Good Morning America

So it's 9:15 p.m. here, and we are about to crash.  Thankfully, today we did not suffer much jet lag, and we were able to sleep last night.  That is a praise.  Our travel was safe, but we are most thankful that it is over too!  Our seats on the long flight, Detroit to Shanghai, were considered the worst seats on the airplane according to the website "seat guru."  Nothing like sitting directly beside the lavoratories on a 16 hour flight.  And, we only had 3 seats together.  Tim sat alone about 2/3 of the trip, and then we switched.  We finally made it to Beijing and arrived at our hotel at 2:00 a.m., July 2nd. 

 

Our guide here in Beijing is named Charlotte.  Charlotte has been great.  She met us at the airport, got us settled, changed our tour time from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. so we could sleep, and guided us knowledgeably around the Forbidden City, a government run silk factory, and Tian'An Men Square today.  (And she ordered us lunch - so we knew what we were eating!)  It was a fascinating day. 

 

I'm pretty tired, so I know I'm leaving out many details.  One thing I really wanted to share with you though is that today we had the opportunity to share with Charlotte the gospel.  She asked about why we were adopting since we already have kids, which opened up how we are Christians and the Bible has a lot to say on caring for orphans.  Then we asked if she knew about the Bible.  She does know some about the Bible, but very little.  We are hoping and praying that our next day and half with her will bring more opportunity to share.  

 

Tomorrow is another very busy and exhausting day (the Great Wall, a jade factory, some park, an acrobatics show), but I think Sunday will be a little more restful.  I will try to update again soon. 

 

For those of you who would consider sacrificing time in prayer, I am including some specific prayer requests.

 

1. Pray that God would protect our travels in China, and home.

2. Pray that Chinese authorities that oversee our adoption will be kind and gracious toward us.

3. Pray that our interactions with Chinese guides will be God honoring as they watch our family for the next weeks. Specifically, ask God to tune them to the Gospel that we will have opportunity to share.

4. Pray that our new daughter's fear of our family is short-lived. We are taking our two oldest daughters, Carrie Mac and Meg. Lily has been in an orphanage for 3.5 years, since she was 18 months old. She will have never been in contact with, much less played with people that look like us. I can't imagine her initial fear when we "take" her.

5. Pray that I will bond very quickly with Lily, and that Lily will quickly begin to trust and look to me for comfort and having her needs met.

6. Pray that we learn quickly to communicate to Lily at a level sufficient to get her safely and comfortably home.

7. Pray that God would open the eyes of my two older daughters who are with us, to the needs, poverty, and desperation of the poor of this world. This will be their first look at the real world, outside the completely unrealistic and materialistic nation that we live in. Remember that if you can scrounge up $100 by the end of the week that you are wealthy, wealthy compared to 98% of the worlds population.

8. Pray for our two younger girls and the family caring for our home while we are gone to find that the time we are gone passes quickly.

Thank you,

 

zaijian=Goodbye, MM