Speaking at Church 11-27-11 about Adoption

Below is a link to the audio file from the first service last Sunday where I was able to talk a little about our adoption process.

AWESOME Sunday!!!

Yesterday was AWESOME!!!! Our church dedicated the entire service (all three of them) to adoption and Bring Me Hope. Anyone reading this that does not know who Bring Me Hope is can go to their website at: www.bringmehope.org to find out more.

It was truly incredible. Some of the Mahoney family came to talk, give testimonies and perform. They are a truly amazingly talented family that Love the Lord with all their hearts!!! They came down all the way from Minnesota just to speak at our Sunday services. I ask that you pray for their family as they hope to travel soon to bring home their 5th, yes you heard me right, 5th child (through adoption). They also have 4 biological children. You can find out more about their band and listen to their music at: www.silentsubstitute.com.

I had the opportunity to give a brief (12 minute) testimony as well. I think it was supposed to be under five minutes (sorry). Apparently I am not as afraid of public speaking as I thought, just cannot tell time very well. A couple of friends thought that I should be a preacher - not sure if that was good or bad. Anyone can speak if given the right topic, especially if it is something that God has put on your heart. I probably could have talked for a couple hours if my voice would last, maybe next time. (hahaha).

As far as the adoption is going, we have our fingerprint appointments. They are scheduled to noon on December 5th. We are hoping that we can do a "walkin" this week. We were able to do this once before. It would be amazing if this was able to happen. Once we do these fingerprints we will be waiting for our government to send us another numbered form (sorry, cannot remember all these numbers) and then we can send everything to the consulates and over to China. I would be a miracle if this could happen before the end of the year.

The little girls are getting excited too. They have been bugging me to get their bunk beds so they can be together again. These girls are really amazing. How many children "want" to share a room. Tiffani has been a big help lately too watching the kids for us. We Love all our children more than Life. We are truly blessed.

Pics of the kids Nov 2011

Here are a few pics that we took yesterday of the kids (possibly for the Christmas card).

Packages are okay now

So, it's Thursday and nothing really new to add. We are starting to get a little "antsy" and wanting to figure out the room situations but I have been too busy with work these last couple weeks.

A big bulk of the paperwork is in Tally getting certified. That should probably take about a week. It isn't really that important right now as we are just waiting for our fingerprint appointments so that we can get this I800 application approved. We are hoping this will be fast but some families have waited 100+ days for this approval. No real rhyme of reason to it.

We did find out that we can send the girls a package now. That may be confusing since they have not and probably will not tell them that they have a family coming. We are going to write them some letters and send them a package (maybe a Christmas one?). This is really going to start making all of this seem real. I hope I don't freak out.

Ok, well I have A LOT of work to figure out today so that's all for now. I will try to be better about posting here daily, even if there is not too much to tell.

We officially are Approved!!!

Like there was any doubt - we are officially approved to adopt Hope and Maggie, or I guess I should say pre-approved. The Chinese government has said YES (as long as all the paperwork is in order). We still have a long road ahead of us but we are definitely making progress.

So, we started a Blog for their journey. Make sure to bookmark it as Debbie will most likely post there daily and then before you know we will be on ANOTHER airplane to China. I still cannot believe that I have been to BeiJing China 5 times!!! Wow. I looked up on the map and the girls are a lot closer to Shanghai... Maybe we can try someplace new (as if going to China were not enough).

Here is the link: http://hopeandmaggie.blogspot.com/

All for today.... Peace, Bill

PS - For those of you who have't seen, there are a couple of photos of the girls on the blog.

Monday Morning...

So, it's Monday. Happy Halloween everyone. I woke up this morning thinking I will have 6 to take around next year (Yes, Tiffani's still trick-or-treating through high school). I think the girls are all excited. E-man doesn't really get it yet. We are going to try and see if we can get him to keep an Elmo costume on (haha, probably not). He was going to be Charlie Brown but it wasn't working out.

So, Homestudy had been done. We are waiting on GWCA to approve it and then we can send it in with our I-800 to Homeland and get our finger print appointments. Yup, things are moving along. Still have no idea on a travel date though. Feel free in joining us as we pray that it will happen over the summer. Great news too - our friend Nicole (whose name we may be using for Hope's middle name) has agreed to come and stay with the kids as long as her schedule allows. Travel is still a little out of reach.

Well, that's probably all for today. I need to get started on this busy day....

ETSY Store restocking...

Hi All,

I wanted to let everyone know that I am slowly restocking the ETSY store with items that I have made in the past and never got around to posting. Now that we are starting to accrue some adoption expense I thought I would restock the store to help offset some of those costs. Please take a look around...

Doll Aprons - click here

or
studiofrog.etsy.com - click here

Thanks for stopping by - Bill

New Photos...

So, we got some new photos of the girls. They are just beautiful. I am so glad that got them them but at the same time it's probably going to make this wait seem even longer. I wish we could share them but we are not allowed to post photos until we have an approval. Shouldn't be too long. You can visit this link though and probably find them on your own. LWB (Love without Boundaries) is doing work where they are staying. Scroll down to the post from Tuesday at 10:13 and 10:18 am (Maggie and Hope).

Can't post too much right now - have a call with Bring Me Hope. Just wanted to take a minute and share the update. Paperwork is going good and home study will be written by the middle of next week.

Please pray for our friends Kim and Stac. They are traveling to China now to bring home an older boy.

Thanks - Bill

I know - I never update this thing...

So, we took the plunge. We have applied to Great Wall and started the paper pregnancy once again. We are so excited, and when I say we, I mean the whole family!!! We are going to adopt two girls, ages 11 and 12. We are not allowed to post any photos yet until we have approval from China. This will take a few more weeks while we wait for the social worker to evaluate us - a mere formality in my opinion.

So, yes the crazy post probably makes a lot more sense now. Yes, we are crazy - crazy in Love with God and His direction for our lives. I believe we have found our calling - to Love on these children. It might not seem like much to some but it feels like a lot to us. No, we do not do this as some sort of humanitarian effort but purely out of love for children (and a little selfishness too I suppose). We get so much from this. The return of Love from a child, there is no better feeling. The smiles, giggles, laughter and just plain silliness. I probably should be a little scared but honestly I'm not. I wake up excited everyday thinking one more day closer to bringing our daughters home.

I wish I could post the photos. Their smiles are so precious. We are hoping by this time next year they will be home with us and become part of our family. Thank you to all of you that have encouraged us along the way. We thank you for the prayers.

Stay tuned.....

Crazy or not?

So, what is Love and what is Crazy? Is crazy just doing something that no one else would do? I've come to realize that my judgement of what I think is crazy for other people may not be crazy at all but in fact pure Love "Without Boundaries".

Anybody reading this... Direction unclear...

So here's the question, I think. We (and when I say we I mean I) go from considering to adopt an 11 year old girl to a 3 year old girl to actually considering a 13 year old girl. I'm thinking I must be out of my mind. Great Wall keeps sending me email of children that are either special focus or aging out of the system. (Why do they have to do that). Anyway, I got an email today of a 13 year old girl that will be aging out of the system around Tiffani's birthday next year. I think I would actually consider it, however, Deb is not sure. I agree with her that it could be scary.... IDK...

Maybe I am just asking for trouble having 5 girls in the house???

Well, got some news...

I got a call today - Mimi is not adoptable. I found out that she is being fostered by the Orphanage for some other reason than adoption. Exact details could not be given but it was made clear that her situation right now is that she will stay in foster care.

So, what does this mean from here? Who knows? We will pray a lot more and see where God is leading us. I have to say that I am starting to feel like my kids - not listening. He must be telling us something but we aren't listening good enough to it. I can say that he is closing the wrong doors fast enough so that we do not get too discouraged.

Very late at posting...

Sorry all. I have gotten very busy with work and just things. A lot has been changing since I last blogged.

