Cinderella Project

"To Jesus every problem was a possibility in disguise,
...every person was a goldmine of uncovered hidden
possibilities." - Dr. Robert H. Schuller

100% of you donation will be given to this project.

China Mission Update

Last year we did some fund raising to assist our mission in rural China. I wanted to bring you up to date on what we have achieved so far.

Our project that we named the Cinderella project was primarily to assist disabled, abandoned orphans. We named it the Cinderella project because all of these children needed a fairy godmother to come alongside of them to help them, with your generosity and compassion we are able to do this.

There is an orphanage in Daxing County in rural China that has approximately 300 disabled children. These children (the vast majority of them severely disabled) were abandoned by their parents, who felt unable to care for them. The Chinese government has now implemented a foster care program where local farmers are paid a small amount to take these children into their homes and give them basic care, 24/7.

However the foster parents have no skills or understanding of the special, unique needs of these children, our giving is to help equip these parents with some training. So far we have purchased special chairs and assistive walkers for foster home use... for the children with cerebral palsy to help them be mobile (which will significantly and positively affect their future), as well as special training equipment for the Hour of Power rehabilitation center.

We have also purchased a whirlpool & other physiotherapy equipment they can use at the training centre we have established.

Donations from our Dutch ministry renovated the old orphanage building, & turned it into a training facility.

Our ministry representatives in China are David & Joy Rathburn, they are overseeing all our projects there, & are wonderful caring Christians. They are now arranging for 7 three day workshops for the foster parents, so they can come to the centre and be taught by Chinese and international social workers and experts on how best to assist these children.Your donations are covering the cost of this.

Our long term goal is to have the children come to the centre one or two days a week to receive some basic education, or if this is not a possibility to have a teacher visit their homes once a week. Presently these disabled orphans receive no education of any kind (except for the basic skills their rural farmer, foster parents can provide them in their foster homes)... and if they are physically handicapped there is no reason they cannot learn just like any other child. For those with mental disabilities they can learn to their ability, or learn skills that will enable them to provide for themselves in some way.

If you would like to donate to this work please use the box designated for this purpose, 100% of you donation will be given to this project.

China Mission Update

2008 was a busy year in China… thanks to the “Hour of Power” family and our “Hour of Power” friends in Canada and all over the world. Thank you for all of your support for the “Hour of Power” in Canada, your heartfelt prayers… and all you do to be part of God’s big dream, not only in your own country… but all over the world, including China.

January began with the launch of an annual exchange program between the Crystal Cathedral and our close partners in China -- the China Association for International Friendly Contact. The exchange program aims to help the C.A.I.F.C. organization’s young, bright, eager leaders of tomorrow in China… better understand the United States and our Crystal Cathedral. It will also give small delegations from the Crystal Cathedral an opportunity to get to know China better, and increase their understanding about this country and its needs as well.

In April 2008, Dr. Robert Anthony Schuller made the announcement on the “Hour of Power” for the special China Dream Charity campaign from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral. But nearly immediately, a series of global events made the charity campaign increasingly difficult and challenging. Negative press after riots in the Tibet Autonomous Region, followed by more negative press relating to the disturbances along the route of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Torch Relay in London, Paris and San Francisco… as well as news of the emergence of a slowing global economy… began to make prospects for the success of the China 2008 Charity project even more daunting.

But then, on May 12, 2008… the 8.0 Sichuan Earthquake rocked central China, eventually leading to the deaths of over 69,000 people and leaving nearly 5 million people homeless. Dr. Schuller immediately sent letters of encouragement and hope to all of his powerful friends in China, including those in government as well as in the Chinese Christian Church. – reminding them that “Tough Times Never Last – But Tough People Do.”  Simultaneously, the Hour of Power Hong Kong Office donated 200,000 Hong Kong dollars to the Emergency Sichuan Earthquake Recovery Fund for China.

As the unprecedented Chinese government-led recovery process went ahead at a fever pitch in China, the Beijing Representative Office in China began laying the foundations for the first China Charity 2008 Dream project -- building an Hour of Power Rehabilitation and Training Center for approximately 300 disabled orphans, their foster families and social workers in Daxing County. And also providing assistive equipment (including special rehabilitative chairs and walkers) for disabled orphans with cerebral palsy. Construction got underway in the summer of 2008, and even though charity funds had not yet arrived… the Beijing Representative Office was able to team up with the local community in Daxing County (about one hour south of Beijing)… to get started on the renovation process. Later, with the arrival of charity funds from the Hour of Power in Holland – we were on our way to complete the first phase of the Hour of Power Rehabilitation and Training Center for Disabled Orphans in Daxing County.

And on Saturday morning, September 6, 2008… the Hour of Power Rehabilitation and Training Center for Disabled Orphans in Daxing County was officially launched in a ceremony in front of the center, witnessed by over a hundred disabled orphans and their foster mothers, as well as orphanage staff and local community leaders.  The Hour of Power also donated special rehabilitation equipment for orphans with cerebral palsy that can be used in their foster homes on a daily basis -- to significantly improve the possibility of enhancing their mobility, later in life.  This includes 94 special training chairs for orphans with cerebral palsy and 33 special assistive walking devices to help children afflicted with cerebral palsy to learn how to walk. The renovated Hour of Power Rehabilitation and Training Center for disabled orphans in Daxing County will help to serve over 300 disabled orphans and over two-hundred foster care families in 23 villages in Daxing County.

