Faith, who was 26 months old when she was adopted, had numerous birth defects that ranged from an undeveloped left ear, misplaced facial bones, kidney stones, cleft palate, no knee caps, and misaligned joints.
She apparently was abandoned by someone when she was 6 months old and placed on a sidewalk in a busy market place in Qingdao. A police officer found Faith, and instead of beating the girl to death as sometimes happened in China, Jeanne said, he took her to the police station.
Faith was placed in an orphanage, then in foster care.
The Wards were told by orphanage officials that Faith was born on Jan. 31, 2007, though there are no official documents, so they recently celebrated her 18th birthday.
The China girl is a young lady.
After waiting five years for an adoption of a baby girl from China, the Wards felt led by the Lord to change the adoption to “special needs,” Jeanne said.
As Faith recently walked around the living room too excited to sit on the couch, her parents were asked if they ever think about Faith’s life if she hadn’t been rescued from the streets.
“I can’t even talk about that in front of her,” Jeanne said quietly.
Then, when she realized Faith was out of the room, she uttered the letters “ST,” like she couldn’t get her mouth to say the words sex trafficking.
John added: “It wouldn’t be a pretty sight.”
But what is beautiful is watching Faith interact with everyone, from those she sees every Sunday at local churches where her father preaches, to the strangers at restaurants and stores.
Due to her special needs, some people are apprehensive when Faith approaches. But after she repeatedly loudly says “HELLO, HELLO,” they quickly become her friend.
“She changes the atmosphere of every room,” said John, 64. “She’s just a package of love. Everybody is glad to see Faith. She brings so much to everywhere she goes. She has become a great Godly young woman. She’s a distributor of God’s love.
“She doesn’t judge them. She doesn’t judge them by what we judge them. We see somebody and we automatically put them in a category. She doesn’t have categories. They’re just people she loves.”
Her mother, 55, who home-schools Faith, added: “She has taught all of us how to love. There isn‘t anybody Faith doesn’t love. No matter where we go, she will go to the person that most people wouldn’t even notice in the room, and start talking to them. She makes them feel like they’re the most important person.”
Raising a special needs child takes special parents like the Wards.
Faith, who’s mentally 12 or 13 years old, started walking when she was 4 and talking when she was 7, her mother said. She has taken years of speech and physical therapy.
Most 18-year-olds are anticipating their senior year in high school and the decisions that follow. College isn’t in Faith’s future. Instead, she will continue learning at home in hopes that one day she will be self sufficient.
The Ward’s world revolves around Faith. She is their social calendar. They rarely have date nights.
“Everything changes when you put Faith into the equation,” John said. “But we wouldn’t take Faith out of the equation.”
A few minutes later, after John left to get his tire repaired, Faith raced back into the room. She flashed a big smile. She giggled.
“I know the Lord has a plan for Faith,” Jeanne said. “She’s going to do something great. She’s already doing things great.”
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