China Trip 2007 Recap

(Last time when we went to China was in 2007. To refresh our memory, here is the recap we sent to our friends after we came back. This time it will be very different because we are with two little kids. We are looking forward to the new experience next week.)

We had a great trip to China.

We spent five days in Beijing taking engagement pictures and visiting Wendy's college and high school friends. On Sunday we attended Gary and Danita's house church. We were impressed by Gary's sermon in Chinese. After the service, we had lunch with the local Christians. Then Gary and Danita took us to their apartment and to a coffee shop for some coffee. David's Friends Speak reader's mom came to see us before we left Beijing. It was heartwarming. We stayed at Wendy's friend's apartment. She works at the Communist History department in the University. She told us that several professors in her department are Christians. We left a Chinese Bible for her as a personal gift.

We spent a week in Wendy's hometown. On the second day there, we visited Shihezi University. It happened to be the Registration day for the new students. We walked around the campus and stopped at the Foreign Language Department booth. Several students came up to speak English with us. They invited us to their PE class and asked us to come back the next day. We went back the next day and met the class leader Harry. He volunteered to line up Friends Speak readers for David. David read with 6 students in one day. We were also invited to the two welcoming parties for the new students. We broke into two small groups and answered questions. David's readers connected us to a Christian student there. Her name is Zhang Baomei. Baomei came from a Muslim city and was put into prison for her faith before she came to the University. She took us to the government church to attend the Sunday service. Our experience at the government church far exceeded our expectations. The auditorium was packed with people. The yard around the building was packed too. We couldn't help wondering: what do they do in winter when the snow covers everywhere? People were so sincere in prayers and worship. We talked to the Christians in the bookstore. We were surprised by their openness to us. They even invited us to come back and speak at their Friday night gathering. We asked what they need. They said the biggest needs are discipleship and Biblical teaching. They asked us to pray that God would send more workers to teach and disciple them.

One of Wendy's cousins came to the family reunion. He told us that his grandmother was a Christian. She inspired people because she began to learn to read at age 60 so that she can read the Bible herself, When she was dying, she requested to be cremated in her best Sunday clothes. One morning after breakfast, Wendy asked her mom whether she believed in God and whether she wanted to become a Christian. She said yes. That brightened our day.

We visited an orphanage in Shihezi. We bought some backpacks and wall clocks for the orphans with the money our friends gave to us. As soon as we got there, the director said the kids were waiting for us. Down the hallway and upstairs we found a big room full of about 50 kids excitedly waiting to perform for us. With lively music and rhythm, the kids danced and sang for about 30 minutes. We didn't expect such a nice treat. We promised to prepare something for them next time. The kids laughed and leaped the whole time while we played games together. We were impressed by the living condition and the love they had for each other. The management told us that the Buckner Children's Home from Dallas donated a van for the orphanage. Many organizations have gone there to do summer camps. The kids loved it. Sadly, when David tried to teach the kids the song "I have decided to follow Jesus", they told us not to teach about Jesus.

We also visited the largest of 18 government churches in Urumuqi. The four story building was packed shoulder to shoulder with 3000 members. We were touched by the passion of the preacher and the sincerity of the local Christians. David took some video of the service. We had lunch with a young girl Yan. She just got her new job working as a psychologist in the prison. She was looking forward to the opportunity to bring the Good News to the prisoners. While we were in Urumuqi, another Yan, who was baptized in Memorial Road Church of Christ in OKC and returned to Urumuqi, took us for dinner at a five-star restaurant. She showed us her beautiful home and asked us to tell Memorial Road COC how much she missed everyone there. Later that evening while we were walking around the Muslim market and observed a service in a Mosque, we met a guy named Aili outside the mosque. He told us he had been married five times. David began to tell him the story of the Woman at the Well and Jesus. We became his friends instantly. He insisted buying us some drinks and took us to see his wife and mother-in-law. He begged us to call him if we had a chance.

We loved the food in China . We loved the people too! Everyone we met invited us to come back often. We certainly wish that too.

Here is the link to some of the pictures.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=qu0dq1t.2oyopqap&x=0&y=-7f0ajk
Here is the link to the Shihezi church service.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3375212824404649229&pr=goog-sl