Dear friends and family who support AnewFamily,
I recently sat down with a young Filipino American teacher. She was gentle, quiet, and deeply sincere. As we talked about why she wants to move into counseling, she slowly opened up about her childhood memories.
She attended a private Catholic school. As a student of color, she felt the school paid more attention to white students, and that children of color like her were sometimes treated differently. Because she was small in stature, classmates often commented on and mocked her appearance, and at times excluded her.
“I had a few friends, but one might play with me one week and then ignore me the next. Then someone else would come along, and a few days later they'd leave too. Those friendships were never stable.”
For a child, the absence of stable friendships is not a small thing. A child may walk into the classroom every day, sit quietly, and appear fine on the outside — while inwardly asking again and again: Does anyone want to be my friend? Am I not good enough? Is something wrong with how I look, my family, or my culture?
Her parents had immigrated from the Philippines to the United States, hoping to find a better life and better educational opportunities for their children. When her parents learned she was being bullied, they did their best to support her and reached out to teachers and the principal. And yet, even with her family's love, the experiences of being overlooked, mocked, and excluded left marks that stayed with her as she grew up.
Her older brother had also been misunderstood by teachers because his way of learning was different from other children's. A teacher once told their parents: “He's not going to amount to much. He can't learn — he can't grasp these concepts.” That sentence still breaks my heart. Today, her brother works at Tesla, building and assembling cars. It turns out he was never incapable of learning; he simply needed someone to understand and support him in a different way.
Every child has their own pace of learning and their own way of expressing themselves. What a child truly needs is not premature judgment, but an adult willing to keep observing, to listen patiently, and to believe the child can still grow.
What moved me most was that this young teacher did not let her childhood pain decide the rest of her life. “I have stable relationships now,” she told me. Today, she hopes to go into counseling — to help others who may likewise have been misunderstood, excluded, or unsure how to put their pain into words.
This past week brought both sorrow and grace to our ministry — reminders of how much every family needs God's love.
On September 20, a young woman in her early thirties, who grew up in a broken family, came to believe in Christ. Through AnewFamily she found hope and love for the first time, and she now longs to bring her husband to know the same unconditional love found in Jesus.
That same day, during my daily devotion with my younger sister in China, she shared that her husband, along with five other people, had rescued a woman from drowning and rushed her to the hospital — only to have the woman grow angry at him, and her own husband later refuse to help pay her medical bills.
Also that day, a mother and her eighteen-year-old daughter were walking along a riverbank when an argument between them ended in the sudden, heartbreaking loss of the daughter's life.
These stories, all within the same day, left me heavy-hearted. They remind me that without God, even our closest relationships can lose their way. AnewFamily exists to help families find their way back — to hope, to healing, and to each other.
Thank you to the 16 families who joined our presentation on September 16! We talked about the transition to TK (Transitional Kindergarten) and how to discern which kind of education best fits your child.
I gave this presentation again on Wednesday, September 23. I'm also thankful for the chance to walk alongside a young teacher who endured bullying throughout her school years, and who is now motivated to become a more responsive, compassionate teacher in her own classroom.
On September 30, I will be traveling to China for almost a month. My hope is that this time there will encourage families to see that there is hope for their relationships.
Thank you for your generous prayers, financial support, time, and encouragement. Without you, we could not continue this important work. Together, we can help families find hope, strength, and a new way forward.
With gratitude,
Dr. Luo
AnewFamily
September 2026
