Pastor A

After unloading the bus, walking through the camp, assigning rooms on Sunday evening, our team met for a few minutes. It was raining outside which greatly helped with the heat… not so much on the humidity. The camp that we are using is terrible by US standards. The bad – two rooms have had parts of the ceiling collapse due to the excessive rain. There is black mold in many of the rooms. The kitchen is indescribable in its unsanitary state. These ladies shall deserve gold medals if they can pull this off. There are bugs, flies, gnats, etc. everywhere and on everything. It is certain that this kitchen has not been cleaned in years! They have the task to cook for 50 people and yes, three meals per day.

The electricity shuts off as soon as we turn on all of the lights. However, in spite of some pretty tough conditions, this team of 14 has a remarkable spirit! Teen Camp is what they came to do and nothing is going to deter or derail this effort. Everyone has a mind to work so the team goes to unpacking the 14 trunks and getting ready for the campers to arrive on Monday.

The bus driver is still waiting on the husband of the family that TBT supports and me to board the bus to return to Beijing. We finally board the bus and head back to Beijing. It is now a driving rainstorm and the driver gets lost. Great! It takes 45 minutes longer to return to Beijing than it should have taken. We finally make it. The husband of the family that TBT supports is hungry so we go to the wonderfully nutritious restaurant called Burger King. After eating and discussing all of the details of both camps, he leaves to go to his apartment. I had left my suitcases at the front desk prior to going to the Teen Camp. I retrieved my suitcases from the front desk and asked the clerk to call a taxi for me. (I had to go to a different hotel to sign the contract for our group stay on Saturday.) She said that you had to go to the street to hail a taxi. Did I say anything yet about it raining? Yes, there is a serious rainstorm outside that is refreshing… to watch. After she refused to call for a taxi, I headed to the street with two suitcases and a backpack.

25 minutes later… TWENTY FIVE MINUTES and counting. I am completely, 100% drenched at this point. Out of nowhere, I feel a tap on my shoulder… it scares me half to death in a millisecond. Here is a 4′ 5″ Chinese lady offering to hold an umbrella over my head. She had been watching me from the store window at 10:00 p.m. and felt sorry for me. At that very moment a taxi stops. Drenched, mildly grumpy, but oh so happy, I thanked the sweet older Chinese lady for offering her umbrella and then threw my luggage in this poor taxi driver’s car. He did not know where this hotel was that I was trying to go to. He spoke fluent Chinese and I, English. I refused to get out of his car. Finally he calls the number on the card that I gave him and then proceeds to drive slowly to the hotel. It should have only taken 15 minutes… he took 30. There was nothing I could do about it; at least I was out of the rain. I gladly paid the double-fare when we finally arrived. I can say that a hot shower never felt so good.

On Monday morning I took another taxi back to the hotel that I had just left the night before… still raining. The family that TBT supports only lives two blocks from this hotel. So I walk again in the rain to their apartment to meet the bus and the teenagers that are going to Teen Camp. We helped load the bus, the teen campers, and the wife of the family TBT supports. We are only leaving 35 minutes late which is pretty good considering the weather conditions. We had to make a second stop to pick up two more campers and bread for the evening meal. We are now only leaving one hour late. We arrived 1:15 late but we have arrived.

The Teen Camp staff is on the porch cheering our arrival on Monday at 12:30 p.m.! Hooray, we have arrived.

Today has been quite a day. It is now 11:00 p.m. and it is time for a little sleep. Last night was only three hours of sleep. Our team was ready to go at 8:30 a.m. this morning. Most of us had already eaten in the restaurant and our batteries were charged and ready to go! WOW! As soon as we walked outside we were hit with 100% humidity. This was going to be interesting for all of us.

Due to the size of our group and the size of the church family, it was decided to travel in a bus to a location North of Beijing. One of the church members owns a silver factory so it would not be unusual for a bus to stop and shop at his location. One of his rooms had been cleaned out and was set up with 55 chairs (all were full). We began to sing songs… no piano, no songleader waving his arms, and EVERY verse. We had a Chinese hymnal that had both Chinese and English words. I was standing at the back going through my thoughts for the morning message. I began to notice something amazing…

With each verse, various members of our group would begin dabbing their eyes. Pretty soon, almost the entire group was weaping as we sang songs (Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, etc.) Some more than others but is was touching. Here we are in a Communist country singing about the One who gave His life for us. At any moment, these Chinese Christians could be arrested for what we were doing. Yet, we all sang loud and boldly without any fear. Our Chinese and English voices blended together to form a sweet smelling savor for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I then had the privilege to preach, with a Chinese interpreter, for one hour. It is always “fun” to preach the Word of God. However, to preach beside a man that had been saved and discipled by this family that TBT supports was a great, great honor. You will have to look at the pics but I am just saying, it was hot and humid and my clothes do not lie. I was soaking wet! What a joy to preach the Word of God in China.

