DaMing Catholic Orphanage
Without question one of the poorest and neediest orphanages in China is the Catholic orphanage of DaMing located in south Hebei province. The sweet nuns at DaMing will be quick to tell you they never intended to start an orphanage. The orphanage began inadvertently one day when a little girl with club feet was left on the doorstep of their convent. The nuns took her in, raised money for her surgery, and cared for her. Over time other people began leaving special needs and mentally handicapped children for the sisters to find. Although it was never their intention to start an orphanage, the sisters would take in any child left at their gate. Slowly this developed into a full-scale orphanage.
For political reasons, China's government does not allow the Roman Catholic church to directly support the Chinese Catholic church or related activity in China, including the DaMing orphanage. With very little financial resources the sisters are in a really tough situation. During the winter they could only afford to heat their building four hours a day. The little girl with the club feet got a severe case of frostbite, and her surgically repaired feet had to be amputated. This orphanage is so poor that they struggle with having enough money to provide the children with enough protein in their diet.
Harmony Outreach’s involvement with DaMing began in the early days of our ministry. There came a time when our finances were really low and the Catholic community of Beijing blessed us with a significant financial donation, knowing full well that we are not Catholic. We were so touched by this act of love that we earnestly desired to return the blessing. Sometime later that opportunity presented itself when we learned of the tremendous needs of the DaMing orphanage.
It does not matter whether you are Catholic. Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor. When He was asked to define "neighbor," He did so by telling the story of the Good Samaritan—a Samaritan who came to the rescue of a Jew who had been beaten and robbed. The Samaritan took no notice of the fact that his people and the Jews had different religious traditions. He saw his suffering “neighbor” and came to his rescue. Jesus ended the story by saying, “Go and do likewise.”
We earnestly need people willing to reach out with hands of love to help the nuns at DaMing care for the orphans and special-needs children in their care. If you are interested in supporting this work, please email John@HarmonyOutreach.org.