The Cliff note version is that we are trying to find out more information about Mimi (Min Min). She was the three year old that was paired with Tiff for the week. I did get to spend a lot of time with her too and did bond with her but had no intentions of bringing home another "baby". I know - three isn't a baby but there were still diapers involved (very bad ones I might add). Anyway, we have contacted an agency and gathering as much information as we can. I believe from the facts there is an 80% chance that we could adopt her if we wanted to. Of course there is a 100% chance if I would just trust the signs that God has been showing us. (Thanks Melissa for the photo on Sunday - I think that sealed it for me).





Anyway, I know this is a very small update compared to my other posts but I didn't want to leave this site blank for too much longer. I will get better over the next few days to get some more things up here.

Bill out.

Coming soon....

Sorry, photos are coming soon. Still trying to adjust from China time. I keep wanting to go to sleep at 1 or 2 in the afternoon....

Thank you to everyone for your prayers. I still do not understand what God is trying to do in our lives right now but I am going to keep praying and wait on Him.

Thanks. B.

Sad and Happy News

Well, after a long day I was able to hear back from a friend of mine in China last night and she told me that Jenny has in fact been matched with a family, which is great for her. It does make me sad though and confuses me A LOT. I was so sure that God was telling me that she was to be a part of our family. The director there did tell my friend that Jenny does likes us a lot! That did feel good.

She said that she was matched back in March which should mean that she would go home sometime this year still. Usually you have to have your paperwork in within 6 months of locking a file. We do so love this child so much. It is hard to think that she is now someone else's daughter.

I do not know God's plans but I do know that there is one. I am going to just continue to pray that God reveals to me why this all happened. I would ask for continued prayers for the direction that He is directing me.

I guess I have been consumed with all of this lately that I have been neglecting other areas of my life. I guess I don't know how to just throw the happy switch after going through all of this but I will give it a try. I am truly happy to be home. I missed the little ones so much and yet at the same time they are already driving me crazy. I am going to make a goal to try and spend more time with them this week. It is hard though coming back from 10 days, load of emails and all of the "distractions" that I was talking about when in China. Our house has 6+ computers, 4+ TV's, gameboys, etc..... the list goes on....

I will try and post more photos and videos from the trip during this week. Thank you again for all of your prayers!
Bill

Breaking Heart

My Heart is breaking this morning and although I should be happy I am not. I have heard back from a friend that Jenny may have already been placed with a family. I know that this is a really good thing and I should be jumping for joy for her. I am so glad that she will not grow up in an institution but I have to say that I am very sad. I did so believe that God had a plan for this child to become a part of this family. A small part of me wants the information to be wrong but at the same time if there is someone ready to bring her home than that should be a really really good thing.

I do not know why this is happening at this time. I believe God must have some plan for all of this but I cannot see it.

The original email that I received said that she was available and that they had even asked her if she would want to be adopted by our family (which they should not have done) but then I got another email at 4:00 am saying that the information was incorrect and that I should contact a certain agency to find out more information.

I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 13 this morning which most of you I am sure know "Love is patient, Love is kind,..." and it finishes with "And now these three remain,: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love.". I am not exactly sure why this scripture came to my mind. I was wearing a shirt with this on it on Friday when the children left.

As I did read through the entire scripture I had to stop where it said self-seeking. I had to wonder if this is what I was doing. Was I trying to make this happen to fill some guilt that I had? I started to believe that it may be true. How wrong is it that I pray I had been given the wrong information? Or that I pray the family that has her file would change their mind? I am being as honest as I can this morning. I feel in love with this child. Why did God allow that? What is the purpose?

So, I ask this morning for your prayers, no I plead for them. I am really hurting. I feel that a part of me has been striped away. Does that sound strange that I could become so attached to a child in only a couple of days? Does it make any sense at all? No, but that is what the Love of God is. It cannot be rationalized or explained by man.

From a dark office, with many tears.....

Sunday Video

Saturday night....

So, I apologize for taking so long to post again. Friday was one of the hardest days I have had in years. I am so Glad Tiff was there with me. It really helped a lot.

We are in Chicago right now on a plane, delayed just a bit. They are working on the problem. Everything went really smooth today and flights just seem to get shorter each time. This pilot really pushed it though. He was "flying".

Friday was too quick. Everyone was late for breakfast. No one wanted this day to get here. breakfast was not too good but no one wanted to eat. Could be from all the junk food at the night before party. We had family time which is when we passed out photos of the groups. Jenny really wanted us to be with her today. She kept saying how she wished she could stay here with us all forever. No, this is not me being even more ruthless. She really did say it. She did really good when it was time to leave though. I did here that most if them were crying on the way back. I already miss her like crazy.

After they all left we had a time to debrief. We broke out into groups and discussed the week. It really helped to talk things out. Very emotional time but good discussion.

Before dinner we had time with the translators to give them certificates and share information on the children. All but one are adoptable at the time. I believe my youngest was not because he hadn't been in the system long enough. So next we went off to dinner. Not to great but it was funny. We all got to breathe out and relax and eat our own food. Having the younger kids had its' challenges. We were all cracking jokes at our table.

From dinner we had worship time and then a movie. They watched Fireproof. We packed during the first half. It was funny to see the reactions during the movie. We said our goodbyes after that. I told Ker what a great job he did. Really good guy. Then Tina and Vanka came to say goodbye. They cane back to the room to see the movie we made. It is funny. At the start of the week we didn't think they liked us. By the end we couldn't get rid of them. They are both super sweet girls.

So, I'll skip down to now. We are sitting on a plane in Chicago delayed because if a door. I think they are going to cancel the flight or get us another plane. Just a hunch. We will keep you posted.

Thanks again for all the prayers. Please continue to remember Jenny and all the kids from this week.

From the Tarmac at Chicago o'hare airport, row 28, China team out...

Video - I hope

Video of Jenny (Fang Lin Xia).

The rest of Thursday...

Before I paste in the post for today I thought I would apologize to any of you that thought you were logging on the read a typical mission trip type blog. You didn't probably know what you were getting yourselves into...

Thursday night...

Wow, so I didn’t update at all today. It was a very full and busy day. The boys both greeted me this morning, one with a hug and wanted me to carry him to breakfast. It was progress even if it was short lived. I cannot imagine what it is like for these children to come here. During family time this morning I was left with just the boys for a few minutes and they were both good, doing crafts and talking to me and singing a song. I think the good times lasted until just before lunch. I think some of it may have to do with their schedules and diets..... So much change has got to be hard.

I apologize in advance that my posts may become shorter. I am overwhelmed with emotions and just not sure what I want to say. The goal of this blog was to update everyone on the days activities but instead has turned into a little preaching and then, what I hope to be, and “adoption story”. Both Tiffani and I have reached out more to Jenny today and I believe made a lot of progress there. I do think that she really likes us. We have had several talks (Tiffani and I) about what it would be like to bring this girl into our home. Tiffani has been great. She has shown so much maturity this week and I am very proud of her.

Family time was funny. All four of the kids were trying to do these foam puppets hat we had brought from home but they use glue and apparently it does not dry fast enough for them. It was funny to watch. I would hold the items for them and count to 10 in Chinese and then they would copy me. Of course, Jenny wanted to do the puzzle again. We have to time her to see if she does better each time, which she does. She really loves doing them. I wish we had brought more. We are going to let here take this one and find a way to send her more. She is a very smart girl. Hua Cha (Alex) is really just happy if you give him a pack of tissues. They only last about an hour but he seems to like just carry them around. He also has serious OCD like someone I know that is typing right now. He will make sure that the tissues are perfectly aligned and if they give him a problem he will just throw them away. The other boy, Tom, doesn’t really do much or want to. He just watches and smiles most of the time.

Craft time came next. The kids all made crowns for the performance tonight. Oh wait, I think I missed assembly time. Yes, during assembly the kids sing and dance. Jenny actually got up and danced. We couldn’t believe it. She also volunteered to have a part in the little story time. Amazing the changes you see in a week. The boys don’t care for the singing and dancing. They both just watch.

