The End... but not really

Today was our final day of the mission trip. As I write this in the church office, there are more people in the church than I've ever seen. Mission members rushing around packing luggage and cleaning up, tons of kids who didn't go home after VBS but are running around chasing us and giving us presents and requesting our emails, and parents who are preparing one final dinner for us. We will eat dinner with the church members, and bid them goodbye afterwards, where we will all go our separate ways.

This morning we went to a disabled persons hospital to visit patients and help feed the children. We first performed our music set, with 4 testimonies in between: April, Norman, Isaac, and Jacqueline. It was a very moving experience. Although the crowd of patients had mental disabilities and might not have fully understood what we were saying, they were excited to participate with us while we used hand motions during the songs, and several of us were moved to tears. After the music part, we separated into 3 groups of 4 and went into classrooms to help feed the children. Many of the children are autistic, and we helped feed them lunch, brush their teeth, and get them ready for an afternoon nap. It was an amazing reminder that God loves all people, and that He created each of us the way that we are for a reason. Although it was the last morning and we were all very tired, it was a very memorable time for the team.

Our last VBS class was even more moving. The church members here, especially the pastor's wife, led the children in an extended time of worship and prayer. At one point, she asked every teacher to go around to each of our students and pray for them. Although our prayers were a jumble of english and broken chinese, many of the kids were moved to tears. Afterwards, the teachers lined up and each child came by and gave us a hug. By the time the kids had finished saying goodbye to each teacher, nearly every member of the team was crying.

We have been so blessed to have this opportunity to serve here in Wudu. Being able to spend 2 weeks developing relationships with these children and church members has been one of the most amazing experiences I'm sure many of us have ever had. We are reluctant to leave, but we have faith that the seeds we have planted here will be nurtured and watered by God.

Please continue to pray for this team, because we know the trip is never really over. We have dozens of new friends to pray for, and also a lot of traveling for each of the mission team members. It will be a difficult adjustment to return home to America after this 3 week experience, but we are excited to share in more detail with all of you about what God has been doing in our lives.

Thank you to all the people who have kept with this blog and continued to pray for us! The joy of the Lord is our strength!