“Abandon Your Child!”
When one of the Li’s twins, YunXuan, was born with a cleft lip and palate, friends suggested that the couple abandon him.
His mother remembers, “A friend of mine said, ‘He will be a burden to you. You don’t need him. Leave him at the gate of the orphanage.’” Crying, she continues, “That ripped the joy out of my heart because when my father died, my grandma abandoned me.”
His father adds, “YunXuan put his head on my chest and looked at me, like he was saying, ‘Dad, don't leave me.’ I told him, ‘Your father and mother will never abandon you. Ever!’”
It was a challenge to raise YunXuan because he choked when he ate. That left him weak and sick a lot. But it didn’t stop him from smiling.
“He was a little angel who brought us happiness,” shares Mrs. Li.
Mr. Li contributes, “When he saw I was worried, he’d laugh, hug me, and kiss me.”
As he got older, children in the village started running from him.
Mrs. Li explains, “Children cried and shouted ‘Monster!' when they saw him. From then on, I kept him at home with his brother, like birds in a cage.”
Soon, Mrs. Li had to separate YunXuan from his brother because he was so sick. Meanwhile, Mr. Li worked 16-hour days to save for surgery, but then he got injured on the job, and for a while the family had no income.
“I feared YunXuan would die of malnutrition,” says Mrs. Li. She continues with tears, “We couldn’t even provide food for our children. How would we ever get him surgery?”
When the Li’s took YunXuan in for a check-up, a staff member told them that CBN could help. They contacted us, and we quickly set-up and paid for cleft lip and palate surgery.
Mr. Li rejoices, “I remember picking him up and telling him, ‘People from CBN are helping you.’”
“Poor families like us don't have much hope. But now my son’s mouth is mended. He’s strong and healthy. And I don't have to worry about his future,” says Mrs. Li. She concludes, “CBN shared Jesus with me. Now I know that God is always with me. Thank you to the CBN donors for loving my son. Thank God!”
