an interesting wked...

a 3-self ch. (g0v't approved) the service had a pretty formal liturgy. my favorite part was when they sang hymns. oh, actually my doubly favorite part was when the children's choir went up and sang 2 songs - one was "You are so special and no one can replace you" and the other was "My home is in heaven."

an incredibly beautiful building!

the kids singing...

as i said in my email, i've met a lot of brothers and sisters here. this wked has been a most encouraging one - lots from me to them but even more from them to me!

one native girl, J, shared how she recently met some F@mily members from NK. they're moving back to NK to share the S+ory and literally risking their lives to do so. J exclaimed, "I'm so thankful to be living in this country where i can study the W0rd!" What??? What amazing perspective!

and what ALIVE-ness there is here amongst the family. really, it's an outgoing love, very active, very tangible... i feel so lucky to be here, to be a part of this!

other than that, we've been having fun in other ways -

Us at the tomb of Huang-di, the first emperor. Dennis was our translator for the day.

a statue of Huang-di in the main building

we rented bikes for about 15.5 cents and rode thru town and the neighboring village. Elly attends the school we're at so she was helpful in getting us around.

this is us at a local restaurant. we ate dumplings in soup for about 37 cents. woo-hoo! and it was so yummy i went back for lunch the next day...

and this looks totally shady but he makes the most awesome "pancake/crepe" concoction. it's pretty darn delicious and i'm planning on going back there tonight... well, back "there" means i have to walk down the street and find this man, wherever he may be "parked" for the evening...

thanks for thinking of us here!

more fun, a sad goodbye, and a wonderful reunion

i love this pic b/c this little boy, Tony, had lost his voice earlier in the week (i think from drinking too much chlorinated water at the pool), but here he is all the same, "screaming" his heart out during one of our games. =)

this is B's acting debut...he was a crazy old man. i think the wig is a good look for him...

these were B's boys... Michael in the middle and Andy on the right adopted me as their big sis. Michael LOVES being the center of attention and as B says, he'll have his own tv show one day. And Andy is determined to be president of China one day. he promises to be nice to Americans when he's in charge. =)
(total side note, but one time Michael was sitting in my lap and was sort of rubbing my leg. i think the hairlessness surprised him but even more fascinating to him was the pink grapefruit smell ((i was wearing lotion)). the rest of the evening, he kept coming up to me, rubbing my legs, and smelling his hands...haha)

at the end of every camp, we have a Zai Jian (farewell) Ceremony. our translators read letters to us from the kids in English and read our letters to the kids in Chinese. it is very special to be a part of this and it can get a bit tearful.

later that night, we gave the girls our presents. here they are representing LA! way to go, B, for finding these shirts for a deal on Hollywood Blvd.

and at 4:30am local time Friday, we loaded the kids onto the bus and said goodbye. it's amazing that even this, my 3rd year, it's still painful to say goodbye. the kids get tearful, but at least this time, i know that they're going back to an orphanage that really does care for them. it's hard to get to know them and love them so much that you start having hopes and dreams for them and then have them leave. but we just have to trust that our father will look out for them!

this beautiful lady became a Sister last summer while working at camp. it's been a tough year for her, but she's lit up again at camp this year... i think she really enjoys serving the kids & getting to chat w/ us. it's SO neat to spend time with her, answering her questions, and just loving her as a Sister.

Hello from camp!

these are my beautiful ladies... K (my roommate) and i joined teams since all of us girls live in the same room together... Victoria & Jane (our translators) are college students in BJ. Mary, Tracy, Emma, and Lily are our girls (aged 10-13).

all the kids this week (35 of them) are from an orphanage in Tianjin and this particular orphanage is one of the best - they split the kids into small family grps of 7-10 kids, each family has a "mother," and they're really encouraged to continue their education past college. they can stay at the orphanage until they're able to afford other accomodations. each of these kids have had both parents pass away and as a result of being assigned to this particular orphanage, they are not allowed to be adopted (i think to reduce the trauma of that "hope") but it is really evident that all these kids are really well taken care of.

the funnest part is that w/ so few kids, we move as one unit to all activities and we get to spend time w/ all the kids in the pool, etc. it's been so neat getting to see all their personalities unfold as they feel safer and safer w/ us as time passes.

this is b's family (he's my teammate from PCC) he's having an absolute ball w/ his boys (who are quite the handful!)

Emma and Lily in the pool - Lily's fearless and has practically learned to swim in the last couple days!

craft time
waterpark!!
lots of singing and games!
watermelon eating contest... haha...

the wreckage from the contest...
and this is probably my favorite picture this week. this little boy has such a little attitude and this is his expression almost all the time. haha =)

and i can't believe it's all coming to an end tomorrow!!

Made it to camp!

there's a LOT of crazy construction all over BJ... we drove thru town on the way to the train station and it's amazing how different the city looks from just last summer, not to say from when i saw it the 1st time 4 yrs ago.

this is the "real, authentic" China we got to experience for a good 6 hrs as we waited for our train. we were def the only foreigners there. then we got plenty more of that on our 7 hr train ride to ZhengZhou...

and here is my beautiful family! Emma, Lily, and my translator Victoria.

k, now time to go to our waterpark...

weary...but not anymore

weary is not a word that usually describes me, and it feels even lamer saying i'm weary during the summer when i'm technically not working, but that's how i felt for the last week or so.

this was not encouraging at all in light of the fact that i filled my time w/ things i really enjoy: volunteering, ministry, and hanging out w/ & helping friends. unfortunately, i kinda overdid it in terms of commitments, and i was also hit w/ a variety of emotionally taxing things in the last wk. this weariness was even less encouraging as i was in the midst of packing to go China...

BUT, on this last day before my trip, i *clung* out of sheer desperation to His strength and really placed my hope in His promise to answer pr@yers. and it's been a good day. one w/ crying but also mending, and i'm now back to a place of growing excitement about this trip...not so weary anymore - instead, hopeful.

a good place to be as i face 2 weeks of orphans. did you know that the thing kids fear the most is being abandoned, lost? as evidence, think of the countless children's stories where the main character is orphaned or lost: Bambi, Lion King, Hansel and Gretel, Toy Story, Harry Potter, and there's a ton more. sadly, the kids i'll be w/ in China are living w/in the reality of that terrible fear everyday - they ARE orphans and unfortunately, that is their most prominent identity.

but i need to be saved from that fear just as daily as they do. that is not my identity not solely b/c i have earthly parents, but b/c i have a Father, the best F@ther. i don't often live like i do, acting like i have to fend for myself most of the time, but just as i need to remind myself of the fact that someone's tangibly and always looking out for me, i hope to live with that Truth so fully that i can pass it onto my kids.

i have so many thoughts (it's been so long since my last update!) but i'll save them for later since i think ppl like pictures better (tho i haven't been very good about taking them)...

a relaxing evening w/ my China teammate from last year... woo-hoo for pr@yer times in the jacuzzi!

a reunion w/ the wonderful, servant-hearted ladies at my old school

can you see the family resemblance? D's sister came to town, and we are introducing her to yummy shabu-shabu.

a bday dinner for my young'un bf. i had my doubts about his venue of choice: outback steakhouse, but you really can't knock their cheesefries!

and here i'm just showing off...haha. well, it is my blog and these are some flowers i received. =)

next blog: from China!