Announcement: All 2019 donation receipts have been sent out by email or regular mail before the end of January. If you have not received it yet, please feel free to contact us and we are more than happy to resend it to you. Thank you again for your generous donations!
YAO’S STORY
Yao was born in 1993 in a small village in Shandong province, China. Life in the village was simple and quiet. His parents were busy in the fields and he enjoyed fishing at the creek in the ravine. Due to the traditional patriarchal order, his elder sister did all the house chores while he played. He never played a video game nor ate at KFC, but he was very happy.
Happy times always seem too short. After being recognized as the top student in first grade at the village elementary school, Yao encountered the most difficult test in his young life when his vision deteriorated sharply. His parents took him to see doctors in the county, the city, and eventually faraway Beijing to see specialists. They went back and forth to have his eyes examined and spent all their money – including all their savings and loans from relatives. They eventually learned he had congenital macular degeneration — which unfortunately happens too commonly in children — and it was incurable. The family received this news with sadness, disappointment and despair. For a while his parents argued almost every day. Heavy debt made them lose hope in life. Yao blamed himself.
Over time, his parents decided to start over. They went to work in the county on weekdays and in the fields on weekends. Grandma took on farm work at their village home. Yao went back to school with a magnifying glass while his sister worked hard preparing for the high school entrance exam.
His sister’s acceptance into college brought great joy to the family. After a few years’ hard work, his parents finally were able to pay off their debts and their lives were a little easier. Even though his sister needed a great deal of money to attend college, his parents were very supportive. Later, Yao also faced the challenge of the college entrance examination. With the encouragement of his teachers and classmates, he hoped he could also change his life through the examination like his sister. However, because of his poor eyesight, he was unable to complete the test answer sheet. He dropped out of school and returned home. The dream of college study became out of reach.
God saw all the doors were closed for Yao and knew Yao’s heart. He opened a window for him. Under the guidance of a kind doctor, Yao went to Qingdao Blind School to study and the hope of college study was renewed. After three years of study, he totally changed. He was always at the top of his class and made great progress in his studies. He was no longer a mountain village boy. The modern society of the big city made Yao see hard work was the way to happiness.
He finally got his wish to be admitted to X Medical College to study Chinese medicine. It brought great joy to his parents who looked older than their actual age. Yao knew the ups and downs of their lives were mainly because of him. Fortunately, after each storm a rainbow always came to bring comfort and hope!
Yao became a student leader in college; his classmates were also visually impaired dreamcatchers who did not yield to fate. Campus life is fleeting. Over five years’ time, Yao changed from being surprised and curious about the outside world to being knowledgeable, calm and tenacious. His first two visits in Beijing had been with his parents to seek medical help; the third was to take a joint entrance exam for a university and a medical college in Beijing. During his fourth visit to Beijing, he became a university intern. This time he came to prove life was not futile despite being visually impaired.
Yao entered a university in Beijing that required 7000 yuan for tuition and 900 for accommodations per year. Although the school offered him a scholarship of 6,000, his monthly expenses in Beijing were as high as 900. After three months, he felt the pressures of survival. He considered he was 26 years old and would exhaust his parents’ savings after finishing college. He did not want to add more financial burdens to them. He wanted to solve the financial problem himself. He tried to find a part-time job but was repeatedly rejected. During this difficult time, a student who received financial support from Rainbow Missions introduced him to us. When we came to understand his challenges, we decided to support him financially through our sponsorship program to enable him to complete his studies.
Rainbow Missions organizes a Christmas Giving Campaign at the end of every November. We provide Christmas gifts and arrange celebration events for children with disabilities, their teachers and caregivers, families with special needs, and students with visual impairments in China. Through various gifts and celebrations, we want them to experience the warmth and support of people who love the Lord from a faraway land. Yao received a very nice and practical thermal cup as a gift and felt very blessed. The following is the letter he wrote us at the end of 2019:
“Dear uncles and aunties of Rainbow Missions and all caring people, how are you? I am very happy to be able to share the joy of Christmas with you. The semester is about to end. In my clinical practice I received teachers’ dedicated guidance and support. Of course, this year’s great harvest was not just the increase of knowledge; my heart was deeply warmed by the love I received from Rainbow Missions.
This time last year, I took postgraduate entrance examinations with nothing but hopes and dreams. My wish was granted. I went to one of the universities in Beijing to study in a graduate program in Chinese medicine. However, after living in Beijing for more than two months, the heavy economic pressure almost completely crushed my ambition to study. I started to doubt my decision to go to Beijing to study because my parents are in their sixties and their health is deteriorating. I felt they had given me too much and blamed myself for being too selfish. During my busy studies, I actively looked for part-time jobs but because of my visual impairment and time limitations, I repeatedly encountered obstacles. When I was about to give up, Rainbow Missions appeared! Thanks to your loving support, I can now sit at my desk to review my lessons and concentrate on my studies. I really feel joyful seeing the rainbow after the storms! I am so grateful for having the opportunity to meet you. When I was in my most distressed moments, you sheltered me from the wind and rain and enabled me to heal. For all these, I will soar as high as I can to return your loving support.
Perhaps God allowed me to be visually impaired just to show miracles can happen when there is love on earth.
For the rainbow after the storms, I will continue to work hard!
Thanks again for your care and support! I hope each of you loving friends is healthy and has a peaceful life! Merry Christmas!”
