Emily Graves spoke with Mike and Deena Van't Hul, Directors of Hidden Treasures

Emily: So what does God's love mean to you and the work that you guys are involved in?

Mike: It means everything to us. It's the fuel that keeps us going; it's the grace like Deena said that enables us; it's the power that we've seen to heal, physically, mentally, spiritually; it's really what our ministry is all about here: just bringing God's love not only to these children but to those that are around us and just seeing what his raw power of love will do to transform lives.

Emily: And particularly as you didn't have the language it was the one thing that you could show and could communicate with others?

Deena: Right. You know, everybody has eyes - well not everybody but, you know, most of us have eyes to see, you have eyes to show compassion, you have hands to hold, you've got tears to cry, you've got food to give: there's so many ways to express your love: you've got a home that you can open the door and anyone you choose can come in and eat at your table and so you don't need language for that. It's just getting his heart. It's not that we have this great big heart of love: we just fell in love with him and as that happened, not only did we know him and his love but he began to share his love. We like to tell the kids all the time, our older ones, we're not doing this because we know we're supposed to and because God loves you, so we want to love you too. You know, there's some truth to that but the real truth is that as God has shown us his love, he's also given us his love and he's made us feel the same way that he feels: he's given us the heartbeat and so we love what we're doing: you're not a chore and you're not a burden: you are our reward. It really adds joy to the mission which is so important - nobody wants a sour missionary. Having that love connection with God also brings with it that enabling joy which makes life so much better.

Mike and Deena Van't Hul

Emily: So you then went on to buy an old kindergarten, am I right?

Deena: Yeah. When we moved to China in 2005 in February, we just started taking kids in about three months after we moved here. We had a really small apartment at that time and we had three children of our own and very quickly our apartment was becoming way too small, so we found a kindergarten, an old school that was out in a village that needed tons of work and we just heard the Lord say to buy it. So we took the money that we had gotten from the sale of our home and it was exactly the amount that we ended up getting the school for: it was all we had. We said, this is all we have so take it or leave it and we ended up buying the school and just transforming one room at a time because we didn't have a lot. As we looked at the house we said, "God, what do we do? We just gave everything we had away and now we've got this school and what is it supposed to look like?" We felt like he said, "What would you do for your own kids?" I just thought really practically, well, you know, I would paint and I would put curtains up and I would get a crib and cute little bedding - and so he said, "Well do that", and so we just did that, one room at a time: whatever we would do for our own kids we just did that and we felt like the Lord was saying, "Just never treat them like orphans: treat them like your own and they'll begin to act like your own". That's how it progressed.

Emily: That's amazing! So how many children have you guys looked after overall?

Deena: We've had over a hundred in our home since 2005. We've had, well, goodness I forget how many have been adopted: they came here unadoptable and as God healed them and restored them we were able to put their names on the list to be adopted, so lots of kids have been adopted internationally. We've had quite a few that have passed away and gone to be with the Father and so right now we have 16.

Emily: Wow! So how do you find managing and looking after all those children alongside looking after your own family?

Deena: That's always a juggling act.

Mike: It's a unique balance that we're taking one day at a time depending on what the needs of our Chinese foster children are and our staff and visitors and the whole ministry - but always making sure that our children in our own home here are feeling loved and appreciated and cared for in a special way. We're just trying to keep priorities and keep boundaries and keep healthy ourselves and just staying focused on the One in front of us.

Emily: That's great...

Deena: God is our centre and so everything starts with him and he brings balance to everything and so we make sure that God is the first priority and then just see what he calls us to do each day. So every day looks different.

Emily: So what are some of your hopes for the future?