Our little Teresa...

Teresa is the youngest/newest baby here at Starfish.

She is around 3 1/2 months old and she has a small tumor in here spinal column.

Teresa has a unique story compared to the majority of the babies here because we know where she was abandoned.

Her parents left her on the front steps of the only Catholic church here in Xi'an.

We received a phone call from the church asking Starfish to come and pick her up.

But due to government rules and regulations we are not able to take in babies off the street.

So Teresa stayed at the church until the orphanage came and picked her up.

The priest and staff at the Catholic church decided to name this little girl Teresa, after Mother Teresa.

The director of Starfish then did her best to keep updated on little Teresa with the intentions of eventually making her a part of the Starfish family.

Teresa was then sent to the hospital with a virus and was given vague chances of surviving from the bacteria that was attacking her little body.

When the director of Starfish heard this news she started calling doctors and asking if there was anything we could do to give Teresa a better chance at life.

Amanda found that we could buy a very powerful antibiotic that would give little Teresa a chance.

And so she did. It was a very expensive antibiotic and even though Teresa wasn't in our care, Amanda wanted to do everything in her power to make sure that this little girl survived and grew up healthy and happy.

Long story short, Teresa lived and gained strength over the next few days in the hospital and eventually came to live with us here at Starfish.

Now she is eating us out of house and home.

And she will be recieveing a much needed surgery at the end of this month to remove the tumor in her spinal column.

But right now she mainly eats, sleeps, and wakes up for a few minutes in between to smile and talk to anyone willing to talk to her.

This little girl is a miracle baby.

And I think Mother Teresa would be honored to know that she has a beautiful little girl in China named after her. Hopefully one day our little Teresa will grow up and want to serve and love others like the woman she was named after has.

*I have not heard any updates on Nava's surgery but that usually means that everything is going as planned. But we have been having a few crazy days around the foster home and I will be sure to update you on her status when I know more information.*