House of Grace

I had known Miss Yu (the director of a government orphanage in Yang Chun) since my earlier time in Guangzhou. She is the one who helped me with Ruth’s adoption. I was at home in NZ when Miss Yu contacted me and asked me to come and set up a home in Yang Chun.

I wanted to bless them, because I had been so blessed by adopting Ruth from this area. I asked her if we could have a house outside the complex and said if they would give us children we would foster them. After many discussions with local government and Miss Yu, it was decided that we would set up inside the courtyard of the complex.

They showed us the old building that the orphanage had previously occupied and asked if I was interested in that one. As we walked through the door, I knew without any doubt this was the House of Grace. We quickly walked right around the rooms, taking note of what needed to be done. It was fantastic, with 22 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. There was a large room on the ground floor and an office. This first visit to the home took place on Good Friday, 2005.

Shortly after this, we arranged for a team from America and New Zealand to come and help with lots of cleaning, painting, and repairs. Much work needed to be done to get the babies in and have a comfortable home. We remained in this home for about five years, and approximately 150 children passed through our hands and were adopted by western “forever” parents in this time.

After 20 years in China, I was very tired and felt that the time had come to leave and come back to NZ to rest and sort my health out – and, most importantly, for Ruth to attend a NZ secondary school as she was now 13 years old. (She had, up until this time, been educated through the NZ Correspondence School.)

I contacted Jackie Pullinger and asked her if she knew anyone who could take over the House of Grace. She put me in touch with a church who selected a couple to take over from me. Ruth and I left China on 14 December 2010.