Ron and Pat Brown's Work in China

January has been a busy month

2012-02-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

After the holidays, we traveled to Houston, Orange, Bay City, Corpus Christi, and some surrounding cities from these larger cities. When I am too busy to write regularly, it all runs together. We are moving so often, I could not remember where we were without the postings on my calendar. Things have been going fine without anything very interesting to report. We report to churches where we were a year ago and when Ron does not have an appointment, we attend some other churches in the area. It is interesting to meet new people. We seem to have the ability to go when they are having potluck (or do they just have potluck often anyway?) It's been our good fortunte to get some very good meals along with our travels.

We arrived in Bay City, south of Houston on January 11th. We parked the RV at Riverside Park, a city park.

The next morning, Lily Zhang our worker from China, came into the Houston airport. Ron met her at the Houston airport and brought her back to the RV to spend 10 days with us. We have known Lily for several years and she's worked with Agape in several capacities. She worked as a teacher at the orphanges, a personal translator for us on two trips and at the last cleft palate medical mission. Recently, she's come to the U.S. to bring children having surgery in the U.S. People at Nichols Street in Bay City and Sweeny enjoyed meeting her and asking her questions about China.

While at the Riverside Park, we enjoyed our walks each afternoon. A tame duck at the boat dock made friends with Lily and she fed it each day we were there. The first day we arrived, a beautiful male cardinal took a fancy to our mirrors on the RV. I hung garbage bags over they and tied them tight so they would blow in the breeze but not blow away. This didn't bother the cardinal at all. He then decided to play with mirrors on the car. When they were covered up, he liked the chrome all around the car. He often flew into the windows around the RV and sat on the window ledge and watched us inside. It seemed that he wanted to be part of the family but we did everything we could to shoo him away. He woke us up at daylight each morning, pecking on the windows, as if it was his duty to get us up.

On January 23rd we arrived on Mustang Island (near Corpus Christi). It is a Texas park right on the strip of land that is also Padre Island. When outside, we could hear the roar of the ocean. We took our afternoon walk on the beach. I was not able to go every day because my dry eye situation got worse even with goggles on. The wind was very strong so I stayed inside most of the time we were there.

Lily left on the 27th to go to Rochester, MN to the Mayo Clinic to meet a little 13-month old boy arriving from China. He is an orphan and has severe heart defects. As I write this, he will be fasting after midnight tonight and having surgery tomorrow. Lily will be with him until he's well and ready for the flight attendant to take him back to his grandmother. The boy's father was murdered before he was born. His mother deserted him (as they usually do when there's a birth defect). She left to go elsewhere in hopes of marrying again so he was left with a poor grandmother. She was not able to accompany him to the U.S.

We also had a beautiful little three year old that had successful heart surgery in San Antonio on Friday. If you are on Facebook, you can go to Chinese Agape Foundation page and see this beautiful child that just had surgery.

We visited churches in Corpus Christi, Portland, Port Aransas and Ingleside the past few weeks. A member of the church at Port Aransas owns an RV park. He heard Ron's report on the China work and came up afterwards and told Ron to vacate our spot on Mustang Island and come on down to his place for our last week with free parking. The next morning, we drove there and took his last spot in the RV park. He has two lots connecting each other with about 150 spaces. He also has a motel, with pool and laundry room. It was so nice of him to give us this great accommodation and save us some money. Yesterday was our first really nice day in Port Aransas. It was foggy and rainy almost all week. After I closed down the computer about 4 p.m. we went for a walk around the town and on to the beach. I guess we walked 5 miles by the time we got back to the RV. I was so tired. We found enough leftovers so I didn't cook. We went to bed fairly early because I didn't sleep well the night before. I didn't sleep well that night either. I was concerned about the ferry crossing, for one thing. I am just too anxious every time we move. People envy us everywhere we go. At Walmart while getting gas, the lady from the little office came out and talked with me about RV's and said her brother is thinking of doing it full time. The RV parks are full everywhere we go. We walked through the one we were staying at (he has two parks side-by side) and about every state was represented except Alaska and Hawaii. People are permanent, for the winter at least. They have plants and stuff outside around their campers like they have settled in to stay. They are close together and hardly have any room between them.

The Corp of Engineer parks are much better space-wise. Ours was free this past week so it was O.K. but there was a lot of noise with people coming and going, talking, walking barking dog, etc. He charges $45 per night for these spots. They have water, sewage and electricity for that cost. Some actually had electrical meters so they pay their own electricity if they are long-term. It is almost all old people - many look in their 80's but they drive these rigs all the way from Quebec and northern states. If I was going to hang out somewhere full-time, Port Aransas would be a good place but I think property is very expensive there. It is an exclusive resort area. You can see houses of all sizes and types, inexpensive to terribly expensive. Along the waterfront, there were million dollar houses. Here's three of the choices:

Better than a tent!

Or cute little houses like this...

Or this one?

We went across the ferry from Port Aransas to Portland one day for me to go to their ladies' Bible class and have lunch with the ladies. We also crossed by ferry to go to Ingleside our last Wednesday night in this area.

Saturday morning, February 4th, we woke early and began preparing to leave. It was foggy but we wanted to be one of the first on the ferry. We had seen an RV and many campers crossing on the ferry the other times we took it so we knew we could take our rig across and save about an hour's driving. Walmart also had cheap gas on the other side. We were the first ones to board the ferry and the worker directed up all the way to the front with only a few feet to spare. I just about fainted!

As I already said, I didn't sleep well the night before thinking about this crossing and to face it like this was breathtaking, to say the least. We took up almost a whole side of the ferry but they loaded the rest of it with cars and trucks and away we went. It is a short ride but it crossed the channel where barges come though.

Ferries run all day back and forth, free of charge. We also passed large tankers coming to cross on the ferry also. It employs a lot of workers doing this all day and night with several ferries coming and going all the time.

Arriving on the other side:

Waiting to take off:

We drove on to Alice, TX after we got gas at Walmart. We had a little rain on us but not much until later that night. We parked at the Alice Church of Christ parking lot. We knew from last year that we could get close enough to their building to plug in for the night. We unhooked the car and trailer and left them on the side of the building. Then the rain began to come down. We had heavy thunderstorms all night. Ron said he got up a couple of times to look out to be sure the car was not under water. He didn't know if it was draining off or rising in the parking lot. Folks at church the next morning said they got 3" of rain in their gauges. It was windy and cold but the rain had ended. After we completed the morning service, we drove 2-l/2 hours down the Rio Grande Valley to Sunny Glen Children's Home. We parked here last year and they gave us permission to come again. We give them a donation in lieu of the parking cost somewhere else. There's an RV park just on the other side of the orphanage property that extends for at least a mile. It looks like it's completely full. It would have to hold a minimum of 200 campers.

It is cloudy and cool here in San Benita (just north of Brownsville). You can't go further south than Brownsville. It's practically on the Mexican border. I expected it to be warmer but the cold front that produced so much rain north of here, pushed this far south.

We will be in this area a couple of weeks. I hope I'll have time to post more often in the coming weeks. We will wind up our work here and go to San Antonio next. We will be back in Dallas to return to China on March 11th.

Thanks for following our adventures. Please keep us and the work in your prayers.

Lake Seminole to Lewisville Lake near Dallas

2011-12-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Spanish Moss on trees

Lake Seminole (Northern Florida at the corner of South Georgia and Alabama). We enjoyed our meetings with Christians in South Georgia and Northern Florida

We drove to Jacksonville, FL one weekend where Ron presented lessons geared toward evangelism.

Night time in St. Augustine, FL ....out to dinner with Garry and Jeannie Swearingen.

We enjoyed our stay with some dear friends from our early days of mission work when we lived on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It actually felt a little strange being in a house again after 1-l/2 years full-time in an RV. It was strange but nice! Jeannie and Gary Swearingen had a wonderful dinner prepared for us the night we arrived and then one night we went to St. Augustine for dinner. Our friends made us feel right at home. We had a good time catching up and exploring ideas about the Lord’s work. Our next stop was Pensacola, FL.

From Lake Seminole we traveled to Pensacola for one night’s stay at a Corp of Engineers’ park on the barrier islands. It was actually a bit scary to drive down this narrow road with sand dunes on each side and the ocean waves lapping within view on both sides of the road. As we entered the gate to the park, I asked the attendant if he was sure there was a park ahead and enough space to turn an RV around. He smiled and said yes but we drove miles and miles along this narrow stretch and it looked as if it would just end in the ocean at the end of this strip of land. It was amazing at the very end that it spread out to accommodate about 100 parking places for RV’s and other type of campers. The white sand covered the whole park. I would not want to be there during a hurricane!

We got there late in the afternoon as the sun was going down so we hurried to the walkway to the beach with a camera. After a short walk along the sand, the sun went behind clouds as we returned to the RV to have dinner. We could hear the waves from the ocean all night, which is a calming sound.

Early the next morning we hooked up the car on the trailer and drove to Baton Rouge, LA. We arrived on Wednesday in time to attend the Bible study with Christians at the church where we had parking privileges for the RV. The next day, we met Joan Ni, our Chinese worker who coordinates the bringing of children from China to the U.S. for surgeries. Joan and her husband took us to lunch on Saturday and treated us to some wonderful Japanese food. It was so nice to get to know Joan and her husband. We also had dinner one night with the preacher and his wife. They have served this congregation for 25 years.

Ron spoke at the Sunday morning service on Sunday. The Chinese service was going on at the same time in another part of the building. Following our services, they came over and baptized four people. There was a fellowship meal for both congregations. We left on Monday to return to Dallas.

We have been at the Hickory Creek Park on Lake Lewisville since we arrived late on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. As soon as the Bible class was over on Wednesday night, April Dasher came up and invited us to their house for Thanksgiving lunch. April and Greg were members in Peachtree City, Georgia before moving to Dallas so we have been friends for several years. It was a wonderful day. Greg’s parents from Valdosta, Georgia were there. The meal was delicious and spending time with them was really great. Greg’s father is an elder so he and Ron enjoyed discussing various aspects of the Lord’s work, including our work in China.

Last year, we arrived in Waxahatchie, Texas, the day before Thanksgiving. We rested that day and went out to find a restaurant that night. Everything was closed. We finally found an Applebee’s open and ate dinner there. This year, we thought we might repeat those plans and make it a tradition to eat at Applebee’s but the Dashers gave us an opportunity to keep from having such a tradition each year.

It has been so good to be back at Lewisville church of Christ. We received a warm welcome upon our return. It’s good to hear some of Jeff Jenkins’ good lessons. Traveling to many churches is nice and enjoyable but arriving back at Lewisville felt like home! Ron delivered a report to the church in Commerce a week ago and this Sunday we will be the Argyle church.

This past Sunday, we were invited to lunch with friends in Greenville so we had another great meal and fellowship with two other couples.

I caught the cooks off-guard in this photo!

Carolyn Chance on the left has been a close and dear friend for more than a year.

Henry, the man on the right talking with Ron has also been a great supporter and dear friend to us since we met him last year. The Christmas Eve party, mentioned below, will be at his apartment!

We are relocating the RV to the other side of the Lewisville Lake today. We can only stay two weeks at a Corp of Engineer park, but the park on Kingfisher Road allows a 28-day stay. It is the park that we have used many times before. On the 23rd or 24th, we will drive to Boles Childrens’ Home right outside of Greenville for a few days. Our friends in Greenville are having a Christmas Eve party and we are invited. On the 26th we will leave Greenville and start our trip to Houston, making a few stops (perhaps) on the way. The ladies at Waxahatchie have quilts for us to pick up.

That’s enough about where we have been and where we are going. Other changes in our lives have included a few health issues. Ron had a very difficult time following the cataract surgery. The eye has finally healed and he thinks he can see better. He and I both deal with dry eyes and that’s an on-going problem when you have to use heat, especially. None of our ailments are serious. I think they are just normal aging complaints.

The weather has turned cold. We had three nights and two days of continuous rain. I thought we might consider trading the RV for a houseboat. After the rain, it’s turned very cold. There was ice around the door of the car this morning. I think we will not have warm days again until springtime.

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday Season!

We are so blessed in this country and we should constantly thank God for his love and blessings.

May He bless all of us with a better 2012, physically, economically and spiritually.

Early November in South Georgia

2011-11-07T11:08:00.001-08:00

While in the Lake Seminole area, we have visited churches in Bainbridge, GA, Tallahassee, FL, Marianna, FL and Chattahoochee, FL. We drove to Quitman, GA (between Valdosta and Thomasville) on Wednesday where Ron gave a report on our work. We have met many wonderful Christians in these small churches and they welcome us with open arms. We went to Marianna Sunday morning and to the small church in Chattahoochee Sunday night. The members at Chattahoocheee told us that other campers from our park visited with them Sunday morning. They told the visitors about us and suggested they look us up. They are from Texas also, so maybe they will walk around and find our car with a Texas tag. I think staying in the park would be more fun if there were people also camping that we knew or could relate to. Many weekend campers come with friends or children. The older campers in RV’s seem to stay to themselves.

On Thursday or Friday, we will drive to Jacksonville, FL to visit with some friends from more than 20 years ago. Gary and Jeannie Swearingen were members of our congregation in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands when we first began our mission work. We are looking forward to staying with them a few days and catching up with the years’ events since we last saw them. I don’t know if they have changed, but they may be in shock when they see us after 20 years.

We had more children to arrive in the U.S. for surgery over the weekend. A little girl will have orthopedic surgery in Denver. She and a little boy were deserted at a Buddist temple years ago. We have done open heart surgery for the boy in Boston, MA. He will return there for surgery on his back (spina bifia). Both children are being adopted by the cardiologist in Boston, MA. The other child coming to the U.S. will have heart surgery in Austin, TX. We have a little girl coming soon (having trouble with her VISA application) for removal of a tumor on her eye. She’s had two unsuccessful surgeries for it in China. Please pray that our surgeries for these precious little children will be successful.

More of our October travels

2011-11-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a few meals with Leigh Ann and Tatum while we were located in North Georgia. That was very special. Leigh Ann spent two weekends with us while we were in Chattanooga and that was also great.

On the 11th we relocated to the Whitetail Ridge Campgrounds near Lagrange, Georgia. The next day, Ron had cataract surgery on one eye in Carrollton. It turned out to be more difficult than he expected. When he returned on Thursday, a week later, he still could not see very well. The Dr. decided they had put a lens in that was too weak. He scheduled him to come back that afternoon at 4 p.m. for another surgery.

We had scheduled a luncheon meeting with a major supporter in Alpharetta, GA. Ron was not able to eat lunch after all because of the surgery later that afternoon. We had a good meeting and drove back to Carrollton for the surgery. He was in the OR for almost two hours. The doctor explained to both of us while he was in recovery how easy it is to put a lens in the eye but how difficult it is to get it back out after it has expanded over the eye. Ron continued to have some pain and/or discomfort for several days following the surgery. Now, almost two weeks later, his vision is still not great. He has dry eyes due to medications in the past years so that may be part of the problem. Dryness of the eye will cause blurring.

Ron spoke at Forest Park at their World Mission lectureships on Friday night, October 21st. The next day, we left Whitetail Ridge to go to Albany, GA. We went to help Jennifer May with some training since she is going to be our bookkeeper. Judy handled this work while she was in the U.S. Jennifer took it over in May but was limited in some areas without proper training. She and Ron spent a good part of two days together and she now says she can handle it. While In Albany, we parked on the military base in their RV park. Jennifer’s husband works with the fire department at the base. Ron also gave a report on our work to the Beattie Road congregation while we were there.

On the 25th we left Albany and drove to Lake Seminole. We will be parked at this Corp of Engineers park until November 15th. It is a pretty park with tall trees and spacious campsites. Trees are beautiful with Spanish moss hanging in low branches. There are many campers here because it is warmer here. But, we have had some nights in the 40’s and it seems too cold to me to be sleeping in tents. During the week, there will be a small amount of campers here but on Thursday or Friday of each week, the campers pour in and fill up the park for the weekend. The lake is quite large but very shallow all around the edges with water lilies growing. The park officials said there are alligators (large ones) in the lake so it’s not safe to be in the shallow waters. This park has no swimming beach. I think all of the other parks had an area roped off for safe swimming. I guess there is no safe swimming in this large lake. The lake is located at the corner of Georgia, Alabama and the Florida line. Although the park is slightly in Georgia, we come through Chattahoochee, FL to get here. It is a very small town. I told Ron we needed to take a day to explore the town, but it’s too small for a Walmart or Home Depot so we would have no place to shop except at the local IGA (food store). Our shopping has narrowed down to the above two stores (we buy groceries at Walmart or Sam’s Club). I laugh and say I go crazy when we find Camping World where I can visit their store but the truth is, I seldom find anything to buy. If I found anything, there’d be no place to keep it. We literally are packed in the RV with summer clothes now stored underneath in the bins. We keep supplies underneath as well. Each closet, cabinet and space inside the RV has its own contents and there’s no room for anything else.

I recently met a lady who said she would love to clean out her house of 30 years and live simply like we are doing now. It is easier in some ways. I can do cleaning in a short time. I cook quick but good meals. Ron is not difficult to please so if I am tired and don’t want to cook, he is fine with a granola bar and a banana for dinner.

I told Ron this once and he repeats it to others so I guess I can write it too. I have gotten used to living in the RV and it feels like home after a year. No matter where we are parked, once we return to the RV, it is home. I have said in past years that wherever I hang my hat is home. Since we began the mission work in 1984, I think we have moved about 19 times. Now the expression is wherever we park the RV is home. But, what I told Ron that he likes to tell others is this: “To live in an RV full-time, you must be very good friends or lovers.” There’s no place to go other than be together all the time. We do everything together. We have to take turns in the bathroom and when he wants to cook his own breakfast, I stay in bed or watch TV until he’s finished. Two people just cannot occupy the same space in the RV. It is livable but there’s no extra room. I understand RV stands for “recreational vehicle” but I’m still trying to experience the “recreational” part.

I feel so blessed because many people have lost their jobs and their homes. We have a rewarding work that brings us great joy. We have everything we need. The difference now is that we don’t have more than we need. We are not lacking for anything. God directs our way, provides the necessities, which he promised, and watches over us. What more could I ask for? I completely put my trust in HIM and it’s the best way to live.

We have met a lot of wonderful people on this round of visits to churches. We have seen very few friends because we had no time. Ron’s health issues, especially the eye surgery, took many visits and blocked out quite a few days. It was important to get that done but we didn’t realize that it would take most of our time on the south side of Atlanta. He also intended to see a dermatologist about some areas that may be skin cancer but he will have to take care of that when we get back to Texas.

We will have some relaxing days here on Lake Seminole. We will make some side trips to Tallahassee, Quitman, GA and perhaps other cities. There’s less for us to do here than on most of our travels. We still plan to go to Pensacola, Jacksonville and perhaps Valdosta when we leave here. Then , we will travel to Baton Rouge, LA for a few days. We should return to Lewisville, TX about the 22nd of November and spend the next month there.

Friends in Greenville, TX are planning a Christmas Eve dinner for us. We were in the home of Henry Sherwood last year for Christmas Eve so maybe this is going to be an annual event for us. We had a great time last year and I know we will again this year. If you can’t be with family members, this is the best it can get. You have not enjoyed Christmas Eve enough if you have not heard Henry read the Cajun Christmas Eve book. Leigh Ann bought me the book after I told her about it, but I would never be able to get the Cajun accent down to make it sound so good.

We hope to spend January and February in the south part of Texas (Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville and a few other places). We want to soak up as much warm weather as we can those months. Last year, we did not get out of the Dallas area until the 2nd week of February and we nearly froze during an ice storm. We hope Leigh Ann will get to come down while we are in Houston to visit us and her friend, Myra, like she did last year.

Like a mountain stream, we continue to move onward

2011-11-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

Like a mountain stream, we continue to move onward with many blessings from God. Each day and each week is a blessing from God. I awake and thank God for the day ahead because to wake up and see the dawn of a new day is good news. Some days are better than others but each day brings new experiences, new joys and new people into our lives. Each day means one more days to spend with loved ones and serve God.

The first good news I have to share is our joy at having a daughter-in-law. On September 24, 2011, Georgia Olis and Ronald Brown married in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, Philippines. Their reception/dinner was held By the Pond (an outside event) in Tanjay. They went to Palawan Island, an hour’s flight from Manila to a resort called Gilligan’s Island. On the second day of their honeymoon, I opened Yahoo to check my email and saw the headline news that a Typhoon had hit the Philippines and heavy flooding was occurring in Manila. Without communication (no phones or internet service at the resort), there was no way to contact them. We were relieved when we saw an email from Ronald five days later when they returned to Tanjay City. He said it rained and it rained and it rained some more. I guess that was a good place to get to spend time together without any other interference, which is the reason for a honeymoon in the first place. It’s to get away from people, from the hectic wedding plans that have occupied a couple for more than a month and finally get to relax and spend quality time together. We know they would have enjoyed the beauty of the island resort more with all sunny days, but we are just glad they made it safely through the storm.

This was too much of a reminder of Ronald’s encounter with Hurricane Hugo (I think it was September, 1989). He was living on St. Croix and the hurricane hit that island full force, with winds up to more than 180 mph. We were on St. Barts, another Caribbean island, just north of the eye of the storm. We had torrential rains but no major damage. We had a portable radio and listened constantly to the destruction that occurred in many of the islands, including St. Croix and Puerto Rico. It was four or five days before the airport reopened in St. Croix where we could get direct communication with members of the church (and Ronald, of course). Ron rented a plane, loaded it with food and supplies and flew to St. Croix. He had to beg a taxi driver to load up his car and take him and the food to find members of the church. Ron first went by the house where Ronald was living and saw a lot of damage but his clothes were hanging on the line. He knew he was safe. When he got to the next member’s house, he found out that Ronald was with others helping to re-roof houses. For weeks to come, Ron continued to purchase food in St. Maartin and fly planeloads into the various islands (Nevis, Montserrat, Dominica, and maybe others) . It was a very scary time for us and a great relief to know that Ronald and all of the members of the church in St. Croix were safe.

While in Chattanooga, over the Labor Day holiday, we had two full days of rain as a result of Hurricane Irene but our three weeks in Chattanooga were profitable and enjoyable. It was good to visit several churches in the area to update our sponsors on the work in China.

On September 27th, we relocated to McKinney Campgrounds on Lake Allatoona in Acworth, GA. It is a beautiful park but with the fall season, they close the gate each night at 9 p.m. With Ron speaking at various congregations in the area, we could not get back there by 9 p.m. on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Our parking space was deep within the park (at least l-l/2 miles from the gate). We would have to park outside the gate and walk to our RV. There are no floodlights in the park and with it being so wooded, it is pitch dark. There is a maze of roads up and down hills to the various campsites. We decided we just could not handle the walking after a full day on Sunday. We usually get up at 6 a.m. and do not get back to the RV until 10 p.m. We are exhausted after the long day and sometimes Ron speaks three times on the same Sunday.

We were fortunate to visit the North Cobb church for the first time on Wednesday night (Oct. 28th). They asked about us, what we did, where we lived, etc. When the elders heard that we had our motor home at McKinney Park, they invited us to move to their building in Kennesaw. They have several RV hookups and said they would welcome us to spend our time parked in their lot. Ron checked it out and decided it would work very well, so we moved there and stayed the rest of our 10 days in that area.

Saturday morning, Ron took me to Leigh Ann’s and then went to the airport to catch a flight to Ohio. He spoke at a church there on Sunday morning (October 2nd) and flew back to Atlanta Sunday afternoon. He got to the Woodstock church (where Leigh Ann attends) in time for the fellowship meal. They had the theme, “Jesus loves the children of the world” with an international potluck dinner. Leigh Ann and I decorated a table with Chinese objects and prepared shrimp fried rice and shredded pork as our dishes.

Our weather has turned cooler. A few trees are beginning to turn red and yellow but it’s a little early for much color. It has been in the 40’s for a couple of nights with days in the high 70’s. It feels very nice after a very hot summer.

My microwave quit working so we had a service call on it. The service man had to remove it and take it complete down to work on it and then reinstall it above the stove. It is large and very heavy so it was quite a job. Ron and I would never have been able to lift it out. We didn’t realize how much we use it until it stopped working. I do not have an oven (only a small toaster oven) so I use the microwave a lot.

The day before we planned to relocate to the North Cobb parking lot, Ron began to raise the levelers for us to move but nothing happened. We were not going anywhere until they came up off of the ground. He called Camping World for a service call but they told him of an individual that made “house” calls. Ron talked with him for hours that afternoon, checking fuses, switches, etc. Without Ron having any success, the serviceman had to come out the next morning. He immediately found the switch that had to be reset but it was behind a lot of wires and totally invisible for Ron to locate. I guess they are in different locations on different makes of vehicles so it’s impossible to know the exact place to find it.

Ron did not get all the doctor appointments scheduled as he intended while we were in the Atlanta area. He went to Emory Hospital to a specialist about his shoulder that has been hurting badly for more than six months. He had shingles more than a year ago that appeared on the back of his neck and down his shoulder so he thought the pain might be nerve damage from shingles. I was concerned that it could be rotator cuff damage from all his work on the RV and car. I was relieved to learn that it was tendonitis in the ligament. They gave him a very painful shot in the area to reduce the inflammation. It hurt for a day but is much better. He was given an elastic band and exercises to strengthen the ligaments as soon as it’s well enough to tolerate it. If he uses the arm a lot, there’s still some pain.

More boring updates on our travels

2011-09-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

I don't have any funny incidents or any spectacular events to report but we have been doing well and having good success with our travels.

Toward the end of our time in the La Vergne, TN area, we drove the car back to Benton, KY on a Wednesday night to meet with Linda and Rick Clark and their congregation. It was a wonderful visit and getting to know them was a treat. We spent the night in their 5th wheel camper sitting in their yard and drove back to our RV the next morning.

Our time in Chattanooga has gone well. We have no Corp of Engineers’ park in this area, so we are now in the Red Bank C of C parking lot where they have a 50 amp plug and a sewage connection for RV’s. When we first came to this area, we heard of a long-time gospel preacher who lives in Rossville, GA. We parked in the yard of David and Mary East. However, the tropical storm headed this way and with so much rain predicted, we knew we would mar up in the grass and ruin their yard. We relocated to Red Bank on Saturday before the rain began that night. We did get about 10” of rain over that weekend. We have had great visits with the churches and friends in the Chattanooga area.

This weekend we will be with congregations in Chickamauga and Dalton, GA. Next Sunday, we will go to Cleveland and Maryville, TN. About the time we get settled in and know the area surrounding us, it's time to leave and move to another city.

We will leave here on the 27th and go to McKinney campground on Lake Allatoona, just north of Atlanta for two weeks. Our next park will be at West Point, near La Grange for the last two weeks of October.

We have little time to relax. Every day there is too much computer work to catch up and when we travel and have appointments, we also get behind with the work.

In some cities, we have to get the RV in for repairs and sit inside it (or in a waiting room) without internet for most of a day. This past week, we had to stay in a hotel one night because they broke a part as they were trying to remove it to replace something else. They had to get the broken part from Atlanta overnight so we could not spend the night inside a garage. The oil leak that was found when we bought the RV has now been corrected and paid for by the dealer that sold us the RV.

We have also been having various portions of the car replaced because of the hail damage we got in TX. When we got back from China, we left the car for two weeks at a body shop but they never got around to doing anything so we had to take it back still damaged. We are never in a city long enough for them to order parts and do all of the work so it’s been done piece-meal in various cities. The hood and trunk were replaced in Paragould, AR. Ron got the chrome trim this week from the Honda dealer in Chattanooga. He’s been working on the dents on top of the car himself. It is almost ready to be painted so we hope we will have time to get that done while we are in Atlanta.

Having one car between us and a tight schedule, we do everything together. We have everything we need, but I have little opportunity to go window shopping. This is a big change for me because I have always enjoyed going to a mall for a day, walking around, looking, or stopping to rest with a friend for lunch or coffee. It’s just one of my favorite things to do. I’ve replaced that favorite time with reading and crocheting. I can make a baby blanket in about two weeks’ time. That is just working while we are traveling or sitting for some reason.

We have limited access to internet (sometimes we go to a public library). We have a wireless but often we run over the minutes we pay for unless we are very careful. Sometimes, we can connect to a church’s wireless or the park may have coverage. To get our work done, it’s a challenge to have sufficient coverage. Ron is on his phone a lot making appointments at the next cities, leaving messages for people to call him back and receiving calls.

Ron will speak on a lectureship at Forest Park C of C, just south of the Atlanta airport, on the 21st of next month. Then, we will go to Athens, GA where Jennifer May lives and get her trained to do our accounting. She’s been working on it since Judy left but we had no time to train her. Ron needs to spend at least one day with her. We will work our way back across southern AL, MS and Louisiana and back into Texas. We will probably spend some time at Lewisville and then for the winter months (January & February) try to cover southern Texas (Houston, Bay City, Corpus Christi, & Brownsville).

We do not know when we will need to go back to China. It all depends on how things are going there. If there are any problems , we will make a trip whenever Ronald feels we need to return. Ronald is overseeing the work in such a wonderful way, Ron tells people “it has really relieved the old Ron.”

This time next week, we will have a daughter-in-law. Ronald and Gigi will marry in the Philippines on September 24th. After a short honeymoon, Ronald will return to China and we will begin the process of getting a VISA for Gigi to join him. Ronald has rented a small apartment in the city of Nanning. We regret that we could not make the long trip for the wedding. They understand our commitments and limitations and promise to send a video and pictures. We are happy for them and pray for them to have a long and happy life together.

We have been in good health. Ron’s had some skin cancers removed, but I don’t think they are a problem anymore. He may still have one or two places that need to be done soon. He has a shoulder bothering him a lot. It has been hurting since he had shingles about two years ago but it seems to be getting worse. Or, it may be that he’s working too much and using it to excess which makes the pain worse. It may not even be connected with the episode of shingles. He will try to see a physician while we are in the North Atlanta area. Otherwise, we seem to be doing well for our age and pace of life.

I enjoyed being the Ladies’ Day speaker at the Mountain View C of C in Rossville, GA last Saturday. Our daughter, Leigh Ann, came for it and spent the weekend with us. Everything went very well with this wonderful group of ladies. Ron also spoke at this same congregation on Sunday morning and created a great deal of interest in our work in China. On Saturday night, we attended an 80th anniversary dinner at the Red Bank C of C and enjoyed a singing performance from a gospel quartet. Leigh Ann enjoyed being with some friends she knew from Freed-Hardeman University years ago.

We had a wonderful dinner at the home of Dr. and Mrs. John Morgan. John and Donna have been close friends for many years. Dr. Morgan reviews all of the patient records for the heart surgeries to be sure the children are operable before we commit to a surgery. He has been a great blessing to our work for many years. They also invited several other people for dinner on Friday night to meet us and learn more about what we do in China.

We also met two young men that have worked in China, teaching English in recent years. We really enjoyed our time with them to talk about all that is happening in China.

Sean and Bridgett Carratt will leave the U.S. on October 13th for Beijing to assume the position vacated by David and Ya Ning Langley. We need your prayers for their safety and success in this important position.

Dave Halligan, one of our volunteer workers and Bible teacher, plans to go to Beijing to meet Sean and Bridgett and help them get settled in. That must be a great relief to Sean and Bridgett as they arrive in China for the first time. Dave has been with the congregation many times over the past couple of years, so he will be of great help to the Carratts and the congregation as a whole.

Changes, travels and updates on life on the road...

2011-08-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

First of all, I will bring you up-to-date on happenings in China and then I’ll write about our travels in the U.S. The work in China continues to go well. It is a hot summer in many of the locations of China, just as we are having in the U.S. The children are out of school and some are visiting relatives for a short time before school begins again in a few weeks. We are getting more new children in the orphanages now because they can only enter classes when school starts a new semester.

