Pastor A

Now that the team has been back for a little over 24 hours, the jet lag and time 15 hour time difference has caught up with everyone in a big way!

The trip back to the US was interesting to say the least. After eating breakfast Wednesday morning at the hotel, we loaded the bus and went to the Birdsnest and Water Cube to have pictures taken of our group. From the Birdsnest we then traveled to the PEK airport. We were 30 minutes too early so we stood in line until the counter opened. It took several minutes to check in our group of 24. We then had to take our 22 trunks to a different location to drop off. They wanted to inspect our trunks so different trunks had to be opened. For whatever reason, the trunk with the cereal gave them great difficulty. This process took far too long; however, we finally were finished with our checked luggage and could proceed to the customs/immigration counter.

Our group walked through the new Terminal 3 at the PEK airport. It is really a beautiful airport and was completed just in time for the 2008 Olympics. We had to take a subway to the International departure gate. Once we arrived at this location, we then had to turn in our temporary residence card and have our passport stamped. We walked to our gate and several decided to get a snack before we boarded.

Once we boarded our plane, I crashed. My head was bobbing like a yo-yo! I was asleep before the plane was even loaded. This was some of the best rest that I had had since we left two weeks prior. Once we took off they fed us a meal of beef and rice (imagine that). It was actually very good! After arriving in Seoul, S Korea, we had to go through security again. I treated everyone to a Starbucks drink and then it was time to board our plane bound for LAX. For some reason we left late from ICN and then taxied for over 25 minutes until we took off. This was not good for we had a narrow window to clear immigration and customs at the LAX airport to catch our flight for PHX.

The flight was uneventful and many slept, journaled, and watched movies. We landed at the LAX airport late. We had less than two hours to catch our next flight and there was no way humanly speaking that this could happen. The odds were seriously stacked against us.  The Asiana Airlines terminal is off site at the LAX airport. Once you land, you have to take a 10-15 minute bus ride to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. We were sitting toward the back of the plane which meant that we would not be on the first bus but would have to take the second bus.

We took the second bus and it seemed like forever until we arrived at the terminal. The first “break” that we caught was that an Asiana Airline employee gave our group an “Express Connection” pass. This meant that we bypassed the immigration line to a special line. There were hundreds of people in line to clear immigration. We were so fortunate to have this pass to skirt all of those other people. We still had to clear immigration one by one, but it was so much faster than the other way.

Once you clear immigration, you must then retrieve your checked luggage so that you can clear customs. As “chance” would have it. Our luggage was so slow that I told our group there was no way that we would make it in time. My mind is now racing on how to get our group back to TUS with missing our LAX flight. We finally have all 47 pieces of luggage and now must get in the customs line that seems like a mile long. We work together to clear customs and they do not check any of our luggage. This is a major victory for us.

We then have to push our luggage in carts to the “connecting flights” luggage counter. The man refuses to take our luggage! I then go to the Asiana counter to have sweet words with the agent. The bottom line is that it is not our fault in any manner that the plane was late. He then talks to the man who refused to take our luggage. They take our luggage. Once we have dropped off all 47 pieces of luggage, we must now “sprint” from the international terminal to terminal one. This means that we have to run past terminal three and two before we get to the US Airways counter.

Half of us do not have boarding passes, another great obstacle. We now have less than 30 minutes and we have to get to terminal one and get a boarding pass before we can go through security again. The half that had boarding passes went on ahead of us. The other half went to the US Airways counter. The first words out to the agent’s mouth, “You are too late!” Those are not good words. I said she had to give us our boarding passes to allow us to at least try to get to the gate and that she already had our luggage. She begrudgingly started printing our boarding passes.

Another miracle of sorts, the security line was not busy. This just does not happen at the LAX airport. We all clear the security line except for Shelli. She had to have a pat down and a search of her luggage because something triggered the gunpowder alert. They ended up taking her tube of toothpaste. She “runs” (walks fast) to gate 10 from the security line and is the last person to board the plane. Now if our luggage will just make it…

By divine intervention, we make it. There is no other way to look at this… many in our group began to pray as soon as they realized we were in trouble. So we take off and land on time at the PHX airport. Although it took ONE HOUR to get our luggage at the PHX airport, there can be no complaints from any in our group. The alternatives could have been so much worse.

Mr. Bee was patiently waiting for us. We load the bus and head for In n Out Burger. WOW – it was so good and so needed. We then took off for our final two hours to TBT.

