Amanda deLange

http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com/2012/07/amanda-de-lange-1961-2012.html

Yesterday the world lost a great woman, Amanda deLange.  And I lost a friend...though one I never had the chance to meet face to face.

I first corresponded with Amanda online in 2005 when she started the Starfish Foster Home in Xi'An China.  I spent way too much time online in those days...researching adopting from China.  Members of a yahoogroup that I was on knew Amanda, so I got know her too, and we often wrote back and forth.  I started supporting her work and recommended her to everyone I knew would be interested in putting their money into a charity where 100% of the funds went to help orphaned children.  Amanda was so open and willing to share the day to day details of her life and what it took to care for the children. I think that was part of why people were so drawn to her.  As Starfish grew she worked night and day to care for the children.  She arranged medical missions for surgeons to come and provide life-changing procedures.  And as she added more and more children to her home, she allowed volunteers to come in and work alongside her with the children.  She used her own savings, charity funding, monthly donations from corporates and individuals, even money raised by kids selling lemonade to provide specialized nutrition, medical care and surgeries for orphans with special needs.  She worked at this for 7 years providing care for 168 children, arranging almost 250 surgeries.  Eighty-one of her children (so far!) were adopted by families in China and all over the world including the US, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and Australia.   Her life and work made such a difference to so many, not just the children, but all those who were allowed to take part...the donors, the volunteers, the medical teams, everyone.  She made everyone feel essential and special.  She would post equally on her blog about kids who raised $20 and corporate sponsors who gave thousands.
Last summer our Moriah went to Xi'An to volunteer with Amanda. Words cannot describe what a meaningful experience this was for her. We feel so very fortunate that she was able to go there and see the work that Amanda was doing and take some small part in it. 

We dedicated the Eucharist to Amanda today at St. Michael's church.

Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon her. 


Amy