we arrived at training, not really knowing much about our destination city. over the course of a week, we were told our city is extremely remote, that we are pioneers, and that people were putting us #1 on their prayer list. it seemed as if we had it the worst. we thought that we would get there by donkey for goodness sakes! while that may seem funny and extreme, we were prepared for it.
luckily riding donkeys to Longde is not what happened. we flew from Beijing to Yinchuan, then took a 5 1/2 hour bus ride to Longde. This bus ride was through the mountains of rural northern China. i felt as if i was at the Grand Canyon....which i have never actually seen in real life. God's creation shouted His name as we rode along. fields of sunflowers lined the road with Chinese farmers diligently working their land. God's majesty did not stop at amazing me the entire trip. as we sat, singing praises in the bus, we all wondered what the next month would hold. then, we arrived.
our bus pulled into a small parking lot between 3 buildings, a courtyard of sorts. we all piled out, in our banquet best, for a banquet with the city officials and education leaders. exhausted from travel, we put on our smiling faces and did our best small talk as we ate traditional mutton. it was actually pretty delicious, it became a favorite of mine. after the banquet we were shown our hotel rooms. they had paired us up alphabetically into rooms. so, we filled, almost the entire first floor of this small hotel. our rooms were equipped with beds and pillows that felt (and could have very possibly been) like a sack of oats. our bathrooms were what we deemed them as a shoilet. the definition of a shoilet is a room with a shower head and a toilet. my roommate and i's shoilet could have easily been bigger than our actual room. but, we were able to use our bathroom with ease and comfort...if you look at it that way.
while unpacking, we were informed that the first floor was too damp for us, the foreigners, so they moved us upstairs. while the first floor was fine, we packed all our stuff, and moved upstairs. we rested, then prepared for another banquet. after that banquet, we returned to our hotel, which was yards away, and prepared for the first day of teaching.
*we were pioneers this summer. we were the first Camp China teams that have been to the city of Longde. we very well could have been the first foreigners they saw. and, we were different. i count it a privilege that we were able to do what we did this summer. we were able to show God's love, without ever saying His name. while that may seem insignificant, it was huge. everyone saw the difference in us. whether it was giving a 16 year old student a hug, the first in her life, or saying hello to a stranger in the street, we lived and breathed God's love. there was no way we could have done it without the prayers and support of people at home and with ELI. i am so thankful for those prayers, and definitely learned the power of prayer this summer.
stay tuned!
Very cool! I am staying tuned!
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