China Part 2

Phillip Hayden Foundation (PHF) is a foster home for orphans. It began years ago when Tim Baker and his wife met another man named Phillip Hayden while they were English as second language teachers in China. Phillip had a heart for orphans and in their free time they worked with the orphanages in China. When Phillip was in his late 20's he died suddenly from a heart condition he had. To continue his passion and honor him the Bakers founded the Phillip Hayden Foundation. It started in their home and they took in as many orphans as they could.

Through God guiding them and blessing them they now have Shepherd's Field Children's Village. The land they now have they actually bought for the equivalent of 1 American dollar, through God's guidance and much prayer.

PHF is actually a business in China, they make banners and sell them in their store. The Baker's through a local business man found that if they made the foster home a business they would have more freedoms in the Chinese government. They did some checking and sure enough becoming a business gave them more rights under the law. This began the arts and crafts factory, that houses special needs orphans.

It is amazing to hear all that God has done through this place. They are literally tearing down walls in China concerning Christianity. They have had business men and government officials come to the Village to see what is going on and hear the children singing "Jesus Loves Me".

The government knows the Bakers and the volunteers they have are Christians and they teach the children about Jesus. The government overlooks this because they do such good work and they play by the rules. I am amazed at what God is doing through a few people as they love on orphans and all the Chinese workers they employee.

There are Nannies that take care of the children, chefs that cook the food for the children, the ladies that make the banners, men who make by hand all the furniture in the village, men hired to drive around volunteers. They have been able to see many of these employees come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. How exciting is that.

They are in the process of building a boarding house where they will house those children who do not get adopted. They see about 80% of the orphans adopted, but for the ones that do not get adopted they are just put out to either sink or swim. In China once a child reaches 14 they are no longer adoptable. So, by the time they turn 15 or 16 they are pushed out. PHF wants to provide a way for these children to thrive by teaching them life skills before sending them out into the world. Their hope is that they can take this approach to the Chinese government and they will implement this into their government run orphanages.

I love PHF and their vision. They are looking at the big picture and reaching China through very practical means. There is a huge orphanage rate in China. In the United States we have about 500,000 in foster care; in China they have conservatively 13 million orphans.

What a huge task PHF has, but they make it seem small by the way they do it.