During church they prepared a meal for us. I would try to describe it but just best left unsaid. It was interesting and somewhat delicious. I enjoyed pitching my watermelon rinds to the chickens in the courtyard and watching them fight over the rind. The ladies were able to see the craftsmanship of this silversmith – quite impressive. He has a contract with Crossway and is marketing his silver in 20 stores back in the United States. Of course they (the ladies in our group) had to purchase various items.

Once back on the bus we headed back to our  hotel to check-out by 1:00 p.m. We were late! The driver was driving so slow that I was ready to pull my hair out. We did not pass anyone except a flatbed truck loaded down with bricks. So frustrating… oh wait, I just preached the Word of God… maybe should let this one go.

Once back at the hotel, the Teen Camp crew checked out of the hotel. I ran to exchange some US money for Chinese RMB. As I returned from this exercise I arrived to see our guys loading a SMALL bus with our team and 30 pieces of luggage. Maybe the pics will show the hilarity of what we were trying to accomplish. We had to first put the young ladies in their seats. Then, we had to load the luggage and trunks in the aisle stacked up three high and all the way to the front of the bus. It is a miracle the back springs did not give way. The bus was way overloaded. However, we made it with no problems.

The Teen Camp crew arrived at their location in the mountains North of Beijing… just 50 yards from the Great Wall of China!

I ended my last update late in the afternoon on Saturday. After returning to the hotel from the Day Camp location and the team returning from the Summer Palace, I took Daniel, Jonathan, and Pastor Woody with me to go order and pickup pizzas at Pizza Hut. We have had several straight Chinese meals so I figured the group would like a taste of home.

We took a taxi to the Pizza Hut (25 RMB) and asked if we could order pizza-to-go? They handed us a menu and the charming Chinese young lady came over to help us with our order. I ordered 12 large pizzas (6 cheese, 4 Hawaiian, and 2 bacon lovers). She took our order and came back five minutes later to inform us that they only had enough dough/crust to make nine large pizzas. So we changed our order to nine large pizzas and five medium pizzas. She rang-up our order and brought me the receipt to pay. Oh, wait a minute, now they do not have enough dough/crust to make any large pizzas. I began to change the order again when she said if I pay now they will have enough dough/crust.

I then asked if she would give me a discount; she said, “yes! 90%.” Wow, that sounds too good to be true. We assumed that she meant 10% and that we would pay 90%. However, her boss came down from upstairs and began to chew this girl out. We all felt bad, even though we could not understand anything that was being said. I decided to give her a big tip (20 RMB) for helping us out. She was noticeably upset at the thought of receiving a tip. She pointed to the cameras that were overhead. At any rate, I paid for the 14 pizzas and she said it would be 30-40 minutes before the pizzas would be ready.

We saw a Starbucks and decided to go get a drink, cool down, and wait for our pizzas. However, on the way to Starbucks we saw that there was an event going on in the square that involved basketball. A basketball court had been constructed and encased with green mesh wire. After watching several players warm up, we found the entrance and I encouraged Pastor Woody, Jonathan, and Daniel to see if they could play. A tournament was in progress with the schedules outside the court. Jonathan bravely went inside the court area, walked up to the table, and with his excellent hand motions asked if they could play. So, the referees interrupted the tournament schedule to allow these three guys play.

It was quite a game and they drew many, many spectators. These white Americans were certainly an attraction. The guys played hard, did not have an opportunity to warm-up, and only lost by one basket. It was great fun. All of this took 40 minutes, so we hustled back to the Pizza Hut. They had made all of our pizzas and realized that they had made one wrong pizza – a shrimp pizza – yuk! We said we would take it. While they were finishing up the order, I ran to the street to hail a taxi. The guys jumped in and off we went back to the hotel. The group was awaiting our arrival at the 4th floor restaurant. Pastor Woody and Jonathan carried the pizzas while Dan and I hoofed it to Seven-Eleven to buy 25 drinks.

Supper was light-hearted and relaxing for Saturday had been a long day! Now everyone was encouraged to rest, prepare for Sunday, and be in the lobby with their church clothes on by 8:30 a.m.