I’m not sure if I put this already but last night we were to write letters to the kids and translators. They are just short notes telling the kids how much fun you had with them and that type of stuff.

So, lunch next. We have been all sitting together now, me and Tiffani’s families. The older girls are waiting for us and making sure we are all together. Jenny has been making sure as well. She has wanted to sit next to Tiff a lot. Lunch was okay today. Oh, I forgot, it was good, they brought out the S&S chicken. YES!!!!
Game time came next. We did a game where you snort next to the person next to you in a circle and if they laugh they are out. I got Jenny to come stand next to me and actually hold my hand. I didn’t think she would come over but she has really come out of her shell. It is so nice to see the smiles but at the same time it is sad knowing that they will have to go back to the orphanage tomorrow when they are finally starting to open up. Okay, yes, I am already crying. It is really, really breaking my heart right now to think about this for all of these kids but especially Jenny. I think about how I so much want to bring her home into our family and even if that were to happen I think about the time she will have to wait for us. It’s not fair.

I bet there are many of you out there reading this now who had asked me if we were finished with adoptions and I do remember my answers. What can I say? You cannot stop God from completing the tasks that he has at hand and I truly, truly believe in my heart that at some level He has put this little girls life on my heart. It may not be that she joins our family but that our being here would get her a home. I will be honest though - this morning I pleaded, you know, the crying out the the Lord type of pleading, with streams of tears, that whatever it takes this child would become ours.

Nap time came next today. Me and Tiff walked to the store and got some warm sodas and what we thought were chocolate chip cookies. They were okay but not what the package showed. Me and Tiff had some good conversation during this time and then started to make a video (see below I hope). It was a good time.

Pool time started at 3:00 today. MiMi was still sleeping so Tiff went up there and my boys were also sleeping so I went with Tina and Jenny down to the pool. Tina is one of Tiffani’s translators. We haven’t been able to talk that much but she has told me little things about Jenny. She has a good heart. So, I decided that I needed some more photos and gave the camera to them to use in the pool. I figured it would be interesting to see what I got back. These older kids that the camps love playing with cameras. If you have a cheap, waterproof, shockproof camera it is great. Something really cool happened “somewhere in the world a young lady was baptized”. I have no idea where I heard that rumor, nor where it took place, PTL!!! He is good.

So, here is what can be one of the toughest time at camp, Life Chart time. A life chart is a graph where you draw a line up and down (happy or sad) at different ages of your life. I went ahead and started to show them what it meant. We talked to the boys but they really didn’t get it and didn’t have anything to say and at this time MiMi was still sleeping. Jenny did talk though after a little bit and said that she had no memories from before 9. She did say that her father had died probably when she was 6 or 7 but she could not remember. That was her sad time in life. She then moved in with the grandparents but they were old and could not take care of her so she was placed into the system where after a short time she did go with a foster family. This only lasted for maybe 6 to 18 months. She didn’t really know how long. That became a sad point in her life but then she came to camp at that was a happy time. I have to wonder. Is the timing of this coincidence that she was able to come to camp this week? That for whatever reason her foster family could no longer take care of her? I don’t think so, just wish I had the cheat sheet with the answers. I did already say this, more than once, but if there is anything that you would ever want to do for our family I would ask that you join me in praying for her and this situation.

So this was great, after doing the life charts I got the idea to get the computer out and open up photo booth. WOW!!!! what a hit with Jenny and the translators. The boys did come over to take a look but weren’t too interested. Alex just like stacking his napkins and Tom was eating all the cookies. I know it may seem by the posts that I haven’t been spending much time with them but I really have. They just prefer it if I am not too close. They can only take a few minutes of me at a time (no comments on this!). The girls were all laughing so hard. they were rolling on the floor. It was hilarious. Good times...

Dinner came next. It was okay tonight but they seem to be running out of my favorite chicken. They did have bacon or ham really and a few other things and of course rice. We have been the last group to leave the dining hall for the last three meals now. It is kind of funny. There are enough people to fill about 8 or 9 tables (with 12+ chairs at each table).

Next came the assembly time. The kids were able to do a parade with the crowns that they made. Jenny was right up there towards the front. I still cannot believe the overnight change. There was a little story time too and then they all sat down to get gifts from a family group that just came in for the day and then we put on a movie for them, “Wall-E”. Not my all-time favorite but much better than big big wolf. The translator could not get MiMi to stay in the room so I went over to help and she jumped right to me. I think she trusts me (or really wanted my watch again, which I have now lost). She sat in my lap for the movie until about the time that I realized I was not dry anymore. Yes, you guessed it, no diaper, ugh! Oh, well, the things you do for love. It will still be one of the highlights to my trip. She is such a doll. If I thought I could bring home two children she would be it. She had been giving me kisses now too, kind of leaning her cheek against mine. The boys moved over next to me too, not too close, but close enough for them. I don’t think it is that they do not like me, just that it is hard for them to trust me. Completely understood...they have no reason to trust anyone.

After the movie the boys and girls split up and had a party which consisted of watching the kids tear apart a room. They had fun. I was able to talk with Willy, Mike’s son, quite a bit about camp and the other ministries that they are involved in. They had/have a C rock band that they are trying to transform into more of a family band. This will be great to see what happens for them.

Me and Tiff and David and Morgan all went to the office to call home now. I had not been telling David about the posts. Melissa filled him in and we had a good laugh, but I am going to watch my back now...hahaha...

So this leads me to this morning (really this started last night and I took a break from 1 to 5 to clear my head) and know I am back typing the rest of this post. Today the kids will go “home” after lunch. This will be one of the hardest days of my life. Actually, I think until My children all leave home to go out on there own this will be the hardest day of my life. I have already cried more tears this morning that I can remember in days past. Yes, most of them have been for Jenny but many for Jane who we met at the beginning of this trip and all of the children here. Many of them will not have the life that I think they deserve. They will not get the opportunities that we have. They have no families and no one to love them. They will have to learn to fight for their own survival. From what I was told, all of these children, save one, is adoptable. I pray that even in writing these words someone may make a decision to change a child's life. Not as a rescue mission or some valiant effort to make a difference or even out of guilt but simply to follow His word and take care of the orphans. I Promise you this, your reward will be greater than and sacrifice that you have to make. Remember, “Nothing is impossible with ___” who? Say it out loud!!!!

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Sorry Melissa, David and Morgan did good today. David was feeling a little under the weather but pushed through. I know that Morgan was having a great time, singing and dancing. I cannot believe how much she talks though, j/k. I had never had the chance to really listen to her before. She is such a sweet, sweet girl with a huge heart. You should be very proud of her this week. There are many girls her age who would not have done nearly as well as she has done. I know she enjoyed both the craft times and swimming. I think the swimming was the best. She ran the “simon says” game this afternoon too. Great job, got me out in the first round. She has lots of energy, more than the rest of us. Thanks for selling me out on the video. I am going to have to sleep with one eye open now. hahaha... I see an addition in your future, no? Watch out when Morgan gets home. She’s already practicing the puppy dog eyes I think...

I will try and upload more pictures today. There were others from the other day but I’m not sure why nobody can see them. I’ll have to check on that.

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Love you all.... Please pray for Friday. It will be a very hard and emotional day. Also, please pray for our family and Jenny. I would pray that God’s will would be revealed quickly and definitively. That he would open the doors that cannot be opened...This will only happen if it is His will....

(Insert Heart tugging video here...) (sorry, having a problem getting this posted. I will try again later).

Jeremiah 29:11...Phil 2:12-22....
Bill out.

One more thing...

Please if any of you would like to share any comments or encouragement I will pass them along to the rest of the team. Some of you have already done so. Some of the comments show up on the site on their own and others I have to moderate. Either way, we would love to hear from you. The email thing is not really working out right now...

Thank you again!

Video clips

Here are a couple video clips combined... Not a lot but something to watch until tomorrow morning...

Thursday morning...