David and Ya Ning Langley are in the U.S. but David resigned his job as the minister of the Beijing church of Christ as of July 31. He has decided to leave the ministry to teach English at a University in Ya Ning’s hometown. David was teaching English in a university in China when he met Ya Ning many years ago. Now that they have a young child (Rei will be two in December), Ya Ning’s mother lives with them and helps with the raising of the child. We hope they will be happy with their new work, but they will be missed by many people in Beijing. We are thankful for the three years of service they gave to the work in Beijing.

This young couple will replace David and Ya Ning as soon as they can complete things in Texas to relocate to China.   Sean and Bridgett Carratt are members of the Lewisville Church of Christ in Lewisville, TX. They have young sons 3 and 5 years old (Ryan and Caleb). Sean graduated from the Memphis School of Preaching. He is well-educated for the position and work and he’s also a great song leader. Bridgett is already teaching (even teenage girls) at Lewisville so she will be a great help with the children of the congregation. Sean and Bridgett are preparing to leave Lewisville for China and may be able to arrive there in October. They are very excited about the work, but I’m sure they are also somewhat afraid and even anxious about the unknown. It is a big decision and a huge adjustment to take on such a challenge.

Ron and I lived in Beijing for three months (maybe three years ago this winter) to fill in for David and Ya Ning while they came to the U.S. for a visit. It was not that difficult for us except for the very cold weather. We had been to China many times in the past and Ron knows enough Mandarin to get around. We found shopping for food exciting and just getting around with the subway system was interesting. A young couple will do just fine and the children will adjust remarkably well. I told Bridgett the children will do far better than she and her mother. Leaving home and having grandparents far away is a challenge for everyone. It will give the grandparents an exciting trip to go visit them.

As of August 1, 2011, the Lewisville Church of Christ in Lewisville, Texas, will be the overseeing congregation for our work in China. The 700-member congregation is blessed with nine godly elders and 36 deacons. Lewisville is a sound, mission-minded congregation that supports mission work in many different areas.

After overseeing the work for seven years, the elders at Peachtree City Church of Christ in Peachtree City, Georgia, asked that we find a larger church to be our sponsoring congregation. The work in China has grown and in order for the work to continue on for years to come, they felt it was necessary for the work to be under different leadership. The church at Peachtree City continues to support our work as well as many of the members at Peachtree City.

We love and appreciate the Peachtree City congregation. Our years working with this wonderful church family will always be fondly remembered as some of our best years. The work had hardly begun when we moved to Georgia. It has since grown to include six orphanages, housing over 600 children, and the legal Beijing Church of Christ, in addition to the extensive medical work done by China Mission for poor children. It requires a lot of financial support as well as sound decision-making leadership. We know the association with the Lewisville Church of Christ will be another wonderful experience. As long as we are physically and mentally able to do the work, we will be actively involved and proceed with the work in the same manner as before.

Ronald, our son, is getting married in the Philippines on September 24th. We are very happy and excited for him and Gigi, his new bride-to-be.   I will post wedding pictures in about one month.

We have been getting together documents that are required (our marriage certificate, his birth certificate, and his baptismal record). We will have to begin the process of getting Gigi into China. It’s going to be difficult for them to marry and then Ronald return to China without her. We hope this VISA process will go smoothly and quickly but there are sometimes difficulties when dealing with governments.

Gigi can be a great asset to the children at the orphanages. She is an English and Math teacher and these are the subjects the children need help with the most. I know she will be facing the language barrier and culture differences. I hope she will adjust quickly to married life and living in a foreign country with an American husband.

We are not going to be able to attend the wedding and we are sad about that. We have appointments set through October. In addition, the cost of the trip is extensive and it would be long and hard. I know they understand, but it’s a disappointment to them and for us. They are both in their 40’s and it’s a first marriage for each of them so it is a very big event in their lives. I told Ronald I had prayed for a sweet daughter-in-law that would love my son, for more than 20 years. She and I have been writing each other by e-mail and I’m convinced that God sent me what I asked for.

Three weeks ago, I lost my brother in his fight with cancer. Two weeks ago, a dear little lady friend in Nashville, TN (Mary Ann Farmer) gave up her battle with brain cancer. I was hoping to get to see both of them before they passed away but we didn’t get to either location soon enough to see them alive one last time. I talked with my brother a week before his death. I phoned Mary Ann in May and we had a good conversation. I told each of them how much I loved them in those phone conversations so I am at peace with their departure for a better world. Another sweet lady that I adored, Alyce Menet, passed away in Peachtree City last week. She was another precious friend who was sweet and kind to everyone. We visited her at a nursing home earlier this year.   Megan and Gary Ellis, members at Peachtree City also said goodbye to their newborn son, Noah, who was born about a week ago and only live for a few hours. We are heartbroken for this sweet family but their little daughter, Beth, will help them heal.

Last night, Ron and I discussed our travels to various cities and congregations.
We miss so many good friends and family members with this lifestyle but, we agreed that one of the highlights of this part of our work is meeting people, both people from the past and new people. Some friends from the past always bring us much joy. Meeting new people at the various congregations is a very special treat. We meet people from all walks of life and they touch our lives in various ways.

Last night at Chapel Hill we met a sweet lady that is a retired nurse. She is interested in being a host mother for any child coming to the Nashville area from China for surgery. She would be a good one, so we will keep her in mind for that important work should we have another child coming. A young mother of two, an orphan in her youth, also volunteered to be a host family. A very nice man at the White Bluff congregation told us on Sunday that his family would be able to help with any child coming to Nashville. What a joy it is to have people willing to give up their time and resources to help a child in need.

An elder’s wife in Keller, TX, told us about parking the RV at Corps of Engineers parks that are located extensively around the U.S. With a Senior Citizen VIP card, we can stay for $10 per night. We have 50 amp electrical service and water at each location with a dump station for sewage disposal. Most of the parks are near lakes and even if we are not parked where we can see the water, we can take our daily walks around the lake and enjoy the beautiful setting that God has provided. Early morning (sunrise is best) walks are really wonderful. We can hear the birds, enjoy the cooler part of the day and enjoy nature. It prepares the mind and body for a good day. Having left over 100 degree weather in Dallas, we have enjoyed the cooler mornings and warm days in AR, KY and Tennessee.

The picture is large, not because I'm in it but because I hope you can read the sign at the park. It was on my early morning walk and I had no make-up on so you see the real me in this photograph. I had planned to take a picture of the sign but a park lady stopped her truck and insisted she take my picture beside the sign.

We traveled from Paragould, AR to this campground near Kentucky Lake Dam. It was a shady and lovely place. We had some good rain showers there but then the sun would come out and the days were nice. From the campground, we drove to visit various churches in Hickory and Hardin, Kentucky. It is always interesting to meet some of the orphan sponsors to thank them in person for their support. One of the sponsors from Benton, KY came and spent several hours visiting with us at the campground. We plan to go back to Benton soon to give them a report.

You can see the geese near the lake in this photo. We were parked right on the waterfront with the RV and wild geese (who have become tame) wandered all around the campsites as they went back and forth to the lake each morning. In the afternoon, they came back through the campground again to go roost at some unknown location. They were not afraid of anyone or anything.

We spent two full days at the Lily campground near Celina, TN in order to visit and report to the Moss Church of Christ. The last 20 miles to this campground had winding roads in the shape of a snake. It was beautiful once we got there. We were out of coverage for our cell phone or wireless internet. Ron went to the next park, a few miles away, to the boat dock to connect to wireless service. Dr. John Bailey from Dallas had called and unable to reach us earlier the day we arrived. When Ron contacted him, he asked if we were in a Third World Country.

When I sent Ronald (our son in China) a picture of Ron sitting on the dock working on his computer, he said, “Now, that’s my idea of a Third World Country.” It does look like he's having a lot of fun, doesn't it? We had arrived late that day and he wanted to check his email. They sold pizza inside this little wharf market but there were no other restaurants anywhere near. We sat on the dock and ate a whole pizza. I really enjoyed it because I have not had pizza in a very long time.

I pulled a muscle in my back helping with the car trailer when we arrived and parked at Lily campground so I did a lot of resting the two days we were there without internet service. By the time we left, my back was O.K. Maybe I just needed the time to rest.

On August 11th, we left to continue our travels to Nashville, TN. We have been at the Seven Points campground on Percy Priest Lake since then. We have a wonderful shady parking spot with the same good connections. Without sewer connections directly at the RV, we use the bathhouse toilets and showers. We have been very fortunate to be parked very near one of the bathhouses. Wild turkeys gobbled and walked down the street in front of me early one morning as I headed to the bathhouse.

Although to me this is still a little too much “camping” having to use the bathhouse facilities, I still know how blessed I am to live in an RV. In this campground (as in many of them) there are tents and small campers. Some people live full-time in small campers. A few days ago, we saw a small tent with a motorcycle parked next to it at one camp site. It was also interesting to see a tent contraption that fit on top of a car (all opened out) with a ladder on the side to the ground. They were sleeping in a tent on top of the car!! I failed to get a picture of that one but it was surely a different concept. I know I would feel safer without bugs and snakes able to enter the tent, but if someone stole the ladder, it might create a challenge.

We can only stay two weeks at a time at any of these parks so we will have to move next week to another one. We still have several churches to visit in the Nashville area. We are trying to meet friends as time permits.

From Nashville, we will go to Chattanooga at the end of August. We will be in that area for the first three weeks of September. I will speak at a Ladies Day at the Rossville Church of Christ on September 10th. I’m really excited about being with them that day. Also, our daughter, Leigh Ann, will come up and stay with us some while we are in Chattanooga. We will also be going on to the Atlanta area after we leave Chattanooga at the end of September.

In our spare time, we are trying to do some “home” improvements. Before we left Texas, Ron came across a newer RV that had low mileage at a good price. There were many things on the other RV that could not be corrected (including the speedometer). It was a constant worry with things going wrong and the repair cost is extensive when you take them to reputable shops.

The interior was the problem with this one. The dealer was willing to sell it cheap rather than try to fix it up inside. They removed the horrible dirty carpet for us. Their price was $7,000 to install ceramic tile, so Ron is putting in the tile himself. It’s been a time-consuming and back-breaking job. I have helped as much as I could, but I’m not much of a handyman sort of person. I need to do a little shopping soon to spruce up the looks. If I add some rugs and pretty pillows, maybe the old plush couch will not be the eyesore it is now.

We have no place to sit and eat in this RV. We talked about installing a booth or table and chairs but neither of us like the table and chairs that are often used. Instead, we decided to purchase a card table and folding chairs to use whenever we have company and use TV tables for ourselves. We sit by each other on the couch to eat and it’s working out O.K. Ron removed a lounge chair that had torn upholstery and left another one that is in good shape. In the spot vacated, we purchased and placed a glass computer desk for me to use for my office. It not only looks great, it is a great place to work. Depending on where we are parked, I either look out at the woods or the lake. Either is a beautiful setting for an office, giving the feeling that I’m “almost” working outside. This is my new desk.

The man that owned the RV had Parkinson’s disease. He had removed all of the doors and hung curtains. Ron has rehung the doors and it looks much better. They also had the original shade and window treatment removed so it looks plain with darkening shades at the windows. I hope to find some pretty fringe to glue on the bottom of the shades. The shades are easy to pull open or closed and they block out the heat when the sun is hitting the window and gives a dark place to sleep so I don’t mind them too much.

We are still so very blessed. Our house in Sharpsburg, Georgia, has rented so it will make the house payment. That will make it easier for us financially because the RV and cost of living for us is no more than it would be in an apartment . Ron only turns in mileage for the time we are traveling on China Mission business. The rest is at our own expense.

I still do not mind living in the RV but I still dislike the moving to different locations. It’s a lot of work to hook up the car on the trailer and get everything secure for traveling. Then the navigation is important to go the best route when you have 50’ (40’ RV and the car). We have been on roads that were less than desirable for this rig, but we try to avoid these places as much as possible.

Last week, when we arrived at the Lily campgrounds, the lady at the check-in station told him most people drive down the middle of the road on the curvy roads, blowing their horn as they go. We went very slowly and blowing the horn, wondering what in the world we would do if we met another vehicle as large as ours.

I told Ronald that he could now get his Dad a job in China driving a bus. They often drive down the middle of the road blowing their horn. Ronald said he would have to play Kung Fu movies on the TV, which is the usual entertainment on a bus in China.

In the new RV, I do not have an oven. I have a convection oven and microwave combination. I have been reading the book but still don’t know much about using a convection oven. This one can be used in combination with the microwave at the same time, which is really new to me. Needless to say, I don’t do the type of cooking I did at home. I use a small crock pot, a small George Foreman grille and I’m going to buy a small toaster oven and then I’ll be all set. Simple, healthy meals are our style now. When eating out with friends, however, I may order a big juicy hamburger with fries, probably my favorite meal.

Until there’s more travels and things to write about, may God continue to bless and watch over you.

What a week it was!

2011-08-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

We left Lewisville, TX on Monday morning, July 24th and drove to Greenville, TX. We enjoyed a lunch meeting with an elder and the minister of the church in Greenville and then had ice cream with a friend and supporter. In the afternoon, we drove to Texarkana and parked at the Hampton Road church. They were having VBS so we went to the adult class. Early Tuesday, we pulled out to drive to Paragould, Arkansas.

I received a phone call from my niece letting me know that my brother, Leon, passed away early Tuesday morning. I didn't expect it that soon but I knew he didn't have long to live.   His two daughters took him to Houston to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center on the 20th but they only kept him one day and sent him home. The cancer was too extensive and aggressive for treatment. They identified it as beginning in the esophagus and spreading to the liver and lungs. Since he could not get well, we know it's a blessing from God that he did not linger and suffer.

Wednesday, July 27th, we drove the car from Paragould to Springfield, MO. The four-hour drive was tedious with many curves. The visit was great with the congregation on Wednesday night   We decided to return to Paragould that night since we had the drive to Oxford, MS to my brother's funeral the next day. I made a huge mistake bringing us back another route that looked less curvy on the Atlas. It was actually worse and although it still was a four-hour drive, it felt much longer since we did not arrive in Paragould until 1 a.m.

Thursday afternoon we drove to Oxford to attend the visitation for my brother, Leon Tatum, from 5 - 8 p.m.   It was bittersweet with many family members there that I had not seen in many, many years. I even saw a childhood friend from more than 60 years ago.   The many pictures my nieces found of Leon were beautifully displayed and the TV ran a tape of the highlights of his life. We were back at the funeral home at 1 p.m. on Friday for a 2 p.m. funeral. Elders from the church talked with us and told us about their last few visits to pray with Leon and give him words of comfort to give him peace and hope about his eternal home. The preacher from the Oxford Church of Christ had a very consoling and comforting delivery, combining some of the facts of Leon's secular life and his life in the church.   The funeral home is owned by Christians and they were all accommodating in special ways so it was a funeral that Leon would have appreciated. His loving children will miss him terribly because he's always been very involved in their lives. Leon would have had his 81st birthday on Sunday.

Leon left the church for many years but it was always in his heart and I'm glad that more than three years ago he returned to be active in the fellowship. It was a happy day for me when he phoned and casually said, "Pat, I wanted to let you know that I've gone back to church."   I never pushed him but I did comment a few times that I hoped he would consider returning.

I don't take credit for his change of heart. I know our mother taught him well and he knew what was right and what he needed to do. I never doubted that. It really touched my heart when my niece showed me a card leaning inside the casket. I read the outside (it had a little mustard seed enclosed in a little plastic ring) and a scripture about having "faith of a mustard seed." Inside, the verse said something about hoping he would keep his faith and find peace...more but I can't remember the exact words. Then it was signed, "With all my love, Mother."   I recognized my mother's writing and I looked up at my niece for an explanation. She said, "This card was in his Bible and since he kept it all these years, it is going with him to the grave."   I thought that was a prefect thing to take with him - he's taken it with him for more than 25 years.   Mother died in 1983.

We drove back to Paragould Friday night and visited with the good congregation known as Liberty Church of Christ on Sunday morning. They have supported our work for many years and we are very appreciative of their loyal support.

We will be with the church in Jonesboro on Wednesday night. It is about 30 minutes from Paragould. Thursday, we will leave for Troy, TN and on into Kentucky to visit congregations in Western Kentucky over the next few weeks.

My days are filled with trying to catch up some work and rest. I've been so tired!!

My final thoughts on this segment of my blog are that no matter what we do or what we accomplish or accumulate in life, we are all reduced to the same status at death. How we live now determines where we go then but we will all go out the same way - with the sadness and sting of death. It's only a joy for those who are faithful in Christ.   We should make every day sure IN HIM because none of us have a promise of tomorrow. God bless my readers and may God bless my family members.

Some stories about the children we help...

2011-07-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

Jin Cheng came to our care center in 2009. She will be eleven in October. When she was small, her father mistreated her and her mother. Her mother worked hard as a farmer but her father never did any work.

Once when her mother gave her a piece of pork to eat, her father got angry. She was just a worthless little girl that he never wanted. Why give her good food? He took the meat away from her, poured hot water on her head and broke her mothers’ legs. Both Jin Cheng and her mother went to the hospital for about a month. There is a place on her head where hair will not grow because of the burn and she is very self-conscious about this placing showing.

After her mother came home from the hospital, some kind of complication caused her death. Jin Cheng’s father decided to sell Jin Cheng. Her grandmother was approaching their apartment to visit when she saw him stuffing Jin Cheng in a large plastic bag and putting her in the car. She ran up and stopped him. She took Jin Cheng to live with her. She was kind to the little girl but her grandfather gambled and took every bit of money he could from her and her grandmother. If any relative gave either of them money, he took it to gamble. They were, of course, very poor.

Today, Jin Cheng is a happy and well-adjusted little girl. She loves her friends and enjoys sports. She is improving all the time in her personal life as well as in school. Jin Cheng feels safe and is happy living at our care center. She has made some friends and is learning many things. Here, she has a chance to learn about Jesus. She says she never wants to see her father again. If she hadn’t come to our care center, what kind of life would she be living? It hurts to imagine that. Changing lives—that is what China Mission is doing one at a time.

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Yin Fei is a girl and was born in April 8, 1999. She came to the care center in September, 2010 and was in fifth grade. I came to the care center in November, 2010. Here is the original information sheet on Yin Fei:

Yinfei's father died because of a snake bite in 2008. Her mother is handicapped with her legs and hands and she seems to have a low level of intelligence. Yinfei has a younger sister (9-year-old) and a younger brother (4-year-old). Four persons lived together in a poor and old house. Her mother isn't able to work. Now, yinfei's aunt (the wife of her uncle) who is about 50 years old takes care of all this family. She helps them work and cook for them. Besides, the aunt has a grandson to take care. Yinfei' uncle died 5-6 years ago. Life is very hard for all the family.

When Yinfei and other new girls came to live at the care center, they shared the same dorm room and were taken care of by a female worker who was in her thirties. The worker was a believer and shared the light with these new girls regularly.

This March, this female worker quit and left here. The girls in the dorm cried the day she left. They still miss the worker very much.

Because of the seed the female worker planted, Yin Fei has accepted Him. She has faith in Him. I remember one Sunday a few months ago, some of the workers, along with Mark were going to take His supper. Some girls in that dorm wanted to join us. We said yes, though we rarely did that. Mark knew some of them had been taught and kind of accepted, (and are “wet”) but still he asked how many of them clearly knew what their beliefs meant and what the supper means and if they are really clear about that so they can take the supper. Two girls said yes and took the supper and Yin Fei was one of them.

A week or so ago, while the children were still here, one Friday evening while most of the kids went to watch movies as usually, Yin Fei and a few other girls in her dorm chose to sing songs of praise to Him. I joined in with them. I could feel Yin Fei’s sincerity for Him.

Yin Fei behaves quite well and studies hard. She often gets good grades in school. She shows much interest in her education and she reads a lot. (Does she read the Book? Well, I’ve no idea. I gave her a Good Book, but haven’t asked her how often she reads it).

She is outgoing and happy. She wants to go to high school and college. She gets along very well with others. I think she is an excellent girl, but she often says she is not good at anything. She would say “Oh, I will not do well in this exam and I know it.” When I was playing ping pong with her, she said, “I am not good at it. I feel I can’t do anything well.” Words like that show her lack of confidence. But when she says that, she doesn’t appear upset or really unconfident. She studies hard and gets good grades, but she said she will not do well. She is not bad at playing ping pong either. I told her “Never say that, be confident, you are smart, you can do many things well!” She just smiles. She is always happy.
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(Pictures of the next little girl will not be accepted by the blog - they are in Word and not compatible.)

Mei Feng is a girl born on March 23, 2001. The information sheet on her, according to Mark, states: “Father died of disease in April, 2005. Her Mother who was mentally ill, left after that. Her grandfather who is 87 years old died November, 2010.” It was Mark’s friend’s friend that told Mark the situation of this girl.

She came to live in the care center in February, 2011. She was shy and even didn’t know how to speak in mandarin. Instead, she spoke in her local dialect and she couldn’t be understood. But she is now outgoing and she talks fluently in mandarin! Whenever a class is over and before another class begins, she runs back to the care center and tries to find us to talk to her. She likes holding the workers’ hands.

For all the blessings she has now, there is something that is in her way of having a might-be bright future. She is 10 years old and in the second grade. When her relative sent her here, her relative said she should be in second grade. When I got to know her well, I was so surprised that she is extremely, unbelievably poor in Chinese and math. She almost doesn’t know how to read or write any Chinese characters and doesn’t know basic arithmetic! I feel painful when I am teaching her basic Chinese and basic arithmetic sometimes. Not because I am complaining, but because most of the time she learns in school (and she sits in a classroom and can’t learn anything I guess, because what the teachers are teaching are too hard for her to understand!). Even I want to help her, this process takes a very long and it will go slowly. We know that small kids love playing after spending most of the time in school. This girl naturally wants to talk or play with other children or the workers, so even though I have tried to find every chance to teach her new words, the time for me to help her with her study is limited. What's more, some other kids want to talk to me and this makes it harder. She is not the only one who is terrible at study and that makes my trying to help Zhang Mei Feng with her study much harder.

Both of Zhang Mei Feng's parents died. According to Zhang Mei Feng, her dad often beat her when she was at home. And according to director Lu, before she came to live in the care center, sometimes she went to school and sometimes she didn't for whatever reason. I guess it was because nobody cared for her. I can't imagine how much pressure this little girl will have when she is in class knowing nothing and being looked down upon or made fun of by her classmates and being not considered good by her teachers. The good thing is that she seems always joyful in the care center, but I absolutely think school has put a shadow somewhere inside her mind and heart that has a bad influence on her. I have taught her some words, but it goes slowly because of the reasons I mentioned above. Homework is much too hard for her because she should be in first grade, not in second grade. "But I am already so big, how can I be in second grade?" she says. She feels embarrassed to be in first grade as a ten year old girl. She is a little bigger than those who are in first grade.

When this girl came to the care center this March, I was in another care center. It was after she had been there for over a week and had settled down that I came here and got to know her gradually. When I told Lu that I think this girl should be in first grade, Lu said when her relative sent her here, her relative said she should be in second grade and it was done like that to please her. Actually I don't know if it's a good idea for her to be in first grade. I wish she could be in first grade, but considering the pressure of being in the same grade with those that are three, or at least two years younger, she may be very unhappy. I asked Mei Feng again if she wanted to go back to first grade this September after I explained to her why she should be in first grade and she said ok. But I don’t really know if she really meant it or not.

I talked to director Lu about my idea, and he said “she would be ok wherever we put her because she will learn something even if she keeps going up to third grade when the new semester begins. Actually I am not confident about my idea of putting Mei Feng back to first grade. I prefer to let her go back to first grade, but I have to consider other factors and I just don’t have one hundred percent confidence about that. Your advice and suggestions are welcomed. Choice matters because it will influence a person’s life a lot. I am very clear about that. And this is China. In our schools there are no special or extra tutors who will help students like Mei Feng.

……..The other night

I had some conversations with Mei Feng again, and she told me that before she came here, she was often late for school in her hometown. Her teachers often scolded her. Her classmates disliked her because she wore dirty clothes and smelled. She told me, “I was always dressed dirty. I didn’t have clean clothes. Sometimes I went to school, but after two days I might not go to school, and then after another two days I went to school again but they often scolded me. Finally I didn’t go to school at all.”

……..The other day

She got to know and believe in Jesus here. As a small girl, she will say words like “Jesus loves us” as she is taught when she has an opportunity to say it. She has such a sad past life, but she is so joyful every day. You may say, “That’s just a kid”, but it’s also a good quality for an adult to live like that, to smile even during times of trouble. She is grateful for a better life. I know that for a fact.

If you let me tell only ONE child’s story, only one, I would choose Mei Feng to show people that Agape Foundation is really doing something to help poor orphans.

(These stories are written by Max, our worker in Tiendeng). You can feel his love and concern for these little girls.

Snakes, Bimbo and Desert Heat

2011-07-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

We have had several weeks of days 100 degrees or more with no rain. The ground is literally cracking open. Grass is quickly turning brown and plants look a bit wilted. The golf course is the only thing that's being watered. A three-foot long snake slithered across in front of me in the grass in the park the other day. I wasn't prepared to see it with the grass cut very low. He was heading very fast so I really didn't feel any threat although I am probably as fearful of snakes as I am of some people. I take my MACE with me when I use the bathhouses or go for walks alone. I just feel it's the best thing to do to protect myself from some weirdo that decides to find a victim in a park. I think snakes are out looking for water. I don't know how the poor squirrels and other creatures make it during droughts.

Due to the hail storm the middle of June, roofers fill the RV park with their campers and trucks. The park is almost full. I forgot to tell you about the weirdest little camper ever. Check out these pictures:

Workers apparently follow storms and replace roofs after a hailstorm. We certainly have a lot of workers occupying the park camp grounds right now. With these temperatures, I don't know how people live in the tents and Nimrod campers, but we have a few here all the time. We can hardly stand the heat to walk to the car to go somewhere. RV's are usually occupied by old people. I tell people that owners of RV's have money (to buy some of the really nice ones we see) but they are so old they have lost part of their brains. Why would they leave a beautiful home to stay in a motor home that sits in the hot sun in an RV park? I guess there are campers anywhere from $15,000 to $250,000 parked here. I told Ron you could stay in a lot of Holiday Inns and have room service for what they pay to camp. We do it for a different reason (having to travel all the time to raise funds). I understand Ron's reasoning but not the others.

There are boaters out on the lake and golfers out even in these temperatures but for the most part, people just stay inside. If I had a home somewhere, I'd just pack it up and go home or drive to a cooler part of the country. I surely would not come to Texas in the middle of summer.

We have a wild looking camper next to us now with a younger couple. A big boat is parked in front of their camper but so far, the boat has not been taken out on the lake. The girl is a classic "bimbo" with bleached blond hair, short skirts and spike high heels. She went out to her car this morning in a short terry cloth wrap and her spike heels. Everyone else has on shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops but not her! She's different from the rest of us. Most other campers are old and can hardly make it up the steps of their campers much less wear high heels. If they are still next door, I don't know if Ron will be ready to leave here next week or not! Ha Ha

Since we came back from China, we can't sleep past 4:45 a.m. We get up about 5:00 check our email before going for a walk around the lake. It is daylight (barely) about 6 a.m. and we head out to get in a walk before the heat is too unbearable. It is still about 85 degrees that early in the morning.

Jetlag and the heat has zapped us the past 10 days. We thought our one night stop over in Detroit would help but this time it's taken us longer than ever to get back straight. By 6 p.m. we can hardly stay awake and pushing ourselves to keep going, we try to stay up until 9 p.m. I am asleep by the time my head hits the pillow. I sleep 7-8 hours but go through the same routine the next night. Maybe I'm in a pattern now and it will be this way the rest of my life!!

We have been busy trying to catch up our computer work, get repairs done on the RV and car because of the hail damage and take care of many other things in this area before we begin traveling again.

I will continue my post next week. It's 8:15 p.m. and I'm winding down again. I feel like a toy that's been wound up and now on the last movement before stopping.

Two Busy Weeks in China

2011-07-05T11:09:00.001-07:00

We arrived at the John Connor Brown Christian Care Center about noon on Sunday, June 26th. The Directors’ seminar began the afternoon session at 2 p.m. About 5 p.m. we broke for dinner and then the worship service (family meeting) was held afterwards. We began again at 8:10 Monday morning. The seminar ended about noon on Tuesday. A few of us met the Department of Education officials for lunch on Tuesday. We want to bring additional children to this care center but the school is reluctant to accept more children. We asked the Department of Education officials to look into it and consider the problem.

All of us took a bus to Nanning in the afternoon and connected with trains heading in various directions. Our train left at 8:30 p.m. heading to Shaoyang (on our way to Longhui to visit the North Canton Christian Care Center).

While waiting for the train, Lily, our translator, told us she saw a prisoner being led by a police officer. When we boarded our train, Lily came to our cabin and told us that the prisoner was in the cabin between us. She was a little nervous about it until one of the police officers took one of the beds in her cabin. She learned that the man had murdered someone and escaped. They caught the man in Nanning and were transporting him back to Beijing.

There is often family violence when murder is involved. Wives are usually the victims. Sometimes, someone gets violent under the influence of alcohol but if that had been the case this time, I seriously doubt he would have been able to escape and make it to Nanning, a very long distance from Beijing. A person who murders will probably be shot in a few days or weeks. They probably had someone identify him as the right person and then he would be imprisoned for a short time. They make the family pay for the bullet that is used to execute him, and they harvest all of the organs for transplant to patients. This may be upsetting to us who are used to a more complex justice system, but it is certainly a deterrent to crime. We might do well to make a condemned person’s time short rather than taxpayers supporting a prisoner for almost a lifetime while going through appeals.

Government officials met us in Shaoyang and took us to lunch and then drove us to visit the care center (NCCC). We need to do repairs to the roof and paint the buildings but we requested more cooperation from the government before we do all of the improvements that need to be done. A younger group of government men are now in charge and we are hopeful they will be more cooperative than the last group of officials. We could not stay long because they were driving us back to Shaoyang (an hours’ drive) for us to take a train to Wuhan. Most of the children were in school. There were a few first graders there because they did not have final exams. A few teenagers had completed their exams and were in their rooms.

From Shaoyang, we took a three-hour bus ride to Changsha and then a high speed train to Wuhan. The high speed train was only for 1 hour and 45 minutes, traveling at 335 km per hour. It was not much more expensive than the slow trains. It was air-conditioned and had comfortable seats. The ride was very smooth.

The next day we have lunch with Jerry Hua (director at Jackson Family Christian Care Center) and his wife. Wuhan is actually their hometown and they were visiting there a few days before going back to the orphanage at Zigong, Sichuan. They had planned a dinner meeting that night for us to meet a very wealthy man they know. They expected that he would fund an orphanage for us in Wuhan but our meeting did to turn out that way. The man was very supportive of our work and offered assistance with government connections should we decide to build an orphanage there, but there was no offer of funds.

We had breakfast the next morning with Michael O’Brien. Michael, a missionary from the U.S., has lived in Wuhan for about 13 years. He agreed to help us out in Beijing with the transition of new ministers. David Langley wants to leave the work there at the end of July. We will be in search of a new minister for the Beijing congregation. We are also hopeful that Michael can help us with new employees for the care centers in the future.

Sadly, we said goodbye to Ronald after breakfast that morning. He went back to his hotel for a train ride back to Nanning the next day. We took an afternoon high speed train to Shanghai. Ron had meetings with several people on Saturday. We were finished with our business and there were seats available on the return flight from Shanghai to Detroit the next day. We left Shanghai early Sunday morning and arrived back in Dallas about noon on Monday.

