Giving really is better than receiving. I experienced it this summer when served on a 10-day mission to the blind school in Zhengzhou, China.  My parents and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to experience the world from a different point of view.

Far from the comforts of my home, I brought fourteen instrumental recorders to the north-central China city, where I met people who lived in overcrowded dorms, dirty bathrooms and musty cafeterias. I realized that I possessed a thousand times more of the material luxuries than these students and this experience focused my desire to serve others.

During the evenings I taught the students how to play Amazing Grace on their recorders.  All of them were either completely blind or severely sight impaired.  They could not see, did not understand musical notes, and had no prior exposure to musical instruments.  They simply worked hard and were very motivated - which was very rewarding to see first-hand. To hear their beautiful rendition for yourself, please type “Angela Liu Amazing Grace” on YouTube.

One night, a student asked me, “What makes you smile?” Thinking for a moment, I replied, “I used to be full of worries and became unhappy by the smallest things. However, this changed after I became a Christian. Now, I trust God holds my hand and I don’t have to worry.” On another day, the students were asked to mention one thing they were grateful for.  For one student, it was the health of their last living remaining family member. For another, it was time with the teaching group that flew to China. I really felt I should have been the one who said ‘Thank you.’ These students had taught me to be more mature and helped me realize how blessed I am. Deeply touched by the sincerity of my hard-working new friends, I wanted to do something to give back to them.  
After returning home, I founded a non-profit organization called “Blind Light Foundation” to ensure the hopes and joys of visually-impaired people and hosted a benefit concert this past August at the  Steinway Hall in Pasadena Hall. More than 70 people attended. It was a huge success.  I entertained them with piano, flute, and recorder, playing the works of Bach, Burton, Haydn, Debussy, Halffter and Taffanel and shared my China mission report and vision of the “Blind Light Foundation”. In total, people donated over $21,000.

I have been working closely with Uncle William Lei, the founder and director of the “Life Light Education Foundation” to allocate the $10,000 donation to ZhengZhou Blind School and $6,000 to Beijing Blind School to help cover food and tuition costs for students at each school. The remaining $5,000 will go to Los Angelese Center of the Braille Institute of America which is the world biggest blind adult rehab school since 1927.  We will be donating to their “Youth & Teen Program,” which fosters confidence and self-esteem leading to higher education and/or vocational training and employment of visually impaired youth and teens.  

For information on the foundation, e-mail the Blind Light Foundation at .