GOING HOME...

Shantung, China - President Al Lackey recently visited the original Home of Onesiphorus in China, site of the first Home that launched the ministry now known as Kids Alive International.

Lackey met two children of the original Home, now elderly and still living in the area. He also met succeeding generations of other alumni.

"I would not be alive today if it were not for that Home,"explained Siu Mei (we can’t reveal her real name). Girls held no value and were considered throw-aways. “There are about a dozen people - that I know of - in my village who lived at the Home, and they are all still serving the Lord,” said Siu Mei.

Founded by missionaries Rev. and Mrs. Leslie Anglin in 1916, the first Home served to rescue homeless children off of China’s streets. After the communist takeover in 1949, the Home was forced to close.

Now a social services center for area residents, the building doesn’t begin to live up to its original goals. Local authorities, in fact, asked Al Lackey to re-establish the organization’s presence - as simply a children’s home.  “I have to be very clear at the outset," Lackey told the communist officials, "that we must teach the children about Jesus Christ, just like the Anglins did so many years ago." That was enough to halt further steps at the moment.

Siu Mei explained how the early ministry sowed seeds that bore fruit for years to come. “Some residents went to other provinces to look for jobs,” she said, “and they are serving Christ throughout China.” Many former residents are now active in China’s vibrant house church movement. 

Al Lackey’s visit with three generations who have ties to the original Home is a testament to God’s faithfulness.

Ming Fai (not his real name) shared that the routine and discipline of everyday chores and learning, daily prayers and a chapel service still speak volumes nearly 90 years later. Residential Christian care for children in crisis reaps results.

While officials currently prevent Kids Alive International from following its true calling in the Shantung province, please pray with us for a breakthrough in some of the rural areas of China.

“We believe that God’s heart is for all children in crisis,” says Lackey, “not just the easily accessible ones.”