So, nothing new has happened since last night. I am in the office now to see if I can upload a few short video clips for you at home following this journey. Your homework assignment for today will be 1 Timothy chapters 1 and 2 which talk about faith and our command to not be ashamed of the Gospel. To be a strong witness, not matter the cost. Kind off fitting with the rest of my sermons, yes? Okay, no preaching today.

I do covet your prayers for me today and the rest of the team that he will give us the opportunities to share our "story" and why it is that we are truly here. Of course you all know my reason now, yes? Seriously though, there is a huge desire I would say for these translators to know the love that we have in us and why that is and where it comes from. I wish you could all be here to see the sacrifices that this college students are making, some are even still in high school and have devoted 1, 2 or even 4 weeks to come here and take care of these children 24/7 without any compensation. They even had to pay their own way to get here, some as far as a 30 hour train ride. Can you imagine that, and they do not even have the love that is living inside of us (if you know what I mean). That is not to say that they do not have love inside of them because of course they do or they would not be here. This camp opens their eyes to the needs of the orphans in their country and I truly believe that even if we do not end up seeing the results during this short time we are here they are happening. Okay, so maybe I am going to preach a little this morning. Maybe someone is rubbing off on me?

So, yes, this is our last full day with the translators and children. It feels like we just got here yet it also feels like forever. The days are so long but we are always moving. I think someone may need an extra sabbatical after this trip.... hahaha.... Today will be much like Tuesday for our schedule with family time and games, etc. and then in the afternoon we will go to the pool again and then do life charts. I do not remember exactly what these are again so I will fill you in on them tonight (or morning for you).

I would ask that today, for me personally, you would pray specifically for Jenny. She is the young girl in Tiffani's family. I feel that He has put her on my heart this week. I cannot explain the reason why but my heart has ached over this for the past two days. I do not know what His will is for her life but I know without any certainty that he has put her on my heart. Yes, I am not ashamed to say that I have cried many tears, opening and inwardly for this child and as I pleaded out to Him this morning that he would give me and my family direction, I also know that no matter His will I will still Love Him. In the good times, "He is good!" and in the bad times, "He is still good!".

Wow, so I did end up writing a lot more than I thought I would. This was just supposed to be a post to let you know that I was uploading video clips. How awesome is it that without all those distractions in our lives I can just sit and type, openly, my feelings without the desire to worry about being somewhere next?

Thank you!!!! everyone for the prayers.

From the office (No, definitely not "The Office", at a camp, somewhere across the globe, in His presence, and striving to do his will....
China Team out.

Photos from Wednesday

Photos from Wednesday...

Wednesday Afternoon....

I am sitting in the room right now, nap time, and thought I would try and jot down a few words. I do not have much time since we will be headed to the pool in about 20 minutes. Whatever I do not get to I will type up later tonight.

Day started with breakfast as usual. I don’t think I ate much of anything this morning. Breakfast is very different here, more like lunch food. There were some potatoes that were pretty good. After breakfast we did dress up pictures. The kids really have fun with this. There are all types of costumes that they can wear, with glasses and swords, etc.. We get dressed in family groups and take a family photo. My boys didn’t really want to do this for some reason but we somehow convinced them to put a couple things on. This took about an hour and then we have a few minutes of free time and then back for craft time. The kids colored in their books some more. The books are for them to take back to the orphanage as a memory of this trip. Today was a road to the future. The volunteers are supposed to do these as well. Kind of fitting for me today as I feel the road for my life is changing this week. (Deb, the answer to your question would be Jenny).

After this we took a family photo with the camp shirts. One of my boys did not want to wear his because he does not like black. He put it on when we promised he could take it right back off. We also took a group photo. Hopefully we will get a copy of this. From here it was off to lunch. Lunch has been great. They have the best sweet and sour chicken in the World, go figure, huh? That and a plate of rice will get you to dinner without a problem.

So after dinner we went for game time, which started with doing what else but the hoe down show down (or something like that). Anyone with kids that watch Hannah Montana will know what I am talking about. This is funny and you will have to catch the video if I can get it to upload. There is a small segment from this. I have no rhythm so you will not see me dancing. We played the hot potato game only it was called cold potato and we used an ice pack. That was really funny and I almost won. I think the kids were cheating, hahaha, j/k. The kids also get to listen to a story by Mike each day around this time and then it is off for naps.

Pooltime. At 3:00 everyone met downstairs to go to the pool. There is a very nice indoor pool here that they let us use for about 1-1/2 hours each day. The water was a little cold but warmer than the shower that I got. They shut off the hot water at certain times of the day so you need to pay attention to the time if you want a hot one. All of the kids love the water even though none of them can swim. That even goes for most of the translators. It is strange but most of the Chinese people that I have met cannot swim. I guess it is not a big desire but he kids certainly love it. I tried to help Jenny learn to swim. She really wants to know how to do this but they all have to wear life vests which made it a little difficult. There is another girl here at camp that is Albino. I do not know her name but Mike was able to teach her to swim. I think she is probably one of the oldest ones here. I said before 10 or 11 was the oldest but I think she is probably in her teens. It is hard to tell. She was actually playing with the beach balls with David for quite a while. If only we could do this all day....

From pool time we went back to clean up and then they had a scavenger hunt. Matthews team won, go figure. If he can take two grown men and their daughters 1000 miles to an unknown city then of course he would win this game. Next came dinner. We have been trying to get me and Tiff’s families to sit together during meals. I think her two translators have figure this out by now. Jenny is also wanting to spend more time with Tiff but she doesn’t know how to communicate with her so I think it might be frustrating. I can tell that she likes to do things herself. She is definitely a very bright young girl.

After dinner, more singing and dancing.... I think I finally have lost it, this according to Tiff. My mind is Jello. We came in to the room with hannah Montana music going and I tried my best to embarrass Tiffani. I pulled her out in the middle of the room and started dancing with her. I think I succeeded. So we did sing a couple of songs and I almost had Jenny out there on the dance floor. Every time we get to singing and dancing she miraculously has a headache. I think she doesn’t want to look silly if she doesn’t know how to do something. She gave Tiff a cookie treat just before dinner, I think to try and break the ice.

So, next comes the movies. Let me just say that Chinese cartoons are something else. Anyone who thinks Sponge Bob is violent needs to watch one of these shows. Oh my gosh, the opening scene had a cat (police officer) shoot a mouse. The whole movie if kind of like watch the Itchy and Scratchy scenes from the Simpsons. I got to spend some time with MiMi during the movie. She doesn’t open up very easily and has been reserved to me but tonight she let me hold her. Well, I was rewarded with a nice diaper. Oh, and when I say nice I do NOT mean nice. I mean one of the worst diapers you have ever smelt in your life.... No joke. I did have her laughing before the night was out. She is the cutest little thing that you have ever scene. She reminds me of a Chinese Dora. Jenny also wanted to say good night to me and Tiff tonight. It is progress. I really think tomorrow will be good.

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So David and Morgan are doing good. Steven, the older boy, is a riot. He walks around like a little General barking orders and most of the kids, and adults, listen to him. It is really something. I still do not know the younger boys name but he was a little more difficult today. I think there was some crying and crankiness. It is really to be expected. There whole schedules are thrown out the window for a week and they are definitely not accustomed to this much attention. One thing that is really amazing is that the kids in a Chinese orphanage will take care of their own. You would think there is a survival of the fittest mentally but that really isn’t the case. Many of the kids will come help with the smaller ones. I think this has been a help to D and M for today. Morgan really enjoyed herself in the pool too but I can say that she does not enjoy the movie time and I would agree with her. The good part is that this is a time that you can have alone with the kids, without the translators.

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Okay, so it is 10:30 pm and I am getting tired and still have to go downstairs to upload this so I am going to stop typing now. Please continue to pray for us. I have not been able to talk to Lilly any more today but I will try tomorrow. Also for Sunny who is the caseworker here and is trying to help me with information. What we would be trying to do would be considered impossible, and when I say we, I mean I would like to do. I am also remember that with God ALL things are possible. So if it is his will nothing can stop it.

