The face of an angel

By Tom Quiner

Lou Xiaoying: the face of an angel

“The whole thing started when I found the first baby, a little girl back in 1972 when I was out collecting rubbish. She was just lying amongst the junk on the street, abandoned. She would have died had we not rescued her and taken her in.”

These are the words of 88-year-old Lou Xiaoying.

For over 4o years, she has combed the streets of Jinhua, China to rescue more than 30 abandoned babies.

Pause for a moment with me.

Soak in the face in this photo. What beauty.

Ms. Xiaoying’s face conveys love, compassion, perseverance.

These are attractive features.

You can tell life hasn’t been easy for this woman. And yet you can see the quiet joy she feels from the little, abandoned girl she chose to love:

“Watching her grow and become stronger gave us such happiness and I realized I had a real love of caring for children. I realized if we had strength enough to collect garbage how could we not recycle something as important as human lives.”

China has a problem. They prefer boy babies to girl babies.

Their birth rate is skewed with more far more boys than girls being born. Thanks to technology, Chinese parents frequently abort their babies when they discover the mom is carrying a girl.

On the other hand, some women simply abandon their babies on the streets of China when they have a girl.

An angel by the name of Lou has spent much of her life simply saving other lives through remarkable acts of charity. She has adopted six of these children, the most recent when she was 82. She found homes for others.

At 88, Lou is dying. She can barely move or speak. She has lived her life in material poverty, surrounded by the richness of love.

Much divides us in this age.

Let us use the example of Lou Xiaoying’s life to unite us. Love, compassion, and perseverance are always beautiful. For proof, simply look at the photo above.

7 Comments

  1. Theresa Dowd on August 4, 2012 at 10:42 am

    Another Mother Teresa. We should all strive to be like her.



  2. juwannadoright on August 4, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    This is so bitersweet – both incredibly sad yet inspiring.



    • quinersdiner on August 4, 2012 at 2:05 pm

      Yes, quite a story. Thanks for writing.



  3. Embattled Farmers on August 4, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    I would say the face of a Saint. There was the recent story about the woman in China who was almost 8 months along and was taken by government goons from the grocery store. The government killed her baby with an injection. As she labored, she prayed her baby would be born alive, but the baby was born dead, all black and blue.



  4. The face of an angel | Catholic Collision on August 7, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    […] until I am unburied and have time to breathe and think, please check out this amazing blog entry, The face of an angel, over at Quiner’s Diner.  Below is just an excerpt, please go read the whole thing.  […]