We had some excellent meals. I skipped some of the meats but the vegetables are always wonderful. Although we did a lot of walking to catch trains, subways and planes, I am sure I did not lose any weight.

We are tired but it is good to be home so we can rest. The trip went very well. We feel that it was successful in every way as we intended. We will be in Lewisville, TX for about two weeks and then we will begin our travels again.

Our car and RV were damaged by hail two nights before we left for China. We have never experienced such a storm. We had severe winds, lightening and heavy rain for more than an hour with hailstones about the size of golf balls. When we went to bed that night, bad weather was not predicted in our county. An insurance adjuster just estimated about $1,000 worth of damage to the RV. The car has dimples all over it from the constant beating of the hailstones and the mirror was broken on one side. The chrome is also damaged.

DAYS IN SHANGHAI

2011-06-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we awoke early, still not getting our time zones regulated. With only 6 hours of sleep, we ended the day nearly exhausted. However, we did walk a lot. Ron had a few places he wanted to go so rather than sit in a motel room all day, I went along.

We took the shuttle bus back to the airport and then took a bus to somewhere in the city. This may sound strange to most people but in a city as large as Shanghai, but I have no idea how far we went. The population of Shanghai is 23,019,148 so the city goes on and on. There are huge high-rise apartment buildings after apartment buildings. I was thinking as I looked from the bus, how would you ever find your apartment again? Maybe in one whole section, all of the buildings look the same. Then where you do see houses, the rooftops look like they are touching each other. This picture was taken from the bus, but you can see the houses in the foreground and the high-rise apartment buildings in the distance.

Beijing by comparison is 19,600,000 people. I thought it was the largest city but Shanghai has more people. In either city, you can travel for many hours and not be across the city. (The entire population of the U.S. is 307,006,000 and China is 1,331,460,000.)

We found the place we were going after taking a taxi after we got off the bus. Then we had to walk a while in the hot sun (about 90 degrees). We got directions to the subway system and were told it would take us all the way back to the Pudong Airport, which is near our hotel. We found fewer people who could speak English in Shanghai. We would have thought it would be the other way around. Shanghai is a business center for world corporations and many U.S. businessmen are on every flight to Shanghai.

It was a much more confusing subway system than in Beijing. English names are written very small. When they announce the stop over the loud speaker, they also say it in English, but there’s so much noise that you can hardly understand what they are saying. To ride the subway, you have to watch the map display and pay attention to the stops. There are many more lines than in Beijing. They intersect going in every direction. It’s not easy to trace where you are and what lines you have to change to before you can reach your destination. When we finally got on Line 2, the line to the airport, we still had to change twice more (still Line 2). It literally stopped about halfway and everyone got off and started waiting for the next one. We got on the next one and traveled for a while and then almost everyone got off again. Since a few people stayed on, we asked someone about the airport and they said we had to go across and get on it going the other direction. We were skeptical since the way we were heading had an arrow pointing to the airport. However, we thought the boy spoke with authority and people who can speak English and understand have always been helpful. We watched the next stop and we were heading the right way after all. It was a very confusing line. We never had that happen in Beijing. No one over the age of 40 rides the subways. I know why. There are many steps and long distances between lines. I guess we must have walked at least 5 miles yesterday.

When we arrived at the Pudong Airport, we looked at the airline arrival schedule and realized that Lily, our translator, would be coming in soon. We found a restaurant and had dinner while we waited. We had skipped lunch entirely with our wanderings around. I ordered shrimp fried rice, green vegetables and hot green tea. Ron had a fresh fruit bowl and Japanese Tofu. He helped me with the greens. It was very delicious.

Becky and Lily at Breakfast

When we finished dinner we saw that Lily’s plane had been delayed and it would be another hour before she arrived. We decided we were too tired to wait and with no seats in that area, we decided to return to the hotel. Lily arrived safely and came to room about two hours later. Lily said she would go back to the airport at 9:45 to meet Becky arriving from Narita, Japan. Becky’s flight the night before was cancelled for some reason. Nowadays, if the airline doesn’t practically fill up a flight (even if it’s the only one out that day), they cancel the flight. The plane might have had mechanical problems. We will find out the reason today when we see Becky. Since airlines don’t put people up in hotels anymore, they really don’t care how inconvenient it is for passengers. Some people are scheduled to make connecting flights elsewhere but just have to deal with the delays the best way they can. Flying is more difficult these days for many reasons.

Today, we will check out at noon and take the subway to the other airport. We fly out late today for Nanning. The airports are about an hours’ drive apart. Like all cities, the traffic at the end of the day can make a one hour drive turn into two hours so we really have to plan ahead and sometimes get to the airport much too early to be sure we make it.

ARRIVED IN SHANGHAI

2011-06-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

We left the RV Wednesday morning at 3:30 a.m. to drive to the Sheridan Hotel to park our car in long-term parking and take a shuttle to the airport. We cleared security in plenty of time and waited to see if we could get on the 5:40 a.m. flight to Detroit. We fly on “buddy passes” given to us by Delta employees so we are on standby until the plane has boarded and then we get what seats are left. On this flight, it was oversold so we had little hope of getting on but we actually were called and got the last two seats on the flight.

We didn’t sit together. A couple on my left started asking what I was making. I crochet baby blankets to pass the time on planes and trains. One question led to another and finally I explained that we work in China. They wanted to know what we do and after a few minutes they asked what church sponsored us. When I said we were members of the Lewisville C of C, big smiles came to their faces. They go to Cedar Hill, a suburb of Dallas. We have not yet been to their congregation. We exchanged information and talked about various people we both knew. They know Colt McCoy who played with the Dallas Cowboys and is a member of the church. In fact, his Mom (Deborah Woodruff) and our daughter, Leigh Ann, were friends in high school. We were also very close to the rest of the Woodruff family as we attended the same congregation when our children were small.

The man to my right told me he lived in China for two years. I can’t begin to spell the name of the city where he lived. He builds Black Hawk helicopters so he’s been all over the world (India, Turkey and served in Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia). He married a Chinese girl and put her through university until she got her master’s degree. Then she took up with his best friend. He presently has a Chinese girlfriend in the U.S. who is divorced and has three girls in U.S. universities, all going free on scholarships because of their excellent grades. He is a Tea Party advocate and was quite vocal about the way our country is heading. He is angry toward our politicians and the political system we have at the present time. He didn’t care who heard what he had to say. The couple on my left joined in and agreed with him on most everything. I told him I agree too but I didn’t voice my opinion on things, because he was doing enough of that for both of us.

Speaking of interesting people, I met a lady in the laundry mat in Lewisville when I was catching up on my laundry before we left Texas. She started the conversation saying she had just returned from a trip to Israel. She began talking about the Jewish history, the Law of Moses and a bunch of stuff I knew nothing about. She said she left Christianity after 40 active years, but she’s a believer in some group that feels God never changes and the Old Testament law was not “done away with.” She believes we must keep all of the Jewish holidays (I asked her about sacrifices and got a mixed answer that was totally foreign garbage, so I don’t know how she gets around slaughtering a lamb for Passover). She said the New Testament in English is totally mistranslated and there’s no hope for anyone following it unless they study the Hebrew and the Torah and follow all of the laws of God. She asked me if I believed I would go to heaven. I told her “certainly.” Her comment in an exaggerated and rather unpleasant voice was, “Good Luck!”

She believes in the 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth and she thinks she knows when the end of the world will be. (I didn’t ask her if she was part of the crazy group that just predicted it and missed it, now postponing it until October). She picks what she wants from the New Testament and Old Testament but what she doesn’t want, she quickly says the translations are incorrect and preachers have misquoted and mislead all Christian believers. She is quite an authority on everything.

She was so totally off the wall with her beliefs so there is no common ground without her accepting the authority of the New Testament. I told her my husband was a minister and I have known many people who studied and knew the Hebrew and Greek languages and I have to put my trust somewhat in them knowing the background since I can’t personally learn all of this myself. In her opinion, all religions are wrong and everyone is lost besides her small group of believers. It was an unpleasant conversation for me. I think she thoroughly enjoyed showing off her knowledge and superior beliefs of what is true and acceptable by God. She acted as if she is infallible.

It’s just my luck to run into someone like her that wants to discuss religion (most don’t) and then is the type of person you cannot teach. When she heard that my husband is a minister, her eyes lit up and she said, “Oh, I would absolutely love to go head to head with him.” She thinks she could whip him down in a few minutes’ time. I told her he would not be interested. She wanted to know why. I told her it would be a total waste of time to discuss it further with her because she had her strong opinions and no one can change it. She said no one was trying to change anyone but why discuss it with someone like this. It’s like trying to study with Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses. I refused to let her think she had gotten to me and shattered my faith in any way but it did upset me somewhat to hear things like this, especially with this woman’s attitude.

Back to our trip. We arrived in Detroit on Wednesday morning and had lunch at Chili’s (no breakfast that morning). We had the rest of the day to walk and rest in the airport until the flight to Shanghai at 4:30 p.m. We had no problem getting on that flight and were seated in first class. The flight was fine and I actually slept 6 hours (restless sleep but nevertheless better than none). The two previous nights in Lewisville, we had storms that kept us awake most of the night.

Monday night’s storm awoke us about 1:30 p.m. and at 2:30 hail about the size of golf balls fell for more than five minutes. You should be in an RV and hear this sound. Lightning flashed across the sky continuously for more than an hour. It was not just the normal electrical patterns in the sky. It was huge flashes of light which looked like it would come from a camera flash. We had some gusts of wind that rocked the RV and then heavy rain following the hail for another hour. The second night we had a repeat storm about 10 p.m. but it did not have hail.

Our car is totally dented and there’s some damage to the RV. Geico Insurance told Ron to just go ahead and get the car repaired without having an adjuster come out. We will do that when we get back to Texas. Although the damage to the RV is not extensive, it still may cost a lot of money to make the repairs. It is mostly damage to awnings, the back-up camera, etc. They are sending an adjuster to look at it.

The Taylors (where we parked the RV) had windshields broken in their vehicles as well as dents on the body of every car and truck. The skylights in their house were broken by the hail and water and hail poured inside their house. They had a parked a fifth-wheeler camper next to our RV and it was heavily damaged. Power was out until noon the next day. The storm knocked out power across Lewisville and Denton with a lot of wind damage.

I’ve heard from Texans that everything is bigger in Texas. I know for certain that storms and wildfires are! I was a little upset with the forecasters not warning us about the storm Monday night. I watched the weather channel before going to bed and it all appeared to be in the northern counties and not expected in our area. On Tuesday night, they predicted storms to remain south of I-120 which would have kept us out of harms’ way also. A huge cell came right across Dallas and covered all of Lewisville for the second night in a row. Of course, by the time the storm gets close to us everyone is being warned but I like to know a few hours beforehand if it’s even a possibility.

Due to the lack of sleep two nights and only six hours of restless sleep on the plane, we slept about six hours last night. We had breakfast at the hotel’s buffet and I enjoyed everything on my plate. I skipped a lot of things but what I chose was very good. We even have coffee at this restaurant but it’s made strong.

I had a plateful of the following: a boiled egg, three kinds of steamed bread (one stuffed) and one more of a glutinous rice type. I had a piece of lean ham, steamed cabbage, bamboo shoots, steamed zucchini with small shrimp, cooked greens, two sweet treats (a light cake and rice with dried fruit) and watermelon. I could have eaten a second plateful of the same things but I try not to be a glutton. People ask what we eat in China and I tell everyone there are things I don’t eat (unknown meats or bacon practically raw) but the vegetables are really delicious. Not many Americans would like vegetables for breakfast but they are not half-bad! It’s all in the mind as to what is acceptable breakfast food. They had another table of cold salads and cold vegetable dishes but I never eat those. I don’t care for cold vegetables and I don’t eat anything raw. Even if vegetables have been washed in bad water, they are safe to eat after they are cooked properly. I don’t drink milk (unpasteurized) or cold drinks (which could be made from impure water). I’ve never been sick on the food. I hope I’ll make it this trip and still be able to say that again.

We have a day of rest. Becky Donovan, a girl from Louisiana, flew out of Houston and was supposed to meet up with us in Shanghai. Her flight took her through Narita, Japan. Ron and I went back to the airport at 9:30 p.m. last night to meet her and found that her flight to Shanghai had been cancelled. We have not yet gotten an email from her. We assume she stayed in the airport hotel in Narita and will take the one flight they have today to Shanghai. Lily, our translator and worker who makes our reservations, will arrive here this afternoon. Tomorrow, we all have flights to Nanning. We will spend one night in a hotel in Nanning and travel on to Tiendeng (home of John Connor Brown Christian Care Center) Sunday morning. They will delay the family meeting until the afternoon when we arrive. I will post more as I have news about the rest of our trip.

Count it all Joy

2011-06-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

The wisdom of James 1:2-4 was studied in our class at Lewisville last Sunday morning and was very timely for me.

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Most of us do not think of trials as "works of joy." We want smooth sailing every day. We don't look forward to trials and testing periods of our faith. Yet, in order to turn trials to triumph, we must let patience do its work ...through prayers in faith.

Often trials and disappointments knock us backwards for a while but if we trust in God, He will help us get through the rough times and set us on a course that is good, sometimes even better than before.

It was very hard, for me especially, to pack up our house in Sharpsburg and drive away, knowing Ron never intended to go back there to live.   Leaving a home seems to be much more emotional to women than it is for men.  It shut another door of my life and I was sad. We don't know how long it will take to sell or rent the house but it's not useful to us in this phase of our lives. Leaving our daughter in Georgia and our son in China, puts us a long distance from family.   I was already struggling with the decision to travel full-time and live in an RV, which is not one of my favorite things. I still felt my roots were with the friends at Peachtree City and I would be back someday to live in an apartment or condo there. We actually talked about going ahead and buying a condo in Peachtree City as we packed up the house. The suddeness of the decision of the Peachtree City Church of Christ elders to discontinue their oversight of our work was very upsetting and disappointing when I was already struggling with having to move out of the house. We learned the news on our last night there (after class was over) so we had no chance to talk to our dear Christian friends before we left. We thought we would be back in a few months so we left with only casual goodbyes.

We have known for some time that the Peachtree City elders were concerned about handling the work should something happen to Ron where he could not carry on the oversight of the work.   We understand that our mission is not just a simple work of a missionary teaching in a foreign land. The lives of nearly 700 little children are involved and the continuance of the work is important to us and to the people of China.   Ron and I are still in good health and we strive to keep it that way, but none of ever know when it's time for us to leave this earth, no matter what our age.  However, it was only after we decided we would have to live in Texas for some time that the elders decided to give up the oversight.  No hint of the elders discontinuing their oversight had leaked to us prior to this.   Ron intended to keep the elders well-informed and make visits back as often as possible just as a missionary would in a foreign field. But, it was the decision of the elders, saying they felt it would be more practical for us to get a church in TX to oversee the work.

Considering all the possibilities, we chose Lewisville Church of Christ in Lewisville, TX as our new church home. They began supporting our work this year and we have had contact with them for some time. Knowing the reputation of this fine congregation, we decided we wanted to be a part of the work here as much as is possible with our travels. We decided that this can be the center of our work and from here we can go out to the various parts of Texas to visit churches. Lewisville is just north of Dallas. It's a beautiful area with lakes and lovely countryside. If you can stay out of the Dallas traffic, it's terrific!   We have been here for more than a month to get established with this congregation and prepare for our upcoming trip to China. Ron had a few appointments already scheduled in this area, so things worked out very well.

We have been warmly accepted at the Lewisville congregation and have begun to make some wonderful friends. We regret we will be away much of the time, but it will be a joy each time we can return. We have asked them to oversee our work, but do not yet have a firm answer. We are supplying them with all the information about the work in China so they can make a wise decision.

We had some news from China two weeks ago that brought us great joy. Ronald, our son, has become engaged to Gigi, who lives and teaches school in the Philippines. She is an English and Math teacher of 15 years with many degrees and certificates so she will be a great asset to our work as she works with the children in the orphanages. Neither have been married before so they feel that they are very fortunate and blessed to find each other. We hope and pray it will be a long and happy marriage. We are looking forward to meeting Gigi. We already know of her many good qualities and already love her.
We will leave one week from tomorrow (June 22nd) for China. We are looking forward to seeing Ronald and the children at the orphanages. Becky, a lady from Louisiana is going with us. She will teach some classes at the care centers as we visit each one. We will travel from Shanghai to Tiendeng to the John Connor Brown Christian Care Center. From there, we will visit Wesley's House in Pingguo and Neil Taylor Christian Care Center in Rongshui. I think Ron also has an appointment with someone in Wuhan. We will, lastly, visit North Canton Christian Care Center in Longhui. From there, we will return to Shanghai and our return trip to the States. Our traveling will be extensive and we will be exhausted by the time we arrive home only to deal with jetlag for about a week.

Then, once rested, we will begin our travels again. Ron already has appointments set from July to October in OK, AR, TN, KY and GA.

I hope to have news to post from China. We ask you to remember us in your prayers. We hope this will be a safe and productive trip.

Fireworks in Texas

2011-05-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

We escaped a round of storms that produced many sighted tornadoes last night. This is especially scary when you live in an RV and hear the loud announcement, "tornado has been sighted, take cover immediately."   We knew from weather reports early in the day that this was very likely to happen. We had planned to go eat early (it was my birthday) and then go to the Lewisville church building if we needed to. They gave us a key to the building, knowing that we had no place to go for cover in the event of a bad storm. We are about 10 minutes away.

After we finished dinner, it did not appear to be very stormy so we returned to the RV and turned on the weather news. There were cells forming but none looked threatening until the loud announcement was made all over the park. We immediately closed the RV down from having electrical service and drove to the church building. We spent an hour in the library reading where we could not even hear it raining. Then we emerged and saw blustery skies after a lot of rain had fallen. We sat in the car and listened to the latest location of heavy cells and possible tornadoes. When convinced none were in our general area, we returned to the RV. About an hour later, a heavy cell passed over us with hail and heavy rain but little wind and no rotation that would produce a tornado. The rain was over about 11 p.m. as it all moved off to the east.

Ron said all of this was just fireworks for my birthday. I don't think so!   Sunday night, Ron spoke at Centerville Church of Christ in Garland, TX.   We went out to eat afterwards with Holly Machemehl's parents, who are members there.    As we were leaving the restaurant, it began raining. The further we got toward Dallas and our exit on to Lewisville, the sky lit up with more lightening than I have ever seen. It was dancing all around from left to right for a very long distance. It was a huge storm that spread for many miles. By the time we merged onto I-35E, the bottom fell out. We drove the next 10-15 miles in bumper to bumper traffic, with emergency lights blinking on every car. Many cars and trucks had pulled over into the emergency lanes to wait it out. We broke out of it about the time we arrived back at the RV. The storm had moved on with no damage unless there were some wrecks.

I told Holly in an email about the bad storm. She said everything is bigger and better in TEXAS!   It does seem that storms form west of Dallas and arrive very fiercely by the time they get here and move on to other areas.   We are saddened by the tornado in Joplin, MO on Sunday.   We learned of a family that perished when their house was blown away.   Albert and Evelyn Fuchs, long-time supporters of children in China, reported that Sara Anderson and her sixteen-year old son were found and they were still looking for her husband, Bill. Their daughter was at work and is safe. They were members at Connecticut Street Church of Christ in Joplin. Bill had been on numerous mission trips to Honduras and this family was close to Albert and Evelyn so they will miss them terribly. Please pray for the Anderson's daughter, Gracie, as she deals with the terribly loss of her family.

Now I have some good news to report. When I checked my email for the last time before going to bed last night, I found an email and some pictures from our son, Ronald. He is the one who works in China overseeing the orphanages. He made acquaintance with a girl in the Philippines about a year ago and they have talked on Skype every day since. A week or so ago, he flew to the Philippines to ask her to marry him. We had not heard how things were going and were a little anxious to hear from him.   The good news is that he's a very happy man because she said YES.   He said she is very kind and sweet, as are her parents and the rest of her family. He asked for their blessings on the marriage and they have treated him very graciously.

I think they are having a special dinner and with the candles and flowers, Ronald tried to make this an occasion where she could only say YES. Gigi is a school teacher. Like him, she's never been married but they know having a mate is very important. The Philippines is only a few hours from China so she will not live so far away. We know she is close to her family and they are very important to her. She will be a great asset to Ronald in China. She can help with the children when they visit the orphanages. She can teach English and become a mentor, especially to the girls. Ronald will find life in China much easier with a wife so we are very happy for him.

"And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Gen. 2:18

We don't know more details of their plans. Ronald has a few more days in the Philippines before he returns to China. We will see him on our June trip to China and be filled in with all of the details.

The work in China is going very well. We will visit three of the care centers on our next trip. The facilities have all been improved and the local governments are cooperating and helping with many things. Our latest newsletter outlines all of the many ways people, including the government, have assisted with gifts for the Jackson Family Christian Care Center in Zigong.

May God continue to bless our work in China, but especially bless the people we are trying to reach with the gospel. It is only through HIS saving Grace that any of us have a hope for eternity.

The joys of simple pleasures of life

2011-05-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

This week is going well with an average load of work. We always have plenty of things to do but some weeks the work pours in and it is sometimes overwhelming.

We have a pleasant, shady parking spot at the Lewisville Lake Park Campgrounds. Over the weekend, there were about 50 boy scouts (or some group of boys with chaperons) camping in tents right across the street from us. We have had cool nights (50's) and nice days in the 70's. Today it reached 80 degrees. I am enjoying a 30-minute walk in the park every day. The lake is beautiful, the sky dark blue and the breeze is nice. Our address is Kingfisher Drive but we are right around the corner from Catfish Drive and Trotline.

Speaking of strange street names, I could not help but smile while we were parked at Boles Children's Home in Quinlan, TX. The streets on their campus are named: Love, Joy, Patience, Humility, Kindness and Peace. Even the GPS picks up some of these streets in Quinlan, TX.

People in RV and camping parks stay much to themselves. We speak in passing but everyone is here to enjoy the peace and quiet so they are not looking for friends. I got to thinking about the difference in trailer parks and RV parks. People have a high regard for those who own RV's and 5th wheels and these people are considered "lucky" or "well off," compared to people who live in trailer parks. I guess most everyone that owns an RV or 5th wheel have a nice home somewhere and the motor home is their escape from the routine.

The other day we passed an RV, a new one that was on the upper scale of expensive. Ron remarked "what a beauty." I thought a minute and told him I'd never thought of an RV as being a beauty but I guess it might be real nice inside. He said everything God made is beautiful. After a minute, I questioned that statement as well. I told him first of all, God didn't make RV's; and, secondly, there are things like alligators and hippos that are not really beautiful. You can see what interesting conversations we have now that we are senior citizens and together every minute of the day and night.

You do need to be good friends to live this lifestyle. Your neighbors are just an arm's length away and your space inside your domain is less than 10' wide. We have to take turns in the hallway and bathroom. Ron likes to cook his own breakfast so I stay in bed until he finishes and then I get up and make my coffee and breakfast. The kitchen is not bad but certainly not designed for two people at the same time.

I can clean the shower, vacuum, dust and clean mirrors in about 30 minutes. It's a Saturday morning chore but done so quickly I can move on to things I want to do for the rest of the day. Since the space is small, everything has it's own special place. I try to put things away and keep things neat. I could not stand it otherwise.

In my spare time from the regular work, I'm working on my lesson for a ladies' day in Chattanooga, TN for September 10th. I am looking forward to my time with this wonderful group of ladies. I have written the text for my two 30-minute talks, but much time will be spent selecting pictures for the power point to go along with my lessons.

With the trip to Chattanooga, we will also be in Tennessee and Kentucky in August and September to report to churches that support our work. From Texas, we will give reports to churches as we travel East. This is not always true, but generally speaking, the smaller churches and the people who are not really wealthy, are the most giving. The wealthy have a lifestyle that takes a lot of their money and often they have little left over to help others. As I think on this truth, I read about an elderly lady that made a generous gift to the poor. When asked if she could really afford it, her answer was this:

"I'm seventy-four now. My husband died twenty-three years ago. He wasn't able to leave me much money; for all this time I've earned a living by scrubbing and washing for others. But I felt I should do more than that. I wanted to also help those worse off than I am. God has been good to me. I have my health, a roof over my head, enough to eat. So many people don't have these blessings. And then I thought it would be better to work a little bit harder in this life and take my rest in the life to come."

It's interesting to me to notice that those who have things in this life "a little bit harder" often seem to have a better foretaste of what heaven will be while many who seek heaven on earth through pleasure or self-gratification, have a dim view of and less desire for heaven.

It's something to think about.

Back in Texas after a trip to Georgia

2011-05-10T10:17:00.001-07:00

We have always heard that home is “where the heart is” and that’s true as life changes. Nothing stays the same. If you don’t like your present situation, just wait. It will change. It may be soon or it may be years, but life, for all of us at all ages, is forever changing.

The middle of April, we drove back to our house in Sharpsburg, GA and packed up our stuff. We have accumulated so much “stuff” over the years. I cannot imagine someone living in the same house all of their married life and then trying to clean it out. We began our mission work in 1984 and we cleaned out our house and moved to St. Croix, U.S.V.I. We lived in simple apartments for about 15 years. When we returned from the foreign mission field to Nashville in 1998, we began to fill a house again with stuff. A lot of it was “gifts” from our family, children and friends. These are the things that bring memories and are special to us. Things I bought at stores for a certain spot to make a house a home, means nothing when removed from that location. With this move, we have moved 16 times since we got married.

Leigh Ann (our daughter) took what she could. She has limited space but she was able to accept things that had value or were of special sentimental value to me. That made me very happy. Those things are hers to do whatever she wishes with them in the future. I don’t have that pain in the heart that I would have if I threw them away. I brought back to the RV to enjoy a few things our children have given us. The rest of the stuff I packed up can be sold at a yard sale (25 cents to hundreds of dollars) but it is all too good to throw in the garbage.

We are parked at Boles’ Children Home in Quinlan, Texas (outside of Greenville and an hour’s drive from Dallas). We will visit several churches in this area for the next month. We will return to China on June 22nd. I will write about that trip as soon as I return home. Future plans include me speaking at a Ladies’ Day in Chattanooga, TN on September 10th with my subject “Making a Difference”. We will report to churches in Tennessee and Kentucky in September and October.

As long as we are able to do fund-raising for the work in China and give reports to interested churches, we will continue this life-style. I fought living this way because I honestly don’t like camping and never will. For the life of me, I don’t know why anyone would do this if they didn’t have to. Maybe it would be different however, if you could park at resorts, take in the sights, and move on at your leisure. Our purpose is so different because we go where we can get appointments and stay only as long as necessary. There’s no real “adventure” in our camping but there is an overwhelming sense of accomplishment because it is a good work. It is good to be physically and mentally able to work and we plan to do that as long as we are able. For both of us, this full-time together is important at this stage of our lives. You have to be great friends to live peacefully together in an RV!

Should we have to give up the traveling, we will reduce our “stuff” down to an apartment size living quarters. As we get older, having only necessities and a simple life-style is a blessing for us and for our children who will never have to clean out a house with too many belongings and too many memories.

Our house will be sold whenever the market is such that we can, but if it does not sell, we will try to rent it. It was a good home; it served our purposes well, but is no longer needed.

Our daughter is enjoying the benefits of a small apartment and finding life easier to manage without so much “stuff.” She says she needs to begin cleaning out unnecessary things also. Our son, Ronald, is going to the Philippines this weekend to propose to a girl who lives on a remote island in the Philippines. If this relationship works out, he will continue to live in China (or perhaps later in the Philippines). Neither of our children will need our house, so it’s time to let it go.

As I mentioned at the beginning, things are forever changing. We will be changing the sponsoring congregation for the work in China. For many years, the elders at Peachtree City have wondered what they would do with the work should something happen to Ron. Ron is currently looking for a congregation that is capable and willing to continue the work in the future. We support over 650 little children that would have no hope in life without our care. It is a big operation and will require some management from the U.S, although we have operations in China running extremely well, due to our son’s oversight. Ron continues to try to build up funds to secure the work in the future, but in today’s economy, it’s not easy. We ask for your prayers that HE will lead us to the right congregation and right people to assist with the work in China so it can continue as long as HE is willing.

Reminiscing about how life changes, I spoke on Saturday with a dear friend in Nashville. Her name is Mary Ann Farmer and she is 89 years old. When we moved to Nashville from Montreal, Quebec, Mary Ann befriended me and remains a close friend. When Ron was making trips to China and I was working as the church secretary, Mary Ann made sure I was invited with her friends to dinner, movies and events. She took care of me to keep me from being alone and lonely. We went to the mall and walked every morning during the week days. The good part of that is, after our walk, we went to McDonald’s and ate breakfast! I’m sure we needed to walk about l/2 day to offset the calories of our breakfast but it was a fun time and we convinced ourselves that it was “healthy.” She can make the best banana pudding ever! Mary Ann is now in assisted living and not doing well. My prayers continue for this dear friend from 1998.

I will close this segment of my blog with these thoughts taken from THREE MINUTES A DAY by James Keller:

“In the O.T. it is said, “Remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin.” (Eccl. 7:40). If someone could follow us always and never let us forget the great fundamentals of life – the value of our individual soul, the deep love of HIM for each of us, the love we should have for all men as children of a common Father, and above all the eternity of either heaven or hell which will follow the end of our life here on earth – what changed beings we would be. We wouldn’t make the mistakes we often make now through our failure to keep our minds fixed on these infallible truths. Instead, the life of each of us would be a living prayer which would affect not only ourselves but the world.”

Last Wednesday night I heard the teacher of our class (an elder) say: “I told my son that nothing in life is important unless you go to heaven in the end.”

Let us all be busy in HIS work and remember that we have a world to win, that those far from HIM may have heaven also.

Rattlesnakes and cactus

2011-04-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed 10 days parked in the driveway of Dr. & Mrs. Monte Horne in Hamilton, TX. They have supported our work for many years and been so generous in offering us their home. We stayed in the RV during this time but used one of their spare bathrooms (our shower in the RV was not working right). They invited us in to share quite a few of their delicious meals. Ron and I each had a little illness while there so Dr. Horne made RV calls (in lieu of "House Calls") and gave us medication that helped us recover quicker.

We told them it was very hard to leave with a Mexican restaurant next door (Rosy Horne is from Honduras) and a doctor that make house calls. They are both very good at what they do!!

While in the Hamilton area, we went to churches in Hico, Rising Star, Cross Plains and Stephenville. We were in Hamilton two Wednesday nights and one Sunday. It was good to meet and get to know so many wonderful Christians in these congregations. We shared meals and overhead conversations about rattlesnake roundups, the wildlife in this area and other stories of the country.

I will have to do some research on the rattlesnake roundups but we are not planning to be part of one!

We heard coyotes in the near distance at the Horne home. They recently saw a bobcat in one of their trees. We were driving back to Hamilton from Stephenville on Wednesday night and a pretty black and white animal with a fluffy tail casually walked in front of the car. It was my first time to see a skunk up close. I was very thankful we did not hit it.

We left Hamilton about mid-morning to drive to San Angelo where we will be for this weekend. The countryside was flat most of the way so when we saw some big hills ahead at one point, it looked really strange. Cactus is growing wild all along the roadside. Trees are showing new bright green leaves but we have not seen many blooming flowers and no flowering trees. The towns are small and quaint in this area of Texas. On the way, I saw a sign pointing to a little town off to the side named Blanket. Just ahead, Ron saw something and asked if I could tell what it was. I told him it looked like a horse and carriage. He pulled to the left lane and as we passed, I saw it was actually a covered wagon with a family inside (men with big black-brimmed hats. Two horses were pulling the wagon and two were tied at the back. I'm thinking this was a Mennonite family but I don't know if there's a community of these people in this area or not. Being in West Texas, I told Ron they were heading further west to homestead somewhere.

