As Many as the Stars

The story of a rather special ‘Tree Planted by the Waterside’ (referring to my last post, ‘The Tree of Life’).

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Guernsey, 1995.

“If I sit quietly, surely he won’t notice me”, thought Robert. “Shame I’m 6 ft 6, but I’m sitting at the back, and there are lots of folk in front of me.”

Leaving his vantage point at the front of the church, the guest speaker, David Devenish, moved out amongst the congregation, praying for one, then another. Oops – he was getting closer. Robert tried to avert his eyes. But with an unerring sense of direction, David singled him out, walked over to him and declared:

“I sense you are going to be a father to as many children as there are stars in the sky.”

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Robert Glover had distinguished himself within children’s social care, firstly in Norfolk, then on the island of Guernsey where he had become head of adolescent services. He’d seen from first hand experience the poor outcomes of children placed in institutional care, and now believed it hugely preferable to place children in families – either their own, or adoptive ones.

As a young married man, Robert found himself in hospital suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome. His prospects didn’t look good, prompting his mother-in-law to contact her friends to plead with God for his life. The next day – coinciding exactly with when they prayed – Robert experienced a remarkable turnaround in his condition. He and his wife, Liz, came to follow Jesus through this. As his faith grew, so did his heart for abandoned children.  

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‘China’ kept popping into Robert’s mind again and again, and Liz too eventually joined him in exploring the possibilities. Robert was moved by the plight of China’s many children abandoned to poorly staffed and resourced orphanages. The fall-out from China’s One Child Policy meant many girls and disabled children were unwanted. One day a wealthy Devon dairy farmer offered to pay for himself and Robert to take a trip there, visiting six major cities. At a prayer meeting just before they set off, a young woman had a picture of him carrying an Olympic torch into China.

During this rather chaotic trip, Robert’s compassion for the Chinese children continued to grow. Their fourth port of call was Shanghai where, out of the blue, a lady on the street offered them two free tickets to a ‘special Olympic ceremony’. Because of the young woman’s picture, Robert decided they should go. He never worked out exactly what the ceremony was, but he found himself sitting next to a courteous old Chinese gentleman who introduced himself as ‘A member of the Communist Party’.

Robert tried to be cautious, but accidentally ‘spilled the beans’ about his own intentions. Ooops…but then the man’s eyes lit up! He turned out to have a faith based upon his Catholic background, and a keen interest in children’s welfare. Thanks to him, the next day Robert found himself at a high level meeting attended by the city’s Director of Civil Affairs. The director took a liking to Robert and his bold vision, particularly (my interpretation) to his servant heart and his non-judgmental approach. Through the strong friendship they developed, Robert was able to ‘scope out’ his vision to create a charity, ‘Care for Children’, that would work with the local authorities to find ‘forever homes’ for orphanage boys and girls.

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There were many bumps in the road, but equally, many examples of God’s provision. It wasn’t straightforward to deal with the Foreign Office, nor to found a charity. There were all the logistical challenges of moving his family over there, of finding accomodation and schooling. But in the early days of their living in Shanghai, Robert and Liz won their way into many hearts by building friendships and serving their neighbours in the poor community near where they lived. Robert’s office was in an orphanage, where he formed and coached a football team, the Shanghai Canaries, who astonished everyone by winning their local league.

But so often, it was their care for individuals that moved people to ask questions and later come to faith in Jesus. The penniless couple from a faraway province whose son had been hit by a motorbike, for whom Liz bought bandages and antiseptic dressings. The boy with cerebral palsy, for whom a supporter in England sourced a special electric wheelchair, flown over free of charge by Virgin Atlantic. The migrant family huddled under a tarpaulin whom Robert arranged to be housed in a barn, then bought them a cockerel and hens so they could eat and sell eggs…

Eventually, the work diversified into most major provincial cities in China. The story of how this happened will need another post.

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The Glovers left China in 2013. When in 2018 Robert attended a Family Placement conference in Shanghai, he spoke to a Chinese professor who estimated that since ‘Care for Children’ began, a million orphanage children had been placed in family homes.

“Oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord”, I think you could say? (Isaiah 61 verse 3)

[Note: We joined an online prayer meeting for children at which Robert Glover contributed, in 2022. I’ll explain more about our connection with Care for Children in a later blogpost.]