Udate from one of the China Teams

April 29, 2009

Dear Friends,
Please remember us to Father. We have had a few problems. We did not get the opportunity to speak at the school, as we had hoped. The headmaster said it could cause an int'l incident. I was very disappointed. But Father knows best! We were resting in our room, and received a knock at the door. It was some of our new teenaged friends. They invited us to visit the home of one girl and her father.

We were so honored to go to this home. It looked so simple on the outside, but was quite nicely decorated and furnished on the inside, although it only had three main rooms. The girl's father could not speak any English. Her mother was out of town visiting relatives. The dad was such a gracious host, as he served us a dinner of huge homemade rolls and kettle roasted potatoes. We shared with all of them as best as we could. The teens spoke English, so we talked with them. We shared by a phrase book with the dad. The family is Muslim, and one of the teens nominal Buddhist. WE gave them each a booklet, and sang them some good songs, including "Joy to the World". Keep talking to Father about them. We parted with affectionate farewells, and exchanged e-mail addresses.

We were privileged to watch a wonderful celebration of traditional folk dancing that afternoon. They were celebrating the opening of a local brewery. We really enjoyed the colorful costumes and Chinese dances and music.

The next town we went to was not successful., The local officials said that we had to have a permit to visit the town and province. We had to stay in the hotel and leave the next morning.

We rode by bus to the current town we are in. Please remember us for open doors today and all the next week. There don't seem to be any problems here, so ask Father to show us who to talk to and what to say.

Blessings,
A. F.