We went through Santa Rosa where a big sign said that the 3rd Saturday of every month they reenact "How the West Was Won." If tomorrow was the 3rd Saturday I would think the covered wagon was part of the show. I saw a big sign across a building in one little town that said 'SALOON.'

We arrived in San Angelo and endured a hot afternoon with the temperature reaching 95 degrees. Local weather news shows 95 each day through Sunday (the time we will be in San Angelo) then another dry cold front will cool it down to the 80's next week. It is very dry in Texas and they are desperately in need of rain. While we were in Hamilton, we had a very cold week with temperatures in the 40's at night and some days only in the 60's. We had light rain but no significant amount. We are experiencing a wide range of temperatures from week to week.

We have two churches on Sunday and one more in the San Angelo area that Ron would like to contact while we are here. Then we will drive to Odessa, Midland and Abilene. I will think of Ronald, our son, when we talk about going to Abilene. He went to university there for two years (in the 80's when it was still a good Christian university). We don't get very good reports now about Abilene from many folks in this area.

About the middle of April, we will drive back to Greenville (east of Dallas) and park the RV at Boles Childrens' Home. We will drive the car back to Atlanta, stopping along the way to make appointments at several churches and staying with friends in Florence, Alabama.

We will be at our home in Sharpsburg the last week of April. I have some medical check-ups and we will be getting the house ready to rent.

I try to end with a good thought for the day.

"Man was designed for accomplishment; engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness. Ability is important in the quest for success, but dependability is critical."

I would take an employee with dependability over skill any day of the week!

Not a very exciting week...but that can be good too!

2011-03-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday afternoon we drove from San Benito to Kingsville and attended Sunday night service there. They had a good location for us to park overnight. We left Monday morning and drove to San Antonio. Ron wanted Iron Horse RV Repair Service in San Antonio to give the RV a check-up to be sure the critical things were in good working condition. The RV is 10 years old and it's apparent the previous owner did little maintenance. We got to Iron Horse too late in the day for them to start the checks, so we plugged in at their lower parking lot and spent the night. The next day, they worked on the RV but still had a little more to do at the end of the day. Another night was spent there. Wednesday morning they completed everything, repaired a few things, replaced some filters and stuff and then we were ready to leave. It was about noon as we hooked up the car and drove to Walmart to get gas.

Getting gas is not one of my favorite things. I have to get out and locate the diesel pump and see if there's room for him to pull in and pull out and direct him safely into the spot.  This time, the pump was on the end but a gas refilling truck was parked too close for him to pull out. Luckily, the truck was finishing up and replacing his hoses so we waited until we could pull in. Soon we were on our way to San Antonio. The traffic was heavy all the way but the drive was pleasant and uneventful.

We arrived in Austin at the Southwest church late in the afternoon. We went to Bible class at this church Wednesday night and are still parked here. Sunday morning we will leave early enough to drive to the church in Leander, TX. Sunday afternoon we will drive to Lampasas and attend Sunday night service there.

Ron had intended to go to San Angelo but none of the churches had returned his call so we headed north instead of northwest from San Benito. Last night, one of the San Angelo churches called and said they would like for him to come. That will require some backtracking but Ron has to wait to see if some of the other appointments come through first. It's not easy to plan and schedule appointments when the churches wait for weeks, sometimes, before they call him back.

We are moving on toward Abilene, Odessa and Midland (eventually).

I have felt unusually sad all week. I think the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the terrible loss of lives and the anxiety of other world events (Libya) looming over us, gave me a somber feeling.

Ronald, our son who works in China, planned his vacation (a long dream of his) for Hawaii almost a year ago. Reservations have been made for months. He got as far a Shanghai and then could not complete the trip on his Delta ticket because of the earthquake. His flight was to Narita, Japan and then on to Hawaii. He may have spent two nights in Shanghai before he arranged a flight to Vancouver and on to Hawaii through Air Canada. This cost him an extra ticket and delayed his arrival. I was sad for him that his trip was delayed and the frustration he went through to try to get there through another airline that added many more hours to his trip. But, at the same time, I was very thankful he was not in Japan when the earthquake happened. In the midst of every disaster there are blessings somewhere. We just have to look for them.

I know the Japanese people will rebuild and recover from their loss but the loss of 15,000 people will never be righted. As I was growing up, I don't remember world disasters, like this, and yet I know they happened. Was it because I was young and carefree that it made little impact on me?   Was it because I was too busy to listen to the news and know what was going on? Or, was it that the media coverage is so intense now that we can sit glued to the screen and see the pictures and hear the interviews and it makes us feel as if we are there, suffering with them?   In any event, our world is chaotic and life is uncertain and it makes us older people realize why we need to be prepared to leave the earth on a moment's notice.

On a lighter and happier note, Ron and I celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary on Tuesday. We didn't do anything very exciting but just being healthy and having our family safe, made it a good day. We went to Sea Island to eat that night. I had coconut shrimp and Ron had salmon (he said it was better than Red Lobster's).

We were just college kids, marrying on spring break, in 1958. It doesn't seem that long in many ways when I think back to that time, but a lot has changed since then. The world is different. We have raised two children, moved many times, lived in various cities and traveled many miles. It makes me think of the many times I said, "many miles to go before I can sleep."

Spring is here!   Trees and grass are green in Texas and we are having unseasonably warm temperatures. Here in Austin, it's in the 60's at night and 80's during the day.   We saw many crops planted and coming up as we drove from San Benito. We passed one large farm with many fields and two oil wells steadily pumping and a third one being built.

May God bless you and be with you as you face another week in service to HIM.

Weather in South Texas and other things...

2011-03-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

We have had wonderful weather in San Benito, TX. It has changed from day to day, but it still has been better than almost anywhere else in the nation. Most of the days are in the 80's with a nice breeze. Tuesday was a very hot day. It got up to 92 degrees inside the RV late in the afternoon. Wednesday was cooler and today (Thursday) is a beautiful day. A cold front moved through on Wednesday bringing us cooler weather, but caused tornadoes in Louisiana, heavy rain across the southern states and even heavier rains up the east coast. We escaped the rain. Tonight, we will have a low of 40 degrees. That must sound warm to most of my readers across the U.S. but this far south (almost on the Gulf of Mexico), that is rather cold. We have been spoiled with the warm weather.

We have appointments on Sunday and then will probably leave this area on Monday and head back north (Yuck!!). I rather like this area.

We continue to meet some very interesting people. Sunday morning, we drove about 30 minutes west to Pharr, TX. After the service, they had a potluck meal and we sat by a couple that moved to Pharr from North Carolina and knew someone that we know. Another couple at our table were winter residents from Colorado. After lunch, Ron also spent a lot of time talking with Max Morris, a man that lived in China for 10 years and did a lot of teaching while he was there, at a time when it was not nearly so safe. Max is now heavily involved in mission work with Hispanics, both on the U.S. side and in Mexico. He says he wants to go back to China someday.

Sunday night, we have a good time with folks at 8th & Harrison in Harlingen, TX (only a few miles north of where we are parked).

Wednesday night we drove about 30 miles southwest to Port Isabel (two pictures above). We drove on a causeway for several miles with ocean on both sides of the road. In a few minutes, this coastal city appeared in all it's tropical beauty. We saw the bridge that may go on over to Padre Island, but I'm not sure. Padre Island actually runs from Corpus Christi all the way down to Mexico. I always thought it was off the coast near Corpus Christi only.

At Port Isabel, we met some of the Christians at the Dairy Queen for a snack before the Wednesday night class. We are a little late to meet tourists that come to this location to "winter." Most of them left last week to go back home. One lady, from Michigan, was the only non-Texan present. It was a very loving and friendly congregation and we enjoyed our time with them.

Ron completed much of the new tile in the RV on Saturday. It looks so much better than the dirty, beige carpet that was worn out. The tile will be much easier to keep clean. I told Ron it will not show dirt (looks like brown and dark green stones) so I won't have to mop for about a month (when my socks turn black). Once a week should do the trick and keep it looking nice. Ron continues to work on the incomplete areas a little each night. It has been a rather complicated job because everything is built-in. Ron is a perfectionist in most of his work and it has proven true in this work as well. It will be difficult for anyone to tell that the flooring did not come with the RV.

I did not try to help on Saturday because I got up with some back pain. I worked on the computer and tried to stay out of his way. By the end of the day, I noticed that my back was even worse than when I got up that morning. I took a celebrex and went to bed early. Sunday was an excruciating day of pain. I could not find comfort in sitting or standing. Bending was almost impossible but I managed to get dressed and go to church. (Luckily, I had taken a shower Saturday afternoon before I got so bad.). All day, I sat a while, stood a while and just endured the pain. Nothing made it better or worse. I took celebrex again that night and then on Monday. I was a little better Monday morning but as the day continued, my back got better. I have noticed a little discomfort the last three days but there is no comparison to the way I suffered with it Saturday night and all day on Sunday.

It is so difficult to understand something like this when I did nothing to cause it. I often do physical work, bringing in sacks of groceries, helping with the car trailer and other things but there was no reason for the pain on Saturday. I told Ron it was just too difficult having to supervise his work on the flooring.

As I think of our work with the children in China, I am often inspired to continue our hard work no matter what the discomfort. These children depend on us for having a better life. When a teenage boy continues to cheat, lie, steal and disobey the rules at the care center and has to be sent back to live with relatives, I cannot help but be sad. The child does not realize that he is giving up his future, not only in this world but maybe in the next also.

"Our children are our only hope for the future but we are their only hope for their present and their future."

We can only change the world for the next generation by teaching the children we have today.

Sunny Glen Children's Home, San Benito, TX

2011-03-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

On the last day of February, we left Alice and drove to San Benito. It was a straight drive south toward the border of Mexico. Traffic was light on our side of the highway but we saw many campers and RV's of all types returning north. Winter is almost over in TX so some "snow birds" are returning home but not all of them. Every RV park we have passed is completely full. The park I can see from our window now, has campers parked as far as you can see. This area, near Brownsville, is a favorite winter home for many people who are blessed to have means to leave the cold weather for a few months.

We arrived at Sunny Glen Children's home early in the afternoon. This is the campus where 6-8 brick homes are located that house the 20-25 children that live here with house parents.

The director is away at this time taking cancer treatments at M.D. Anderson. We pray that his treatments will be successful and he can return to his duties overseeing this lovely home for children. With his permission, we are parked at the rear of their property where they have camper hookups for Sojourners and people like up that need a place to stay. With the RV parks completely full, it might have been difficult to find another location. We were warned that this area is not safe and told we should not park at a church building where we are islocated from other people. The personnel at Sunny Glen have been so accommodating and gracious to us. We are grateful for every opportunity provided us in each city.

Last Sunday, we were saddened to learn of the death of Paul and Rachel Cold's grown daughter, Gennie. No one should have to suffer through the death of a child. Our hearts were touched because we love this family in Fayetteville, GA so very much. May God bless them in the difficult days ahead.

We went to the San Benito church on Wednesday night. It was the congregation that began this children's home but over the years the members have moved elsewhere and it's a small group now. We have appointments for Ron's sermon/report at two different congregations on Sunday.

The weather has been like summer. Grass is green, young leaves are on the trees and birds are singing. Well, birds are always singing and at dusk they are everywhere (as I wrote about the grackles in a previous blog). You can probably see them on power lines in this picture above.   We were leaving Sam's Club after getting a few groceries and gas. It was late in the day and the grackles were beginning their nightly ritual of finding a roosting place. There were hundreds of them flying over our heads in the parking lots and lighting in the small trees and on power lines. Texans are used to it but it is a sight for us to witness.

This week has been busy with computer work. We have not ventured out because of the workload and the apparent danger in this area. Local news reports that beaches are vacant during this spring break time for students due to the dangerous situation.  Every nights' news reports more drug busts and the capture of illegal immigrants.

We stopped at a Chick-fil-A and felt like we were in Puerto Rico. This area is primarily Hispanic so we are in the minority. They all seem very well-educated and nice. We heard very little English spoken. It is the criminal aspect of those coming from Mexico that creates the many problems here.

Ron is giving the RV a facelift today. Our RV is 10 years old so the cheap beige carpet was worn out.   He noticed that newer RV's have tile floors instead of carpet. He removed all the carpet, which was a job in itself, especially cutting it from underneath the sofas, which can't be moved. Today, he is laying tile and it's looking so much better. Each week after vacuuming, I had to spot clean the carpet but it was so worn, it never looked good even though we removed our shoes inside. I will take a picture for the next blog segment.

God continues to bless us with good health. Ron and I both have some back issues but we have not been sick with a single cold for over a year. I used to get a very bad case of bronchitis every winter but I have escaped it this year. I helped Ron moving the trailer for the car when we arrived on Monday and pulled something in my back. It has been mild pain but noticeable all week. Due to Ron's back problems with the E-coli in 2004, he has to be careful to avoid a flare up.

Our travels are probably boring to my readers. It's not exciting like our trips to China but it is a very necessary part of our work.   We are meeting so many wonderful people and making contacts that will provide funds for the work to continue on even when we are no longer able to be a part of it.

If you work hard enough and enthusiastically enough, sooner or later the effect will bring forth the reward.

A week or so ago, a man came up to me after Ron spoke. He said, "Could you possibly get Ron to be a little more enthusiastic about his work?"   Ron's passion for our work in China comes forth in every presentation. It never gets old for him to report on the blessings God has provided us. It touches my heart every time I see the pictures of the children we are helping. There are many tears from women, children are glued to the screen and men tell us afterward that they have never before been so touched by a missionary's presentation. Ron does not make it worse than it is, but for people to see the changes in the lives of the children, it brings joy to everyone's heart and tears to their eyes.

Success is one thing you can't pay for.   You buy it on the installment plan and make payments every day.   We travel on from city to city making the installment, telling others how they can serve HIM by helping with the work in China.

We continue to work every day, putting forth the efforts within our ability to make the payments necessary for the work to continue.   Please keep us in your prayers.

We are at Alice's ...

2011-02-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

Actually, we are at the church building in Alice, TX. I know most of you don't know where Alice is located unless you are from Texas. We completed our appointments in Corpus Christi on Wednesday night and left Thursday for Alice. We planned to go to Kingsville but as we were about to leave, someone called and cancelled our Sunday morning appointment. Our route changed to come straight to Alice since we are scheduled to be here Sunday night. Alice is west of Corpus Christi. It takes a while to get ready to travel (unplugging electrical and water, raising the levelers, bringing in the extension, securing everything in cabinets and then securing the car on the dolly for traveling). Then it takes time to reverse all of that when we arrive at our next location. We had not asked permission to park here, but the preacher drove in just as we arrived. He said it was no problem so we began to see where we could park.

We love the palm trees and blue skies.

We are finally having summer weather. It was very hot the last two days (in the 80's) but it may be cooler today. We have cloudy skies and drizzle today. There has been almost no rain or cloudy days since we left the cold weather in the Dallas area several weeks ago. We have not needed heat at night for several weeks (since we arrived at Corpus Christi).

We enjoyed our time in the Portland/Corpus Christi area. It is a good place to live. We had a good time Wednesday night with the folks at the Arlington Heights congregation. They told us some funny stories about folks they know who have had RV's. They had seen Robin William's movie RV so they could laugh with my sentiments about life on the road.

Alice, which has a population of about 20,000, has a lot of traffic accidents and crime. From the news, we heard of a lot going on in Corpus Christi as well. One night, the news reported about three traffic accidents where vehicles had "rolled over."   It was not just one type vehicle so we wondered how so many would have rolled over in one day. Shortly after we arrived in Alice, we heard sirens for an hour or more and thought it was probably a fire because everything is very dry. On the news, we learned that a diesel tanker truck lost control and overturned about a mile away and the driver is in critical condition.  We expect crime in big cities, but the police is kept busy with many traffic accidents and crimes of all kind in these smaller cities as well. I guess it is a sign of our times.

Last evening, we went to dinner with the preacher and his wife and had a very enjoyable time with them. Wherever we go, we find that we have mutual acquaintances and having a common goal, we feel the closeness even to people we just met. After dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we went to their home for coffee.   It was the first time anyone has offered us their guest room and washer and dryer. We have adjusted so well to the RV life, that we have no need for anything but we really did appreciate their offer and their thoughtfulness.

When we leave Alice on Monday, we will drive to San Benito and park at the Sunny Glen Children's Home. It is in the Brownsville area. They have hookups at the orphanage because they have the Sojourners coming there to visit sometimes.   It was suggested by some of the members in Portland because they were concerned about the danger of us parking at a church building (as we usually do) and being isolated. Being so close to the Mexico border, crime is even worse in these areas.

I did not hear this on the news, but someone in Portland told us that a few weeks ago an American was killed near Zapata, which is located along the border just south of Laredo. The couple was jet skiing on a lake (on the American side) when someone shot the man. The lady got away but the man nor his jet ski were ever found. It sounds like a senseless crime but maybe they hoped to get the jet ski to sell it. The theory was that the bullets hit the ski and cause it to quickly sink.

We won't go to Zapata, but we will be in the McAllen/Brownsville area about two weeks. At the orphanage, we will be surrounded with people and when we visit churches, we will drive directly there in the car to be safe.

Today is Sherry Shi's official wedding. Sherry worked for us more than five years. She was the first Chinese girl that came to the U.S. when we brought the first heart patient, Ting Ting.   Sherry had a quiet wedding at the end of December and moved to northern Indiana. Her husband is a college professor but we know very little about him. She said he had made some trips to China and speaks Mandarin, but he is an American. Sherry was finally able to get her father to the U.S. for a visit, so I know this is a very happy day for her and her father. Our other Chinese workers in the U.S. have gone there for the wedding. It was just too difficult for us to leave the work here and too expensive for us to go. Sherry said she understood. We wish her much happiness.

Judy, one of our Chinese workers, is returning to China to live and work in Shanghai at the end of March. We have grown to love her very much so we are going to miss her too. She has worked very hard the three years she has been with us.   About two years ago, Judy took over the accounting and did such a good job that when we were audited late last year, the auditor was only there a short time. Since we are a 501C non-profit charity organization (because of the corporate donations), they can audit our books at any time.

Paige, who has also worked with us for several years (first she was the host Mom for Ha Ha, the little boy that came from China for skin grafts, and since then as my helper sending reports on the orphan children to sponsors) will take over the accounting responsibilities.

Only last week, we learned that Aida has been accepted by a nursing school in Orlando. That schooling will begin in May, so she will be leaving soon. Aida handles all of the heart patients coming to the U.S. She has worked out the arrangements for the next three patients. Our daughter, Leigh Ann, will take over the monthly newsletter that has been handled by Aida.   Ron and Aida will have to discuss how they will handle future work with the heart patients, but we will work it out so it will continue.

Judy and Aida have been with us for about three years. They have been an asset to our work and done an excellent job but their leaving does not mean that we will discontinue the work they have been handling. Although everyone in an organization is special, none of us are indispensable.   Well, maybe no one but Ron. Since he raises funds for the work, it is almost safe to say he is indispensable as his job is the most difficult.

We have developed a lot of love for our Chinese workers. Everyone is going to miss them because they have been a part of our lives. We wish all three of them much success in their future lives.

It's Saturday, so I have other chores to do besides blogging. Ron has been outside working on the RV but he's taking a siesta. I told him it is a little early for that since we have not even had lunch. He said the closer you get to the Mexican border, the earlier you can take a siesta. That's all for now.

Grackles and other TX Phenomenas

2011-02-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

I hope I used that word correctly! There are some things we notice as we travel to different places that are unique to a certain area. Two things are evident in Texas moreso than anywhere else we have visited: Wind and Grackles. Of course, we have wind everywhere we have lived (Montreal, Beijing) but it's something that we seem to have much more often in Texas. Perhaps, the lack of forests and flat land contribute to the daily occurrences.

Yesterday, when I walked in the direction the wind was blowing, my hair was standing straight up. When I got inside a building, I would smooth it out to keep from looking like Phyllis Diller. I probably still looked like her!

Another thing we notice wherever we go is the large population of Grackles.
Common Grackles are blackbirds that look like they've been slightly stretched. They're taller and longer tailed than a typical blackbird, with a longer, more tapered bill and glossy-iridescent bodies. Grackles walk around lawns and fields on their long legs or gather in noisy groups high in trees, typically evergreens. They eat many crops (notably corn) and nearly anything else as well, including garbage. In flight their long tails trail behind them, sometimes folded down the middle into a shallow V shape.

Power lines are sometimes covered with them, as are trees. Some cities try to scare them off with fake owls on the corners of their buildings, but it does little good to frighten them.

It is difficult to get a good picture because they are often gathering at dusk to roost.   The noise of them "cackling" is very noticeable.

Everywhere we park, we either have barking dogs or trains. There seems to be many more freight trains in Texas. But what is really unique, as Texans will tell you, "there are more of everything in Texas."    Everything is more, bigger or better (or all three)!   It's actually true.    It's a big state, for sure. It will take us many more months to just skim the surface of visiting churches.

We go into an area and Ron tries to get appointments set up with as many of the sound churches as possible. When we run out of possible appointments to present the report about the work in China, we move on to another major area. Sometimes, it's just a matter of scheduling. Some churches are more flexible with their agendas than others. Some tell us they would like to schedule us on the next trip to their area.

Sunday morning, we attended services at Norton Street in Corpus Christi. It is predominantly a Hispanic congregation but it was still a multi-cultured gathering of Christians who love each other very much. Everyone was very friendly and accepting of our visit and interested in the work in China. Many signed up to receive the on-line China Mission newsletters. The regular preacher and many others had gone to a lectureship somewhere in the area so their number was down.

Brother Ortiz, one of the elders, and his wife took us to Luby's Cafeteria for lunch. They are natives to Corpus Christi. Brother Ortiz was taught the gospel by the church in Lewisville, TX. He is a very kind and wonderful man. We had a very enjoyable visit over lunch with him and his sweet wife.   Their son plans to go to a preaching school in Austin. We find many of the small churches are turning out more upcoming preachers than the larger congregations.

We were at Ingleside Sunday night. It was another small but very friendly group.   Our long-time sponsor, Billie Poenisch, and her husband were in attendance. We had met Billie on Saturday night at a spaghetti supper at the North Bay congregation, where she is a member. We would have gone with them to eat after services last night but we had already been invited to come back to North Bay for their "Silver Sneekers" or some such group meeting. It was a dinner for their members (over 50 or 60, I suppose).   I hope the name was not actually "Silver Streakers."

Tuesday morning I will attend the ladies' Bible class at North Bay and then Ron and I will meet Phyllis and her husband (who is one of the elders) for lunch.   I don't recall their last name at this time. Phyllis is a tall, slender lady who works as a realtor. She was one of the first people to take me by the arm and make me feel welcome when we arrived the first Sunday morning. I think I had the same feeling a child would have when someone pats them on the head and gives them a piece of candy. I easily become an instant friend to someone so friendly and accepting.

"When you choose to be pleasant and positive in the way you treat others, you have also chosen, in most cases, how you are going to be treated by others."

The preacher at Port Aranasas, where we went this past Wednesday night, said he had known the four North Bay elders for 40 years and he did not know finer men than these four. We have found that to be true the past 10 days. They have been so "giving and helpful" to us. Their wives are all wonderful Christian women as well.

Brother Charles told us when we arrived that they might not be considered by some to be the soundest church in the area. Ron asked him why he would say that. The only things he feels are possibly different are:   1) they permit the children to go to a class during the worship service (Children's Church) and 2) they have a cross on the front of their building embedded in the brickwork above their pulpit.   Although there's nothing actually wrong displaying the cross (we have it on the communion table in most churches), some feel we should steer away from anything that has the appearance of a "wooden idol."   It's probably not considered that way to most Christians because they understand it is not the cross that we worship.   Brother Charles said it would have been major reconstruction of the building to remove it (they purchased this property from a denomination) and they felt it would be a waste of money to make the change.   At the North Bay congregation, the overwhelming love for each other and for others has been an inspiration to us.

We have an appointment to meet with the church at Arlington Heights on Wednesday night. We will leave this area on Thursday. We have been properly warned about the danger being in cities along the Mexican border. Ron says we may park somewhere north of those cities, perhaps in an RV park where there are many other people rather than isolated by ourselves at a church building and then drive on to the churches near the border where we have appointments.   By taking such precautions, we should not be in any situation where it would be dangerous or where our car could be stolen.

Everybody says they want to be free. Take the train off the tracks and it's free - but it can't go anywhere.

To go somewhere and be successful, we need others - freedom to do things our way often gets us in trouble.

Have a successful week!

Portland, TX

2011-02-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

We left San Antonio on Friday and drove to Portland. It is a Gulf Coast town near Corpus Christi. It was so good to see palm trees, experience warm, mild breezes and arrive at this lovely congregation. We had a great day with some friendly people on Sunday. Saturday, after our arrival, one of the elders came by and visited with us for a while and invited us to his house for dessert that night. It was so much fun to be with him and his wife and another couple.

This church building was previously owned by a denomination and there's one building with the inscription "Children's Building." We thought that very strange when we drove in but later learned that it was previously used for a school run by that church. It is very lovely and the property is worth a fortune although they were able to buy the property at a very reasonable price.

Sunday afternoon, we drove back to San Antonio. We had a nice visit with the Northwest church and afterwards went to eat with a retired doctor and his wife. The doctor was leaving this Friday for a trip to Africa. We had a wonderful visit with them. They were neighbors and friends with Jim and Sue May who now attend at Peachtree City. It was about midnight when we got back to Portand and to bed that night. It was a long but very enjoyable day.

It has been a nice week but still a lot of work in spite of the Chinese New Year holidays and less work coming from China.

Wind power is active in this area. As we drove to the store for a few items, we saw the windmills in the far distance that went for miles and miles. We were actually too far away for the pictures to come out very well but you can see them along the horizon in this picture. Ron said it will become more and more prevelant in Texas. The winds are substantial so it should really do well and provide an alternative power source.

Last evening, the preacher from Port Aransas picked us up and took us to the church there. This town is located on Mustang Island, just north of Padre Island. We drove from Portland to Aransas Pass, another coastal city and from there we drove onto a ferry to go to Port Aransas.   It was getting too dark to take pictures.

We went a little early not knowing how long we would need to wait to get the ferry so when we arrived, we drove down along the beach area. The beach area goes on for miles and miles (there is some barrier between Mustang and Padre Island) but the beachfront actually goes all the way down to Mexico.

We met with about 20 wonderful older Christians on Wednesday night. They were from everywhere (many different states represented) since this is a very tourist area. Some of the people come here every year; others were visiting for the first time. Some people from Kansas and Wyoming knew people in their hometowns that support our work.   It always helps to make mutual acquaintances.

We saw several RV parks completed covered up with RV's and 5th Wheeler campers. It is a great area for people to winter!

We have appointments on Sunday (A.M. Corpus Christi and P.M. Ingleside).

A dear sponsor for about seven years lives in Ingleside. We will meet her Sunday night for the first time face-to-face. I am looking forward to being able to thank her personally for supporting orphans all these years. I talked with her on the phone and we had a lovely conversation. She told me she first read about us in the Christian Woman's Magazine (an article that appeared at least seven years ago).

Ron is checking about appointments at other congregations before we leave to drive on to Brownsville.

More adventures from Texas

2011-02-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

The weather was so bad last week, with ice everywhere, they cancelled Wed. night services.   By Friday, temperatures were creeping above freezing and the snow and ice began to melt. We got about 4-5" of snow in Waxahachie on Tuesday. It covered the sheet of ice that was still on the roads. Another front came in bringing freezing rain and snow on Sunday night and then another on Wednesday of this week.

On Sunday we got up at 5:30 a.m.   Ron hooked up the trailer to the RV and moved it (and the RV) to the back parking lot of the church in Waxahachie.

We left by car at 7 a.m. to drive to Palestine, two hours southeast. We had a wonderful day with the people at this fine congregation. We went to lunch with the preacher and his wife and then left for the two hour drive to Mesquite (southeast part of Dallas). Many people at Palestine were interested in the work but more people at Mesquite were eager to leave to get home to watch part of the Super Bowl. We got back to Waxahachie about 8 p.m. and quickly changed into our work clothes and began hooking up the car. It was beginning to rain and the wind was strong and cold.

With the new trailer we have to use for the car we brought from Atlanta, we are both learning how to do it. It's more complicated than the other system of pulling the car. Ron has to drive the front wheels of the car onto this dolly. He was not centered completely Sunday night, as we discovered after strapping one tire. I am the watchdog helping him drive onto the trailer, but I can't see both sides of the car at once because I can't go far enough back. Ron has not been doing the strapping correctly so he could not get that tire "unstrapped" to relocate the car. He left it and strapped the other tire on anyway.   With the car not centered properly, a dent was put in the front of the car when he turned corners.

Ron worked on the electrical getting signals and brake lights to work earlier in the week so we thought we were all set. It was about 9 p.m. by the time we pulled away. We had not driven very far until he noticed black smoke coming from the trailer. We pulled off and he discovered the brake on the trailer was staying on. He disconnected it and we drove on to Austin without brake lights working on the trailer. When we arrived at the church where we park in Austin, a police car was sitting in the drive, hiding to stop speeders. He didn't offer to move for us to pull in, so Ron must have run over the curb with one of the tires on the RV or the trailer. Cabinet doors flew open and we had crashing dishes flying everywhere.  I thought I had everything really secured properly but it wasn't enough this time.  I have broken about half of my glasswear so the next purchase will be melomine (I hate using paper plates all the time). We got to Austin about midnight and to sleep by 1 a.m. after I cleaned up the broken glass.

The next day we were really tired but we needed to drive on to San Antonio to get away before the next weather front moved in. We got gas at WalMart and headed to San Antonio, arriving at the Iron Horse RV repair place about noon. The workers were going to lunch so we sat in the parking lot for two hours before they moved us to a lower lot and hooked us up to power. We stayed there overnight.

I was in the shower when the guy arrived to start work so I quickly dressed and dried my hair. It wasn't long until he decided they did not have the equipment to test the speedometer problem so he made arrangements for us to relocate to Freightliner on the other side of San Antonio. Freightliner makes the RV we own, so they should be able to correct it.

Iron Horse RV repaired the trailer electrical system, but it cost $275.   They had a meeting while the clock was running on our repair work. It should not have taken nearly that long to repair, but they charge $125 per hour.
Men will not ask for direction and they won't ask for help if they can avoid it either. I would have gotten the men at Iron Horse RV to show me how to strap the tires, but Ron went to the internet and studied the pictures again. Nothing came with the trailer - no book, no directions on how to do anything.

Ron suggested I just drive the car and not hook it up but I did not want to do that. If I got separated from him at a traffic light, I would have to wing my way without him. I am not adventurous, as you all know, and I've never been in San Antonio before. I want things to go smoothly (it seldom does). Traffic was horrendous and I was really glad I did not try to drive separately.   Anyway, I told Ron he needed practice hooking up (strapping) the car on. This time Ron got the strapping done correctly because it was easy when we got ready to take the car off. If the strap goes in wrong, it's difficult to get the pressure released to take it off, as we found out Sunday night.

The man at Iron Horse RV gave us "general" directions to Freightliner. I went to Google and printed out what I thought was the best route. The two GPS's (one for "trucks") came up with two more routes. That makes a total of four different ways to get to this place. I looked at the blown up map of San Antonio in the Road Atlas to see where we were and where we were going and chose a route from that. The GPS went crazy for a while because we were going a different way, but finally it picked up on the route and helped us get here safely.

