The Bitter and the Sweet, Part 2
We have more bittersweet news to share with you in that we have had to say goodbye to four more of our dear nurses, including our Chief Nursing Officer, Jona. Changes in regulations in our host country have left us with no other options. These new requirements have come upon us suddenly and certainly have the potential to leave us feeling rather blindsided. But we are not without hope.
The sweetness about this post today rests in the lives and personalities of the lovely souls we’re going to talk about. Through it all, they have continued to go above and beyond in their love and service to the children and to this work.
We’ve highlighted Jona, Danice, Gina, and Summer in the past, and we would encourage you to read their previous stories if you haven’t already.
As we did with our last post, we want to share just a few parting thoughts from our hearts about each one.
Dr. Steve, our CEO, had this to say:
Jona has been fearless and full of compassion as our nurse leader. She is able to bring resolution to complex problems with ease. She delights in the children, and she herself is a delight to be around. Gina is always helpful, and she’s careful to look out for the best for the children. She gives stability and makes things fun. Her dedication is incredible. Danice brings a willingness to chip in. Her extraordinary love for the children is evident in her work and life. Summer is faithful and kind-hearted. She is willing to go to great lengths to help each child. She has been a blessing to work with. Each of these four is such a great nurse.
Susan (Communications) added:
My previous accolades concerning the way the nurses stepped up and filled in multiple gaps created by the pandemic apply to these four women every bit as much.
Jona carried out her role as our Chief Nursing Officer in a wonderful way. She was one of the nurses I got to spend the most time with during my stay in China, and it was a delight getting to know her. She always wore a smile and a cheerful disposition. Her great love for the children was constantly on display, and their love for her was obvious as well. She was super helpful in gathering things we needed for communications, was always willing to go the extra mile, and had a special knack for capturing darling videos of the children. It was such a delight to see these sweet videos and to be able to use them in larger projects at times. In fact, Jona did not hesitate to take a starring role in one of those projects when asked. She will be sorely missed.
In contrast, I never had the pleasure of meeting Danice in person or in working with her too closely since she was outside of China and unable to return for the better part of the pandemic. Though our paths never crossed, she was very sweet during our brief email or text message exchanges, and always willing to help with whatever matter was at hand. I do wish her well.
Gina worked mostly in our Jiaozuo Healing Home and brought such light to the children and staff wherever she was. She has a lovely and quiet personality that has a calming effect on all those around her. I’m glad I had the opportunity to spend a little time getting to know her in person. She made many personal sacrifices to be able to serve the children of New Hope, and those sacrifices did not go unnoticed. She was always ready to assist, and always went beyond in providing photos of the children—especially her darling Clara—and it was clear that she had a great time doing it!
Summer could perhaps be characterized as our “behind the scenes” nurse. Since she didn’t speak a lot of English, she wasn’t necessarily too involved in helping directly with communications, but having her Chinese skills obviously made her invaluable in other ways. She has a kind personality that is more on the serious side, which provided a nice balance in the Zhengzhou Healing Home. I’m grateful for all she did behind the scenes to care for the children and to love them so well, and I’m glad I got to meet her for a brief time.
As Hannah said in the last post, there are not enough words to describe the love and service rendered by these nurses. Each one is so very special in her own right. And what Jona said to her colleagues just a couple weeks ago in that same post, we now say to her and all the others: Thank you for your years of service and tireless dedication. You will all be sadly missed. We are so glad to have had the opportunity to work with each one of you, and we wish you all the best going forward.
Please continue to pray for these and all the nurses who have had their lives upended recently. May our Father bless them and guide their steps on their individual journeys.