I found a bunch of emails in my inbox about a week ago. From an adoptive mama. A mama waiting for her son who will be meeting them very soon. A mama who learned a young man’s story and knew something needed to happen.
Here’s the story.
Simply try to imagine.
An 8-year-old boy living in an orphanage in Xi’an, China. He is not an orphan but a son of an ayi there who now lives and is growing up with the children his mother also cares for.
Everyday, he lives among these children who have no family. He eats with them and plays with them but gets to leave the grounds to go to school as “normal” children do.
There is another young boy in that orphanage about the same age who doesn’t have the same life as Kobe. He is an orphan, but one different from many of the children there. No “special needs;” but an orphan nonetheless. He wasn’t entirely alone—his older brother and younger sister had come to the orphanage with him after their parents had died. And, that is where they stayed, not ever even eligible to be adopted because they had at least one living relative.
This boy, CongCong, became a big brother to Kobe and his closest friend as they grew up side by side.
When Kobe left the orphanage to live with his father at their home in Baoji, the city where part of my heart remains, their hearts hurt. But, every summer, he still came back to the orphanage in Xi’an and joined his brother CongCong until one summer when he was no longer there. He had aged out at about 15 years old and was somewhere on his own.
Years later, Kobe is now a man, a man doing life again with orphans as he works in Xi’an with Bring Me Hope. A few months ago, when he saw an old friend from the orphanage, he heard news that broke his heart. His dear friend CongCong is dying, suffering of acute non-lymph leukemia. Alone. Kobe wrote, “It’s just like when you find a lost precious thing but it turns out to be broken.”
Since then, every Saturday he has spent with CongCong. Encouraging him through their Heavenly Father, the only Father CongCong knows, and caring for him. His treatment is expensive, too costly with no guarantees. At last visit, he had 300 yuan in total, the equivalent of under $50.
Kobe knew he cannot do anything to help. But, he can pray. And, he has—though he has struggled to continue to trust through it all. But, God heard his prayers. And, through a miracle, the orphanage director of the orphanage where CongCong grew up has agreed to pay for CongCong’s medical needs. All. of. them. He even made sure he was moved to a better hospital.
I’m amazed.
But, why should I be? Kobe was praying.
And, now, we are joining him, praying with him, holding the arms of Kobe up and holding this young man CongCong up as he prepares for chemo and fights the disease breaking his body.
And, we are asking you to do the same. Pray. For easy breathing. For strength. For the supernatural removal of pain. And, for another miracle–a cure.
Please also consider caring for CongCong in a tangible way. Send him words of love and encouragement; send him messages of hope (in case the link doesn’t work for you, send an email to EncourageCongCong@gmail.com). Each word will be read and translated to him by Kobe himself.
Together, we can help CongCong know that he is not alone and that people from across the world know his name.
, Sara Berry and Tricia Robbins do just that—remind us all that our stories are part of a much larger story. The true story of a prodigal child who becomes pregnant and makes the decision to place her child with another family. The true story of a faithful couple whose hearts and arms ache to be filled with a child. And, the true story of a young girl raised by parents who love her deeply, honor the mother who gave her life, and teach her that her story is part of a bigger story—ultimately, one laid out before time began. 