Thank you again,
China Team out.

Wednesday morning update (part 2)....

(scroll down two posts for video/photos).

Wednesday morning (follow-up. Do not read before the previous post or this will make no sense).


So I came down to the office to post the blog with the spoiler alert (the serious one, not really about camp) when I found the office closed and a young girl named Lilly, I believe (or Lynn) sitting outside the office. I have briefly talked to her before but not about anything serious. Well as I was trying to upload the post she asked is she could ask me a question. ‘“Sure, I guess”... Well her question was about why we are loving others and if we really think it will make a difference knowing that in the end of the bible it talks about bad times. I will have to write more about this later but in short we had a great discussion about why we are to love others and the main goal for our belief. I think I will save this for tonight but I have to say that this was definitely a G thing. I never feel that I am prepared for these questions but somehow He always gives me the words. Yes, this girl is a young C, not sure how long. Please remember her in your pr-yers, and mine as well as I will probably have more conversations with her during the rest of camp.

How CRAZY is it that my last post had to do with loving others and that the sermon on Sunday at the church was on loving others, and that the discussion with Jane was on the same thing???? Can that be anything else but a G thing. I cam here to have fun with these children and love on them, which is great and is showing that love towards others but how He has bigger plans for this trip. I can tell 110% that you are all out there remembering us every morning, noon and night. Please continue....

From China, Bill out.

Day 6... (Wednesday morning)...

(scroll to next post for video/photos).

(Spoiler Alert - If you do not want to be preached to then please, please do not read this post. I came back up to write this after writing the post because it is very serious and has little to do with camp. It was something that I just wrote after having my quite time and it is quite serious for lack of a better word. I struggled with actually posting it but I thought there may be just one out there reading this that may feel the same way. And, No, I am not going through a mid-life crisis or anything like that. I am very happy this morning and cannot wait to be with the children and just love on them for the rest of this trip. I do so miss my family at home right now too though and cannot wait to get back to you, I Love you!!!!)

This post this morning is really for me to just type and see what comes out. I am in tears right now as I types these words and think about these children and the lives that they will have in the future. It breaks my heart. I always tell myself that I will be able to come here and have fun, love on the children, play games but that it will not effect me on Friday when they leave. What I mean by that is that I will not be one of the volunteers that is just crying their eyes out and yet here it is Wednesday morning and I am already doing just that.

There is one child in particular that I am doing this for and I have struggled all night feeling guilty that it is not for all of them with the same emotion. Is that wrong? I can’t really say. All I know is that I believe 100% that He directs our paths and He has us where he wants to be.

I was reading James 1 this morning and before I came down to 1:27 which most of you probably know, it was a few verses higher, verse 22 to 24 or so, stood out more to me. It was about doing what the Word says. Just reading the words and believing them is simply not enough but we must step out in faith and act. Yes, there may be a sacrifice, more often than not, but what faith do we have if we sit back and do nothing. This life is but a vapor and the only thing that matters is the will of G. I know that I am far from a perfect being but I also know that I can strive to be a better one every day and just start each day new with the goal of “Loving G and loving others as yourself”. Do we ever really do this? Do we ever sit and contemplate what that means? Loving your neighbor as yourself. I challenge you who may be reading this, not to do this, but to sit and think about how much we do love ourselves and the things that we will not do for either fear or simply just selfishness. Think about the things that we will spend money on and the things that we will not. I tell myself all the time that money does not matter but how easy is that to say when you have it. Is it not out of abundance but out of little that we truly show our faith.

Yes, like I said, I am far from a perfect being but I try my hardest to look like one. But as I am here thousands of miles from home I think about the things that I call sacrifices in my life and I have to wonder how much of a sacrifice they REALLY are. If you do not know James 1:27, the verse is about taking care of the orphans and widows. I have been told several times that if just 10 to 20% of Christians would consider adoption there would not be a child in the world without a home. I don’t know how accurate that is but just think about it for a minute. What that really says is this: “If just 10 to 20% of Christians would do as the L commands, there would be no orphans”. Yes, I quote them because it is something that I am saying, not only to any reading this but to myself. I will admit that, yes, at times it is hard having four children and that we do go through days that are tough, but I ask you this: “What more did He do for us?”.... Is losing our 4 hours of television or hours of facebook time each night REALLY a sacrifice? Or giving up fast food and movies but rather investing or lives in the lives of the children. We are not put on this earth so that we may live comfortably in our recliners but we are put here for I believe a much higher purpose. Just think about it this morning or evening during your quite time. I challenge you to log your time for just one day and see where it is that your love truly lies. PLEASE, PLEASE do not think that each words I am saying is directed to you that read this any more than it is too me. There are a hundred fingers pointing back at me saying, “What about you?”. I have been away from home for almost a week with no email and guess what amazing thing happened, the world did not end. Crazy to think of, huh?

I do not apologize for getting on my soapbox this morning only because like I said at the beginning, this post is really for me. I had need to get these words down and even though I could have done this in my own personal journal, I would sit and wonder if any of you out there think the same things. This is not easy for me to put myself out there like this but how else do we grow then to share and encourage each other, to be open and transparent, to be willing to sacrifice and step out in faith as G intended us to do. No, I agree that I am far from a good preacher too, as you may notice from my writing but I do know that this day I am going to recommit my life to making Him L of my life. In everything, EVERYTHING that I do I will remember this verse, “No matter what conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel....” Phil 1:27, I believe. Not worthy of my parents, or my boss or my possessions, but the Gospel.

Hopefully this post makes it to the blog and I am not placed in prison but I just wanted to type and see what happened. I really felt that I was led to do this today. They are not my words that were planned out. I only asked G that he would help me to understand what it is he has for my life.

From somewhere half way around the world, Bill out.

Misc photos and Video from Sunday to Tuesday.

Hopefully this works for all of you. I tried to make a video of the photos from the past few days and some video clips too from the water park.



China Team out.

Day 5... (part 2)...

Hi everyone. I hope my posts have not been too long. I am working on a video/slideshow to update you on the photos. I have to upload each one separately for the blog. Hopefully the video will work better and I will put that in a separate post.

I left off at leaving for lunch, etc.... Lunch was good. There was plenty of white rice, a very sweet chicken and green beans and a few other things. Very filling. The meals are served on a lazy susan, sort of buffet style without leaving your seat. My boys were not happy at lunch time - still mad about the coloring books. We had to get Paul to come over and help us to get them to eat. There was a lot of crying, which is completely understandable. Most of these kids have never seen anything other than chinese people so it is scary for them to see us. It takes a little time but trust is slowly being earned. After lunch the kids go down for a nap. I used this time to get our flights squared away for our trip Saturday back to Beijing. I am crossing my fingers they are fixed. One of the chinese staff members here got on the phone with them to make sure.

We met the translators after the naps downstairs and headed off to KFC. Boy were they (KFC) in for a shock. Even with such a small week it was a large invasion of the establishment. They were very accommodating. the kids actually had some sort of egg pie? I couldn’t really tell you what this is. The Ice cream was a no-go from the orphanage. They said they were not allowed to have cold food... Actually many of these kids have never had anything cold such as ice in a drink. They were happy with the pies and didn’t seem to mind either way. The volunteers all got ice cream cones - pretty good for soft serve. The kids spent a lot of time in the play area. MiMi must have gone down the slide about 100 times which is why she didn’t make it to the waterslide time. She passed out on the way back to the campus. The kids all had a blast and loved just getting out. Oh, and did I mention the arm wrestling matches in the restaurant - that was a riot (and extremely loud, but fun).

So returning to the campus we all changed into swimsuits and headed down to the water park. Tiffani and MiMi and one of here translators (I’m still not good with the names) went up to their room to let MiMi (actual spelling is Min Min) sleep. She passed out. Tiff was able to have a nice long talk with her translator which she really enjoyed.

