Love has no boundaries
By Heidi Heater, a junior from Jackson, Ky.
WILMORE, KY— Tiffany Walz fell in love this summer, but it wasn’t the love most people envision. The senior psychology major from Evansville, Ind., spent her summer loving Chinese children abandoned by their parents because of mental or physical disabilities.
“I learned that the phrase ‘love has no boundaries’ is completely true,” Walz said. “It showed itself throughout my trip to China, as I realized that I loved the children more each day.” Walz worked with the children to improve their English-speaking ablitites by reading to them, playing games with them and singing songs to them. She also helped improve their writing abilities through painting, drawing or writing letters and numbers.
Walz witnessed children taking first steps, recognizing his or her name for the first time, smiling after surgery or being adopted into American homes.
Walz believes God called her to China for the summer so she could love children. “I originally felt a pull toward China because I knew that it was a place that needed to see the love of the Father, and I felt that my purpose there was to show God’s love to all I came in contact with everyday,” she said.
Not only did Walz read to and play with the children, but she also gave a one-year old girl physical therapy. The child was left unattended at a previous orphanage and did not learn to lift her head, roll over or walk. Through leg and lower back exercises, Walz hopes the girl will be able to one day use her arms and legs on her own.
Walz said her classes, chapels and service projects gave her the discipline she needed to withstand the hardships and fully enjoy the love and fellowship she experienced in China.
“I feel that through this experience I am better prepared to understand those who are less fortunate than I,” Walz said. “I have found a greater appreciation for not only the Chinese people, but for the Chinese culture as well.”
The Asbury Initiative Grant provides summer internships for Asbury
College juniors, seniors and graduating seniors to perform volunteer
service in the areas of international community and social and economic
development in developing countries. This grant covers all of the
expenses incurred for this opportunity.
This grant was
established in 2003 with a pledge of $1 million from Phyllis McRoberts
’53 West and her husband, Stephen R. West, in honor of the life and
ministry of Ernest M. Steury, M.D. ’53 and Mrs. Jennie Sue Groce ’54
Steury who served as missionaries in Kenya with World Gospel Mission.
To date, this program has allowed 49 students to perform volunteer
service in 28 countries. Total dollars awarded exceed $291,000. For
more information, visit
http://www.asbury.edu/studentlife/service/initiatives.
Released: Oct. 2, 2007
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Tagged: tiffany-walz and features