We got to Freightliner about 4:00 p.m. Since they do repairs for large trucks, this place looks like a truck stop with trucks everywhere.   But no food!   We are packed in the back parking lot where they have hookups for about six RV's.   I think we were alone here last night although there are two RV's beside us waiting for repairs.

It has been over a week since we've been to the grocery. The weather was so horrible last week, we just didn't want to get out and try it. We had a lot of staples on hand so I cooked black beans one day and made soup another day.
With a small fridge and freezer, we were running short of a lot of things.   After we hooked up last night at Freightliner, we headed to the nearest Sam's Club.  We had little to eat for lunch, so we stopped and ate at a seafood restaurant. I told Ron we would buy less at the store if we ate first.  At Sam's, we can only buy the big size of things we use regularly. We store the extra in the bins on the outside of the RV. There is a lot of storage space in these things.

I still refer to the RV as a "thing." Sometimes my term is not that kind. I think Iron Horse is a good name for a repair place. Sometimes, I refer to it as a "piece of metal" or "piece of junk."   I sat without power for an hour or two yesterday and watched the RV's coming in for repair.   Mostly, they were the luxury-liners, very expensive and big!   No matter which one you have, there will always be expensive repairs. Sitting inside are the poor women, like me, that trail around after husbands that love doing this stuff. Most of them are old (guess they are the only ones that can afford them). The luxury-liner models are nice inside and they cost anywhere from $125,000 to $250,000.   Ron overhead one owner say he had owned his for less than a year but might trade it sometime this year. If I had that much money to spend, it would not be for an RV, no matter how nice it is inside. I'd go for a condo on the beach!!

I keep telling Ron that I am out of my league in this RV world. He won't let me buy a cowgirl hat, boots and rhinestone belt, which is my image of a Texas RV babe.   Instead, we are parked at Freightliner with big trucks all around. I guess my jeans and Old Navy hooded jacket will do just fine. I have not taken up with the other truck driver traits.

We have a good hook up with 50 amp power, water and sewage connection. I am doing several loads of laundry today since we have these good facilities. I can't complain too much.   My little washer/dryer combination has been a great blessing. I guess that was my Christmas present. I call the new trailer for the car, Ron's present.   When he bought it he said, "this can be our Christmas present."   My reaction?   "No way, it's not my present; it's a boy toy and nothing I ever wanted."   He said he always wanted a dolly for Christmas so he finally got it.   I got a washing machine instead.

I cannot help but marvel at this lifestyle - not necessarily from a good viewpoint. It is not easy to do all the work associated with an RV and travel extensively like we do, never knowing where we will be parked the next week.
If we were young "whippersnappers" it might be a truly fun way to live but with old backs and bodies, we are often very tired after a day's travel. It is a lot of stress even when everything goes well.

I love to crochet while we travel because it helps keep my hands busy and my mind occupied so I don't stress out so much. Traveling at night is the worst because I can't do anything except watch the road and the traffic.

Am I blessed? Absolutely! I thank HIM every day for a roof over my head, warm bed, shower and good food. I have all the clothing and material things I can possibly use (even more than I can use). I have no need of anything. I am blessed with a simpler life style. We aren't busy all the time now. We don't have a lot of other things we have to do. It takes about a hour to clean the RV and only about 10 minutes to wash dishes. Is this simply life style the reason people buy RV's and travel?   I haven't seen anything worth driving to see but I'm sure others go sightseeing to more beautiful locations than we do.

However, we go to the best places on earth each time we meet with the saints. We feel like family wherever we go. We never feel like we are with strangers. God is blessing us with good contacts and some additional good supporters. We are indeed very blessed!

Never take my whining and complaining as a sign that I do not count my blessings. I do, daily. I just never viewed myself with this lifestyle and it's taken some acceptance and adjustments. I'm doing great so no one should worry about me. I am also blessed with a good husband that loves me. I get more hugs because you can hardly pass each other in the hallway, bath or bedroom without taking turns so we hug each other often. You have to be very good friends to live in an RV.

We are also blessed because our children are doing well and we get to talk to them every day (via computer). Ronald is resting while they celebrate Chinese New Year holidays in China. He has had several cold, difficult months with some hard work so he deserves his break. Leigh Ann is learning Quick Books so she can take over our accounting work when Judy returns to China in March. We are grateful for our children's involvement in the work and for their tender hearts for the orphaned children.

"We all need a daily check up from the neck up to avoid 'stinkin' thinkin' which ultimately leads to hardening of the attitudes."

Global Warming?

2011-02-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Just my luck - I typed a whole segment with cold hands and then my save "failed." So, I am going to write it again. I doubt it will be nearly as well-written, interesting or funny this time. My excuse, anyway.

I am writing from my bed with blankets piled up around me. If this winter weather is due to global warming, I wish they had given it another name. There's nothing warm about it all the way to Texas!   My friend in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, and I compared notes yesterday so now I really hate to complain, but complain I must!   Betty said it was -37 and a "bit chilly."

We went to bed last night with rain and the temperature about 40, knowing that some pretty bad stuff was heading toward us from "up north."   About 3 a.m. I woke up cold and heard the sleet on the rooftop. I added another layer of clothes and climbed back under the warm covers. It continued to sleet until about 6 or 7 a.m. There's hardly anything on the ground (it all blew away!) but what is there is a sheet of ice. The streets of Dallas and Fort Worth were paralyzed this morning with a few motorists creeping about as 18-wheelers were seen stranded on the sides of the road. The airport was shut down except for one runway. How they can fly with wind at 40 mph and gusts up to 50 mph, I do not know. I guess they got a good tailwind if they could get it behind them.

It has been 20 degrees all day with the wind rocking the RV. We have propane for cooking but trying to conserve it so we won't run out. It's a small tank. We have an electric heater on high and it's keeping the front room at 54 degrees. We have an electric blanket on the bed so the bedroom is without heat.

Recently, Ronald, our son in China, wrote about their cold weather and told us he purchased a small heater for his room. However, it never got above 50 degrees. He said he had layers of clothing to keep warm and a heavy comforter so he slept warmly.

We all need to go through this to really appreciate having heat, warm showers and the basics of life. The poor orphan children spend an entire winter without heat and often do not have hot water, cannot take showers or ever get warm. Their bodies are always cold. They sit in cold classrooms and return back to a cold orphanage. You know how cold a house is inside when it's cold outside and there's no heat! They leave windows and doors open, thinking the fresh air is good for their health, even though the air is polluted.

You ask why we don't put heat inside the buildings? Many years ago, Chairman Mao made the rule that anything south of the Yantzee River should not have heat but any building north of the River could have heat. They still follow that rule to this day.

We have sat in meetings in government buildings in March or November when it really felt cold to us. I cannot imagine how it must feel in January and February. With no heat in any other building, including schools, we can't have heat for the children in the care centers. It would be even harder to adjust back and forth from heat to cold. They have lived their entire lives this way so they have adapted and expect it. We, spoiled Americans, cannot imagine doing this. Yet, looking back to our ancestors, not very long ago, they lived much the same way with little or no heat.

Our weeks are rather routine.  During the weekdays we are working on our computers handling the work. On Saturday, we do cleaning, washing and preparing for Sunday and the coming week. Last Sunday, we got up early to move the RV to the back parking lot to free up the senior parking spaces. We left early to drive one hour to the church in Lewisville (north of Dallas) to pick up blankets the ladies had ready for us to ship to China. From there, we drove to Argyle (north of Fort Worth).

The folks at Argyle were very friendly and very interested in our work, which is usually the case because few people know what is going on in China. We went to lunch afterwards with one of the elders and his wife and another two couples.

We drove a short distance to give a report to elders at the church in Keller that afternoon. They said we definitely could return and give the report to their members whenever it fit into our schedule.

We returned to the RV and had a 30-minute rest until we drove to Ennis. The church is actually at Bristol but their mailing address is Ennis. We didn't expect to see anyone we knew but we got to meet Tracie Willis for the first time. She has sponsored a child for two years but we know of her for another reason. Two years ago, while in Beijing, we got a call from a young man named Kee Willis. He was coming to Beijing University and needed a place to stay for a week until he could get into the apartment he was sharing with two other students. We had about two weeks left in Beijing before David and Ya Ning returned so we told him we had a spare bedroom and he could stay with us.

Tracie expressed her gratitude for our helping Kee. I told her I could understand how she felt with her boy going so far away and what a relief it must have been for a Christian to meet him at the airport and give him a home for a short while. All of the congregation knew we had done this so they were all thanking us for taking care of Kee.

After the service, we had soup and sandwiches in another part of the building and got to know these wonderful people even more. They will help with our work in China and for that we are very grateful.

The roads should be clear by Sunday. We have below freezing temperatures until Saturday, however. Sunday morning, we will drive two hours to Palestine and Sunday night we will be in Mesquite, two hours' drive back north toward Dallas. The service is at 5 p.m. Sunday night so Ron is planning to return to the RV and drive on to Austin for one night. We do not normally drive the RV at night but it's a straight two-hour drive south. Why are we leaving Sunday night?   The Super Bowl will be playing while we are in church so we want to get ahead of the crowd that might be going south that night. If they all leave the next morning, we will still be ahead of them as we drive on to San Antonio.

Of all the "attitudes" we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing."   Are you counting your blessings?

Another busy but good week in Texas

2011-01-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

I see that I misspelled the name of the city we are in. Not only did we pronounce it incorrectly, I can't even spell it correctly!   It is Waxahachie. We still have to stop and think to say "Walksahachie."

Other than routine computer work that is constant in our work, we took time to go to a class here on Wednesday taught by Walter Buchanan, the minister at the church in Italy. We went to lunch with him and his wife, Billie, that day. They left early this morning to go to Freed-Hardeman lectures and then on to Orlanda for a week. What a wonderful couple!   Walter hugged me and said they felt like they had known us forever. We feel the same way about them. Some folks are so easy to meet and friendship is instant.

Wednesday night Ron spoke at the church in Red Oak, just a few miles north. People are always interested and amazed at what is happening in China. Few know that any work is being done in China.

Tommy Medford, who is retired but works endlessly at the church with the food program and other things, has been so good to us. He took us to Ryan's for lunch yesterday. An hour later, he brought us a bag of frozen fish he had caught while fishing. He said he would not be seen around the church building as much when fishing weather arrives. He's bringing something that Ron needs today. If he thinks we need anything, he's right there to take care of it for us. What a special guy he is!

Speaking of weather, we are having a delightful break from cold weather but it's coming again on Tuesday with possible snow or sleet. It will be 70 today. Although our nights are still cold, the warm sunshine and beautiful days are so enjoyable. I know most of our country is still covered in snow banks with more winter storms still coming. We count our blessings these days in terms of warm sunshine in Texas.

Ron has booked appointments all the way through February. This Sunday morning, we will leave very early to first go by the Lewisville church building (an hours' drive from here) to pick up blankets the ladies have made for the children in China. At the morning service, he will speak for the church in Argyle (30 minutes north of Lewisville.)   At 1:30 p.m. Ron has a meeting with elders at Keller (a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth). At 5 p.m. we will be at Ennis, where Ron will speak that night. January is going out with a big bang with much accomplished.

The first Sunday in February, we will be at Crockett Road in Palestine, TX (two hour drive southeast) and then north to Mesquite for the p.m. service. Mesquite is near Dallas. That concludes Ron's appointments in the Dallas area for this trip.

We will leave Waxahachie on the 7th and go first to San Antonio. After we complete appointments in that city, we will go to Corpus Christi and other cities south and complete that general area by the first of March.   Hopefully, most of the winter will be past by the time we head back into the western part of Texas.

When we leave one area, we honestly miss the people we met along the way. It is good to meet such wonderful people; people dedicated to serving Christ. It is difficult to remember names after a while but we never forget the people.

We watched a PBS special on Happiness last night. It was very interesting but not especially informative to those of us who have lived a long time. The bottom line is that happiness is what we make of things but all things pointed to relationships. If we have good relationships, nothing else brings happiness to any degree (it is all fleeting) but if we have bad relationships, no amount of money, jobs, power or prestigue will bring happiness. So true!!

"Money will buy you a bed, but not a good night's sleep, a house but not a home, a companion but not a friend."

Wonderful day - Miserable night

2011-01-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

Wow, the wonderful day we had on Sunday made up for the night when I could not sleep. We awoke early Sunday morning to move the RV to the back parking lot at the College Street church in Waxahatchie (I have learned that it is pronounced "Walksahatchie"). We use up several "Senior" parking spaces where we park during the week to plug into power. We move the RV so the older people are not inconvenienced with no parking places and have to walk further on Sunday morning. It takes time to secure everything on the RV, unplug and get it moved. Yesterday, the RV did not want to start because of the cold weather, so Ron had to jump it off with the car. He will check to see if he has a dead cell in the battery.

We were at Italy, TX on Wednesday night and enjoyed our time with Christians that night. Walter Buchanan, minister, suggested we go to Bardwell Sunday morning since we did not have an appointment elsewhere.

Bardwell is a small town about 20 miles southeast of Waxahatchie. What a delightful day we had there. The 100-year-old building is beautiful. I need to start taking my camera because I never have it when I have an opportunity for a good picture. If anyone wants to see this church building go to http//bardwellchurchofchrist.weebly.com. The congregation is mostly made up of relatives of each other but the building was full of children and people of all ages. We were treated to an excellent Sunday school lesson from a former preacher of more than 60 years. Unfortunately, I don't remember his name. Charles Hodge (author of many gospel books and writer for the Gospel Advocate) preached a touching sermon.

Everyone greeted us warmly and Royann Farmer, one of the elder's wives, invited us home with them for lunch. Charles Hodge and his wife, Helen, also went. Following a very delicious lunch, we spent hours around the kitchen table getting to know each other, talking about the church, former gospel preachers and the interesting history of the Bardwell church. Royann gave me a cookbook the ladies put together. In the front of it, a history of the congregation lists many well-known gospel preachers from the past. What a colorful and exciting history this congregation enjoys.

Ron spoke at the Westhills congregation in Corsicana Sunday night. We were greeted warmly by many of their members and there was a lot of interest in our work in China. It is always good to see a large number of teenagers present and they seemed interested in Ron's presentation. It helps young people in America to appreciate the many blessings and opportunities that are often taken for grated in this country.

The congregation at Corsicana had a small group meeting after services and we were invited to join them for sandwiches, chips and dessert supper. It was delicious but I make the mistake of drinking a cold drink that was not caffeine free.

We arrived back at the RV about 10 p.m. and had to move a cold vehicle back to our regular parking spot and get it plugged in. We were very tired and although the RV was still cold, we fell into bed and got warm quickly. Then the hours began ticking away without sleep. The last time I looked at the clock, it was 2:15 a.m. The caffeine had done it's trick and kept me awake for four more hours. I was awaken at daylight by the garbage truck emptying the dumpster near us. I didn't get much sleep after that.

Our nights in Texas are still near the freezing point (or below some nights) but the days are in the 50's with warm sunshine. I love working with the sun streaming in on my computer. With my cold nature, it warms my body and with my bad eyes, it provides good lighting. Sunlight is a winter blessing that people in China do not often enjoy because of the pollution. Anytime you have sunshine, count your blessings and thank God.

Ladies at Lewisville have a dozen or so blankets ready for us to pick up. They plan to make 100 quilts/blankets for us. This morning, I talked with a lady here at Waxahatchie and they will also get busy and make some for us. Women are touched when they hear that there's no heat in the care centers. They want the children to sleep warmly.

Life on the Road

2011-01-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

Ron and I stay busy almost every day we are not traveling because of our computer work. Ron is on the computer keeping in touch with workers in China and handling any questions or problems there. He is on the phone making appointments to give reports. He spends a lot of time following up with calls and meeting with people. His sales experience has paid off because he is persistent and never intimidated by someone saying NO.

I continue to oversee and help with the orphan program. Leigh Ann (our daugher) and Paige Peterson work with me from their home offices. Our work is divided up by individual care centers so we do not overlap in our work efforts. Paige is in charge of getting reports and childrens' letters to sponsors supporting children at John Connor Brown, Wesley's House and North Canton Christian Care Center. Leigh Ann handles Refuge of Grace (with new children continuing to arrive there), Neil Taylor Christian Care Center and Jackson Family Christian Care Center. I handle the foster care areas of Guilin, Xi'an, Yongshan and Biyang and work with Leigh Ann and Paige in the overflow of their workloads.

By the way, although I'm getting used to life in an RV, that pickup truck outside the window does not belong to me!
Our life has been very busy since the middle of December. We left the RV park at Lewisville, TX and drove to Greenville, TX a few days before Christmas. We had a few repairs that needed to be done on the RV so we parked in the RV repair shop back parking lot. We stayed there until after Christmas because it was a convenient location and the owner of the shop said we were welcome to stay there.

We had a couple of dinners out with a sponsor in Greenville that we have grown to love. Wayne Childers lost his mother in October so this was his first holiday season without her. We went to a new Chinese buffet restaurant and it was delicious. He called and invited us to go to the home of Henry Sherwood on Christmas Eve for dinner. Henry's daughter from Birmingham, AL was visiting. She has always wanted to go to China so we told them about our work in China. She is doing her internship to become a cardiologist. We had a wonderful evening. The dinner was delicious, all prepared by Henry. Henry read us the Cajun Night Before Christmas book and we laughed and laughed.   Henry had invited two others and we all had a good evening together. On Christmas Day we went to IHOP with Wayne.

I told Leigh Ann about the funny Cajun Night Before Christmas book and she ordered it for me. Now I've got to learn to pronounce the words with a Cajun accent. Lisa Johnson told me they read this book every year on Christmas Eve because she is actually Cajun. As they say, we learn something new every day!

We have spent many Christmas holidays in foreign mission fields but it's still lonely not to be at home and have the family gathered around. We have spent some of those Christmases having others over (just like Henry) who have no family to be with them. If you are ever unable to spend holidays with family members, reach out to others who have no family. It will really help fill the void in your own life. There are so many people who find holidays depressing because they remember the years past when all the family was together. Maybe even when we are tucked in our cozy homes with our families, we should seek out those who are all alone and invite them in. Isn't this what Jesus taught us to do?

We left Greenville, TX and drove to Texarkana and stayed in the Hampton Road Church of Christ parking lot for a few days before we left for Atlanta. We left the RV parked there a week while we returned home. On January 1st, we drove to Florence, Alabama. We spent two nights with a dear, long-time friend, Martha Brooks, who lost her husband in September. When we arrived, she told us another friend was having a soup and salad supper. We didn't even change clothes from our traveling because these are our dear friends from the 1960's as well. When we arrived at B.J. and Jan's house, which is on a hill overlooking the river, we realized that it was not a simple soup and salad supper (although that is what she served) but a dinner party for 20 people. It was mostly B.J.'s hunting buddies and their wives. We knew about half of the people there so it was a very delightful evening. Her house was decorated beautifully and the food was delicious. There were about six pots of different kinds of soup, all very delicious. Since we had been away from family and parties this year, it really "hit the spot" for me to attend this dinner party and spend time with Martha.

Sunday morning, we attended worship at Sherrod Avenue, a very old congregation in Florence. We met other friends there that morning.   Martha, our hostess, prepared a delicious lunch for us and her son and his family (Alan, Alicia, John Allen and Allie). We spent the afternoon having a great time with them. Sunday night, Ron spoke at Mars Hill and gave a report on the work in China. Friends from two other congregations came to hear Ron and went to dinner with us at O'Charley's afterwards. It was like old times to be together with these wonderful friends from days past.

Monday morning, we left to drive to Atlanta. We spent the week in Woodstock with our daughter, Leigh Ann. It was so good to be with her although we were busy the whole time. She and I got out the tax letters to our sponsors and Ron went to our house in Sharpsburg to correct a plumbing/septic tank problem. We had a lot of things to do in one short week.

That Sunday, Ron gave a report at the Peachtree City Church of Christ (our sponsoring congregation). They had designated it as China Day. David Langley, minister of the Beijing congregation spoke at the class period to give an update on the church in China. Afterwards, we had a wonderful potluck lunch (many delicious Chinese foods prepared). Ron met with the elders privately for a few minutes and then we left to drive back to Texas.

A bad winter storm was already moving into Texas. I let it slip that morning and said something like, "I hope we make the trip HOME safely."   It was the first time I had referred to Texas or the RV as home. I guess that shows I am truly settling into this lifestyle. Of course, Ron picked up on me saying that. He may not listen to half of what I say, but he heard that!

It was hard to say goodbye to Leigh Ann as she left to return to Woodstock and we left PTC for Texas. The winter storm was on it's way and predicted to hit there in a few hours. Leigh Ann wanted to get home before precipitation began and we wanted to get as far south as we could to avoid the bad weather. We drove to Montgomery, then to Selma and hit rain before we got to Meridian, MS.   The rain intensified into freezing rain as our journey continued. We finally made it to Jackson, MS before stopping for the night. For about l-l/2 hours, we watched ice build up on the mirrors, windshield wipers, bridges and sides of the road. In the headlights, we could see the white trees, laden with ice. After a good night's sleep in Jackson, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  By the time we arrived in Jackson (around 9 p.m.) Sunday night, everything was closed. There was no restaurant open so we had no dinner that night. The roads were dry from Jackson, MS to Shreveport but when we turned north toward Texarkana we hit very icy roads the rest of the way. None of the roads had been salted or scraped. Ron knows how to drive on ice if cars are not in his way (experience from living in Montreal seven years).

We were happy to arrive safely in Texarkana. Afer a few days of rest, we drove to Waxahatchie, just south of Dallas. Ron has appointments in this area until Feb. 6th. We will go to San Antonio on Feb. 7th or 8th.

This past Sunday morning, we attended church at Italy, TX (about 20 miles from Waxahatchie). They asked Ron to tell about our work during the class period and have now scheduled him to come back this Wednesday night to give the power point presentation. The minister, Walter Buchanan and his wife, Billie, took us to lunch and invited us to their home for a visit that afternoon. It was a very delightful visit and time spent with them.

Sunday night, Ron spoke at College Street C of C in Waxahatchie. We went with three of the elders and others to IHOP afterwards. One of the elders told Ron that it was the very best mission presentation he had ever seen. They will review their budget to see how they can help us but they have a big, new building to pay for. Their help may be limited to allowing us to use their power for our RV while we are in this area.

Ron has appointments at Corsiana, Argyle, and Mequite before we leave this area. When we head toward San Antonio Feb. 8th, we will go further south to Portland and the Corpus Christi area, where it will be warmer. In March, we will probably go back up toward Abilene and the western cities.

There are so many churches to visit in Texas. Texans are telling the truth when they say Texas is BIG!

Keep us and our work in your prayers. God bless you all.

Dogs vs. Cats

2010-12-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

You will really think I've lost my mind from being cooped up in a small space when you read this. This has absolutely nothing to do with our work in China! It is merely a sideline to our daily madness living in a motor home (remember I said before it's not an "RV = recreational vehicle" because there's no recreation to it.

As I mentioned in my last segment, campers seem to love having their pets (dogs in particular) with them.   There is a small camper next to us and this afternoon Ron told me to look out the window. A big white dog was sitting in the driver's seat looking straight out the windshield. I ran to get my camera to get a picture for this blog but by the time I got back, the dog had moved. What a great picture that would have been!

We marvel at the time spent walking dogs. People are coming in and out of their RV's and campers all day long with dogs on leashes. Ron asked me why you have to walk dogs and not cats. Of course, the obvious answer came from our daughter, Leigh Ann.   Small dogs have small bladders and must go to the bathroom every few hours. But carrying this mystery a bit further (no I wasn't particularly bored yesterday) I sent an email to Ronald, our son in China.

When Ronald was young, he kept two big dogs for a minster while the family went on vacation. The dogs slobbered all over him several times (did you ever see the movie with Tom Hanks and the big slobbering dog?). The dogs also barked and kept him awake. He said he would never have dogs and he never has. He's been a cat person all of his life. My mother let me have cats growing up because she thought they were easier to care for so I always liked cats too.

Anyway, I knew what Ronald's answer would be but I didn't expect an email this morning with such a profound explanation of why you don't have to walk cats.  I know this is going to generate a lot of animosity among my friends that love dogs but you can send me an email and debate the subject by giving me a full reason why dogs are better than cats.

Here is Ronald's reply:

Cats are sophisticated and competent in life. They do not need us; they are simply smart enough to let us feel like we have domesticated them in order to get what they want and need which is shelter, food, and water. They can get these things on their own but they are not too proud to take hand outs. They are more advanced than dogs in that they know where waste should go and will even cover it up. They bathe themselves regularly and do not need to go to the groomer to have this done. The are so efficient that they can sleep and relax the vast majority of their time and still achieve their goals in life. Many people see them as aloof and unpredictable, however they simply choose to agree to our lifestyle and demands only when it is in their best interest.......ah, so smart!

For you who love dogs and cats, I'm sure their individual qualities make them all special.

I just had to post this for my laugh of the day.

Good week in Lewisville, TX

2010-12-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

This is us parked at the RV park in Lewisville, Texas. We can barely see the Lewisville Lake behind us.

The week went well for us. We are doing fine. Tuesday night, I gave a 20-minute power point presentation to the Lewisville C of C ladies at their holiday party. I've never been asked to be a guest speaker at something like this so I was excited to do it. My theme was "How we can make a difference in someone's life." My focus was on the six orphanages we operate in China and the change of life for about 600 children. They come from extreme poverty and sometimes abusive homes and they now live in a building that is like a five-star hotel with friends and people who love and care for them. There was a lot of interest in my talk and it was so good to meet some of the childrens' sponsors and make friends with some other wonderful ladies.

Friday night we went to dinner with Greg, Paula, April and Curtis, members at Lewisville. We met them at 6:30 and were driving back to our home at 10:30 p.m. I could not believe we spent that much time together. We had a lot of interesting conversation and it was so good to get to know these two active and wonderful couples who are deeply interested in mission work. They have been to Africa and India on mission trips (probably other places as well). We shared a lot of funny stories about our travels.

A lady who works in the camp office owns a very big dog (the biggest dog I have ever seen). She lives in a small camper nearby, so I think the dog takes up about half of the space inside! Yesterday morning a coyote came around the office and she was out calming her dog down. She said she didn't know which was the most scared of the other - coyotes run when they see this big dog but the dog is also very fearful of the coyote. Almost everyone in the park has one or two small white dogs. I've never seen so many little white dogs in one place in my life. I saw a man walking a small solid black dog so maybe he is like the "black sheep" in the bunch.

When we were waiting for repairs at Camping World, a man and lady came in the waiting room with three small dogs. I think that's a bit much for one of these mobile homes. One thing for sure, dogs don't mind where they live or what the circumstances are. They are always happy. Wish I could be as contented. On Friday afternoon it was about 70 here so I took advantage of the warm afternoon and walked all around the park. I saw people cooking out. It's a bit more trouble than I want to do, however.

I did count my blessings on my walk this afternoon, however. Past the trailer park, there are camping grounds all around the lake. I saw one man and his dog with a tent (he had an outside fire going - perhaps cooking some food). I didn't get too close and didn't take a picture because I didn't know if he was a friendly sort of person and I was a bit isolated in this section of the park and didn't want to be the next casualty of someone disappearing in a park.

It is a bit cold at night to be sleeping in a tent. Although it's been in the 40's the last two nights, it will dip back down to the 30's Saturday night. Perhaps the tent camper is just here for a couple of nights while the weather is nice. On the other hand, he may live here full time. It's probably better than being homeless.   When we parked at the Waterview church last Sunday night we were told they had a night watchman. Actually, they have a man who lives in his car that parks in their lot every night. We didn't see him. however.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why anyone would leave a nice home to live in a camper. I have not yet seen the benefit for anyone but us.   It is saving us money in the long run because of the expense of hotels and eating all meals at restaurants. I know people say they love to go places and see things but when you park in an RV park and just stay there most of the time, they aren't seeing very much.

Most of the people who do this are as old as dirt!   They are in their 70's and 80's (grey hair, grey beards, walking sticks, etc.). Maybe they are just escaping very cold weather. Many of the campers seem to be settled in for a long time. I think some are winter campers (from NY, Colorado, Washington, but a lot from Texas).

On my walk this morning to mail a letter, I went past one RV that has an outside storage shed, a pavilion to sit under and eat, with an outdoor stove (stacks of firewood nearby), a grill, and all the comforts of a backyard patio. They have bird feeders, flags, trinkets in the yard, etc. There are outdoor rugs, chairs and stuff around their campers that look like they have been there a long time or plan to be here a long time. I'm not even sure how they close it all up to go empty their black and grey water tanks. The RV's have to do that but maybe these "snow birds" use portable sewage tanks that they hook to their vehicle to take it to the dump.

Since we've never done this before, I guess it is very interesting and sometimes a mystery to me. It is a totally different life-style than what I have always known or dreamed about. I have never thought of myself as a camper. We went with our children a few times but they never seemed to get into it very much. It was a lot of trouble and we ended up with mosquito bites and little sleep.

Well, I guess that's enough for me to sound off about the life of campers.

We will continue to visit churches in the Dallas area for several more weeks. Ron is getting some appointments to speak but when we don't have an appointment we just visit a different church. They are always asking what brings us to Dallas so it opens up a door to tell a little about our work in China.

Wednesday night we went to the church in Colleyville and we met several very interested people. They want Ron to come on a Wednesday night to give a report on our work. That's the way it works sometimes when we just "visit" a congregation. We have actually been to a few where they asked him if he could give his report right then.

Continue to pray for our success in raising funds for the work in China. It takes a lot of money to keep it going. The sponsors pay for the support of the children but we have to come up with money to pay the 100 or so workers we have in China who care for the children at the different locations. If you had 100 children, you can imagine that you would need 12 people to help you care for them. It is a very big family and it takes a lot of money to maintain the buildings and pay the power bill also.

Thanks to my wonderful readers for your interest and love for our well-being. May God bless you this holiday season with a lot of joy, good health and good family times.

Our travels in Texas

2010-12-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

We have visited churches in Waxahatchie, Greenville, Commerce, Wieland, Richardson and now we are in Lewisville, TX.   Our travels are going well. Ron spends a lot of time trying to reach people on the phone to set up appointments. His job is not easy. If we don't have an appointment, we visit a church on the way and try to make contacts for the future. People are very nice and interested in our work in China.

Sunday Ron spoke twice at the Wieland Church of Christ in Greenland. We went to the home of one of the elders for lunch on Sunday. The lunch was delicious and our time with this very special couple was very delightful. Nearly everywhere we go, someone has a family member that has adopted Chinese girls so they are very happy to know of our work in China.

We usually park at church buildings. They are always happy for us to connect to their outside power outlet and hose but sometimes getting the RV close enough to the building can be a problem. I'm still learning how to direct Ron into tight places, watching for tree limbs on the top as well as canopies of buildings and such like. I help guide him into the gas stations to fill up so he won't take out a gas pump by accident. Wonder if there are courses on hand signals for directing traffic?

Sometimes, the church power outlets are insufficient for the RV load. We have not had problems until now when we have to turn on heat. It is a pull on electricity but if we switch it over to gas, it quickly uses up what is in our tank and we have to locate another propane gas dealer. We have thrown circuit breakers at churches a few times but no one seems to mind. We are very grateful for the loving concern and support everyone gives us in our travels.

Today, we came to an RV park in Lewisville because the rate is $8 per night for seniors. That includes a 50 amp connection so we can run heat, microwave or hair dryer without difficulty. We have water and sewage connections as well. We will be here a few days before we go to Lake Dallas on Sunday.

Tomorrow night, I will have the honor and privilege of speaking at the Lewisville ladies annual holiday party. I will give them a short overview of our work; in particular, the work with the orphans. I hope some of them will be eager to sponsor orphans or devote themselves to some special projects to help the orphans. In any event, I will enjoy meeting these wonderful ladies and being with them. It has been several years since I've done a power point presentation but I was able to prepare it myself and I've worked on what I plan to say so I hope it turns out O.K.

