China Trip: July 2005 Archives

The orphanage where we served cared for 300 girls who were under the age of one.

You can find mission trip photos taken by Gabe Neville here (co-team leader).

there will be more to come
but here's a few
they're a little large
but i'll fix that soon

here's the link: China Trip Pics

you can also find them under "about this blogger" in the sidebar

We are back home with our children after 10 days in China (though we feel like we left some of our children behind in China). I'm still processing the mission trip which turned out to be 10 of the most rewarding days of my life. It was everything I had hoped for and more. I've enjoyed the privilege of leading 5 mission teams with between 25 to 35 members, but I must say that it was very nice change to be a member of a mission team without any of the responsibility that comes with leading one. This was the first time since 1987 that I was able just to be one of many team members on a mission trip. I benefitted significantly from being just “one of the guys.” It was great to do more listening than talking this time. So many kudos to AWAA for the opportunity to join this wonderful mission team!

Speaking of wonderful...I could not have been impressed more with people who comprised the Fuling team. There were 37 people from several different church backgrounds yet we all joined together under the common objective of care for orphans in their affliction (James 1:27). I was both immensely encouraged and rebuked by the sacrificial love that I witnessed my team members demonstrate not only to the children of Fuling, China but also to each other. Our team leaders, Gabe and Eileen (husband and wife), were strong examples of Christlike, gospel-centered service. So thank you Gabe and Eileen and Fuling team members for living out the beautiful gospel with each other and the orphans. Melissa, Hannah, and I could not have hoped for 34 better team members with whom to serve. Thank you for making much of Christ in the way you conducted yourselves those 10 days. Your walk was indeed worthy of the gospel (Philippians 1:27).

One of many grace-filled things God did had to do with the Fuling newspaper. Considering the fact that Fuling, China is a city with a population of 3 million, it’s bordering on remarkable that our mission team made the front page. The article describes our work with the Fuling orphans in simple yet very thoughtful and thankful terms. It is in the process of being translated. Once the translation is completed I’ll post it. But God was good to make known His tender care for the Fuling fatherless through our short time there. It will be interesting to see what God continues to do in that orphanage where God’s fingerprints can be seen all over the place. Our missionary God does indeed care for the fatherless no matter their country of origin.

Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about the trip. Most posts will include excerpts from my journal. But all posts will include pictures of the Fuling children. My goal is to give you an idea of the kind of thing God is doing in orphanages around the world that you have never heard of.