Beijing 2010

We just returned from Beijing and the rest of the trip was a time to see the sites and also a good reminder for us about our purpose.
We met a driver who took us to the great wall that has been a "brother" for 5 yrs. He and his wife have 2 boys, Matthew and Luke are their English names.

When we asked him about his family being "in the family", his response was "not yet". I love that faith- pr-ying and waiting....faith.

He was talking about their fellowship and that there are 1000 of them in his group and they divide up to meet.... different places, different times,... takes a lot of locations for that many people.

Said that the sisters are 80% of the group....less brothers.....need to "remember" these new family members as they look for spouses and try to find like minded partners. Gonna be tough.

This trip was a good break for us. I had a conference in Beijing for school first, so since I was already there ( and it was paid for) we decided it was the best time for the others to come too.
But where ever we go, we are constantly reminded how we are there for HIM and that we are dependant on Him in a world so very foreign to us. I spent a lot of time talking to HIM on this trip- and we always found our way afterward.

More to come....

Beijing.....angels and "others"

As stressful as travel can be in America, it can never compare with travel here. Not being able to read signs, not being able to talk well with those speaking "Northern" dialects of Chinese, it all adds up to confusion and frustration for us.
We have had several bumps in the road this trip- having our hotel "changed" for us even though we had a reservation, getting frustrated with cabdrivers that cannot understand us, having our hotel move all of our things to another room without permission while we were not here.....sigh.,....makes for a stressful trip.

Well, we reached a breaking point and that happened right when we got off the subway, where we were supposedly in a city area to catch a cab quickly to Happy Valley Amusement Park.
The subway exit instead put us out in an apt development....with no cabs and really not too many people around. We walked and walked, not knowing if we were heading to the entrance and the city streets or the opposite direction.
As my family began to complain and get more upset, I reminded them to begin to Pr-y, not complain,,,,put that energy to use.
Well, this is the truth, believe it or not.....literally....2 minutes later, a very nice looking Chinese guy appeared and said" Do you need some help?" in perfect English and I said "Yes!!!"
His name was Chen Jin and he was on his way to the gym. He is an architect and is on vacation for the National Holiday week. Not only did he help us with how to get to a cab, but he said, "Never mind, I will just take you". So we all piled into his very nice Audi......(found out he has a girlfriend so no setting him up with my friends) ...and he drove us to the front gate of the amusement park!!! Things are so different here- you would never dream of doing that in the US, but here, you just have a different level of trust with people.
He was so nice and helpful. He said he works in the US 3 or 4 times a year in NYC. He was around 30-35 I would guess.

So that is our second time having an angel to help us. I told him he was our angel and he just giggled.

THAT was a lesson for our children- that G-d is there, He just wants us to ask for help when we need it!!!

More to come from Beijing......