The water park was cool (literally). We filled it from a fire hydrant. Yes, I did make it down the slide twice and there should be some photos of David and Morgan and even Jenny went down a few times. I think the kids would play in this all day long if they could. The had a blast. For the kids that didn’t want to go down the slide there were water guns, buckets, etc.... Oh, and someone snuck up behind me and dumped a bucket of this ice water down my back while I was taking photos to which they were blindsided a minute later, hahaha, to which I was blindsided back by his offspring... (I wont mention any names). It was really a fun time! There are plenty of photos and videos coming soon int he misc photo post, next.

We all headed back to the rooms to dry off and then down for dinner. Surprise, two good meals in a row. A very very good peanut chicken (I think) and more rice, fried ice cream, etc.... Can you guess which dish was gone first? The kids made up for not getting ice cream at lunch. MiMi had been sleeping until just about the end of dinner. I think she got about 2-1/2 hours? And this was after a nap time so I think the KFC slides really wore her out. She is just a doll. Hopefully she will start to trust us a little more and open up.

On a side note - Most of the kids that you see in these photos are adoptable, except the ones that I want to take home (sorry Deb, they are just too cute). In all seriousness we will be getting information on many of them at the end of the week.

From dinner we went to an assembly time and then movie time with the kids. The translators would go to a meeting to help them better understand the workings of camp and go over any problems that they may be having with the kids. The assembly time is more silly singing and dancing and then a story. The one that they are doing has to do with Esther. The kids really like it and get to participate. For being so small they pay attention very well. The movie time was some strange Chinese cartoon that the kids seem to like. It kind of freaks me out a little but they like it so it’s a good time to rest and talk with other volunteers. I got to spend a lot of time talking to Mike here. They have adopted from China and Russia and they are in the process of adopting again from China. Awesome family!!!!

After the movie the translators came back to take the kids to bed and we were able to have a w-rship time. Just a handful of us were in there. It was a good time.

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So, more about David and Morgan. They are having fun from what I can tell. Once you get here at camp and paired up it is a little like chaos. I can say that they had a blast at the water park, even if some of it was at my expense (payback is coming). I found out they they are paired with two boys, one is 9 and the other is 3. I may have already said this but the 9 year old has a dwarfism genetic disorder. He is an amazing smart kids that knows quite a bit. He was asking David questions about our country and what our countries moto is and why there are stripes on our flag, I think. All sorts of things. He is also a very helpful boy and looks after the smaller child. This is actually the same for Jenny (Tiffs girl). She looks after MiMi a lot. I still do not know much about the other boy other than he is three and that he has not smiled or laughed until they got him at to the slides at KFC. He was laughing a lot there and even at the water park some. All the kids seem to warm up by day two or three.

Well, it’s 12:19 am right now so I should probably get to sleep. I think everyone else passed out about two hours ago. I may try and go downstairs and upload this if I want to brave the mosquitoes. Not sure, we will see.

Oh, I was able to get Jenny to smile once or twice just before the end of the evening. I think she will come around soon too. She is a very nice, sweet girl who is very observant. I think she wants to communicate with us but doesn’t know how. I’m just trying to get her to trust us. I think some lollipop bribes are going to happen tomorrow. (Hey Deb, can you read my mind yet? Yes, I have lost mine if I am thinking what I am thinking.)

I love you all and thank you for the pr-yers. We can’t wait to be home and share all the stories but I also don’t want the week to end yet either.

From Yantai, China, 00:24 hours.
China Team out.

Day 5...

Here we are, day 5 of the trip (I think) and camp has officially begun for us. Before I get into the day I wanted to make a correction. Matthew (our hero for getting us here) is not 16 but 15. Yeah, this is an amazing young man. Also, sorry for the typos. Hopefully my meaning comes across. You type wherever and whenever you can before the memory goes.

So, we did meet with Mike but everyone else was already there going over for breakfast. It was raining and this was is funny. They brought a van over to basically bring the kids across an alley to keep them from getting wet and then unloading them on the other side, uncovered area, to the restaurant. I walked with Tiff and Matthew. When we got all the way across the street we met the boys that I was teamed up with. David was actually carrying one of them and thought they were his buddies. One boy is around 6 or 7 and the other maybe 5 or 6. I’m not really sure. One of them may have cerebral palsy, not really sure, but he has trouble with his legs and cannot do stairs. I do not think there is anything physically wrong with the other boy. The translators name is Ker. He is a 22 year old college student. This is his first year here at camp. He made a statement that he thought he was coming to “babysit” but instead more to be a “dad”. It is really a lot of work for the translators. More than we have to do. They keep them over night, take them to the bathrooms and many others things, most importantly being the communication.

Breakfast - nope - just like the last time at camp. I had the wonderful tasteless steamed dough bread. It literally has no taste at all but it’s food. The rest of the stuff I could not recognize with the exception of some boiled eggs. One plate was supposed to be scrambled eggs but I didn’t see it. Oh well, I gave thanks for the “bread” - all you really need. Both of my boys need some help eating so switched back and forth. They were both a little afraid of me but they were hungry enough to put that aside and let me help.

At this point Tiffani still did not know who she was teamed with but we did know that she had two kids and two translators. David and Morgan did not have their assignments either. The four of us broke off with Mike and did a little tour of the grounds and then headed to this “coffee room” which is being used for an assembly room. It is a good size room with a projector setup and PA system. We went over the rules with a few more of the staff and then everyone came into the room to be paired up and off to “family time”.

Tiffani was paired here with two girls. One is 10 or 11 and the other is 3. They are total opposites. The little one, MiMi, is cute as a button but doesn’t say much and is taking a little bit to warm up. The older girl, Jenny, is cute too. She has a personality just like someone back home (J). She will give you these looks that I cannot really explain but they are very funny. She can be very serious and get frustrated easily. I do not think there is anything physically wrong with MiMi but Jenny does have some finger deformities. I am not sure if they are from birth or not.

David and Morgan were teamed with two boys. One of them is named steven and I do not know the other boys names yet. They are both small. Steven does has some physical problems but I do not know exactly what they are or what it is called. I believe the other boy is okay physically, just very young too, maybe 3 years old? I will try and get more about their story in the next post. Who knows, maybe I can get David to blog a little???

So I came back to my room with the Ker and the boys and then Tiffani brought her “family” up as well. We pulled out the table and chairs and let them color for a while. It was pretty good. We were able to talk to the translators and share some stories and photos of our family back home. One of the girls just started being a guide for adoptive families within the last year so that was neat to talk to her a little. The boys liked the coloring but MiMi was not happy with it and started crying. Jenny was getting bored with the coloring so we broke out a puzzle for her. She had never seen one of these before and it was “interesting” giving her personality. We had to move the puzzle to the floor to spread it out and let her see what it was all about. Once she figured it out we were not allowed to leave the room until it was finished so we did show up to assembly a few minutes late. I think she really enjoyed it once she knew what it was all about. The boys pretty much stayed at the table and I helped them color. The older boy, who we are calling Tom wanted to get approval of how he was doing. The younger boy, who we are calling Alex, didn’t really care. I think he is definitely reserved and does not trust strangers. I’m not sure it this point how much time it will take for him to come around.

Assembly time is fun. We sing silly songs and dance, etc... The we played duck-duck-goose for about 20 minutes... They really love playing this game, especially being young kids this week. The age range is 3 to 10 or 11 but mostly I would say 3 to 8. Yes, even David was playing. I’m sorry but I didn’t get any photos of this. Maybe tomorrow. I did manage somehow to bust my big toe nail during the game. I don’t remember doing it but just a little bit ago I looked down and saw a little dried blood and Tiffani said, “Oh yeah, I saw that a while ago”. Guess I was having too much fun to notice.

