Hi Loved Ones!
I’m alive!!! I am coming out from under the rock of China. Just landed in South Africa. This is so unreal. Just 54hrs ago I was in Beijing and a couple days before that I was serving at a special needs orphanage in Jiaozoa in Mid Eastern China.
This month was everything but easy. I should have known that from the moment we touched down from the Philippines and our bus driver dropped us off at the wrong train station. With just 45 min until our train was scheduled to take off, we had to figure out how to find the right subway route to the train station, buy tickets and find the right platform. This could be doable if the only language spoken in this country wasn’t Chinese. Thankfully the Lord sent someone at each stopping point that knew enough English to direct to the next stop. This is just the begining of seeing how the Lord provides!!! Once we got to the station we had 10 minutes to find our platform, train and car. We were running full speed (3/4 mi/ hr with all our gear on) trying to get where we needed to go. This was so much more intense in the moment- with just 15 seconds to spare all 11 of us made it onto the train. Amazing Race style much? We were so surprised- people should film this stuff! Once on, we had the great joy of getting 11 packs and 11 day packs to fit in the small compartments. We noticed the people on the train seemed to have a good time watching us shuffle around. After 20 min, we were finally settled in for our 20 hr journey on hard plastic seats to our destination. Thankfully I had a time laps every 2 hrs, so I never got board. 🙂
Once we arrived we took a 2 hr bus ride to our final destination- Eagle’s Wings in Jiaozoa, an orphanage or safe house for 61 orphans with special needs. I didn’t really tell anyone this, but I was so nervous going in. Before this, I had never worked with orphans or children with special needs, like cerebral palsey, downs syndrome, ADHD or blindness. Nothing like full immersion. The first night we got there, we were introduced to our contact over some yummy Chinese food. After dinner we split up into groups and placed in each of the Eagle's Wings homes to live with the children. Ha it ended up being more than an amazing experience. There is nothing like being greeted by 10 smiling faces every morning and evening before they left for school and when they returned. They loved giving us "high five!" and "pound it!" We took turns taking shifts at each of the houses, playing with the babies and young grade schoolers, eating with them and taking them out. When we were not playing with the kids, we were teaching English in their school and the nearby kindergarten. Before this, I did not know that I had the skills to teach. It took a little coaxing from my teammates the first time, but after my first class I was hooked. It was the most life giving experience. God provided the skills I needed to complete this task every time.
One of our biggest projects was to paint the inside of Eagles Wings house 2 (where I was staying). We put on our painters caps and in 2.5 days we washed, sanded, primed and painted the common area and kids rooms. It was a challenge and great bonding experience for our two teams. I learned quickly that country music seems to be a favorite amongst world racers. Ha… I’ve had country ringing through my ears all month long.
I wish I could show you pics of the finish product. 2 of my teammates- Amaris and Jenn painted the cutest mural in the family room area. (unfortunately the internet is too slow to post) The kids were so excited, when we came home from dinner the last night of painting (the kids had come home a little before hand) the kids grabbed our hands to quickly show us the work that had been done. I think that was their cute way of saying thank you! They were so excited!
Please be in prayer that these little ones are all adopted! They are all the sweetest things!
