I didn’t feel I should go to church in the cold. We read about Jesus calming the storm and talked about it as a family. We discussed the little girl and the storm her mom and dad must have gone through/are still in. For the disciples, and us, we can cry out to Jesus in the storm. For this family, did they know they could as well?

I think about my “bitter” medicine. It is pretty nasty stuff, tastes like a cross between bitter licorice and grass. I think about the “ bitter” that this little girl’s parents are going through.

Tomorrow I am to go back to the doctor for a follow-up appointment. I am praying that I will learn the little girl made it through the weekend.


Dear Friends,

I went back to the hospital yesterday. This time, the Ear-Nose-Throat doctor was in and she was able to do a much more thorough investigation. The Herbal medicine I was given was a bit too “effective” at purging my system, so she recommended I stop that (glad to be done with that one!). She also determined that the eye swelling and ear blockage issues are all stemming from my sinuses, so she is continuing the antibiotics and gave me some other medicine for helping me to clear things up. I am to go back in another week to see if this new round of medicines will be effective. With all the medicines and sinus infections, though, my body continues to be quite weary, so I ask for that you pray for strength and stamina. Today, (my children) told (my wife and I) that they are also starting to have cold symptoms. We are hoping that they don’t have as serious a run as I have been having.

While at the hospital, I also asked about the little girl. Some of the nurses were aware of what had happened and they told me that between when she was dropped off until she was taken to the new hospital that her breathing had improved somewhat. Beyond the fact that she was transported to the other hospital with infant-care facilities, they just don’t know how she is.

I thank many of you who have written and begun to pray for her, as well as many of those like her. This situation touched a chord in my heart as it did many of you. I wish I had more information to give, but there is not much there. It’s a tricky situation. I think that the doctors and nurses at the hospital genuinely cared for the little girl. But, there was also the issue of “face” as this happened in front of a foreigner. If I pressed too hard for information or to help, it could actually have become counter-productive (not to mention that I did not want to further complicate her health issues with my own virus).

Abandoned infant girls are not uncommon here, although they tend to happen more in the country-side rather than in the bigger cities. I suspect, although cannot confirm, that in this case with the little girl having health issues, that poverty was a huge part of why she was left at the hospital. The parents may have been faced with a decision of whether to lose their daughter by death because they could not afford to treat her or try to get something better for her by giving her away. If they had brought her in themselves, there may have been a fear that no one would help her because they had no money. I don’t know, but it is my suspicion based on what I saw. If they were migrant workers from another province, they essentially have no rights or social services made available to them. It can be a pretty scary place for them. Of the 17 million that live in our city, I have heard that up to 25% are such migrant laborers. It is unfathomable to have such a large number of people without access to health care, education for their kids, or other social services. Their pretty much left to fend for themselves.

As you pray for this little girl, please also remember the parents and the 2 men that dropped the girl off. I don’t think any of us can fully comprehend how all this came about. But we can bring it to the Father and entrust them to Him.