We have had some nights below freezing. The RV park is almost full. The man at the front desk told Ron that people from North Texas had driven down to get to warmer weather. I thought Dallas was North Texas!   I guess these folks are coming from the panhandle cities where it is colder but if I wanted warmer weather, I would have driven on to Houston.

The wind has been tremendous with the cold fronts moving through.   Some nights the RV felt like we were on rough seas. The howling of the wind was loud and disturbed our sleep many nights. It is now calm with cold nights and warm days. We are awakened by the rise of the sun each morning and we open shades and enjoy the warmth of the beautiful sun.

RV's and trailers in the park are decorated for Christmas. We see mirrors with Santa hats hanging on them. Apparently some of these folks intend to stay until after the holidays because they have strung up lights, put wreaths on their doors and have Christmas trees in their small yard space.

Ron and I have missed many Christmases, being away from family in foreign places. It was great when our children visited us in the Caribbean for Christmas and we went sailing on Christmas day. Three years ago, we spent Christmas in Beijing and the weather was extremely cold. We went with friends to The Place (a very exclusive shopping area) where the decorations for Christmas were spectacular but we nearly froze walking around outside looking at everything. I do not know where we will be on Christmas day this year but so long as everyone is well, we will feel blessed and happy.

We are not going back to Georgia until the first week of January. We will stay with Leigh Ann, our daughter, in Woodstock. We have doctor appointments and Ron has other things he needs to do while we are there. I want to get into storage and bring back some warmer clothes.

The boy that had the Tessier Syndrome Palate surgery in Dallas several months ago went to our home to recuperate the first of October. Judy and Aida, our Chinese workers have been taking care of him but a family in Buford, Georgia, has taken him to live with them. They home school their children so it will be good for Hongsheng to have some schooling and spend time with these children. I know he's been lonely for the past six weeks at our home with the girls busy working each day. He continues to slowly heal but still has some infections.

Lankui, the little girl that came a year ago to have jaw surgery at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, will go home next week. Ron talked with her on the phone today. She's learned english with her host family as well as many other studies but she must return to China to be able to pick up her work there and be able to pass the test to go on to high school in a few years. Her surgery was successful so she will return to China as a normal child again. She has loved living with her host family so she's not eager to leave. The Borck family has kept several for us so we know that anyone they help blends in as part of their own family. We are so grateful to them for their support and help.

This brings me up-to-date for this time. If anyone wants to write me, my email adddress is patbrown10@gmail.com.   We miss everyone and would welcome your emails.

May God bless each of you with good health and holiday cheer.

Thanksgiving Day in Texas this year

2010-11-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

Things have changed on this blog site so I can't locate where to add pictures or change the heading. Be patient and I'll try to keep searching for where these toolbar things are now.

Things continue to go well in China. There have been no major changes. Dave Halligan, a supporter and friend from New York, has just returned home after visiting all of the care centers for the past month. He feels that the trip was a blessing to him but we know it was a great blessing to the children and a boost to encourage our workers and our son, Ronald, who works so diligently in China. We are very grateful for Dave's sacrifice of time and energy for the cause in China. He slept on hard beds at the care centers and ate the same food as the children. He knows what it is like for the children.

We returned to Texas about two weeks ago after a hectic two weeks at our home in Sharpsburg, GA. We went through piles of mail and handled stuff on our desks and then spent the rest of our time cleaning out closets and personal items from the house. We brought back what we thought we would absolute need in the RV and stored everything else in the attic. I gave the church give-away closet in Woodstock about l/2 of my clothes.

After we returned to Texas, Judy and Aida, our Chinese workers moved upstairs into our house. The small apartment they occupied in the basement will either be rented or we will use it whenever we return to Atlanta.

Hongsheng, the boy from China with the Tessier Syndrome Palate, has been occupying the third bedroom at our house for several weeks. He continues to have some infections since his surgery in Dallas a couple of months ago.

Flying back, I saw a girl with a cowboy hat, boots and a rhinestone belt. I've told Ron that I need those things to show my Texas pride. He has not come to that conclusion. In fact, he would not admit he was with me should I add those items to my wardrobe. This is not the image he wants me to convey. I guess it would take on a totally different tone from a young woman to an older woman so I'll forgo these items.

We spent our first week back in Houston to complete appointments in that area. We attended church services in several locations around Houston. Ron spoke at chapel at Westbury Christian. We enjoyed a meal with Carole Booker and Steve Hawley, teachers at Westbury, that went to China to teach last summer.

We had a delightful dinner with Myra and Rodney who go to Champions C of C in Houston. Myra and our daughter, Leigh Ann, were friends in college.

We had a good meeting with the folks at Franklin on Sunday night and drove on to Temple on Tuesday. Our travels from here will take us to cities near Dallas.

I have an appointment to speak at the Lewisville church on December 7th. I was invited to attend their holiday party and give an overview of our work in China, telling the ladies ways they can help with our work. I have been working on that presentation for a couple of days. It has been several years since I have done power point. I am selecting photos I want to use. Ron will show me again how to do it.

The weather has been unseasonably warm for about a week but weather news shows some colder weather on the way.

While home in Georgia, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner and shared it with our daughter, Leigh Ann, and Judy, the only Chinese worker who was in town at the time. Today, Judy asked Ron if I will cook Thanksgiving dinner in the RV. I told him to tell her I already cooked my dinner but I still have a turkey with me. I don't think Ron appreciated that too much!

Our son, Ronald, sent us a cartoon from China. It showed a taxi with turkeys inside and the caption was:

"This just out! 700 turkeys escaped today from a farm in Newnan, Georgia! They are thought to be fleeing south."

Well, I guess Ron and I are two of those escaped turkeys from Georgia.

We have spent many holidays in mission fields away from family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although we love to be with our family on these special days, we realize that our work does not always permit us that luxury.

I have been fretting about my personal losses. Giving up my home to live in an RV and moving from city to city does not give a woman much sense of home.

It is not just a house or personal things that we often have to give up. It is also people we love, family, relationships, friendships, health and such like. Life is always changing and throughout our lives we are constantly giving up something important.

Although I wrote the last segment entirely for myself to try to get a good perspective, it's still been difficult. It seems that men to do count a permanent house a home any more than living in a tent or RV. There is something about a woman's domestic needs that men cannot understand. They don't understand the little things that make a house a home. Since we began the mission work in 1984, I have said home is where I hang my hat, but it's not so simple. Not for us spoiled and rich Americans.

Today, as I was looking for pictures to put in my presentation to the Lewisville ladies, I found the original picture of a very pitiful little girl. Looking to see if she was still at one of the care centers, I found a report and picture of her and could not believe the great change in her appearance.

I was talking with Ronald in China about what I should include in my presentation. I know life is very hard for him but he's not complaining. I sent him the "before and after" picture of this little girl because he is now at the care center where she lives. I thought it might be encouraging for him to see what a difference we are making in the lives of very poor and desperate children.

As we are counting our blessings and reflecting on thanksgiving, Ron and I were talking last night about our riches. He asked me if I considered giving up everything "rubbish" as Paul said he did. I could not honestly say "YES" because home and things in this world take hold on us and we have a very hard time letting go. We get used to comforts and luxuries. We get it all mixed up as to what are necessities and what things we just want and enjoy. The TV or VCR does not work in the RV until we connect to something. I miss not having the news and a few other programs. Most people call a serviceman if the TV does not work. When my workday is over, I read as much as my eyes permit but I get bored with things too quiet and simple.

Ronald told me on the chatline that I could mark my days on the wall and maybe I'd get out earlier for good behavior. I told Ron about this and he said I'd have to use the smelly bathroom walls to do this but to remember that "fools' names like fools' faces are found in public places."

Maybe all Christians should review their lives and their priorities. I don't like to do this and I know most others had rather just go along day after day doing what we are used to doing, never forcing ourselves to sacrifice. That's what I would do if I was not married to Ron. Although I get upset with his attitude toward extreme sacrifice, I think some balance is needed in most Americans' lives. I'm not judging. I can't decide for anyone else how much is enough. I have enough trouble figuring it out for myself. We can't work our way to heaven. Sometimes I think giving up is more than just doing without things - it's also the attitude. I am falling far short on that end of the scale. We know that if we give our bodies to be burned but have no love, it is worthless sacrifice. We have to want to help others. We have to LOVE doing it. We have to love the Lord and his cause. I have to remember Jesus' great love and his sacrifice or I will lose perspecive.

I will continue to pray that my heart will grow more and more tender and more willing to accept life's changes. I do appreciate having so many blessings after each trip to China (or anywhere else) where people are so poor.

May each of you have a wonderful holiday and great reflections on your blessings. Life is hard - every family has troubles. Sometimes we think we deserve what we have to soothe our wounds from the hard times in life. Although we are blessed, life throws curves and there's pain and suffering in every life. To overcome the many disappointments and pain, we must keep focused.

May God continue to bless us all. Enjoy your holiday!

What's Really Important in Life?

2010-10-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

I know everyone fights the priorities of life as they go through many stages. When I was young, I was certain that every major decision in my life would be settled by the time I was 40 years old. I thought by that time life would be routine. That is what I wanted, anyway. We go through the young married stage, having children, raising children, being empty nesters, facing middle age and then old age. Priorities constantly change. What we think is important at one stage is no longer necessary at a later age.

Of course, when we marry, many decisions are not ours alone. Life is constantly changing with jobs, relocation and circumstances. Ron always wanted to do mission work from our early married days. He decided to do it in 1984. We gave up good-paying jobs because our children were educated and we didn't need that much money any more. We were in our 40's, had little savings because we had spent what we earned owning a house and sending our children to private schools and university. We had no retirement but we were young and healthy and knew we were able to work and care for ourselves, the Lord willing. We went a lot on FAITH. We did not know how anything would work out but we both knew we could still get jobs if we needed to.

Our work took us to the Caribbean for seven years, to Montreal, Quebec for seven years, back to Nashville for seven years and now we have been working in China for eleven years. The small beginning in China has turned into a huge undertaking. With six orphanages open and 650 children to care for, the fund-raising in today's economy has become a major task for Ron.

Our son, Ronald, lost his job about two years ago. He went to work with our orphanges in China one year ago and is doing such an excellent job, Ron does not need to make as many trips to China as before. Ronald was given the responsibility of the maintenance, remodeling and building of orphanages. He is now taking over the supervision of all of the care centers, hiring and training staff. He's written a procedure manual which is very comprehensive and much needed so each care center director and worker knows what is expected of them.

With Ronald in place in China and doing an excellent job, we are now traveling in an RV to raise funds and report to churches that support our work.

This was not one of those things I expected in life. My idea of camping was Holiday Inn when you could not stay at the Hilton. Actually, I don't need an expensive hotel - only cleanliness. But, if you travel all the time, moving your stuff in and out of hotels and having to eat all your meals out, it does get tiresome and boring.

I was not in favor of buying an RV. It seemed to me that we were too old to be taking up this mode of travel. I've been close to a nervous wreck many times, but as Ron gets more efficient with driving and I get less nervous about it, it's not so bad. I have made up my mind that I will enjoy it. I prefer being home. I cannot imagine anyone doing this for fun. I, actually, don't call it an RV any longer because there's no recreation to it. It is a motor home. It is a small home away from home. Yet, I am so very blessed. We have everything we need and much more than we deserve. A friend posted on Facebook that she awoke and started counting her blessings and could have stayed in bed all day. That is so true for all of us. We are so blessed!

I will never forget reading a story about a little lady that was growing old and knew she could no longer drive or care for herself. She made arrangements to move into a nursing home. She got rid of her stuff and turned her house over to a realtor to sell. She packed her bag and called a taxi. She had the taxi driver take her through town, by the first place she and her husband lived, by the church she attended and a few other places that held a lot of significent in her life. When she arrived at the nursing home, they welcomed her and told her they hoped she would be happy there. She said, "Oh, I will." The attendant was a bit shocked because no one wants to go to a nursing home. She questioned the lady saying, "But, you have not even seen your room yet." The lady replied, "It does not matter about the room; I've already made up my mind to be happy."

This story is very true. We can make up our minds to be happy. How many of us actually get everything we want in life? And, those that do get everything are not usually any happier. Happiness is a state of mind and if we do not set our minds on things we can't have, we won't be disappointed.

It has been an uphill battle for me the past several months as I learned we were going to be living in an RV most of the time and traveling from city to city. It's not easy and it's not home. But, I've made up my mind to be happy.

I know that life is constantly changing. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. We could find a millionaire this weekend that would finance our work without us working so hard, but most likely, we will have to do this for several years. If our health permits, we will continue to work for the sake of the little orphans. We will be busy until we are called home or disabled from doing the work working, whichever comes first.

We are so grateful to our workers, our supporters who help with the work but we are also very grateful to our own children that work with us (Ronald and our daughter, Leigh Ann) and allows us to give up our life at home to do this work. They both hold a compassion for the orphan children just as we do.

Whether you live in a million dollar mansion, a one-bedroom apartment or an RV, happiness is in the mind of the beholder. God has blessed us in different ways and with different talents. We will one day account to him as to how we have used those talents and spent our time and money. I hope he will find us faithful in spite of my fear of traveling in an RV and my desire to be at home.

I bought a cookbook yesterday. (I am now doing my shopping at Camping World.) I have three cabinets full of them at home but I'll give them away soon. The one I bought is called, "The Open Road Cookbook" for RVer's boaters and campers. I am learning to cook simple but healthy meals again.

The writer of the cookbook quotes a poem her mother wrote that touched my heart:

The Supreme Architect

It isn't so much the house that counts
as the people who live inside.
For houses can burn and tumble down,
or be swept away with the tide.
The furniture, too, can go out of style
and become shabby-looking over time.
But, the abode shouldn't matter to those in
a house; rather, it's keeping the soul
sublime.
For, after this life, when we crumble to
dust as time continues to go endlessly by,
The Supreme Architect, who created this world
has a mansion waiting for us in the sky.

-Agnes Carrington McAndrews

We miss our friends and we miss our church family. Whatever is right around the corner will be another surprise and another adjustment in life, one way or another. Nothing ever stays the same; life is always changing. No matter how good it is today or how bad it is, it will not stay the same. Please keep us in your prayers.

What an interesting day!

2010-10-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

Early Sunday morning we drove to Marble Falls, TX. It is northwest of Austin and took about 45 minutes. The road was four-lane with rolling hills, and high points where you could see for miles and miles. Many large houses are built on the top of the hills to capture the long distance view. One house had a tower with a room at the top (all glass). Can you imagine having a penthouse apartment in the top of that tower? It was a lovely drive and upon arrival at the church, we had another huge surprise.

The church is new - they moved into the building in February. We parked and walked in and looked around in amazement, wondering if we were in the right church. There were spacious areas with couches and kitchens. I even saw a bathroom with a shower. There were several meeting rooms (did not look like classrooms) and the children's room had trees and painting all over the walls (it is called the "Treehouse).

We were told later that these rooms are used by the community. They are built so the rest of the building can be locked. These rooms are available for AA meetings, teachers' meetings or any community group that needs a place to meet. It was designed to meet the needs of the members and the community in the best way possible.

Although the building is only two stories, there was a beautiful winding stairway (but there is also an elevator for those who can't climb stairs).

Restrooms were beautiful with bronze faucets and holders for paper towels on a marble countertop (might not be real marble but was just as pretty).
Woodwork was dark thoughout the building and very expensive.

We found the preacher in the technical area and he directed us to the large fellowship room right across the foyer from the auditorium. He said worship was first and then there was a 15-20 minute break and everyone went there for coffee and fellowship. He felt our display would get more viewing there than anywhere else.

The auditorium was spacious with cushioned chairs linked together. All funishings throughout the building were new and expensive. None of it looked like stuff we use in most churches. It looked more like a country club or expensive house.

After seeing this lovely building, we didn't know what to expect but it was a delight to meet friendly people and be part of a very uplifting service. The singing was excellent with power point songs and song leader who did not announce numbers but went directly into the next hymn. The minister was dressed causally but delivered one of the best sermons I have ever heard. Two of the elders had scripture readings and a prayer (before the sermon and at the end of the service). Everything was done orderly and according to our beliefs for a New Testament worship. Because of the change of looks in the church building, I was expecting a progressive church that had many practices that we are uncomfortable with coming from a conservative church background.

After the service, we gathered to answer questions about our work and there were many interested. We went back into the auditorium for an excellent Bible class.

A couple somewhat younger than us invited us to lunch. They had taken a tour in China last October and were interested in talking about China. The minister and his wife and two children also went to lunch.

The restaurant was a grille down on the riverbank. It had a tropical atmosphere (we ate outside in a dining area that overlooked the water. The food was excellent and it was so nice to spend time and get to know both of these wonderful families.

We left about 2 p.m. to drive back to Austin. I left thinking, "now that is one place I could live." The area was beautiful with rolling hills, rivers, water falls and state parks nearby. The town was large enough but not so large you have to fight traffic. The church family was great. If anyone is looking for a place to live, check out Marble Falls, Texas! It would be my recommendation for an idea place to live.

Our Sunday night experience was different but equally interesting and good. Ron had set an appointment to meet with the elders of the Southside C of C in Austin at 5:30 p.m. It is located in the heart of the city so we left early and arrived there about 5:10. It is a black church (the secretary is the mother to one of our members at Peachtree City). Unfortunately, we did not get to meet her. We don't know if she was there or not.

Ron noticed that all parking places were numbered. Some were marked "handicap" and one for the preacher. The church is right on the street and there's not much parking space around the building. Ron decided that it could not be a 500 member church like it was stated on the website.

Services were not until 6:30 but people started arriving and all parked along the street. We began to wonder who the numbered spaces were for so when the minister and his wife pulled into their designated space, Ron went over to ask them where we should park.

The minister's wife laughed and said he should move and take #1 space because people would stay until 9 p.m. and he would be blocked in anywhere else he parked because they would park cars all down the center of the parking lot as well.

Ron told her he thought maybe you had to pay to park in the numbered spaces. She laughed and said "That's right and you have to pay double for #1."

No one had a key to the building so we stood outside joking and fellowshipping with the minister and other members. They had gathered early for a special prayer meeting at 5:30 because they have a lot of sick members.

When someone opened the building, the minister showed us where we could put up the display. Elders began arriving and invited Ron into the office. I was going to slip into the prayer meeting and not be part of their meeting but Ron came and got me saying they wanted me in there too.

We told two of the elders about our work and answered their questions and then a third elder arrived. After some time they began asking Ron when he would be back through here so he could tell the congregation about the work.

We were surprised at their interest because they are in the process of building a new building on a large piece of land. They do have 500 members with two services every Sunday. The building was packed that night. I would not be surprised if there were not 300 there. Usually, when a church is in the process of building and encountering a big debt, they have no interest in mission work until they can get that issue taken care of.

Everyone was dressed well (we have grown more casual with church attire) but our black brethren have not. Most men had on suits and ties; women wore nice dresses and heels. I remembered this in the Caribbean islands that they love to dress up to come to church. That is what I was taught as a child. Mother always said "You show respect by wearing your best, not your worse." She said we don't have to worry about having expensive clothes but we should show the same respect to Jesus as we do going to a wedding or funeral. As most of you know, Ron and I dress our best no matter what the trend because our mothers drilled that philosophy into our heads as young children. I know we are sometimes over-dressed but I hardly ever feel we are inappropriately dressed no matter what setting we are in. Over-dressed is usually more acceptable than under-dressed in my opinion.

We attended the worship and enjoyed the singing and sermon. One of the elders led the singing and when we sang "I am a harding fighting soldier in the Lord's army" the roof must have been buckling. I know it was a joyful sound to the Lord. Everyone sang and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was no dragging out the songs or acting like we were at a funeral. There was a little swaying to the sound but no hand clapping or raising of hands in the air. All of the songs were familiar but had such a moving beat the way they sing them, it was a little hard to stand still and not tap your foot or something.

The minister delivered an excellent sermon with some humor mixed in. He was really a nice man and very humorous when we talked with him before and after services. He kept teasing us before service that we wouldn't leave until 9 p.m. Actually, we didn't because there was that many people interested in our work and asking questions.

During the sermon, there were a lot of "Amens, Alright, Yes" and nodding of heads in the affirmative. Our black brethren always do this and I expected it. Everyone was listening. Everyone was interested in what he said. They had about 8 people who went forward asking for prayers and one young man was baptized.

In the midst of the congregation I spotted a little grey-haired white lady about 70 years old. When they had us stand and introduced us to the congregation she smiled at us. Throughout the service, I saw how much she loved where she was. She was smiling and nodding just like the other members.

After services, she came to pick up some newsletters and told us how happy she was to meet us and how excited she was to know of our work in China. Then she told us, "I only became a Christian here in August. I thought the C of C was just another denomination and it was by accident that I found the church." I told her how happy I was for her and congratulated her on have a loving and friendly church family at Southside. She nodded and thanked me.

I was concerned that I might not sleep with the songs running through my mind all night but I had a sound sleep.

We will definitely return to both Marble Falls and Southside if they will let us. Both were uniquely different but equally exciting and uplifting. Sometimes I can't remember a church we visited because everything was just orginary but these congregations were not ordinary. We will remember them.

Blue skies and lots of road ahead

2010-10-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Since I last posted, we left Dallas and drove to Hamilton. On our last Friday in Dallas, the Chinese boy who had surgery was released from the hospital. Hongsheng is the boy with the tesser syndrome palate that went from his mouth all the way to one eye. His first surgery was successful. They made an incision across the top of his head (never even shaving his hair) and pulled the side of his face into place. It was an amazing surgery with only a small scar near his lips where they formed his mouth.

He returned for a check up and they kept him in the hospital for several days because of an infection.

It was about 9 p.m. Friday night when Ron returned to the RV with Judy (our Chinese worker) and Hongsheng. We bedded them down with us in the RV for the night and left about 7 a.m. the next morning for Hamilton.

We parked two nights in the driveway of Hongsheng's host family (Dr. & Mrs. Monte Horne). They treated us to some delicious meals and we enjoyed a meal at a Chinese restaurant to celebrate Hongsheng's 13th birthday.

We drove to Waco and parked at the New Road C of C and went to church there on Sunday night (Ron gave a report about the work in China).

Tuesday morning, we drove to Hamilton to take Judy back to Dallas to catch a flight to Atlanta and picked up Aida (another Chinese worker coming in to care for Hongsheng). We returned again Wednesday morning to take Hongsheng back for another check up. They thought he was doing O.K. but decided to leave the drianage tube in until Monday.

We stopped at Gatesville that Wednesday night. Ron gave a report on the work in China to that congregation and we had a meal with them. Gatesville is a very small town but the youth minister has about 100 children from the community coming for a meal and class every Wednesday night.

We drove back to Hamilton on Monday to take Aida and Hongsheng to Dallas for the boy's check up. He still had infection so they scheduled him for surgery the next day to flush out the wound and restitch the incision. We took Aida and Hongsheng to the Ronald McDonald House since they needed to be back at the hospital early the next morning.

The boy's surgery was not until 7 p.m. the next night because of emergencies. Aida was there for another day without a change of clothing. She didn't take her phone charger or her computer as we had no idea she would have to stay in Dallas.

Rosy Horne, the host Mom, went to get them on Wednesday afternoon. We are all hoping this second time to open up the incision and flush it out will do the trick.

It is a two-hour drive to Dallas from Hamilton. For us to go from Waco to Hamilton and then to Dallas is about a three-hour trip so on the days we helped the Horne family by making these trips, it was an all-day trip.

We parked one night in Temple and had breakfast with two of their elders the next morning before leaving for Austin.

We have been at the Southwest C of C in Austin since we arrived here Tuesday afternoon. We met with one of their elders Wednesday morning and attended class here on Wednesday night.

Ron has been making calls to other congregations to set up future appointments as well as calling churches in the Houston area. We will leave Austin early next week for Houston. We will be there a couple of weeks.

We have cool nights and clear skies during the day with temperatures ranging from the 50's at night to the 80's during the day.

When I get discouraged I think of this lady...

2010-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

Gladys Aylward (Ale-ward), was born in London around the turn of the twenty century. She worked for several years as a parlor maid, and then attended a revival meeting at which the preacher spoke of dedicating one’s life to the service of God. Gladys responded to the message, and soon after became convinced that she was called to teach the Gospel in China.

At the age of 26, she heard of a 73-year-old missionary, Mrs. Jeannie Lawson, who was looking for a younger woman to carry on her work. Gladys wrote to Mrs. Lawson and was accepted if she could get to China.

Gladys did not have enough money for the ship fare, but did have enough for the train fare, and so in October of 1930, she set out from London with her passport, her Bible, her tickets, and the equivalent of a few dollars, to travel to China by the Trans-Siberian Railway, despite the fact that China and the Soviet Union were engaged in an undeclared war. She arrived in Vladivostok and sailed from there to Japan and from Japan to Tienstsin, and then by train, by bus, by mule, to the inland city of Yangchen, in the mountainous province of Shansi, a little south of Beijing.

Gladys Aylward was a missionary to China for many years. The bulk of her missionary work was concentrated in an orphanage. One time she was forced to flee the part of China where she was living, because the Japanese were invading. But she couldn’t leave her work behind – the 100 children she was caring for. So, with only one assistant, she led those 100 children over the mountains and through the jungles toward what was known as “Free China.”

As she journeyed through the rough terrain, and grueling weather, trying to keep the children together, and safe, while maintaining her own morale, Gladys grappled with despair like she had never struggled with it before. After one sleepless night, she looked out at yet another day of hardship and pain, and no hope of reaching safety.

Then a 13-year-old girl in the group, seeing her leader’s distress, reminded her of one of their most loved Bible stories – the story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.

“But, I am not Moses,” Gladys blurted out in desperation.

“Of course, you aren’t” the girl said, “but Jehovah is still God!”

Gladys and the orphans made it through to Free China. She wasn’t Moses, but Jehovah is still God. This point is simple. No matter how inadequate we are, God is still God. No matter how frustrated we may be, God is still God. No matter how desperate we may feel, God is still God. When we are doing his will whether we’re career missionaries in foreign lands or living sacrifices in our day-to-day world, all our inadequacies, frustrations and desperate feelings are overwhelmed by God being God!

God promises to never leave us. Thereby, peace can reign in our lives if we hold fast to our faith in HIM.

We Know Where We are Going but Can't Get There!

2010-09-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Ron traveled for more than 20 years in his secular job so he is somewhat familiar with various cities. However,traffic has greatly increased and roads have changed (or more been added) since that time. We find some intersections that are somewhat like and sometimes worse than "Spagetti Junction" at I-285 and I-85 in north Atlanta.

Yesterday, we were in the car going to the airport and the directions were horrible. Although we were not far away, we had to get onto several different interstates and loops and still got lost with a GPS. If we make one wrong turn, the GPS lady goes crazy and keeps trying to turn us at every street to get us back the way she wants us to go.

We were on Loop 12 yesterday between Dallas and Ft. Worth and it was an absolute nightmare. I am not sure how we found our way to the airport, then to the hospital and back to the place where the RV is parked.

Last night one of the elders asked us if we found the hospital O.K. We told him after losing our way several times, we finally found it. He said he left one morning at 8 a.m. to go to a hospital in Dallas to be with a friend having surgery at 10 a.m. He said about 10:45 he was so turned around he didn't know if he could find the hospital or not so then he decided to just go back home. He said then he had trouble finding his way back. (We could really relate to that!) He said he finds it horrible to drive in Dallas. I'm glad a person living in this area said that and reassured me that I'm not a complete idiot with directions.

Part of the problem is that Ron will decide the GPS or Google directions are wrong or it is taking us out of our way as he remembers his previous travels in the city. He knows his directions so he gets impatient if the GPS turns us in the wrong direction even though it may be correct to get us on the way we need to go. The GPS may say exit right and then turn left and it's confusing as to exactly where we are to turn left. Sometimes it's an immediate turn and sometimes it's not. Ron sometimes loses his patience and starts turning in the direction he feels we should be going. When he does this, I just turn the GPS sound off at this point because it just drives us crazy saying "recalculate" "make a U turn" etc.

After a short while, Ron may decide he doesn't know where he is or which road to take so I turn the GPS back on to see if it can find us at that point and get us where we want to go.

Judy suggested I look at the map on the GPS to see the streets but my eyes are not good enough to read this small print in the glare of the sun (even when I enlarge the map). The problem is the GPS won't always tell us to turn until sometimes it's too late for Ron to get in the correct lane. I tell him it's one mile and he needs to be in the right lane, but like most people, he waits too long to move over and may miss the turn. With heavy traffic, this is really a problem.

Using a Google or Mapquest direction does not help much. Usually the GPS wants to go a different way. It's easier to follow the GPS sometimes but I can seldom compare it with the printed directions or a map. I'll have three sources in front of me and we still get on the wrong roads. I am actually working with four sources of information when Ron is part of the equation. Then if there's construction, which is often, there are roads and exits that are closed and then we are hunting our way through the maize again.

I've threatened to not do anything to help out but when we get ready to leave with the RV and car pulled behind us, I am too nervous to just leave it to chance. We can't weave all around like we did in the car yesterday with the RV and even moving over to another lane takes good timing.

I suggested we try to find a GPS that will mount on the dashboard of the RV close to Ron so he can watch the map and do a better job of maneuvering. I haven't had any response to that suggestion but when I quit completely, it might be considered a good idea!

Visits around the Dallas area

2010-09-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy this week. Monday morning we had breakfast with a minister and elder at Cracker Barrel to tell them about the work in China. When we left there, we went by the Lewisville church to pick up our displays that were left there on Sunday.

Every day we awake early and get our computer work underway. Ron is still making lots of calls to churches to try to get more information to them about our work. If he can set appointments with elders, we go make the visits.

Tuesday morning I took advantage of the coin laundry facilities at the RV park before we relocated our RV to the North Richland Hills area, just north of Dallas.

Wednesday we went to the airport to pick Judy Yang up and take her to the hospital where Hongsheng is being cared for. This is the boy with the Tesser Palate that had surgery several weeks ago. He's scratched the area where they did surgery and got it infected so he's having to spend some time in the hospital on antibotics. Judy came to stay with him to relieve the host Mom from having to spend all the time at the hospital. He will probably be in the hospital several more days. He knew Judy was coming but he still cried when the host Mom left because he wanted to leave the hospital and go back to their home.

His lip looks really good but the rest of his face still needs many more surgeries before it look somewhat normal. He can eat well now but is picky and won't eat what they tell him he needs. He's lost weight. They are insisting that he eat or they will not let him leave the hospital. Judy reported this morning that he's eating more and they had a good walk around the hospital.

Before we went to pick Judy up at the airport, we met with four elders of the Brown Trail C of C. They were eager for us to put up our display for Wednesday night services. We attended class there last night and enjoyed meeting with them. They want us to give the presentation about our work on a later trip through this area.

Shirley Farris, a friend from more than 20 years ago came up to greet us. I did not remember which church she attended in the Dallas area so I was surprised to see her. It was great to see her again after so many years. She lost her husband, Joe, since we last saw her.

Today has been busy catching up our computer work. Ron continues making calls to set up future appointments.

It is very windy today but still clear and hot. We will pull out on Saturday to go to Hamilton, TX for Sunday's presentation. From there, we have several cities before we end up in Houston.

