CHINA 3

Hello Friends,

It has been a few days since I have been able to get to the cafe to write. A lot has been going on the past week. Our team has done random service acts around the city, we took teams into surrounding market towns to yarp (which is a different word backwards, wink wink!) and get surveys filled out for the M workers here, also our Chinese students are done with their final testings and we have been back with them doing different activities.

I want to tell you more about my teams visit to a market town about 30 minutes drive from where we are now. There were 9 of us total in my group (6 students, 1 staff d-group leader, and another senior leader, Bethany, and myself). When we first arrived in the town, it didn't look much different than the city we are staying in. However, just a few minutes walk down the road and we came onto a village. We decided to travel down the dirt/gravel road into through some farm area and lifted the homes to the Father. It was an amazing moment for me to realize that as we walked down the path in that remote village that it was most likely the first time that anyone had ever yarped for those homes and even more likely that it was the first time that the word was read there also. There are not words to describe the honor and humility that comes in that moment when I realized that the father had given us, had given me, that great privilege. I claimed the fathers authority over the homes with visible idles. We yarped for the people we walked by. We thanked him for the land that gave them the ability to live and asked that they would somehow come to one day eat the bread that will bring them life.

After we traveled into the depths, past all visible human life, we turned around. We stopped on a couple of hand-made bamboo benches to eat the sandwhiches that we brought for lunch. At first just one lady came over with her young son. Then, a couple more people joined her. Soon, after about 15 minutes it seemed everyone in that small village was gathered around us. We were all taking pictures with them. They were laughing at the size of our calf muscles. One rather excited man came over and declared a few of our girls beautiful 1, 2, and 3. The very great thing is that the young girl he declared beautiful 1 was a girl that probably has never been told that she was more beautiful than other girls. It was a great moment. We were then invited to share lunch with them. After a moment of hesitation (due to the very sketchy sanitary situation) we decided to go for it. The nine of us crammed into this tiny hut around a table while all the locals stood around us (the hut was probably 5' x 5') and there was a spread of food before us. Very questionable food...

I am sorry, but I need to go. I hate to leave you in such suspense but I will finish this story soon.

Hugs and love!

Mags