Moving On

We are moving on.  I will post this segment to my blog while I have a free internet connection.

Our work in the Rio Grande Valley has finished.  It’s been a good two weeks in this southern tip of Texas.  We have been well-received by the churches but it’s our second trip to visit most of them.  Some Christians have been very generous to give donations for the work. We find some new people each year that have not heard of our work and are quite amazed that we are able to do this in China.  God has certainly blessed us.  It’s isn’t humanly possible to accomplish a lot without God’s blessings.  HE goes before us to soften hearts that give up permission to care for the poor children.  We read in the Bible about Christ’s compassion for the people and his love for the little children.  We are merely servants trying to follow HIS example.  The need is great in many third-world countries.  It is certainly this way in China.

Last Sunday morning, we met a couple from Illinois.  They took us for Mexican food after services.   It was definitely real Mexican food! This sweet couple spends six months each winter in McAllen and live in a 5^th wheel camper.  They said there are 1000 slots for campers in the park where they stay.  As we drive around, we see parks on each side of the roads.  When I say there are thousands living in motor homes in southern TX in the winter, I’m not exaggerating.  Sometimes we can see them lined up for miles.  They are referred to as “Winter Texans” rather than “Snow Birds.”   It doesn’t matter where they are from – they still “winter in Texas.”

I saw one RV park mentioned on the 6:00 p.m. news.  They must also have thousands of motor home residents.  They have activities planned for them day and night.  There was a roomful of them (all senior citizens, of course) so it looked like an activity room at a nursing home.  I’m sure these older people enjoy meeting other people and doing things together.  If they live in a very cold area, this life style provides them with several months of vacation in a warm climate. 

This Sunday morning, we will be at the church in Alice, TX.   We will arrive Saturday about noon and park overnight in their parking lot.  Sunday afternoon, we will drive to San Antonio.  Ron is scheduling appointments in San Antonio now that will take about 10 days to complete.  He is working on appointments for other places after that. 

Our weather in the Valley has been in the 40’s at night so it’s good sleeping weather under a warm comforter.  The days warm up to the 70’s.   One day this week, a cold front moved all the way down to Mexico and brought winds that were unbelievable.  We know we had sustained winds up to 40 or 50 mph and gusts much higher.  We brought in the sliders of the RV in order to protect the canvas covers over the sliders and reduce some of the noise and movement.   We are too heavy to turn over with winds like this but we do “rock and roll” in high winds. At night, it was impossible to sleep some of the time because of the noise.

We did not complain about the winds when we saw this front dumped 19” of snow in Amarillo, TX (panhandle of TX) and took its toll on many people as it moved northeast.   Old man winter is not sleeping yet. 

February is usually a low-income month.  Many contributors give donations during December in order to have a tax credit in 2012.  Many orphan sponsors pay yearly and send in a large donation in January every year.  February usually dwindles down for these reasons, but we were very blessed with a very good income this month. 

March brings many expenses for China Mission because the spring semester of school begins in China.  We now have a large number of children in high school.  They live at the school during the week so we have cost of living expenses in addition to tuition.

Ron is working on travel arrangements for a group of 14 going from Buford, Georgia to China,   They will be going to Wesley’s House in Pingguo to work for a few weeks at the end of May.  We know it will be a very rewarding and exciting experience for them and for the children at the care center.

A group of doctors and nurses from Houston (I think they may all be  Chinese) plan to go to the new hospital in WaDian, Henan in July to conduct our first medical mission.  Ron thinks it will primarily be to give physicals to the children in that area to determine their health needs.  This team will not do surgery on this trip, but they will identify problems with children, such as congential heart disease, TB, hepatitis, and locate other problems such as cleft lip/palate and dental needs.  We can schedule heart patients to Xi’an or to the U.S. for surgeries.  Future medical teams will be able to handle some of the less severe illnesses.  We are excited about this new method to help poor children.  When we can expand our borders, it gives hope and opportunity to help children that would never receive treatment otherwise. 

We are hopeful that the government is this area will be proud of the work and support it with approval and offer help in various ways.

Ron has been working on the Form 990, the yearly income tax return that must be filed for all non-profit institutions.  It’s taken a lot of his time and is very complicated.  I helped add some columns for him last night and checked his figures. I got a close-up view of the complicated return.  The IRS audited us a few years ago and when the worker went by our house in Georgia, Judy, our Chinese worker, answered her questions.  Judy was very fast with her work and I’m sure her explanation was too complicated for the IRS worker.  She didn’t stay very long.  Keeping our books really is difficult because of the uniqueness of sending funds to China and receiving petty cash forms from China as to how the money is spent.

We received good news this morning that Ryan and Rachel Swanson, our workers at Refuge of Grace Christian Care Center in Luxi, have a baby girl.  They have been full-time teachers working at this care center since last June.  They were educated at Freed-Hardeman University and have majors in Bible so they are well-prepared to help the children.  For six or seven years, they have taught English in China and are fluent in Mandarin.  They are a great blessing to our work.  We are so happy that Rachel and their new baby daughter are doing well.

Well, that’s all I can report at this time.  We don’t get a chance to venture out of the RV during the week except to shop for food and visit the churches.  I hope to write again and have more interesting news next time. 

Keep us in your prayers.  Not only for our health and safety but also for our workers and the children we care for.  Thank you.