Packed a lot in this Week

2010-09-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

We left Florence, AL on a Saturday morning (more than a week ago). We arrived in Troy, TN and parked in the yard of Jimmy and LeEllen Smith. Jimmy is an elder at the church and a judge in his secular job. They have three boys and a 10-year old Chinese daughter. The Smiths went to an engagement party that night so we went to a catfish restaurant with the minister and his wife. The restaurant was on Reelfoot Lake and the food was delicious. After the service on Sunday, the ladies had prepared a potluck meal for everyone. Shortly afterwards, we pulled out and headed for Paragould, AR. We parked that night at Crowley's Ridge Bible College and attended the night service at Hillcrest congregation next to the college. There were hookups for many campers at the college and about 10 Sojourners were already parked there. Sojourners are older people who own campers and travel to different churches, schools and other locations to assist with whatever work they can do. In this case, they were working at a local orphanage. At the services, everyone just assumed we were Sojourners (they were all there that night) but when someone asked if we were Sojourners and we said we were missionaries to China, they insisted that Ron take over the service and tell about our work.

In Arkansas, we saw a lot of cotton, soy bean and rice crops. These farmers are doing it on a big scale because fields go on and on for miles sometimes. We have driven on some very straight roads with ranches along the sides of the road, rambling fences and blue skies as far as you can see.

When we left Paragould, we traveled to Searcy, AR. We spent one night in Searcy (parked at the Foothills church) and went to dinner with Lolita and Ed Higginbothan, who also have a love for the work in China. They have recently returned from a six-week teaching assignment in China. At the College church, where they attend, they were having a devotional and serving a meal to the poorer people in the community. We went by there for a while and were pleased to see at least 75 or more people in attendance. Someone slipped up behind me and hugged me. I knew the lady looked very familiar and then learned that it was Nancy Sapio from Atlanta who I knew more than 25 years ago. Her husband, Nick, died a year or two ago and she's now moved to Searcy to be near two of her daughters. Nancy was working in the kitchen that night but spotted us in the crowd and just had to come say hello. It was great seeing her after all these years. When we left this meeting we went to the Higgingbotham's house and enjoyed ice cream and green tea while we shared many experiences in China.

Wednesday we drove to Texarkana, TX and parked at the Hampton C of C on St. Michael's
Road. The street name changed but they could not bring themselves to call the church St. Michael's so it remains Hampton Road that is located on St. Michael's Road. Due to much road construction (closed roads and one-way streets) we had difficulty finding the building this time. Sometime on Wednesday, Ron went to start the RV and it would not turn over. He checked batteries and everything he could think of but nothing worked. A member of the church came by that afternoon and found the problem but could not fix it. He was going to give us a "temporary fix" until we could get to the RV place the next morning but on Thursday, the engine started fine. We drove on to Greenville, TX without any problem and have not had a problem since. It's strange how it was dead for one whole day but is working fine now. I guess it could happen again anytime.

We spent two nights parked at the Johnson Street C of C in Greenville. We drove up to Commerce and met with elders in one congregation and a minister in another church. The minister and his wife went with us to a very nice "Tea Room" where we enjoyed a very good lunch and got to know this wonderful young family better. I guess meeting people, such as this couple, makes these trips especially enjoyable.
I told Ron I'm not much for the RV while it's moving, but once parked, I like it just fine and our time with others is great.

From Greenville, we drove to Lewisville. The church does not have a hookup available with power adequate for an RV so they made us a reservation in a nearby RV park. It was practically full when we came in Saturday night but on Monday morning, most had left. There are some RV's and campers that are not occupied but people use this as a "parking" space for their RV. Others are permanent residents because they have flowers and stuff all around that indicates they live here full time. With a beautiful lake and golf course nearby I suppose it would be cheaper to live like this than own a condo. Many of the campers (or RV's) are really nice and luxurious. Most are older couples, of course, but there's one permanent family behind us with children. We will end up staying here three nights but tomorrow we will park at a church building where we stayed on our last trip in North Richland Hills, north of Dallas.

We will go from here to Hamilton and Waco. I'm not sure where else we will stop on our way to Houston. On Saturday we will be in Hamilton. meeting with Dr. Monty Horn and his family. Dr. Horn and his wife are the host family for the boy with the Tesser Palate that just had surgery in Dallas a few weeks ago. Judy talks to the boy on the phone each day and she told him the old couple coming this weekend is her Boss.

Ron continues to book appointments for upcoming weeks and even months. He plans to leave the RV and car in Houston and fly back home on buddy passes the first of November. After a few weeks at home, we will fly back and return on much of the same path to cover churches that booked him for a later date.

Ron spoke at the Lewisville church on Sunday. It was their Mission Emphasis Sunday and they were hoping to raise $100,000 for their mission work. We are not yet part of it but hope they are considering us for the future. Ron delivered a very powerful message along with his report about our work in China. A missionary they support from South Africa delivered the Sunday school lesson via Skype. His lesson was excellent and the picture on the screen worked perfectly all the way from South Africa. At the end of his lesson, he turned the camera on his computer toward their congregation and they waved at us. It was a great morning. The donation was $74,000. They plan two more Sundays before the end of the year for mission work collection so they will raise their $100,000 (and probably exceed it).

One reason we are concentrating on Texas is that the recession has not hurt jobs in this state. Churches are over budget, in most cases. People have the means to give and they are very generous. We are trying to build our base of supporters from these wonderful Christians to help secure the future of China Mission.

Thanks for keeping up with our travels. I'm sorry I'm not too witty with these updates. Perhaps I will devote one segment to Ron's fight with the GPS. He doesn't fight with me but he often thinks the lady on the GPS is crazy and he talks back to her. Sometime I will tell you how I'm handling the problem of navigation.

I will also devote one segment about what's happening in China.

God bless each of you, dear readers.

A Bittersweet Day

2010-09-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

Thursday was the funeral for J. Wayne Brooks, another dear friend in Florence, AL. We were also friends with the Brooks from the 1960's. Wayne and Martha loved our children so much when they were little and our kids loved them just like family. About 19 years ago, Wayne crashed in his crop duster aircraft. He had been doing this work for years and had recently bought a new plane. Some structural problem apparently caused the plane to crash when he banked the plane. He spent months in the hospital then and has suffered many problems ever since. Although as active as he could be helping friends, working around his home and doing church work, he spent many weeks in the hospital from time-to-time with different problems and illnesses. His dear friends conducted a funeral condensing his many achievements and highlighted how he loved helping other people. Wayne was certainly a good man, a dear friend to many and will be greatly missed. Martha, his wife of about 47 years, stood by him to the very end, making a living, taking care of him and doing whatever needed to be done without showing fatigue or discouragement. Martha is a good example of the "worthy woman" and Wayne could not have had a wife who loved him more or cared for him any better.

We spent about two hours with Martha over breakfast in her home this morning. Friends, Polly and Lawrence Alexander and Helen and Clifford Miles (we have also known them for over 40 years) came by and we had a great time reminiscing about our good times with Martha and Wayne over the years.

We are glad we could be here to share in the celebration of Wayne's life and give Martha a little comfort and our love. Martha and I say to each other every time we see each other (even if it's years apart), "we can just pick up where we left off." We are that kind of friends. I regret not taking pictures this morning!

Ronald Returned to China and we left for Alabama

2010-09-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning, Ron took Ronald to the airport at 4 a.m. to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Washington,D.C. with connecting flight to Beijing. Someone was meeting him in Beijing to get him to the train station where he would have a few hours wait and then a 14 hour train to Xi'an. Once there, he was interviewing three men to serve as his full-time translator. Then he was traveling on by train to the Jackson Family Christian Care Center in Zigong. We have not heard from him (he has not had internet connection, I'm sure.)

While he was home, he had to get his house ready to rent again. He got to do a few fun things and get some needed rest.

We had a few people over to celebrate his birthday with a good dinner. Holly & Ken and their children, Bridgette and Chipper, Warren and Elaine, Joyce, Elaine's mom, Perry and Judy Baker and our daughter, Leigh Ann, all were present for Ronald's dinner.

We enjoyed him being home very much.

At 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, we pulled out to drive to Florence, AL. We had not driven more than an hour when a back tire blew a hole. It sounded like a gun went off but the RV drove O.K. At the next exit, Tallapoosa, GA, we pulled off and almost immediately there appeared a truck stop with a tire repair place. They put one of the spares on and we were back on the road within 30 minutes. Ron replaced the front tires because he was concerned about a blowout but the back tires all had good tread. Apparently, the rubber is just old and dry. I told him this RV is just like us "too old and worn out not to have problems all the time." I told Ron not to expect a tire repair place to appear out of nowhere when this happens again. He said, "why not?" The air conditioner didn't work on the trip so we have to get the freeon checked. The inside air conditioners work fine and we have been comfortable.

A big THANK YOU goes to Warren Sims and Perry Baker, dear friends in Peachtree City for their checking out and working on the RV while we were in China. The things that continue to go wrong certainly are not their fault. Having an old vehicle is the problem and you can't replace everything on it at once. We will continue to repair and replace parts as needed. Guess blow outs and failed air conditioners just add to the adventure and build memories that we can write home about!

We arrived at the home of Jan and B.J. Kennedy in Sheffield, AL in time to have dinner with them before Ron spoke at one of the churches in Killen, AL that night. We are parked inside the Kennedy's fenced in back yard.

Speaking of RV's, the Kennedy's have a very nice one with leather seats and pull outs that give a big living space. Theirs is the big, nice one in front of this picture.

We also passed a nice one with a truck and golf cart behind it. I told Ron we just have not arrived with this old RV but I'm not the least bit jealous. I don't think I'd like a nicer one any more. Living in it is just fine but driving this thing is not much fun. I don't guess I will ever relax and enjoy that part. Jan Kennedy agrees with me so maybe it's just a woman's viewpoint.

The Kennedys have been dear friends for more than 40 years. BJ worked with Ron on two occasions (Atlanta and the Virgin Islands). They are as close as family. BJ is now retired from electrical engineering with large construction firms (U.S. and abroad in several countries). They have a beautiful home and view of the river that flows between Florence and Sheffield. We are very happy for them after working hard and traveling for many, many years. It has been so enjoyable to spend time with them again.

Home from China!

2010-08-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

We are home, but it was not an easy trip. Ron left one day earlier than us to make a side trip to Hangzhou to meet with a man interested in helping with our work. He said we could take the bus from Pingliang to Xi'an with the medical team and then fly to Shanghai and meet him at the hotel. From the Pudong airport, I know where to take the hotel shuttle bus to the hotel where we always stay. Sounded easy enough.

Three of our workers were helping to take four orphan babies back to Beijing and Mongolia (along with a lady doctor traveling with the babies). We all took the four hour bus to Xi'an. Then we took a taxi to the airport, arriving there about noon. Leigh Ann and I were to catch our flight at 7 p.m. but could not check in until 5:00 p.m. One of the workers found a buffet inside the airport and paid for us to all have a meal. He got the waitresses to let us have a back table and stay in the restaurant until time for our flights. They were kind, seeing that we had four babies under one year of age that had just had surgery a few days before. A young male worker took one of the babies with him to Beijing on a 3 p.m. flight. That baby was sick during the medical mission and unable to have surgery. The other three babies were not flying out with workers until 8 p.m.

Leigh Ann and I helped with the babies so everyone could take turns to eat. They were good babies but they were active and wore us all out after a few hours.

Jackie (our medical mission coordinator) booked our flight from Xi'an to Shanghai to the wrong airport, but I didn't know that at the time. Our flight was late so it was about 10:30 p.m. when we arrived. After wandering around for an hour in the airport, not recognizing anything and unable to find the bus to the hotel, I got someone to call Ron. I didn't even have a cell phone in China. He said he had checked on our flight and we had landed at another airport (about 50 miles away). It was too late to get the bus between the airports. We got a taxi (which cost us $45 U.S.) but the driver took us to the wrong hotel. I knew immediately it was wrong but could not communicate with the taxi driver. I called Ron from that hotel which was close to the Pudong Airport. He asked if I could get another taxi and go to the Pudong Airport Gate 28. It was about 11:30 p.m. I told him NO, I could not communicate with taxi drivers and I might end up at the first airport again. He said O.K. and got a taxi to bring him to this hotel to find us. I thought this would not be difficult but when just one thing goes wrong, then I'm in trouble in China traveling alone.

We had to get up early to be at the Pudong Shanghai Airport the next morning at 7 a.m. We got on the flight from Shanghai to Detroit. We were able to get first class seats so that was a great help. We were already so tired. It was a 14 hour flight to Detroit. We arrived about noon on Sunday. We spent the next 9 hours in the Detroit airport trying to find a flight to Atlanta or any other city that would connect and get us to Atlanta. All flights were over sold. We gave up and got a hotel for the night and left Detroit on Monday but had to fly to Nashville and then to Atlanta. It was an all-day trip. It was about 6 p.m. Monday night when we got home.

I started taking a sore throat about the time we landed in Detroit so I really felt bad the rest of the day and all day on Monday. It's better now and I'm finally getting some sleep.

This was a hard trip and the most difficult of our missions. So many things were disorganized but we learned some lessons if we do another medical mission. I have to remember that no matter how hard it was for all of us, there were a lot of little children helped.

Ronald arrived home a week before us to get some needed rest. He is doing fine but arrived home to find that his renters have skipped out (leaving his house and yard in a mess). He has many repairs and cleaning to do before it can be rented again. We will help him work on it next week. He's trying to get the grass cut and yard back in shape.

Today, Ronald and I went to the Botanical Gardens. He didn't feel like going to work in the yard with the heat and wanted to do something fun. I had never been to the gardens so when he invited me to go with him, I jumped at the chance. I enjoyed being with him very much. He won't get to do much in the way of fun things while he's home, so this was a good day for both of us.

I have plenty of work to do but felt he was more important. He will return to China Sept. 7th. We will leave again for another long RV trip across to Texas on September 8th. I don't know how long we will be gone this time.

Death of a Child Brings Sadness to the Medical Mission

2010-08-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

Our medical mission is underway in Pingliang, Gansu. It is not far from the Tibet border in Central China. We have mountains in this area. The weather has been very cool at night and nice during the day. Although there is early morning smog, we have seen sunshine and nice skies some days. The people in this area are poor. We don’t see anyone walking the streets in fashionable clothing. They are all very curious about us, having never seen a foreigner in this area. A middle school student asked me yesterday, “Where are you from?” Some stop to stare but almost everyone glances at us. We smile and wave at the children and most of them smile back and then parents smile too.

Leigh Ann has had people wanting to take a picture with her (on planes, trains and various places). We tease her that she should be charging for these photo sessions.

The medical team from the U.S. arrived about 3 p.m. last Monday afternoon. It was a rush to get everyone to their rooms to unload their bags and get to the hotel dining room for a quick lunch. Everyone had to be at the hospital by 4:30 for the hospital welcoming and orientation.

Some workers from Angel Moms (a charity group in Beijing and Shanghai) and caretakers with children from an orphanage came on the bus with the team. Two of our little girls from the Jackson Family Care Center in Zigong arrived by train, a 30-hour trip, each with a grandparent. One had a cleft lip and the other a cleft palate. (They were so happy to see us and their grandparents could not thank us enough for all we have done for these little girls). It was a joy to see them go home a few days later with their surgeries healing.

Monday night, we all gathered in two of the hotel dining rooms for a meal paid for by the hospital. It was a very elaborate and delicious meal.
The team was tired from their long trip. Most of them flew to Beijing and came together on an all-night train to Xi’an. From Xi’an, it was a five-hour bus ride. A bus was rented for the entire team; otherwise, they would not have all arrived on time. Almost every bus and train to every city in China is full to capacity no matter what day of the week you travel.

Things got off to a slow start Tuesday morning. Surgeries did not start until late morning because children had to be tested and having fasted for six hours prior to surgery. It was difficult to get this over to parents because they worried about their children being hungry and some fed them anyway, which set them back on the schedule for surgery. Nurses settled into their routine, checking patients already in the hospital rooms, with a translator’s help.

We had seven young high school or university students volunteering as translators but they were not always where they should be. They tended to want to hang out together rather than being where they should be. Often a nurse was wandering around looking for one of them.

The hospital officials and nurses have been much more cooperative this year than they were last year in Chengde. They have interfered very little in every phase of our work and been helpful when asked. This hospital is also cleaner and brighter. Last year, we had dark and dirty rooms on the ward and the Chinese nurses didn’t trust our nurses to do anything. Saying all of this does not mean that this hospital is perfect. It is probably an excellent hospital for this remote area of China. However, in ICU, there is a leak over a bed from the ceiling above. Could it be a toilet leaking? We don’t know. We are on the 10th floor of a 15 story building so it isn’t coming from the roof. There are a few western toilets (commodes) on the ward but we aren’t allowed to use them. I think the night nurses have cleaned them and used them when the rest of the staff is gone and no one is using those areas for examinations. One nurse has a picture of a shower head and right underneath is a power outlet. It has a little plastic cover but I doubt that could prevent water from running inside. At night, the nurses report that the doors to the ward are padlocked to prevent anyone from coming in. However, no one could get out either because you have to go out the doors to get to the stairway.

Barry, our anesthetist from Beijing said this hospital has a very low mortality rate with a certain number of surgeries. Compared to the best hospitals in Beijing, it is lower. He questions that being correct because of the lack of equipment and skill but I guess you can publish whatever rate you wish.

Everything seemed routine by Tuesday afternoon and everyone was settling into their jobs but on Wednesday afternoon tragedy appeared unexpectedly. A little boy, 2-l/2 years of age, went for cleft palate surgery. Everything seems to be going fine. They had completed his surgery and began to bring him out of sleep when his little body started shutting down. Oxygen levels dropped drastically and the child died before they could do anything to reverse the situation. It was a heart-breaking event for the doctors and nurses as well as all of the medical team. The parents of the child were wailing and crying uncontrollably. The hospital official took over handling the child’s relatives.

No negligence on the part of our doctors or nurses was detected. The hospital said it could not have been helped. The child appeared healthy, everything had been checked out and everything done by the anesthetist and doctor were consistent with what should have been done. Nevertheless, it put a great and deep sadness in all of our hearts.

Surgeries were stopped for the rest of that day and for the entire next day while the hospital and team re-evaluated procedures. The hospital had a machine flown in to use to determine oxygen level at an early stage of the operation. These are not usually used in China but might save a life. The OR nurses do not feel that a situation can be reversed once it begins even if surgery is stopped early. One of the anesthetists figured out a way to use the machine for two children having surgery at the same time in the same OR.

Thursday, surgeries began again and continue on to this time (Sunday afternoon, August 8). The mission will go until Thursday. Surgeries will end but nurses will have to be on the wards checking post-op patients until they are dismissed to return home.

To see a baby with a cleft lip, maybe even a bi-lateral cleft lip, and then see them when they come back after surgery, is a beautiful thing to behold. The parents are not beaming as much as we are, because they do not fully understand that after healing the lip will look much better. Often, the child is uncomfortable even with some medication for pain so the parent may be concerned. The next day after surgery, children and parents are beaming and thanking us for our help. When they are ready to leave the hospital, they are so appreciative.

Handing out the beanie babies and blankets has been a highlight of our mornings. We make rounds each morning to see which new children have arrived for surgery that day. Handing the child a beanie baby had brightened the face of the child and bridges are established because of the strange way we look. Children will smile and (in most cases) quickly accept the toy. One of our nurses brought some small trucks for older boys and they have really gone over well.

Mothers are very happy to get the blankets. The hospital bed only has a bottom sheet and a down (heavy) comforter in a duvet coverlet on the bed. After a child comes from surgery, the parent wants to cover the child but the comforter is much too hot.
We have offered them a blanket or small quilt and they have been very grateful. We see them walking with the babies in their arms in the hallway with the blankets tucked around the child.

Ladies from Laurel Church of Christ, Laurel, MD, Needles & Knots in North Canton, OH, Florence Hoshall, and Mrs. Dave Halligan and ladies from her congregation are some who have shipped quilts and blankets. Our Peachtree City Church of Christ ladies also made crocheted blankets. We collected beanie babies from several different locations but many of them were from Peachtree City. I am sure I have missed someone who contributed to these gifts of love, but if you were part of this collection of gifts, please accept my grateful thanks. We had blankets every size for the very smallest child to the oldest boy (about 12 or 13) and everyone loved the gifts.

This morning I was walking down the hall with a stack of blankets in my arms as Leigh Ann was handing out beanie babies and getting pictures of the children accepting the toys. A mother walked up and fingered one of the beautiful crochets blankets in my arms. I immediately pulled it out and offered it to her. You would have thought I had given her a $100 bill. She thanked me over and over.

Organizing a medical mission may seem simple. You team up roommates and co-workers according to shifts and specialties. Everyone goes to work. Right? Not really. Although Ron, Leigh Ann and I unpacked the medical supplies in the room assigned to our work team, it is still difficult to have all the things they need.
Each doctor or nurse wants a certain suture or a product for pain or an ointment for moisture, something to reduce swelling or prevent infection. It is impossible to have on hand everything each nurse or doctor wants. Tables and box loads of supplies are grouped together so things can be easily found but nurses are always looking for something we don’t have.

Some of the team has been sick from eating the food. It’s caused a shortage of nurses so sometimes only one nurse is on the entire ward. Shifts are long and tiring and only snack food is available. Although the hospital brings in hot boxed lunch plates at noon, the number of workers who eat it has diminished each day as others get sick. A lot of the workers go out to local restaurants at night so the contamination could have come from those places. However, Ron, Leigh Ann and I have been very careful and eaten only in the hotel restaurant or had fruit and snacks in our rooms. Fruit stands are everywhere but we must wash the fruit in bottled water. (I like ice cream on a stick which is safe to eat. No washing necessary. It’s a good excuse to eat ice cream.) Leigh Ann and I have a favorite stand near the hotel that carries ice cream and cold drinks (not many have a cooler to keep drinks cold). They have some very good cookies, crackers, chips, little cakes, and other snacks. With fruit, we can have a very good lunch and not worry about being sick.

Unfortunately, both Ron and Leigh Ann have been sick. I don’t know where it began (the food the first day at the hospital or elsewhere) but it’s difficult to get rid of. I think you could safely call it “Chairman Mao’s Revenge.” I am becoming known more and more as “Iron Gut Pat” since I am eating almost everything in front of me and not getting sick.

Every afternoon, Leigh Ann and I return to our rooms and work on our computers, trying to keep up with our workload. It has not been easy to find the time. Some plugs in our rooms don’t work and getting internet set up when we arrived was a challenge.

When nurses come off their shift or others are going on duty, we have tried to catch someone to go down for dinner with us. Ordering is a challenge. We have pictures on the menu but without knowing most of the dishes, we don’t know what we are ordering. Some dishes are cold and some hot, but we can’t tell which is which. From the picture, it is difficult to tell what kind of meat may be cooked with the vegetables.
Asking for rice or even tea has been difficult, although those are relatively easy words to pronounce. They just don’t understand “Southern Chinese.”
I find it interesting to listen to a nurse trying to order, using Chinese words, some English words and her hands with sign language, all at the same time. I watch the expression on the face of the waitress and wish I could take a picture. They are stunned to say the least. We believe they are saying, “Oh no, here comes the crazy Americans” each time they see us walk in.

When the mission ends, we will all take a bus back to Xi’an. A few doctors and nurses are scheduled to leave before us due to schedules back home. Some will go to Beijing or stay a few extra days in Xi’an to sightsee before they return home. Ron, Leigh Ann and I will take a night train from Xi’an back to Shanghai and be on standby for our trip home. We fly buddy passes so it is always “if” we get seats that we go home a certain day.

Ronald, our son who has lived in China for one year and just completed the renovation of Refuge of Grace Christian Care Center that will open soon, has returned to Atlanta for a much needed rest. It has been a difficult year for him. Our trips (20-30 days at a time) are difficult enough, but living in a foreign country without knowing the language and not having a skilled translator who knows construction, is not easy. I would imagine that Ronald has tried to communicate with contractors just like the nurses ordering food, but he is probably upset and saying “NO, NO, we don’t do it that way!”

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and concern for us. We can count off the days until our return now. I will post a brief report after our arrival home so everyone will know we are safely at home enjoying the rest but hating the jetlag.

2010-08-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

Our visit to the Jackson Family Christian Care Center

2010-08-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I met my parents for the breakfast buffet in the hotel. I ate a boiled egg, lots of steamed vegetables, steamed buns filled with red bean paste and hot tea. It was very good.

Mr. Chen and his wife and daughter, Shi Shi, arrived around 9:15. They were also accompanied with John Li, one of our workers in China, as well as a translator. We walked across the street to a store and the translator asked an employee there which floor the books and toys were located on. We went upstairs a level and found the books and proceeded to select dictionaries, books for older children with information like history and animals and some books for the younger children. Shi Shi, the Chen’s daughter, helped select quite a few of them. It appears she enjoys shopping!

We walked over a few aisles and looked at sports equipment. Mr. Chen indicated they had plenty. We only selected three hula hoops in that section. We had found a book on the art of origami (folding papers to make shapes) so we asked another employee where to find the colored paper to use and we selected two large packages. Mrs. Chen and our translator also selected ink and calligraphy brushes which the children can use to practice their Chinese writing skills.

Shi Shi pushed our shopping cart up to the register and we started to pay for everything. After paying, I still had LOTS of money left! So I told them we had to do more shopping! We took everything out to the van and it was decided we would go to another bookstore. There was some discussion about purchasing another television for the care center but Chinese children tend to get addicted to tv and the internet so we decided books would be a better purchase for their education.

At the next stop, I walked in with the Chens, John Li and the translator. It was a very large bookstore with a much bigger selection. We selected books which had transfer pages to learn Chinese writing, books on art and music, etc. We also selected about five more dictionaries for the children. We paid for our purchases and I told them I still had money left over! In the van, Shi Shi winked at my mom and I over the seat. She was in the seat in front of us sitting with my dad and turned around to look at us. In the first store, she had pointed out a package of gum to me. I knew I had a package with me so I got it out in the van and her eyes lit up. I handed her a piece and she really seemed to enjoy it.

Mr. Chen said the boys had recently received new shoes from some volunteers but the girls could use new shoes. We drove to another area and walked through several different markets. Mr. Chen started negotiating prices at one booth with a lady. They were bargaining back and forth but it didn’t appear she was going to back down much off her price. We walked on to more booths with shoes but discovered all of them were much more expensive. We came back to our first booth and Mr. Chen bargained some more. Our translator helped some in the bargaining process. The lady climbed up a ladder to get more shoes in different sizes down out of an attic area. A man in the booth pulled boxes off of shelves with more sizes. We ended up with two large boxes of shoes for the girls. Guess what? I still had money left over!!! I calculated the average cost of these dressy shoes - only about $5.00 a pair!

I told little Shi Shi, “We must do more shopping!” As we left there with the shoes, we walked by a beautiful fruit stand. Mr. Chen and John selected green grapes, two watermelons, and a bag full of longyans. Longyans are round brown fruits which you peel. Inside they are white and there is a seed in the middle you remove as you eat them.
I still had more money left over because the fruit stand owner was not reasonable on her apple prices. We went to another fruit stand and they bought apples at a much better price and we finally used up all of the money!

We were hot and sweaty by this time and found out later that the day’s temperatures rose to 98 degrees. We piled into the van with all of our goods and drove to the care center around 12:15. There are winding roads to the care center and the scenery is pretty along the way. We arrived in time for lunch there. A few children came outside to see us and then they were all called out by the “auntie” with a whistle to line up for lunch. I walked around the side of the building to take a few photos after I took group photos out front with the children lined up to go eat.

Lunch was delicious. The children all went to wash their hands before entering the lunchroom. They were all eating while we toured the kitchen area. I came into the lunchroom and took more photos of the children eating.

We sat down and they brought out bowls of food for us. We ate rice, tomatoes sautéed with eggs, sautéed eggplant, tofu, garlic shoots with pork and corn on the cob. I was only cautious about not getting too much of the pork but I thought all of the food was very good. There was a darling little puppy dog wandering around. He grabbed up any scraps which fell from the table and outside we saw he had his own little bowl of rice!

I met all of the girls here and most of the boys at the care center. Some of the boys are shy or didn’t want their photos taken as easily as the girls did. They are all sweet, kind, polite, helpful, obedient children.
The older children help with the younger ones and they are always smiling and friendly. I fell in love with so many of them.

I went up to one of the boy’s rooms and took a few individual photos of the boys. I had John Li with me to help identify who they were as I took the photo. There is beautiful countryside all around the care center and I took a lot of pictures of the surrounding scenery too.

Upstairs the girls were all in a room sitting on beds together and I began taking photos of them too. They were all cute and seemed to be such good friends with each other. John helped me identify them in my photos too. He will be leaving JFCCC to go to another care center to become a director there. He is a great worker and very dedicated. He is always happy and loves the children. Stephen, our previous worker here, will be coming back to JFCCC. He has recently been in Luxi to search for orphans there for the next care center which will be opening soon - Refuge of Grace Christian Care Center. I brought four packages of “silly bandz” from Woodstock for the children and laid them out on a table for them to each pick one out. The girls went first and the littlest one (#77 Hu Xiao Xia) decided she’d have two! I let the boys pick from dinosaur and animal shapes. They all seemed happy to get a little something. We saved the rest to be distributed to the children who come back from summer break.

The children lined up in the girl’s room to give us their presentation. There were three young girls with handwritten notes to announce the festivities. The entire group performed together and then smaller groups were formed to do different songs and hand motions.
I took eleven videos of their performances. If you are interested in the videos, please email me and I will be happy to send them to you. The youngest little one at the care center walked over to get some attention from my parents. Her older brother and sister also live there and help take care of her.

It was an extremely hot day at the care center. There are fans in the children’s rooms and they were running so that relieved a little of the heat. We met in the office for a little while with Mr. Chen and John Li. I downloaded videos sent from Kevin Johnson and Christina Cruz for their assigned children who were there at the care center during our visit.

Only six children are staying at the care center during the summer holidays. When I told John Li (by email from Georgia) I was disappointed to only be meeting such a small number of children, he and Mr. Chen contacted children who had gone to visit relatives for their summer break and they came back to meet me. They had been practicing for their program for us and I was so happy there were about 30 children there to meet me and for me to see.

We all went upstairs to an activity room since there is more room to present them with gifts from the sponsors as well as an activity we had planned. Peachtree City Church of Christ has a group called, “Little Lambs” and they had each decorated a puzzle piece with stickers, markers and a photo of a child from the church ages 1-8 inside each shape of the puzzle pieces. There were 30 puzzle pieces which would form a heart shape when completed. We gave each of the JFCCC children a puzzle piece since there were 30 children there! The translator and “auntie” called out each number and the child came to the center of the room and put their piece in place each time. When they finished, the auntie got them to circle around the puzzle for a group picture. We think they enjoyed the activity and had fun doing something with us.

Mr. Chen stood at the table with all the purchases we had made that morning and selected four children, two boys and two girls, to come up to receive the gifts. He explained what the purchased items were and these four children thanked us on behalf of everyone. I think they were very pleased with what we had selected and I hope these gifts will be very beneficial to them.

After we met in the office, I wandered around some and took photos of a few boys who were playing in one of the boy’s rooms. I went upstairs and we got the “auntie” to start distributing shoes to the girls in their room. They ran to wash off their feet so they would have clean feet to try on shoes. They were sitting on the edge of the sinks in the bathroom to get their feet clean. The girls enjoyed trying on different shoes to see which ones would fit. The older girls were so kind and patient. They let all the younger ones try them all on first and then when they were finished, some of the older girls tried to see what shoes might fit them. I was so impressed with their actions and polite attitudes.

After distributing everything we had bought and meeting with the director, it was time to leave. By this time it was 5 pm and we were very hot and tired. I did not want to leave these precious children. I told our worker, John Li, if they could install air conditioning in a room for me, I would happily stay forever! A few of the children gathered on the second floor railing and waved down at us. It was a very emotional time for me. I just wanted to run back upstairs and stay!