We arrived at TBT around 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night. Many family and friends were awaiting our arrival and the reunions were sweet. Once we unloaded the bus and loaded our vehicles it was time to head for home. Home, sweet home! Those are good words after a long two week mission trip.

We went home and as it typical, we unloaded everything into the house and then had to unpack our suitcases. We started laundry and unwrapped our souvenirs and were still wound up from our return trip. Shelli, Jonathan, and Jennifer head for bed. I was not tired because I received another notice from the beloved IRS about my ongoing 8th audit. Just love those guys! So my adrenaline was way up! I did laundry and wrote reviews for our trip on Tripadvisor.com. At 6:00 a.m. I decided to go ahead and go into TBT to see all that I needed to get caught up on.

I finally crashed at 4:00 p.m. I slept hard until 7:00 p.m. Thursday night. I got up ate a bite of food. I went back to bed at 10:00 p.m.; I woke up at 3:00 a.m. And here I am, getting caught up on all my blogging. I’ve heard from many in our group that they are having sleeping problems, eating problems, and time change problems. This is so much fun!

Finally, I look forward to the testimony service on Sunday night, August 7! At 6:00 p.m. we will listen to the testimonies of our team members. I have already heard many of their testimonies in our own team service in China. You are in for a real treat as they share all that God did in their hearts and lives. It will be an awesome service – don’t miss it!

And we are off to America! A very long journey with several layovers begins in eleven minutes… Here we come TBT!

It is now midnight as I finally have the opportunity to stop and prepare an update for today. And my laptop is still working wonderfully – certainly a technological miracle of sorts. Most of our group are in bed and preparing for our journey home. We love China and her people; but we also love our families and are ready to see them again. Today was our last full day and tomorrow will seem like two days in one. But for now, a recap of today…

Our morning began at 8:30 a.m. with a group breakfast that was enjoyed by almost all. We still have some who are feeling puny and decided to eat lightly this morning. There are many food items on the buffet at the hotel so everyone has a choice that pleases their palate. They fix yogurt that is made to drink with a straw and does not use any sugar in preparation… honey is used instead. Many in our group have enjoyed this China specialty.

Once our breakfast was completed, we left the hotel at 9:30 a.m. to drive to a place called the Silk Market. There are hundreds of “shops” that sell anything that you can think of, generally speaking. We allowed the group some four hours to shop for their family and friends. I can say this, by the looks of the bags that were carried to the bus, many of you are going to have some rather spectacular Christmas presents. Many in our group walked to McDonalds for lunch. After eating so much delicious and healthy Chinese food, McDonalds was not as good as I thought it might be. I have really enjoyed the Chinese food! I’ve lost weight and feel great. One of our team members has lost at least eight pounds; I shall allow him/her to reveal the results of their weight-loss plan.

I was able to find a pretty neat gift for the young men of our church. I look forward to seeing all of the children and teenagers on Sunday evening following the testimony service. It is a thrill to find some unique gift to give to them after returning from a mission trip.

Once the shopping was completed, we reboarded the bus for a short trip back to the Pearl Market as several had an item or two to return or exchange. Many stopped by Lisa Tan’s Pearl Shop. She did not charge anyone in our group anything above the wholesale price that she paid. I can tell you that several made out very, very well. There will be some beautiful jewelry worn on Sunday. On the bus there was a buzz with everyone talking about their “deals.” You see, nothing has a price on it. Everything you buy is negotiated. The key to success is to find that bottom line when you believe you are making a good deal. For example, Daniel purchased a reversible silk robe (that he modeled for all of us on the bus) for 100 RMB. He was very proud of his deal, as he should have been. However, Jonathan purchased from a different store the same reversible robe for 75 RMB. Everyone had a great time and there was so much laughter in the bus.

All shopping is now complete! After boarding the bus at the Pearl Market, we drove to a Chinese restaurant for a Peking duck dinner. The food was good (not the best Chinese meal we have eaten) and the duck was delicious. However, Lauren R gave us all quite a fright. She choked on a piece of bread and could not catch her breath. She was choking… I jumped to my feet and was putting my arms around her to pull her to her feet when her hand shot up in the air to stop. She took a couple more gasps of air and the bread went on down! She lost her appetite and I broke out into a body sweat. Pastor Woody and Daniel were sitting across from her and were preparing to duck if the Heimlich maneuver was used =)

Once supper was completed we drove on our bus to the Beijing Chaoyang Theater to watch the Chinese acrobatics show. Folks, it was spectacular and everyone in our group laughed, cheered, winced, and clapped at the awesome display of acrobatics. I shall allow the team members to tell their family and friends about this incredible show.