We took a 20 minute break after that. Ker got the boys some milk boxes and Tiffani’s translators took her girls back up to the room for a few minutes. Then we all got back together for craft time. Today we made name badges. The kids really really like stickers and markers. They got to decorate the tags and then we glue them to a clothes pin. You will have to see the photo of MiMi. It is funny. We also colored in their memory books. This is something that the campers and volunteers both do together for a scrapbook from the trip. Alex ended up getting mad at us because we would not let him color on all of the pages. They are supposed to be set apart for each day of the week. He didn’t really want to have much to do with us after that.

From here it was off to lunch... I will leave it at that since we are getting ready to head off to KFC now - ICE CREAM, YEAH!!!!! and then the water slide back here at camp.

China Team out.

The Real Day 4....

(Please read the next three posts as I did not have internet so I was blogging on the computer and saving them posts for later, photos to follow so check back.)

So, I left of at the airport. From 8 to 9 am I tried to get our flight changed, kind of cheated and went to the first class line since the others were still long. After waiting in this line, same news, no flights until Tuesday night. Well, I actually could have gotten 3 first class seats for the next morning but no one would volunteer for the wing. So we made some calls and a decision was made to take a train and get there sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. At least this way we would still have 4 days at camp and that was the main goal. David, Morgan and Tiff had a prayer time for me while at the counter - it worked - I did not lose my cool to which Tiffani said “Your cool???” hahaha...

So, like I had said on the previous post about Burger, yup, this was where we got breakfast, which was actually lunch since they do not sell breakfast. About 62 yuan for two medium sized meals ($10 US) so that same as home more or less. I don’t think we have any photos of this. I have to admit the picture taking has taken a back seat (sorry Debbie and Melissa) although I think David was taking some that I haven’t seen yet.

A driver sent by BMH did show up around noon and took us to the train station. We got there around 12:40 and by 2 pm we found out that we had tickets for an overnight bus or was it a 5 hour speed train or wait no was it an overnight train with beds. Honestly, I tell you the truth, we had no idea what we had tickets for and where we were going but to our “Nice” surprise it was a speed train and only 2 hours, which ended up being an hour and a half at 200+ miles per hour. I have to say and the others would agree that this was cool! We arrived at the station and were met by Jenny who works with BMH. She came with a van and told us it would be a 6 hour ride to camp. Yes, I wasn’t stuttering, 6 hours. We thought it was supposed to be three. David will tell you that the only real problem we have had over here, more so than not speaking Chinese, is that they cannot tell time very well. 5 minutes could mean anything from 2 minutes to 1 hour. Kind of like when the preacher says “and in conclusion”... (sorry D.).

Jenny was nice enough to take us to a Pizza Hut before the ride and this was good. A pizza hut in china is a restaurant. You can get anything from lasagna to soup to salads and yes, even pizza. The pizza here is great, no greasy bottom. Me and Tiff got a Hawaiian with stuffed crust and David “tried” to get a pepperoni and sausage and cheese, not sure if that is what came out and Morgan got an appetizer plate with calamari, and wings and a few other things. Overall, very good experience. But the best part of the meal was the discussion, that I did tell them would make it to the blog, was the debate over whether the way the chinese go number 2 or the american way, which was healthier. Maybe now I am sharing too much info? Like I said, there were some laughs along the way. Sorry, I did not have the camera for this part so no photos of dinner but it was good.

So, back on the bus and an uneventful 5 to 6 hour ride where we arrived at camp safe and sound. We were greeted by a bunch of people. Hopefully we will remember a few names. The rooms here are very nice and they have a/c and screens on the windows to keep the mosquitoes out. I would say the room is 18x24 with two beds, desk, tables, chairs, TV (which we will not use) and yes a bathroom. That is just for two of us. Me and Tiff and then David and Morgan got separate rooms. Mike is the director here and seems very nice. We also met David Lee (chinese student who I believe may be staff or translator, not sure yet) but very nice guy.

That just about raps up our Monday at 11 pm. Not a bad day in the end. Here is where I have to give Matthew a special “THANK YOU” for getting us here. We were doubtful along the way but he really came through for us. Oh, the best part, he’s only 16. Didn’t see that coming did you. Two grown men following a 16 year with blind faith that we would arrive where we were supposed to be. Awesome!!!

So, here I am, it is now 6 am on Tuesday and my nerves have been at me all night. ow many buddies will I get, how old will they be, will they be girls or boys, will they like me, will I scare them.... I guess we will just have to wait and see. We are going downstairs to meet with Mike at 8 am and go over the schedules and then we should meet our buddies and translators at 9.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers!!!! Even though the path He took us on for the last 36 hours was not the one we had planned, He took care of it all and got us here safely. All the ups and downs, laughing and crying, I wouldn’t change a thing.... If you could continue to remember us throughout the rest of the trip. Thank you, G.B.!!!!

Finally, from Yantai, China, China Team out.

Day 4...(kind of)...

I wish I could start this post and say that it was actually Day 4. It really needs to start with the continuation of Day 3.

So, at the end of our story we were waiting to find out if our flights had been cancelled. Yes, they were and what fun that brought. If any of you have seen cattle herded this is exactly what it looked like when the flights were all cancelled. About 1 million (okay, maybe only 10,000) people started their treks back to the ticket counters where you were supposed to go and get rebooked. This was fun....Not. I’ll leave out a lot of the details but lets just say we saw a lot of different things happen when you have that many angry people in one “HOT” room the size of 3 football stadiums.

I did get in one of the lines and let the others go and find some Burger King for dinner, which we didn’t know at the time would be breakfast too. I think I was in this line from 7:30 pm until 10:30 pm. I had no idea I had been waiting that long only to be told that we could be rebooked on a flight two days later. I tried everything like “but what about the kids I’m traveling with” and “I don’t know this town”, trying to put on some fake tears but they were coming. Ok, maybe the last part was an exaggeration. The good news in all of this was that we met Matthew, a young man from Mississippi, who at the end of this story becomes the Hero.

Oh, I forgot to mention that our friend Jane said that I was now a Hero for going on the Great Wall so many times but of course this is the same girl that looked at my family photos and said “Wow, you look much older and wider there”. Yes, I said “wider”. hahahaha....

Back to our adventure, which we are now calling “The Amazing Race: China Edition”. Matthew was able to find David in a sea of all of these people and took a guess and said “Bring Me Hope” to which David replied “Yes”. Matthew had already been here a couple weeks at another camp and was switching locations to our camp. He had a chinese cell phone “PTL!!!!”. He had also found a man int he airport that would take us to a hotel. You’ll notice that I didn’t highlight hotel - yeah, it ended up being a 1/2 star hotel. The 1/2 star was because it had a/c, that was about it. So we all did get a few hours sleep and met just before 8 am to take a shuttle back to the airport and see what our options were.

I want to take a pause here to let you know that even at this point in the story it may sound like I am being negative on this trip and that we were all ready to throw in the towel when in all actually that was not the case. Spirits were still good and all we wanted to do was get to camp and meet our buddies. Some of the story may sound bad but we did have a lot of laughs along the way.

So, you want to hear how it continues... stayed tuned next week, same time, same bat channel... hahaha, just kidding. I think I will split the post for size and leave room photos which I will try and add today or tonight.

From the same Beijing International Airport, Terminal 3, Beijing, China, China Team out.

Day 3

We started the day as usual with the breakfast buffet at the hotel. It was okay, not as good as past visits. Not too much western food.





After checking out of the hotel today we proceeded to the church service at BICF. The guide walked us to the doorway and wanted to take a look inside. This is where it gets serious for me. The attendants at the doors would not allow her to come in and take a look. You must have an international passport. I made a statement that I later regretted saying “No, you’re not allowed in, sorry”. I didn’t immediately realize what I had just said to this young 24 year old girl. The service started with worship and as I was singing it had come back to my mind that I had told this girl she could not come into the church. I had this vision of being in heaven and going through the gates and then turning back at this lost soul with a heavy heart. This is the fourth time I have broken down in tears in this church. This time it was very different. The other times it was for Abby, Jadyn and Ethan that now have the freedom to chose their religion, but this time it was for a young lady who really does not have that freedom in the same sense.