Today is Saturday and it is 10:00 p.m. here in China. Most in our group are in “la la” land and gone for the night. We have a very tired group after today.

There is little doubt that the humidity is wearing down several in our group. Since we are not accustomed to humidity in Tucson, it is worse for our group of 24. The heat, smog, and 90+% humidity are the worst of our trip. The good of our trip is all of the people that we have been privileged to meet and interact with thus far.

Our day began with our group,  having had breakfast on the 4th floor of our hotel, meeting in the lobby of the hotel at 8:00 a.m. Many ran next door to the 7 11 store to purchase a big bottle of water. The bus was waiting on us and off we went to visit Tiananmen Square. We arrived shortly after 9:00 a.m. The crowd was astounding. “King,” our tour guide, let us know that at 7:00 this morning there were already 350,000 people in line to march past Chairman Mao’s tomb. By 9:00 a.m., when we arrived, there were 500,000 people in Tiananmen Square. Truly, truly this was a sight to behold. Many of us wondered if there really were more than one-half million people. So many lost people; it was an overwhelming thought to me.

We weaved in and out of the crowd to stand in the middle to have a group picture taken. Several in our group purchased a Chinese fan from one of the street vendors. The best deal anyone could get was 10 RMB at Tiananmen Square. I was able to purchase one from a vendor when we boarded our bus for 7 RMB. The fans were a great blessing as the air is NOT moving at all.

After our visit to Tiananmen Square, our group walked beneath the street to enter the Forbidden City side of the street. Most were astonished with the splendor of this magnificent place that was built back in the 1400′s. How did they do it? Where did all of the supplies come from? Truly spectacular. There was a school group of children that asked us to take a group picture with them. Bethany was most popular today as she repeatedly was stopped to have pics made with many Chinese people.

We next walked to the bus outside Forbidden City to take a short bus ride to eat lunch at a Sichuan Restaurant. They served us rice, duck, deep fried egg plant, spinach, a complete fish, watermelon, sweet n sour chicken, meatball soup, and several dishes that we are not sure exactly of that which we partook; however, it was a delicious lunch. We were divided up among three tables and three rooms. So, in my room, Lauren Cutright and Carissa Frisinger ate the eyeballs of our fish. It was quite entertaining.

After lunch, we then drove to the Temple of Heaven. As we walked in, there was a host of Chinese retirees who were “exercising” to loud music in the form of “artistic” dancing. I know that when our group returns they will post several videos of those who laughed, participated, and enjoyed this humorous entertainment. We then walked to the Temple of Heaven and heard from our guide how that God is “blue,” the emporer is “yellow,” and the common people are “gray.” We have heard much error mixed with a little truth from our guide regarding God and who He really is.

Upon leaving the Temple of Heaven, Joe Jones and I left the group to begin work on the Day Camp. The rest of the group went to the Summer Palace. After negotiating a fare with a driver for 60 RMB, we began a long drive from the Pearl Market area to our hotel. Upon arrival at our hotel we took eight of our black trunks and brought them to the lobby area. After loading four of them in a taxi, a man that speaks no English but attends the church where the Day Camp is located, we drove to the location of the Day Camp. After arriving in this poverty stricken, dusty, dirty part of China, we unloaded the trunks and waited for Joe to arrive.

The Day Camp will truly be challenged with the poverty-like conditions. More on this in a future post.

This update has languished on for far too long. I will update later today. I am now going to prepare for bed as I have the privilege to preach here in the morning.

Greetings from Beijing, China!

Once our team arrived at the ICN airport we walked to the “transfer” station to clear security once again. Once we cleared security and had a restroom break, we had a group meeting and gave everyone just over two hours to eat breakfast, shop, explore the airport, or even take a shower. The shower was so refreshing and it was free!

We boarded the plane bound for PEK around 8:20 a.m. We had no problems on this flight. The airplane was really clean and once again, the flight attendants were excellent. We arrived at the new Terminal Three in Beijing. This is the terminal that was built especially for the 2008 Olympics. It is a beautiful airport terminal. We passed through the body screening area where they measure your body temperature. If you have a temperature they quarantine you. Fortunately everyone was healthy.