Once the show was completed around 8:35 p.m., we boarded our bus for the final time of the day and returned to our hotel. Everyone began working on packing their suitcases and trunks for the return trip in just a few hours.

Our schedule is to eat breakfast as a group one final time in the morning. Once breakfast is completed we will bring our luggage and trunks to the lobby to be weighed and then we will load the bus. Once the bus is loaded, we will drive to the Birdsnest and Water Cube to have a group picture. We will then begin the long journey home. We will arrive at the PEK airport around 12:30 p.m. We are scheduled to depart on Asiana Airlines at 3:30 p.m. on flight #336. We will arrive in Seoul, South Korea at 6:30 p.m. We will then depart from the ICN airport on Asiana Airlines, flight #204, at 8:20 p.m. and fly 11 hours and 30 minutes until we arrive at the LAX airport at 11:30 a.m. – ALL STILL IN THE SAME DAY!

The group is saddened to leave China for we love these people; however, there is no shortage of excitement about the group returning to see spouses, children, grandchildren, and friends! This will be my last update until I return to TBT and prepare my final thoughts of this trip. Until then, pray for our safe return and for those who are still a little “under the weather.”

After lunch we only had a short distance to the parking lot at the base of the mountain where we would ascend to the top via walking and the use of a much needed cable car. We had to purchase cable car tickets to ascend to the top. 65 RMB is the cost but worth all of it for otherwise one would not make it to the top.

This is my 10th time to the top of the Great Wall of China. I am always amazed and humbled when I stand on top of the Great Wall. There are few words to describe it… it is immense, it is long, it is steep, it is stunning, it is hard to believe that one million people worked on this wall at the same time. If one died, there was no time for funerals… they were just buried in the wall. It was built before the United States was even discovered. We were walking on “top of the world” it seems.

I love to watch the reaction of those who experience this for the first time. It was as if we had children who saw and tasted candy for the first time. There was so much enjoyment in watching our team. Today the crowd was not great so we could take many pictures without having lots of strangers in them. Many in our group attempted to walk to the highest section permitted by the Chinese authorities. Lauren Rajchel is having tremendous hip difficulties; yet, she even walked on the wall. I must say, I admire her tenacity as she is pained with every step she takes.

Our group picture turned out well; although, we are sweating and wet from the immense heat and humidity. Everyone was given two hours to walk up and down the wall – a strenuous effort for one even if they are “in shape.” The group comes down off the wall and returns to the bus. The ride is just 1:10 from this section of the wall to our hotel. Once we arrive, everyone is given 45 minutes to shower and be back in the lobby for supper.

As soon as I return to the hotel, everyone is looking for me. “Mr. Armstrong” is back in the hotel and everyone knows about what happened last night, even the bell boys. This is a HUGE hotel with 25 floors. There are hundreds of people here. We get ready and meet in the lobby to eat at the Red Orange restaurant. The Executive Chef of the hotel is waiting. “Mr. Armstrong, we are so sorry to hear of what happened last evening. If you need anything, please let me know.”  They have prepared one long table that seats 26 people. I was getting ready to sit down when one of the servers pulls my chair out and then places my napkin in my lap. Even Shelli gets into the act, “my lord, what can I do for you…”

Anna, the GM of the hotel, comes to our table to profusely apologize for what had taken place last night. She is going to pay for our meal (the entire team) tonight. SWEET! She is also going to comp my room for last night. All I want to know is if I can have one of the robes in the bathroom =)  By the end of the supper, I had been made to feel like I had won the lottery. For some reason, Shelli refuses to put my napkin in my lap. We will have to talk about this later.

Seriously now, I had to excuse myself from the end of supper to meet a Christian businessman. One of  the English families that we support ate supper with us tonight. He joined me and we had a good discussion in the lobby of the hotel.

We then met as a team for evening testimonies and devotions. We met on the 20th floor where a number of couches are arranged. Folks, I am not going to over simplify this… we had a spiritually sweet and uplifting time. The testimonies were amazing. At least 20 of the 24 shed many tears as we listened to all that God has accomplished among our team. Great victories have been won AND great changes have been made in several team members’ lives. I cannot wait until YOU hear their testimonies on Sunday night, August 7 at 6:00 p.m. Lauren Rajchel and John Buntin gave testimonies that reduced most of us to just weeping. We even stopped in the middle of the testimonies to pray over a specific request that had been brought up. We had a church service right in the middle of the hotel.