This story does get a lot better so keep reading. When we left the church service and got back into the van this young lady was eager to know what we had just done. I told her that we sang and worshiped and listened to the pastor teach us. I don’t think she understood that part. She asked what our religion was about, why do we do it, those types of questions. I am so glad that David was there for this part. He told her how our religion is about knowing God and Jesus who died for our sins and that we are taught to do right and follow Gods word. She said so it teaches you to be “good people” and that good people will go to heaven. He told her how it was more than that and then pulled out his bible to show her what we had learned today. The passage was the Great Commandment “Love God and Love others as yourself....”. She wanted to see the bible - If you can believe this she had never seen a bible in her life and had no idea who Jesus was. This was shocking to us although I am not sure why. Beijing has a population of over 22 million people.

I asked her if she had “religion” which she answered “No.” “How about your family”, “No. Not parents or their parents or their parents”. I couldn’t believe that this may generations had no religion at all. They know about Buddhism but only respect it, they do not practice it. A few minutes later she was talking about the changes here and a women's rights movement. This movement was about “believe it or not, not physically abusing your wife”. They honestly thought it was “legal” to do this up until recently. She told us how abusive her father was to her mother and herself. She laughed it off that she was bad and deserved it. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I think at this point we decided to change the topic, especially with the girls in the van.

So, from this point we went to lunch (you’ll have to wait to the end of this post for the rest of the story). The lunch was is the basement of this Chinese restaurant, which probably sounds worst than it was. The food was okay. Oh, someone decided to eat a chicken foot and it wasn’t me or the girls.






After lunch Jane took us to what she would call a friendship store although I would call it a Chinese Flea market maybe. It was a mix of Chinese souvenirs and electronics, watches, shoes and hand bags. Kind of crazy here. they try their hardest to get you to buy their goods. Jane called it adversing, I called it annoying. It was fine just hard to really look at anything. Once you stopped they had you and did not want to take no for an answer.

From the flea market we went to a silk factory that was right next door to the Bird’s nest. We got a few long distance photos. The silk factory was cool. They showed us how one cocoon from a silk worm would stretch to 1 mile in length and it would take 80 cocoons to make one layer of a silk comforter and 100 layers to make the whole comforter. It was really cool. We got to stretch one layer out to see how hard it actually was. The girls in the shop made it look so easy. Of course, just like Disney, they drop you in a shop to purchase the stuff that they made. There was actually some pretty cool things in there and the prices were not that bad. No bargaining in these types of stores.

So this pretty much rounded out our Beijing portion of the trip (well until I tell what is happening right now). We went to the airport from the silk factory, about a half hour drive. Oh, I forgot about the jokes - Jane was trying to lighten our mood this morning, not knowing that we were just not morning people today. So she told us these jokes that you would probably read on a McDonalds bag. It was funny.

Okay, here’s one so you catch the meaning: “A hunter sees a bird flying and gets out his shotgun and fires. You here a very loud BANG! The bird falls but the hunter missed. Why did the bird fall?”..........When he heard the loud noise he covered his ears with his wings”.... Get it, hahaha.

So we made it to the airport and Jane helped us find our checkin location. Before she left David had reminder her of the conversation earlier in the day and handed her a track “Steps to peace with God”. He told her that this was the whole story about our religion and basically how to become a part of it. She looked very excited to get this. We said our goodbyes as the driver was waiting for her back at the van. As she left we could see her walking away reading the track with a very serious look on her face. It was really amazing. The seed has been planted... Let’s see what God can do with it.... Please remember Jane in your prayers!!!

Okay so back to now, we are sitting at the gate waiting out a storm that has delayed our flight. We are already one hour behind schedule and someone walked by saying they think the rest of the flights have been canceled for the day. I really hope this is not true. Maybe God still has more work for us in Beijing? We will have yet to see.....

From Beijing International Airport, Terminal 3, Beijing, China, China Team out.

Day Two over...

We made it through another day. The Forbidden City was the most crowded I have ever seen it - like Times Square in New York at New Years Eve - only 100 degrees...





Tour was good though. Got to learn some things that I didn't hear on my previous 3 tours there. The history there is just amazing...

Lunch was at a Dumpling restaurant. They were good. We got two plates for the four of us with pork and chinese cabbage stuffing. We also got a plate of fruit salad. Could you believe they were out of rice ??? A chinese restaurant with no rice.



We took an hour or so van ride after that to the Great Wall. We went to a section that I had never been to where you can either walk 20 minutes up hill at a 40 degree slope just to get to the wall or take a "cable car". I highlight that because it was not a cable car - it was a very old ski lift. Me and Tiff (probably more me) were freaking out... We obviously made it to the top though. It did end up being cool.





We spent a little while on the wall walking in the crazy heat, sweating. It was really cool and I know David enjoyed it. He couldn't believe he was on the Great Wall. Mark one off the bucket list.

So, the way down, either walk the whole wall (6km), take the ski lift (no way) or take a sled (like those old metal snow sleds only it had wheels and a hand brake). We chose the sled. I can say it was one of the highlights of the day. This was really really cool.. David took off first and we never caught up to him. I think he liked it. Tiffani took video of the entire ride (maybe we will have a little clip for the Sunday video).



The way back to the hotel we voted on McDonalds. 1-1/2 days in China and Tiff is already done with Chinese food. Tastes just like McD's back home.

Well, that was basically our day today. We will be going to church in the morning and then maybe a friendship store and then fly to Yantai for the camp. Can't wait for camp to start. We may try to blog in the morning one last time and fill in any details from today. The next post will be Sunday night (China time) from the camp location if we have internet there.

China Team out.

Day Two begins...

Here we are, day two, which is weird because it is already Saturday morning and we left on Thursday morning. Weird to think you wake up one morning in the states and the next afternoon you are half-way around the world.

Nothing eventful to post since last night. Got a good night sleep from 10:30 to 5:00 am. Beds are hard but the bedding is great. I love the comforters over here. The showers are great too. Nothing beats a good strong hot shower after traveling for almost 24 hours.

Today as I said we will be visiting the Forbidden City. It is supposed to be very hot which is weird because you cannot see the sun. I actually pointed out what I thought was the moon to Tiffani yesterday and she corrected me. Being able to stare at the sun without sunglasses is just strange. We hope to get some good pictures to share with you all at home. I will be the one in the bright blue shirt for those of you who have never seen me with a shaved face before. The had a shaving kit here in the hotel so I thought I would see what it was like to shave with a razor from a Chinese hotel. Let's just say it's not as good as the nice fusion razors Debbie has been getting me (for almost free) with her couponing.

China Team out

(PS - This is for Dan so no one else try it, Coke code from a Chinese bottle - BPM4LRXRHLPB5 and then 4 @ symbols, you gotta let me know if that works.)

Day one (continued)...

Well, we officially made it and survived the 14 hour flight and 1 hour van ride to hotel. You haven't lived until you have driven in China. Special thank you to Emalee for hooking us up with "gotrusted.com" so we could get to our blog.

Flights were all good, no real delays. Me and Tiff got about 6+ hours of sleep on the flights and Morgan got a few hours as well. I don't think David slept at all so they are calling it an early evening.



Me and Tiff ventured out on the streets and found a KFC. Tiffs words "well it's food". It wasn't that bad and the guy at the counter did speak english. The popcorn chicken is very spicy, at least for me. Total cost for both of us was $6.04 US.




After this I let Tiff experience a chinese grocery store. It was a smaller one so no real crazy things like chickens hanging in the meat section or anything like that. We picked up (2) 20oz. Cokes and some Chocolate Oreos (these are my all-time favorite Chinese food). Total cost: $10 yuan (about $1.55 US) compared to $38 yuan for a 12 oz. can of Coke in the hotel.



That is about it for today. Tomorrow we meet our guide at 8:00 am in the lobby to visit the Forbidden City, Lunch (probably at Friendship store), and the Great Wall.

Thank you again to all of you for your prayers!

China Team out.