Thursday, September 11, 2008… the China Disabled People’s Performing Art’s Troupe held an unprecedented performance at the Poly Theatre in Beijing in honor of the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. All of the top political leadership in China was in attendance for the performance as well as Sir Phillip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee. Robert Anthony and Donna Schuller, as well as the entire Hour of Power delegation were invited as special guests to this amazing 2008 Beijing Olympic performance.. as special guests of the head of the China Disapbled people’s Performing Art’s troupe, Mr. Liu . This gala performance  showcased the potential for disabled people in China and all over the world to make positive, outstanding and vital contributions to our world… and serve as courageous, guiding lights for us all.

Next attention was immediately focused on the upcoming visit and performance of the China Disabled People's Performing Art’s Troupe at the Crystal Cathedral on Sunday, October 5, 2008.  Zumulaiti, a lovely young singer from the Xianjiang Uyger Autonomous Region who was stricken by polio when she was two years old and is now confined to a wheelchair… and Yang Haitao, a marvelous blind singer showcased the troupe’s “possibility thinking talents and heart. And Tai Lihua, the president and art director of China Disabled People's Performing Art’s Troupe was the special interview guest on the “Hour of Power”.  Tai Lihua has been almost completely deaf since birth.

During the Summer and Fall of 2008, the Hour of Power Hong Kong Office worked incredibly hard to raise funds to significantly help support this heartfelt “possibility thinking” project. Once funds had been received from supporters of the Hong Kong Hour of Power,  preparations began for rebuilding an elementary school for children in rural Gansu Province that was irreparably damaged in the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008. The Hour of Power will become the first ever foreign organization to build a school in this rural area of Gansu Province. The Beijing Representative Office visited the site of the earthquake destruction in early December 2008, meeting with local government leaders to discuss the “win-win” Hour of Power China Charity Dream initiative. Its preliminary name will be… the Kangxian Sancha Possibility Thinking Elementary School in Gansu Province

As 2008 was winding down, preparations were in full swing for former 9th and 10th NPC Standing Committee Vice Chairman Xu Jialu and the highest caliber Chinese government delegation to visit the Crystal Cathedral as special guests… and for Vice Chairman Xu Jialu to give a special message of friendship and goodwill to Dr. Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral congregation and Hour of Power viewers around the world. The Crystal Cathedral congregation, led by Mrs. Schuller, gave Vice Chairman Xu Jialu a heartfelt standing ovation after the completion of his remarks. Later, Vice Chairman Xu Jialu told Dr. Schuller in response to his question regarding the possibility of broadcasting the “Hour of Power” program on Chinese television – “If you can dream it, you can do it.” And before the Chinese delegation of Dr. Schuller’s high level government friends from the China Association for International Friendly Contact returned to China… a special 3-hour dialogue session was held between Dr. Schuller and Vice Chairman Xu Jialu, in a frank exchange of their “possibility thinking” ideas from differing perspectives of Western and Eastern culture.

 In early 2009, preparations are underway to begin Phase 2 of the Daxing County Hour of Power Rehabilitation and Training Center for Disabled Orphans project. With the arrival of designated funds from the Hour of Power in Canada, a series of seven training sessions for the foster parents of the approximately 300 disabled orphans in the surrounding community will begin, bringing together Chinese and foreign experts to conduct training sessions. The goal will be to provide better physical and emotional care for these disabled orphans, many of whom are severely disabled.

And then, eventually… help to create a practical learning environment for these disabled orphans to eventually learn a marketable skill that they may potentially use to support themselves financially and with dignity and self-respect… and make a positive, useful contribution to society. And by doing so, shining their unique light in the world and becoming the miracles that God designed them to become.

In addition, with the arrival of designated funds from the Hour of Power in Hong Kong in early 2009, the Dr. Schuller Institute for Possibility Thinking Inc. --  Beijing Representative Office is now working in close coordination with the China Association for International Friendly Relations, the Gansu Association for International Friendly Relations and the local government in Kangxian in Gansu Province to move forward with the contract and preliminary building design and plans for the new Hour of Power “Possibility Thinking” elementary school in Kangxian.

And with additional funds that have already been collected from Hour of Power supporters in Canada… the Dr. Schuller Institute for Possibility Thinking Inc. --  Beijing Representative Office… is aiming to work out a plan to provide a scholarship grant to implement a pilot program for disabled orphans -- working in close coordination with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Normal University and other local universities -- to conduct practical research and study how to most effectively provide training and education for disabled orphans in China, especially in foster home environments. This is one area in China where we have found a need, and are seeking to in some small way, be part of the “possibility thinking” solution.

In the beginning, we hope to use “possibility thinking” to help arrange for a part-time teacher to offer basic educational training of elementary Chinese and other essential skills in a social setting for the about 10-15 teenage orphans in the Daxing Orphanage system who have sharp, keen and eager minds – but are afflicted with polio, brittle bone disease and other disabilities that prevent them from practically attending public school, simply due to their special needs and broken bodies.

Well, thanks to other Hour of Power supporters just like youmany of the children  at the the Daxing County Hour of Power Rehabilitation and Training Center, and all across China… are having just such a miraculous “possibility thinking” chance to make their positive contribution to the betterment of the world.. because of YOU!