We finished around 10:00 p.m. and several came to Shelli and my room. Health Update: Marta, Janet, Jonathan, Jenna, Shelli, and Bethany are all sick. Lauren R. has a hip that keeps popping out of socket – ouch! Other than this… we are plowing ahead!

It is a privilege to serve among such great, great people! It is now approaching 01:00 a.m. Tuesday so I am going to prepare for a short night of rest. Good night all and we will update you tomorrow evening.

It is 23:45 Monday night as I write this update. In my last update, I mentioned in my next to last paragraph that this trip has gone smoothly without any major flaws. Well, that all changed around 01:00 this morning. I went to bed around midnight and was out! I was really, really tired. Shelli woke me up at 01:00 and said, “Brent, come in here!” with great urgency in her voice. The sprinkler head popped for some unknown reason and water was coming down on the desk below.

On that desk was my preaching Bible, my new laptop computer, all of the receipts from the trip, and numerous other papers necessary to this trip. I grabbed my Bible; Shelli grabbed my laptop; I called the front desk… all in about 2 1/2 seconds. The front desk clerk said to my frantic call that the roof was leaking and it was all over my things, “Ok, I will have someone bring you a key for a new room.” Say what! I said, “No, you don’t understand! We have a flood in my room.” “Ok, I send someone up your room soon.” “Better send someone right now.” “Ok, attendant come now.”

In about five minutes there were multiple people in our room. One man was on the phone with the front desk; another man was on his cell phone to someone. Another man was up in the ceiling – all the while, water kept coming down in our room. We were grabbing towels and trying to dry off my Bible, the laptop, the papers. It really was a comical sight at some point for I was using a hairdryer to dry my Bible and the manager was using a hairdryer to dry my computer. I am certain that my laptop is dead and of no use. You see, the laptop was open and the water was coming right down on top of the keyboard and the laptop was completely soaked and sitting in a significant pool of water.

One hour later it was still leaking water!

A miracle has taken place for I am typing my update on this laptop. There is absolutely no way that this laptop should be working other than God did a miraculous work. It was completely soaked from the top and from the bottom. I am still in disbelief; although, much prayer was offered on behalf of this laptop. My Bible will never be the same again but at least it will always have a story to tell. The papers will dry and some of the receipts are now not legible but this is not a major loss. We can work through this little inconvenience.

Well, the manager said let’s get you into a new room. They were still working to try to get the leak fixed and drying out my computer. It was after 02:00 and Shelli and I are tired but now wound up. Just as a side note, I never became angry or upset. There is too much to lose so I just placed all of this in the Lord’s hands. They moved us to room 2031 and we try to sleep in a new room without any of our belongings. It was kinda weird. We got up in just a couple hours and headed back to our room where our suitcases, trunks, and other things were being stored. There was a garbage can under the sprinkler head and my computer was on the coffee table.

We got ready and met the team at 07:00 a.m. for a day of adventure for today we went to the Great Wall of China (Mutian yu section). Breakfast was fabulous and there was great enthusiasm and excitement among the team members. We boarded our bus at 08:00 and headed out to the first of our stops – the jade factory. The jade factory was very interesting as Lisa gave us a very detailed history of jade and its significance in China’s history. She showed us how to differentiate between real and fake. Then it was time to shop – well, sort of, you see jade is very, very expensive. Our group just looked and there were only a handful of purchases.

Next we drove to the Sacred Way at the Ming Tombs. This walk in 90 degrees and 90+% humidity was uncomfortable but wonderful. The tranquility of this walk was very noticeable. There were fewer people which is a first for us on this trip. We could actually see the amazing life-size animals and take pictures with them.

Once we were finished at the Sacred Way, we had an hour’s drive to the Cloisonne factory for lunch and another tour. Such an interesting bus trip… we ran two red lights in a row. We passed people that were driving slow and were passed because we were driving too slow. We were passed on both sides of us. We watched other cars run red lights. Just as we were discussing the crazy driving and that all of the signs were merely suggestions, another bus was coming toward us, in the lane to the RIGHT of us. You want to talk about waking everyone up in a hurry… so much fun and laughter and chatter could be heard throughout the bus.

We finally arrived at the factory for lunch. It was delicious! I cannot tell you what we had for virtually none of it would be on a table in Tucson. It was just good. As soon as lunch was finished we went on a tour through the factory to see how the Cloisonne vases and other items are constructed. The working conditions were amazingly pathetic! It was so sad to see how these folks work.

Several purchased gifts for coworkers, family members and friends. If you are family, I am sure you will enjoy some of the items purchased today. Next we had 15 km to the parking lot at the Great Wall of China…