"The Beginning"

I am officially in China! The 13 hours of flights Chris and I took were as comfortable as could be expected and we landed on time in Beijing Wednesday night. There was a little confusion with who was picking us up and where, so we did have to wait at the airport for around three hours for someone to pick us up, but it was a perfect opportunity to learn to trust in God! When I was at an airport with a friend, no cell service, and no English speakers, all I could do was pray and know that every obstacle I faced wass a part of God's sovereign plan to draw me closer to Him.

Once we were picked up, we spent the night at our Canadian friend Kait’s aunt's house and were very comfortable. Because of the time change we woke up at 5:30 am, despite the fact that we hadn't gotten to sleep until 1 am! It was an early start to a great day. We leisurely showered, ate breakfast, and got ready for the day, and then we were off to tour Beijing! We took the subway to Wan Fu Jing, a huge market full of cute little Chinese ladies trying to persuade us "pretty ladies" to buy their wares. We had a fun time sight seeing and walking around the city. It was so fun to hang out with Kait, Bethany, and Chris, and we even posed for a picture with a very excited Chinese man ;-) We left Beijing at 3 pm on a flight to Zhengzhou where we met up with the rest of the Bring Me Hope staff team.

Once we reached ZhengZhou and Sias University, I finally got to meet the amazing people I will be working with this summer in Xián. The BMH staff team will be spending this weekend in Sias bonding and growing as a team before we separate into the three camp locations: Zhengzou, Kunming, and Xián. This morning, David, the BMH director, announced that we would be getting massages to prepare the stress we will be under in the next 6 weeks. I thought it was pretty funny considering I was expecting a little less comfort, but we all had a great time laughing and joking about everything. We also have been playing a hilarious game called 'The David Game." We each received BMH lanyards, and are not allowed to say "David" or whoever hears you gets your lanyard. It has been quite entertaining as people have fallen for all kinds of tricks. I had just been able to get TWO lanyards from my friend, Luke, when Mr. Headin (camp director at Kunming) came up to me with a picture of his daughter. He said, "She is so cute... her hair is pretty wild though, so we call her Baby Crowder after that guy in that band... what's his name?" I totally fell for it and promptly answered, ""David Crowder." It's these kind of experiences that are knitting the BMH staff's hearts together. I have already made so many friends and am looking forward to working with Patti, John, Jeff, Kait, Valerie, Chris, and the Vidler family in Xi'an. I am having a wonderful time and think of everyone at home all the time. The only hard thing about being here is not being able to talk to my family. I miss everyone so much! Thank you for your prayers!

P.S. Great news: China has opened up its orphanages!!! We were concerned because the Chinese government had closed all their orphanages due to their fears about the Swine Flu spreading, but they have been reopened and we are back in business. Thank you, Jesus, for answered prayers!!!