Another traveling experience in China

We left Chengde and the medical mission Tuesday afternoon to travel to Zigong. Chad and Carlyn Jackson, of Alpharetta, Georgia, along with sponsors Carol Mitchell from Hendersonville, TN, and Le Ellen Smith and her son, Carl, from Troy, TN, met us in Zigong on Thursday to see the Jackson Family Foundation Care Center.
The building will be a four-story facility and house approximately 100 orphans. Construction is behind due to rain and difficulties getting things done on a timely basis in China. We hoped it would be completed by September but it will probably take another month. They are going up with the walls on the fourth floor and soon the roof can be added. Once the major structure is completed, the finishing work can begin.

The elementary and middle schools are very near. There is a rock fence all around the property so the children will be secure. The view from the dorm rooms will be spectacular. There are hills and valleys with crops growing and lakes which makes it a very beautiful setting.

It was a delight to spend time with the group from the U.S. After seeing the orphanage, the group went to the dinosaur museum. It’s really an exciting place to visit. The museum is built directly over the burial grounds where they excavated all of the skeletons of the dinosaurs. I doubt there is a more complete collection of skeletons, bones and petrified portions of dinosaurs anywhere in the world.
The local government officials treated us to a very elegant dinner at the hotel where Ron and I stayed. We didn’t know what we were eating most of the evening but the food was not only delicious, it was also displayed beautifully and served in a very elegant style. Everyone really enjoyed this treat. It is the Chinese way to welcome visitors to their area. This time, it was in appreciation for the Jackson family and their contribution to build the orphanage and provide care for the children. We will not need sponsors for these 100 children because the Jackson Family Foundation will also care for the children. We are overwhelmed at their generosity.

After dinner, our workers drove the group, also Ron and me, to Chengdu. We arrived about 12 p.m. in our hotel room. The group was going to see the pandas today in that area before leaving for Xi’an this afternoon. Ron and I got up at 6 a.m. to catch a flight to return to Changde. From Chengdu, we flew to Changsha where a driver from the hospital met us to drive us back to Changde. We arrived back at our hotel at 2 p.m. today.

When we left on Tuesday afternoon, the hospital driver drove us the 3 hours to Chengdu. We took a flight to Chongching but it was over two hours late leaving. When we arrived there, it was pouring rain. A government driver and one of our workers planned to meet us at the airport but due to the heavy rain they could not get through the flooded roads leading up to the airport. After a couple of phone calls, they instructed us to take the airport bus because it could get through the flooded streets. We got off at the first stop and called them again.

It was 12:00 p.m. and the bus stop was just a shelter in the middle of nowhere. We could not see any hotels or recognizable businesses anywhere around us. Other people who got off the bus were taking taxis on home. A man was sitting on a motorcycle with an umbrella attached waiting to take a passenger but he was out of luck with no single person wanting a ride. Ron handed the cell phone to this man to talk to our driver to explain where we were.

Chongqing is a very large city; maybe the third largest in China. Our driver lives in Zigong, a much smaller town three hours away. I didn’t think he could possibly find us at the first airport bus stop easily. However, by the time Ron put his cell phone in his pocket, up walked Robert, one of our workers. I told Ron I was beginning to believe in a direct miracle when I saw him appear. The driver spoke with the man on the motorcycle. We knew he was asking directions back to the highway to Zigong. Shortly after we left, the motorcycle appeared in front of us and led us all the way to the toll booth that headed to Zigong.

The drive on to Zigong that night was dangerous with rain slick highways, many large trucks on the road and a sleepy driver that had a lot of trouble staying awake. We arrived at our hotel at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. We got about six hours of sleep and then went to the job site to see the construction. Our son, Ronald, who went ahead of us to Zigong about 10 days ago, joined us to see the building and have lunch with us and the top workers. They came to our hotel room for a meeting about the construction work. Ronald spent the rest of the afternoon with us.

It was decided that Ronald will go on to Wesley’s House in Pingguo later this week or early next week. He’s not really needed in Zigong to help with the construction work. As Ron put it, there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians there already. The school across from Wesley’s house can be remodeled for dorm rooms and house more students. Only one floor of the building is used for classes. Ronald will have less difficulty working there with Peter, who speaks good English. Ronald was finding the limited English of our workers in Zigong a real challenge.

Four days of this week were spent on our trip to Zigong since it is so difficult to travel there. We will remain in Chengde this coming week to finish up the medical mission. After the first day of the mission, everything has gone smoothly. They have completed 50 surgeries in five days. The team will take tomorrow off as a holiday and rest time. The hospital has scheduled a day sight-seeing trip for those who want to go. Ron and I feel we need the rest after the travel this week so we will not go on the day trip.