Well I said that I would get you a report of what I did in China, and here it is...
The reason for the trip was twofold. First, because of a master degree I am taking in intercultural and international communication, there was a three week residency to complete. The second reason was to visit a relative of family friends in Canada. This man has an orphanage near Biejing. We talked about partnering with each other in his work there.
My first 5 days was spent in Beijing in a ministry to handicapped children who have been taken in. There were about 40 children in a few locations, all being cared for my a national staff. The plan was to eventually bring these children to the countryside and teach them to live and function as well as possible. The second plan is to teach parents of handicapped children that there is hope for their children, and that there are many possibilities for them to lead fulfilled lives.
The next segment of my experience in China was to travel to Jinan, Shandong province, and attend university classes at Shandong Normal University. My cohort of 28 students went to classes from 9 am to 5 pm daily, and excursions to historical/cultural sites on Saturdays. For many of us it was almost information overload after awhile. We learned things about many different segments of Chinese cultural differences. We also spend extended periods of time with assigned "buddies' while we were at the university. My buddy's name was Goa yo, better known as "Hier."Please take some time to look at the video's and photo's that I have uploaded...
Stay tuned for reports about the November Sojourn to the Dominican Republic, the next sojourn in January, and a great need in Haiti...