We all cleared immigration and went to retrieve our luggage. After taking the subway train from the terminal to the baggage claim, the next big hurdle to clear was whether or not our group would have all 48 pieces of luggage arrive. They DID! This was a huge relief and blessing. Each person had a push cart with their luggage and one trunk that we brought with us. The final hurdle was to clear the airport customs without being stopped to have our luggage searched. We all pushed our carts in a single file line – quite impressive looking I might add – and just marched right out of the airport with not even a second look. This means that all of our materials are here in the country!

The bus was waiting on us and man did we ever fill it up. We filled up the bottom compartments and many seats in the bus. We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express and I took everyone’s passport to check the group in while the men unloaded the bus! It was truly about this time that we realized we have a situation on our hands! HUMIDITY! It is in the 90s with over 90% humidity. Talk about sweat… most are dying! It is a sticky mess to say the least!

Once we checked in, everyone headed to their rooms for a quick shower and change of clothes. After a few exchanged money for Chinese RMB, we met again at 1:00 p.m. to get on the bus to go visit Wangfujing Street. Not only do we have incredible humidity, the smog is as terrible as usual. It looks like there is a fog bank over the city. You cannot see the tops of many buildings. How do these people not have lung issues?

We arrived Wangfujing Street and began walking and sweating, sweating and walking, sweating, sweating, and sweating some more. We visited a couple stores, the Mall of the Orient, McDonalds, and the old China. People, people, people everywhere. I cannot wait to show you the pics of this adventure. Some ate scorpions, snake, and other disgusting creatures. It was a sight to behold.

Once we finished, we reboarded the bus to travel to the Northeast side of Beijing (by the way, there are 30 million people that live in and around this city) to eat supper at an amazing Sichuan Restaurant. Once we arrived we were early so I took the group to a small market place where they could experience a little “shopping.” Many in the group tried out their bargaining abilities. A couple in the group purchased soccer jerseys. We walked to the restaurant and had a great, great, great meal. Twelve dishes of various Chinese cuisine. No one left hungry after this meal.

We reboarded the bus and arrived back at the hotel at 8:40 p.m. The group was sent off to have “sweet dreams.” I am now getting ready to go meet them for another incredible day of activity. I will update later tonight. I surely hope you do not mind receiving these lengthy updates but so many of you have given, prayed, and have family members on this trip.

Greetings from China,

Our team left the TBT parking lot at 3:44 p.m. and pulled into the PHX Sky Harbor airport at 5:50 p.m. Everyone retrieved their own luggage and three men loaded up our 24 trunks and boxes. Although it took a few minutes to check-in, everyone was checked in with no problem.

The group next went through security. I must say, TSA was exceptionally friendly and helpful to our group as we passed through the security line. This is not the usual demeanor of TSA. They must get paid to suck on lemons before coming to work. However, this time they really went out of their way to help our group. Only Analis had her carry-on checked as she had a jar of peanut butter. They took it from her and we were on our way!

We next walked to our gate and several went to the restrooms, grabbed a bite to eat, and sat around eagerly anticipating the announcement to board our plane. The announcement came and although the plane was packed, we had no problems boarding. Several asked what kind of team we were since we were all dressed alike. One could not miss us… and we really did look sharp!

The flight was smooth and we arrived according to schedule at the LAX airport. Since our luggage had been checked all the way to the PEK airport, we were able to walk from Terminal One to the Bradley International Terminal. This was a good half-mile walk. The temperature was in the 60s and even had a mist in the air. Once we arrived in the International Terminal, we had to get back in line at the Asiana Airlines counter to get new boarding passes. The first time I began to “sweat” or get “anxious” was how long it was taking to reissue our boarding passes while I watched the security line back out into the terminal. However, we were able to use a different security checkpoint and again, cleared security with no problems.

We walked to our door… long, long walk. We departed from gate 140. This gate requires a 10 minute bus ride to the airplane. I thought I was back in a third world country. This was crazy! However, we finally were “herded” on the airplane for our flight to Seoul, S Korea. Once on the airplane, everything went smoothly except that Joe and Janet’s seats were changed and they had to sit across the aisle from each other instead of together. They had a great attitude about it and all went well.

We taxied forever but finally took off for the ICN airport. Once in the air, the flight attendants began to prepare our meal for us. So… they served us a meal at 2:00 a.m. It actually was an excellent meal;  just the time was a little off. The flight was looooonnnnnnnggggggg! 12:48 minutes is a long time to be in one airplane. The spirit was excellent among the group. The flight attendants were terrific and even threw a party on the plane for children. The flight attendants dressed up and helped the children make goodies and even baked them. The pictures will posted at some time.

We arrived ICN – Hooray!