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.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
DAYS IN SHANGHAI
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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| Becky and Lily at Breakfast |
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
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Count it all Joy
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.
"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 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.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Fireworks in Texas
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.
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.
"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.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The joys of simple pleasures of life
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. 
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.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Back in Texas after a trip to Georgia
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.
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.
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