Thank you so much for your letters, photos, videos and donations for these precious children. I am so thankful to the Jackson Family Foundation for sponsoring this facility and helping out the poor children in China. I love this job and appreciate all the Jackson associates who are a part of this program.

Atlanta to Pingliang - a long, long trip!

2010-08-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

We spent almost all day on July 20th at the Atlanta airport. Flying on buddy passes does not guarantee us a seat. We thought first that we had a better chance on the segment to Narita, Japan, to go through NY but the plane to NY filled up, We changed our flight to Seattle and then stood by for the next three flights to Seattle, only to watch them all fill with sold out seats. Our friend, Harvey Boyd, who worked for Delta, checked out flights through Memphis to Seattle but they were all sold out. He told us we might take a chance and standby on the flight directly to Narita from Atlanta. It showed that it was full but we were able to get seats in coach. It was a long 14 hours but we were just pleased to be on our way. We had a few hours in the Narita airport before we took a near-empty flight to Shanghai. We took the high speed train from the airport to the end of the line and then got a taxi to the hotel. From the time we left home until we opened our hotel door in Shanghai, it was 30 hours. It was very hard to keep from sleeping on the last leg of the trip but I was afraid a nap then would keep me from going to sleep once we got to the hotel.

The next day we headed out to Expo. It has been open since April but there are now approximately 500,000 attending each day. We took the subway and bought our one-day ticket. Leigh Ann wanted to see the Chinese pavilion but we learned very quickly you need a reservation to get in to see it. Reservations were also needed for the Taiwan and Macau buildings. We asked how we made a reservation to see these and were told that every morning at 9:00 a.m. you can make the reservations for those buildings. Our ticket let us inside any other pavilion but they were scattered over several miles and the temperature was about 95 degrees. We waited in an outside line in the hot sun for almost an hour for the Hong Kong building and it was about a 10 minute walk through without anything spectacular to see. After the New Zealand exhibit, we decided it was not worth the effort and headed back to the subway to go back to the hotel.

The next day we took a taxi to the train station and took an all-night train (13 hours) to Pingxiang. Ronald and Mark, one of our workers, met us at the train station. We stopped at a nice hotel and ate breakfast at a nice buffet. It was a 30 minute drive from there to Luxi. We checked in at the hotel and left our luggage so we could head out to see the new care center.

Ronald started the remodeling of the 3-story building the first of May. He will have almost all of it completed in two weeks. It was in the final painting stage, the kitchen equipment is ready to be installed and the rest of the electrical work will be completed in a week. The bathrooms on the first floor are almost completed (they are ready on the other two floors).

This building was originally an office building so there were no showers and only one toilet stall at the end of each floor. It was later used to house old people. Now, there are baths for boys and girls on each floor. Floors will be cleaned and the beds will be assembled and rooms will be completed for the children. About the middle of August, children will begin moving in. What a lovely home it will be for some very poor, unhappy children.

Our only concern is the old people from the other two buildings on the same campus will wander in and out of the building. They put a temporary fence around the building to keep them out but it may be necessary to build a permanent fence for the children’s protection.

The government workers took us to lunch. It was a restaurant in the countryside (very dirty which gives us a little apprehension about the cleanliness of the food preparation). The meal was fair (if you like fish soup and chicken soup with all the parts included). We had smoked pork slices barely cooked, black-eyed peas with hot green peppers, bitter melon, pumpkin, steamed eggs, glutinous dumplings with water chestnuts and canned herbal tea. They wanted us to tour the beautiful gardens (which looked like they had grown up without any tender care for a very long time). The government officials offered to send two cars and drivers to drive us two hours to see some hot springs. Ron politely declined saying he still had much to go over with the workers.

We ate a quiet dinner at a local restaurant with just the four of us. Ronald has eaten there many times with the workers and the waitress spoke some English so ordering was not too difficult.

Today, the workers came to have family services at the hotel and then we went to lunch together. Many of the dishes they ordered at another local restaurant were not what we would have ordered but we managed to eat enough. The little appetizer that was brought first to the table was pickled seaweed. Ronald found a dead fly in it. The waitress brought some roasted peanuts out to replace the seaweed after we showed her the fly. We didn't find anything in the rest of the food but we didn't look very much. Sometimes it is best not to know. We had sweet and sour pork (with bone and fat), beef and potatoes (beef was actually tender like a roast), steamed fish (this one didn't have the head on which is unusual for China), eggplant (spicy with ground beef and hot peppers), cauliflower, greens and fried rice. The three male workers with us put away the food like it was their last meal.

We left this care center the next morning and took an 8-hour train ride to the Jackson Family Christian Care Center in Zigong. I will add Leigh Ann’s write up about the trip there. (Leigh Ann is our daughter and she works in the U.S. handling all the reports for this care center).

From Zigong, we took a 20 hour train to Xi’an. We got on at 10 a.m. one day and arrived in Xi’an the next morning about 6 a.m. We grabbed a bite at McDonalds (including an iced coffee) and boarded a bus for Pingliang, Gansu. It was a 5 hour ride due to a traffic accident that sent us on a detour road over the mountains. The road was narrow and rough and had broken pavement or no pavement part of the way.

We checked into our hotel and went to lunch with Jackie, our worker from Xi’an, who is in charge of the medical mission. Today, our medical team arrives from the U.S. We will have a “welcome” meeting tonight as well as a big dinner.
Tomorrow the surgeries will begin at 7 a.m. We have over 60 children already scheduled for surgery. About five children have arrived from our care centers for either cleft lip or cleft palate surgery.

The mission will end on August 15 and then we return to the U.S. Keep us in your prayers for a successful mission.

Lumpy and Lopsided, But Loved

2010-07-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

Below is Carole Booker's last report before she left China to return home. We appreciate her so much for taking the leap of faith to teach these children. She has been a great blessing to the workers and children. We want to thank Carole Booker for her giving heart and valuable time to these precious children in China. Below is her latest message regarding her time spent in China at the care center.

Dearest Friends and Family,

In a few hours I will catch my last sanlunche, this time to the Tiandeng bus station. I have been busy with lessons and activities and getting to know the kids these past three weeks. I have also spent some time in solitude. Sharing my thoughts with you is good therapy for me.....

Almost exactly 3 and a half years ago the life I had known for 26 years blew apart. My life has turned upside down and inside out. I have gone through many changes over these years. I look back and see His hand in all those changes. After Donald died I wondered what I was going to do with the rest of my life. He was my anchor and now I was adrift.

It wasn't long until I began to see doors open before me. I never dreamed I'd be a teacher other than Sunday school. But the opportunity to start a new career was placed in my lap. The door to involvement in WCS was opened to me, and I walked through it. Beyond that was another door which led to deeper involvement. It opened and I walked through. Each time a door opened, I felt I was meant to walk through it. These were good people I was involved with, this was a good career and a good place to be. He was opening the doors and taking my hand and leading me through them. I see it clear as day. This is how "all things work together for good to those who love Him". I'm watching Him weave my life back together and it is amazing.

So it has been with this trip to China. Three months ago, going to China was nowhere on my radar. Then one Wednesday night in March the preacher caught me in the parking lot and said, "Have I got a deal for you!" They had received a call that there was a need for a woman to join the medical mission team to China and for some unknown reason my name was the first to come up. I was stunned by the offer, but began to think maybe I could do this. Is this another door? I decided to walk through it. Then more doors opened, others closed and no longer did I find myself going with a team of Americans to a large city in China. Instead I would be working alone at an orphanage in a tiny rural village in far southwest China. There would be one person who could speak any English.

As the destination evolved into a more and more remote location, fear began to well up inside me. I remember throwing myself on the bed, sobbing and telling Him, "I'm afraid! I shouldn't go out alone at night in my own part of town and I was going to the other side of the world by myself where I couldn't communicate. Why ME? I am the only parent my sons have, I have no experience with this sort of thing and there will be none to teach me, I have never been anywhere, much less China." When I dried my tears I had to ask myself, "Do you believe He is opening this door for you? Is this from Him?" I thought about those who brought my name up and asked me to go. I thought about what I was being asked to do. I thought about my circumstances and how they allow me to do this. I thought about how they wanted someone to teach English and how I happen to now be an English teacher. I thought about the need and the workers that are so few. And I had to conclude that yes, this was from Him. So there was only one more question to ask.
What do you have to be afraid of?

So I moved forward. This was a leap of faith like none I've ever made. He has kept me perfectly healthy and perfectly safe. Every challenge I faced He provided someone to help me through it or gave me enough understanding to figure it out and be successful. Now my task is almost done. I'll be saying goodbye to the new faces that are now familiar to me: Su Hong, Li Mei, Hai Lang, Qin Qiu, Fu Qiang, Cai Jian, Kai Zhong, Cai Xiu, Qin He, Zhen De, Li Xiu, Jian Tao, Xiao Ting, Xin Ying, Fang Fang, Dong Xue, Asan, and Lou and so many more.
It will not be easy.

I think of the work I did here as an offering of service to Him. It reminds me of when we made our first attempt at pottery in the 3rd grade and we made a bowl or some other vessel intended to be useful as a gift to our parents. We tried hard at that tender age and were proud of the results, but to look at them now we would laugh at our clumsy attempts at creativity.

This offering I made for Him these last few weeks is similarly flawed. It has a few holes in it. It is rough around the edges and lumpy. There are spots I missed with the glaze and...it's lopsided. But with my limited understanding and ability, it truly is the best I could create. And so I offer it unashamed because I know, like my earthly father, He will love it, lumps and all. He will put it on a shelf in that mansion over the hilltop and keep it with all the other offerings from His children. He remembers each one. Mine is among the most primitive looking. There are those like mine on the shelf and there are beautiful masterpieces, too. They are all on the same shelf and are each cherished by the Father.

Soon I will hear "Auntie Kai!" for the last time. I don't know if more opportunities like this await me or if I'm meant to take what I've learned and do something else. I don't know what doors will be opened next. I don't know where I'm going, you see, I'm not the driver. I'm learning to leave that to the One who has much better vision than I.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. Your love and support has meant everything to me.
I'm coming home.

Yours always,
Carole

English Teachers at the Care Centers

2010-07-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Each summer we encourage people to go visit our care centers to teach English and Bible classes. This year, directors were more diligent to encourage children to remain at the center for the classes or go back to visit relatives for a short time and then come back for the special classes. Although many students miss this special treat, those that are present truly enjoy the presence of an American teacher.

Steve Hawley from Westbury Christian School in Houston, TX is at North Canton Christian Care Center. Here is what he wrote this past week:

Good afternoon! The heat is oppressive but we are making it just fine. This morning, we had a class on ASK-SEEK-KNOCK that went well. Afterwards, we had an English class, discussing American weights/measures, currency, occupations, musical terms, etc. I even talked about the exchange rate of dollars and R.M.B.! Yesterday, we went on an adventure. We took the kids swimming at a river about 45 minutes drive from here. We had to go in two shifts because of limited space in the rented vehicle. It was a neat place where they took us on a boat across a river to an island where the channel was shallow. I don't think any of the kids can really swim, but they loved playing in the water with small innertubes. I joined in and left with a nice sunburn! It was so much fun! After we swam, we had a cookout on the island. Over an open fire, we roasted hot dogs, potatoes, eggplant, and leeks. Dessert was apples and watermelon. All of us were exhausted! You might notice in the picture that the children swam fully clothed. It took a long time to get the dirt off my khaki shorts! I broke down and purchased a pair of flip flops. Nobody here wears socks. It really was, for me, a matter of convenience as it is hard washing dirty socks by hand! Keep us in your prayers as we make headway with the kids. Several of the younger ones struggle as you might expect from not living with parents. They attach themselves to you very quickly. The older girls really seem to want to learn and they are very open. If I had a million dollars to help here, I would not know where to start in terms of facilities, but they do the best they can and the children are loved.
God bless,
Steve Hawley, Teacher

The next five or so segments are from Carole Booker who is also a teacher at Westbury Christian School in Houston. She has spent several weeks at John Connor Brown Christian Care Center in Tiendeng. Her descriptions of her life there are priceless and I know my readers will really enjoy reading what she experienced. She gave me permission to add this to my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Subject: First day in Tiandeng
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 09:52:06 -0500

Hello from Tiandeng, China!
Wow, how could you fit any more experiences into one day? Asan picked me up from the hotel and we went down to the complimentary breakfast which was a large buffet in a beautiful dining hall, very elegant, but they wouldn't let me take pictures. Then we took a taxi to the bus station. Driving through the streets of Nanning was frightening to say the least and they don't have back seat seat belts which made it worse. Lots of bicycles and motor scooters and the occasional bicycle driven rickshaw, complete with traditional straw hat. I even saw someone carrying two buckets suspended from opposites ends of a long pole across his shoulders like I've seen in old movies. At the bus station I realized we had left elegant back at the hotel. It was hot and busy. They made me open my suitcase at security because I had an aerosol container of bug spray. Asan talked with them for a long time and finally they let me keep it. Funny, nobody had a problem with the can at the 3 airport security check points I went through. I knew this would be a long bus ride and I foolishly had 2 cups of coffee with breakfast, so I had my first Chinese bathroom experience at the Nanning bus station....a long trough....enough said. Outside of the city the scenery is beautiful. I didn't sleep any on the bus because I was fascinated with the mountains and farms. We passed several water buffalo grazing by the road and several more pullng ploughs in the rice fields like they've done for probably a thousand years. A few hours into the ride we came to the Tiandeng bus station outside the city. Asan said we would take another bus and then she said "this would be better" and we boarded a cart pulled by a motorcyle. At least it had a plastic sheet over the top for shade, but the back was open and needless to say, no seatbelts.....barely even seats. We bounced along for I guess 10 miles passing buffalo and locals until we came to the entrance to the care center which is located on a public school campus. The children were on a break when we arrived and they all came and stared and wondered who I was. They were all very sweet and surprised when I said, "Ni hao!" they giggled and Asan instructed them to say "hello" to me. They took me to my room which is the private room off the kitchen with the "western" facilities, PTL! Then I got a tour of the care center and met the workers. One of the workers fixed us lunch and we sat to eat rice with tomatoes and chicken skin and cabbage. They don't drink anything with their meals here. After lunch I tried hooking up to the internet which eventually worked and then I met Lou, the director. We talked about when I might be able to schedule a time for classes. At first they said the children are too busy with school for any other lessons and I was very disappointed. The more we talked they decided I could teach on Saturday and Sunday if the students would be willing. I will just have to make it exciting enough to draw a crowd. I observed the children have several breaks during the day even though they have school until 8:00 at night. I decided to try to do most of my teaching outside during those breaks. When I hear the school bell signal for break time, I'll go stand outside and try to look interesting. I tried it this afternoon and it worked! I drew a crowd of children who asked me all sorts of things and wanted to know the English words written on their shirts and teach me Chinese words. Asan said one girl wanted to tell me she loves the Father and wants to hear GB stories. I was thrilled. Another girl wanted to tell me I had big beautiful eyes. That was nice, too. When the kids went back to class I took a nap. They woke me up for dinner where I was introduced as Auntie Kai. The children are wonderful and very happy. I sat at a table with 7 children and they took turns trying to help me pronounce their names. They laughed at me a lot. After dinner Xin Ying, one of the 2nd graders took me by the hand and led me all over the facility and finally yelled across to someone at the entrance and we both went running towards them. It was Lou about to take 3 boys on an evening walk through town. Xin Ying pulled me out the gate with them, I must admit I was a little aprehensive since I was with no one who spoke English. We walked about 30 minutes down streets and through alleys between houses and past a pig pen and through a rice field to a trough where women were washing clothes with Tide. Once back inside the campus gates Xin Ying escorted me through the school corridors and before we knew it there were about 20 girls following us and giggling and saying "hello". We went to the girls dorm where one girl showed me a coloring book of GB stories. I was reading it to a couple of girls when another one came in and insisted we go down the hall. When we did I saw a group of the girls line dancing to a children's video and they wanted me to watch. They were adorable. Finally I explained Auntie Kai needed to sleep and I said "wan an". Now I'm under my mosquito net with a fan about to sleep on a piece of plywood. I hope to sleep like a log because I am truly exhausted. Love to you all. Hope everything is well in Houston. Sorry for the long email - lots to say.
Love,
Carole (Auntie Kai)

Subject: China update
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 02:27:49 -0500

Hi everyone,
This is my 5th day at the care center. I taught 4 lessons over the weekend and they went well. On Saturday the son and daughter of an Australian missionary in Tiandeng came to the care center. They said they heard I was coming and they wanted to come see me. They interpreted for my classes. Their father's name is Ross Meredith. I don't know if anyone has heard of him or even what denomination he might be, but I think the children frequently come to the care center to help. They are older teenagers and grew up in China/Taiwan. They said maybe I could come over to visit them in Tiandeng while I'm here. I hope that works out.
It is Monday so the children are back in school and taking their semester tests tomorrow. I listen for the school bells and then go out to the yard and read to the kids or play with them or take pictures of them. Ron Brown's friend, Lowell, makes videos for fundraisers for the care centers and he asked me to videotape a few of the children and provide a little "up close and personal" information for them. Many of the students will go home after their tests (home being a relative who takes care of them during the summer break) so I've been busy trying to do this before they leave.
It is extremely hot here. It has to be 100 today and no breeze. The fan in my room makes it feel like only 90. It's hard to sleep. I've given up on the mosquito net because it breaks the breeze from the fan. I found a couple of quilts to put under me on the plywood bed which has helped a little.
I'm getting to know the children and many of their names. The girls are much more social than the boys. You can always find the boys, especially the younger ones playing in the waterway that runs through the center of the orphanage. This waterway is used for everything; laundry, bathing, rinsing mops, playing, swimming, washing pots, rinsing garbage pails. The boys found some leeches in it a couple of days ago which made for lots of entertainment. Today it was guppies.
Tonight I will find a group somewhere after their classes and have more impromptu lessons. After lunch today the little library on the boy's floor was open and I went in there with a few kids. There were some bilingual GB story books there and we read them.
The food has been rice and some kind of "mixin" at every meal. Today I think it was pork and some green beans.
I will write again soon. Love to all.
Carole

Subject: 2nd week in China
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 08:34:47 -0500

Ni hao!
I'm into my second week here and a bit more settled into the routine, trouble is the routine keeps changing. The children finished their examinations Wednesday. We took another long walk with some kids Monday evening around the town here, Rong Hua. The scenery is beautiful, the poverty is devastating. Yet at least the homes I see are made of cinder blocks and not sticks and mud. We passed a gaggle of geese and honked back at them. We passed a big lily pond and the girls picked the huge leaves and wore them upside down as hats - so cute. When we finished our walk through the rice fields we came back to the village and the local farmers were parked as usual selling produce. Lu noticed there was a very good price for watermelons so we stood at the watermelon truck while he bought about 10 of them. Xin Ying was ecstatic. You would have thought she was getting a triple scoop of ice cream. Everyone carried a watermelon back to the center and we had them for the evening snack. I was not given a lesson time because of the school work, but thought I would try to squeeze one in. I know I don't have many more chances before most of them leave. I took the perfume samples upstairs to the girl's rooms a little before bedtime. I opened them and showed the girls what they were. Quickly a crowd gathered and I asked one of them to get Asan to translate. I told them the story of Mary pouring perfume on his feet and how she loved him so much because he had forgiven her so much and how he loves us. I explained my friends had collected the perfume samples for me to give them and they squeeled and quickly all of the samples disappeared. They laughed at the ones they didn't like and swooned at the ones they did. It was a big hit. Thanks to all of you who helped me with that.
Tuesday Asan said she needed help on an errand in town and asked if I wanted to go. I was happy to go and see the world outside. We took a san luan chue to Tiandeng town. We were going there to find a storage room where the care center kept a supply of quilts some ladies in the US had made for the orphanages. We were to count out about 70 of them and ship them to Nanning where they would be taken to the new care center opening in August. The storage room was on the fourth floor. We pulled quilts out of huge bags and melted as we counted them out and stuffed them back in. Then we had to carry them down the stairs. It took both of us 3 trips and we were completely spent. Asan is no bigger than me. When we had brought them down and stacked them in the alley we stopped at a little store right there and had a cold coke.....best one I've ever had. Then we walked the streets looking for a shipping company to send the quilts to Nanning. The second shipping company we tried agreed to do it so we walked back to get the quilts. Fortunately they sent a san luan chue to carry them back for us! We were also picking up a water machine there so we rode the delivery truck (san luan chue) back to the care center with the machine and some other supplies. Very tired when we got back. I had not done a lesson with the kids that day because they have tests tomorrow and Asan said I should not do a lesson. When it was dark I saw a thunderstorm in the distance over a mountain and put a chair outside my room and sat to watch it. I sang "How Great Thou Art" as I watched it. Xin Ying heard me singing and climbed in my lap to listen. I remembered the last part of the chorus in Chinese from our Chinese church and and sang it in Chinese and she jumped and turned around and looked at me and laughed. Then I sang the "He loves me,This I Know" song and sang the first phrase in Chinese and before long she was singing with me. Then she got a wild hair and started running all over the courtyard yelling the son loves me in Chinese. I think I just did my lesson.

Asan will be gone some of next week so I will be without anyone who speaks English. She has arranged for me to take the 10 remaining children into Tiandeng town to teach them because someone she knows there could translate. The part about me taking the kids into town by myself is a little unnerving. I am to teach in town next Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The new translator has invited some local children to come to my lessons also, but she doesn't think many will come. On Tuesday and Friday we will stay in town and eat lunch somewhere and then look around town. Tiandeng is much larger than Rong Hua, but that's not saying alot. There are lots of little storefronts for all kinds of goods, but nothing like a KFC or Starbucks...not even close.
I was trying to do a lesson last night, but in the middle of it Lou called a meeting of all students and everyone disappeared. I'll try again.
Government came to visit yesterday. I missed the opportunity to meet them, coming outside just as they were leaving. They said they heard I was here and wanted to see one of my lessons, but that wasn't the reason for the visit. Asan doesn't think they actually will.
Many of the children left the center today for summer break. I said goodbye to Xin Ying. I'll tell you all about her when I come home. I cried as I watched her leave. I hope she will be ok.
I gave a lesson to a few of the remaining children tonight. A large part of it was spent reading the death, burial and resurrection out of a children's version one of the students had. Someone had supplied the bilingual books to all the children and they wanted me to read to them.
I know you are tired of reading by now. I'll try not to write so much next time.
Love to all.
Carole

Subject: A new adventure
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 06:19:28 -0500

Hi everyone,
I'm still doing fine, haven't gotten sick!The last couple of days have been eventful. Friday the 6th graders took their examination to get into 7th grade. I was sitting in my room this afternoon writing during the kid's rest time and looked out to see a snake peering over the walkway by the office. Wanting to be able to sleep tonight, I went up to make sure I knew where it was and then looked for Asan. She was nowhere so one of the teenage girls came out and I pointed to it. She squealed and yelled something and Lou and all the boys came running out. I fully expected to be laughed at and the boys to be playing with the snake the rest of the afternoon. But they looked just as horrified as I was. One boy slapped it with his shoe as it was trying to get away and then crushed its head. Chao Song slung it over the fence. I guess it wasn't the kind you play with.
I had a lesson tonight on feeding the 5000. These kids know most of these stories from the director that was here before, so I had little Qin Qiu show the pictures and tell the story herself. We do simple conversation, greetings with the puppets I brought which they love.

Then it was movie night. It was HOME ALONE - the original. One of my favorites. I sang along with all the songs.
Saturday I was planning to work on my lessons more for teaching in Tiandeng next week, but Asan came to get me and said they were going into town to have a competition, so I went along.
When we got to the site, the lady who will translate for my lessons next week told me we had a problem. Apparently 18 neighborhood kids wanted to come and there is not nearly enough room for all of them in the location we had planned. A local school teacher had heard I was coming and encouraged the students to come. When the translator told the teacher there were too many, she offered for me to use a room at the public school. I was hesitant because I was nervous about traveling there on my own. I said I wanted to see the school so it was arranged for Asan and me and the new translator to go look at the school after the competition was over.

The competition was a sort of debate. They practiced for a good 3 hours in this cramped room sitting on little stools while Asan explained the debate process. Then we left for lunch and the real competition would be in the afternoon. I witnessed some unpleasant events happen in the market place as we were looking for a place to eat and pretty much lost my appetite. The girls were very sweet, they saw me crying and were very concerned. I couldn't help it.
After lunch the debate started. It lasted 2+ hours. Our kids wouldn't have lasted 30 minutes and these worked on this for 5 hours, no complaining, no talking out of turn. Plus, school was out for the summer and it was a Saturday.
Afterwards we walked a short ways to the public school. I was expecting to just look at an empty classroom, but when we arrived we were ushered into the headmaster's office where we met her and a dozen other teachers. Even without speaking the language I could tell this was turning into a much bigger deal than anyone thought.

The headmaster said that if we were going to use her classroom she wanted more of her students involved in the class. So now I am teaching 38 students for 4 days next week at the public school with the teachers and headmaster in attendance. Not exactly what I had in mind. I'm a little stressed out!

There was a park with a waterfall nearby and we walked over to it before catching the san luan chue back home. Several kids were swimming, some sans-suit. There is a trail up the mountain next to the waterfall that leads to a pagoda looking gazebo that overlooks Tiandeng. I expect we'll go up there next week.

I decided to write Ron Jr. and tell him about the teaching situation next week in case this is not something he wants me to do. He said it was ok for me to do it, but it was way above and beyond what they brought me here to do and I was under no obligation and he could cancel the whole thing if I want him to. It's nice to know there's a knight in shining armor who can save me when I get in over my head, but I told him I would go tomorrow and see what happens. Without Asan here, my teaching abilities are greatly handicapped, so at least I could still be doing something productive. Ron called later to tell me that they had arranged for Ms.Xin to pick us up at the care center and take us to the school. Then she would be my interpreter. I was told to stick strictly to the English. It's funny. These people think I know what I'm doing. This is my first time to do something like this. All my students speak English. I'm feeling my way in the dark here. Say a prayer for me and I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.
Love to all,
Carole

More Tiendeng Tales
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:18:01 -0500

Hello again!,
I've managed four days without a translator and I'm doing quite well. Asan was supposed to be back Wednesday, but she didn't arrive until everyone had gone to bed. But the good news is her trip tomorrow has been postponed, so she isn't leaving again. I have a bad feeling it's been postponed because of me. She really didn't intend to leave me by myself with this teaching deal in Tiandeng, that's just how it all worked out. Several kind people have stepped up to help me out and I've been well taken care of. I seem to have gotten closer to the kids in spite of the lack of communication. We're pretty good at body language and hand signals.

The classes I've been teaching in town have been going smoothly, but not exactly how it was described to me. I was supposed to have the younger ones Monday and Thursday and the older ones Tuesday and Friday. On Tuesday the younger ones showed up again. I moved on with another lesson, but had planned to teach the first lesson again for the older ones. I tried to explain to the translator that I wanted to know what happened to the older children. I was afraid they misunderstood that we were splitting the class by age and just thought they were bumped off the list. Today the younger ones came again, but about 7 older ones joined in.

In an email from Ron he said to always expect the unexpected in China.

The military was there again Tuesday, this time with rifles, but thankfully no gunfire! When I finished talking to the translator and teacher after class Tuesday, I walked to the school gate where Lou and the kids were waiting for me. The soldiers were taking a rest under some trees in the courtyard. As I walked by I heard a chorus of "Good Morning!" from among the ranks. I had to laugh to myself. I waved and greeting them likewise.

Lou told the translator to ask me if I wanted to go back to the center and rest or if I wanted to go with him and the children to get some lunch and spend the afternoon in town. I said I wanted to go with Lou and the kids. He was pleased. As we left the school to walk to the market area Lou took my backpack off my back without saying a word and carried it for me the rest of the day. I was so grateful. It was full of my teaching supplies and heavy. I felt badly for him, though, because it turned out to be a long day.

The first stop was at a supermarket where evidently we were getting snacks. The children were each putting their choices into the cart. I recognized some crackers, so I picked those and a bottle of COLD purified water from the cooler. The girls saw me swoon over a package of chocolate and strawberry cookies and they insisted I get those, too. I tried to pay for my own things, but Lou wouldn't have it.
After the market we went to eat lunch. We stopped at the same little shop where we ate on Saturday. After lunch we took the boys for haircuts at a nearby barber shop. They needed it. I took "before and after" pictures of each one. It was the first time in two weeks I had seen myself in a mirror bigger than a 2 inch pocket mirror......I was horrified. I have reached an all time low in bad hair days. This heat and humidity and riding in open air vehicles through clouds of dust and smoke has my hair a curly mess. I tried to straighten it up a bit, but it was futile.
While we were at the barber shop a young man and girl came in and sat beside me and said hello. I recognized the girl as a friend of the librarian's who was trying to learn English. She had brought the young man to find me because he wanted to practice English with me. His American name is Kevin Lee. He stayed with us the rest of the day. Before long he had input my email address into his phone, I have a new pen pal.
We walked to the park I mentioned a few days ago and we climbed the mountain to the pagoda at the top. There was a stone stairway that wound its way up the mountain. I counted 400 stairs to the top. A few of the stairs were normal, but most had a much higher rise and some were as tall as my knees. It was hot and I was completely exhausted when we reached the top. After I was sure I still had a pulse, I looked around and took more pictures. It was a beautiful view. When we got back to the bottom we sat by the little waterfall and swimming hole and ate the snacks we had bought.
Then we ran an errand. Lou needed to move everything out of that storage apartment I went to with Asan. So up 4 flights of stairs we went. Kevin came too. Everybody carried something downstairs, but every bag or item I picked up Kevin took out of my hands and said he would carry it, I was to carry nothing and just rest. Either he's extremely chivalrous or I looked like I was about to pass out. He came all the way back to the care center with us. He was very proud to play Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey songs over his phone for me. When we got back I went to my room and collapsed. It was 4:30.
That night 4 of the girls went swimming in the viaduct (or is that aqueduct? anyway the cement waterway thing that runs through the courtyard and comes from who knows where). I sat and watched and laughed with them. They begged me to come swim with them, but I respectfully declined - doctor's orders. I was warned not to stand in the water, much less swim in it.

I have a blister on my hand from playing badminton with the new cleaning lady.

I taught 23 in class today. Among other things we learned left and right and major body parts so, naturally, we had to do the hokey-pokey. I took them outside and showed them a simplified version of the old standard and they laughed, but they joined me. One older girl who knows some English came up to me laughing and said, "You are crazy!" Asan said teachers don't act silly with the kids here, but they like it. When class was over Mrs. Xin's husband picked me up in a different car. So far every time I've seen him he's been in a different car. They get better every time. (I'm looking forward to tomorrow!) Today it was a new Volkswagon Passat with working a/c and - BONUS - seat belts! I got the front seat this time so it was a glorious ride back to the center, over much too soon.

Funny things people have said to me:
A man walked up to me as I was waiting with the children and Kevin for a ride back to the care center and this was our conversation:
He: Hello. May I help you?
Me: Hello. No, thanks. I'm just waiting here with my friends.
He: Hello. May I help you?
Me: No, thank you. I'm ok.
He: Hello. May I help you?
Me: No, I'm fine thanks. (I was running out of answers)
Realizing I was not a great conversationalist, he finally gave up and walked off.

I passed a man in town and he said enthusiastically, "Auf Wiedersehen!" Now, I am actually half German, but I had no idea it was so obvious.

After having just seen myself in a real mirror for the first time in 2 weeks, Kevin came in the barber shop to converse with me, as I mentioned earlier. After awhile he said, "You look very nice". I thanked him, but I had to laugh. His English skills need a little fine tuning. What he really meant to say was, "You look like Harpo Marx."

Love to all,
Carole