報告: 2019年度的奉獻收據，已經在一月底前透過電郵或普通郵件全部寄出。如果您還沒有收到，歡迎盡快跟我們聯繫，再 次謝謝您的慷慨支持！
1993年，瑤膺在山東的一個小山村出生，自幼姐姐陪著他長大。村子裡的生活是恬靜的，父母在地裡忙碌，他就在山溝裡的小溪邊撈魚。家裡重男輕女，很多家務都是姐姐在做，他在調皮中長大，沒玩過遊戲機也沒吃過肯德基，但他卻真的感到非常快樂。
幸福的時光似乎總是短暫的。瑤膺小學一年級拿了全班第一後，上天卻重新給了他一份更加困難的人生考卷。他的視力急劇下降，父母帶他去縣內、市裡一直到北京，反反復復檢查，稀裡糊塗治療，花光了所有的積蓄，所有的親戚，能借的都借了，能去看的地方都看過了，最後告訴他們這是先天黃斑病變，就是這個年齡發病，治不了。
失望的陰霾籠罩整個家庭，父母幾乎天天吵架，沉重的債務讓他們對生活失去希望。瑤膺知道這一切都因他而起。
痛苦了一段時間後，他們決定重新開始，父母一邊種地一邊去縣城打工，奶奶承擔了家裡很多農活，還有幾只羊需要放，姐姐備戰中考，天天吃鹹菜饅頭吃的有點浮腫，而瑤膺則拿著放大鏡再次走進課堂。
姐姐考上大學是家裡久違的喜事，全家都很高興，父母緊縮的眉頭稍稍舒緩了一點。經過這幾年父母的辛勞，外債基本還清，生活稍微輕鬆了一點，雖然姐姐上大學需要不少錢，但父母更有幹勁了。後來瑤膺也面臨中考，在老師和同學的鼓勵下，他也希望像姐姐一樣，通過高考改變人生。然而，因為他的視力無法完成中考考試答題卡，初三就輟學回家了，高考的夢變得遙不可及。
或許上帝看見瑤膺所有的門都被絕望地關上，就為他打開了一扇窗吧。在一個好心的醫生指點下，他去了青島盲校考入了高中，那一刻對高考又重燃了新的希望。經過三年的學習，他彷彿脫胎換骨的改變，學習上一直名列前茅，見識上也大有長進。不再是那個赤腳趟水的山村娃，大城市現代化的社會讓瑤膺真切的看到奮鬥是追求幸福的門徑。
他終於如願以償考入X州醫學院學習中醫專業。這一次父母開心地笑了，可是他們臉上的愁眉也變成了歲月的橫紋。瑤膺真的感覺到他們的生命是因他而風雨交加，好在每一場風雨過，都有彩虹的安慰與扶持！
大學期間他擔任班長，同學都是視障者，也都是不屈服命運的追夢人。校園生活轉瞬即逝，這五年瑤膺從對山村外的世界充滿驚喜和好奇，轉變為沉穩堅韌。大學實習他終於來到了北京，這是他第四次來北京，前兩次都是小時看病，第三次是來參加北京某大學和X州醫學院的聯合單招高考。這一次他是來證明他是視障者卻不是廢人。
瑤膺如願進入北京某大學，每年學費7000，住宿費900，雖然學校可以申請到6000元的助學金，但是他在北京每月所有開銷也高達900元。開學三個月了，他感到了生存的壓力，覺得自己已經26歲，上完大學已經耗盡了父母的心血，他不想再給父母增加任何經濟和精神的壓力，他想靠自己去解決困難，試圖找兼職工作卻屢次被拒，就在這段艱難的日子，曾經接受過彩虹工程資助的學生介紹了他跟我們聯繫，在了解了瑤膺的實際困難時，我們便決定在經濟上資助他完成學業，渡過困境。
彩虹工程在每年的十一月底，都會舉辦聖誕捐贈活動(Christmas Giving Campaign)，主要為國內的殘障孩子、他們的老師與照顧者、一些有特別需要的家庭、並視障大學同學預備聖誕聚餐活動和禮物，盼望在遙遠的他鄉，即使他們在困境中，也有機會經歷主的愛所帶來的溫暖與盼望。收到非常精美實用的保溫杯為禮物的瑤膺，覺得十分開心，以下是他在去年底給我們的迴響：
「親愛的彩虹工程的叔叔阿姨以及所有的愛心人士，您們好！ 我很高興能與您們一起分享聖誕節的歡樂。這學期即將結束，在臨床上，我得到了老師的盡心指點，收穫滿滿。當然，今年收穫的不僅僅是滿滿的知識，讓我深感溫暖的，還有彩虹工程滿滿的愛。
去年這段日子我懷著夢想加入了考研大軍，今年也如願以償，到了北京其中一間大學修讀中醫研究生專業。然而在北京生活兩個多月後，沉重的經濟壓力幾乎把我求學的心志完全壓碎，讓我開始懷疑自己當初到北京就學的決定。因為父母已經六十多歲了，身體又不好，他們已經給了我太多太多，我甚至感到自責，覺得自己太自私。於是在忙碌的學習中，我仍然四處奔走，積極尋找兼職的機會，卻因為視力的緣故或者時間安排的不合適而屢遭碰壁。當我正準備要放棄的時候，彩虹工程就出現了！因為您們愛心的資助，讓我惶恐不安的心能夠安穩下來，可以坐在書桌前溫習功課，專心學業，我真的有雨後見彩虹的幸福感覺！感謝此生有幸遇見您們，在我最困頓潦倒之際，為我遮風擋雨，折翼療傷，為這一切，我會用最有力的翱翔去回報您們慈愛的目光。
也許上帝讓我扮演視障者的角色，就是讓我演繹人間有愛就有奇跡。
雨後見彩虹，我會繼續努力的！
再次感謝彩虹工程給我的關懷和幫助，願每一位有愛的人都健康平安！聖誕快樂！」