Our team got word late last night that one of our team members mother was found dead the night before. We were scheduled to wrap up the teaching this morning anyways, so we just ended a bit early and headed for the airport to get him home ASAP. A lot of our teaching has been about encouraging and edifying our brothers in Christ, so this is giving us very practical application. Please Pray for Jordan's family.
It was kinda hard to end the teaching early. This group is younger and they seem to really appreciate us being here. They have never had foreign teachers before. We asked them to pray over us as we left, and I will never forget it. They gathered around us in a circle and sang over us with such passion, then prayed over us with such emotion, I doubt there were any dry eyes in the room. For a group of people who couldn't even communicate with each other, it was quite a spiritual experience!
Our flight to Beijing was delayed two hours, so our brother almost missed his flight home, but from all indications he made it.
My schedule here has shifted, and that is ok. Flexibility is the key. I'll get to go tomorrow and reconnect with Kimberly and Leslie from my church at the English camp. It will be good to see what they've been up to.
One thing that has really stood out to me is the hospitality of the Chinese brothers and sisters here. Especially the people at the last training center who hosted it in their home. The owner of the house was sleeping on a hard wooden bench the whole time so we could stay in their room. Their son also refused to take any money from us when he drove us to the airport - even just to cover his gas and tolls. They waited on us hand and foot, almost to the point where it was embarrassing. Whenever we would try to help with anything or even clean up, they would insist that we not do that and our interpreter said it was how they show hospitality.
We said goodbye to our interpreter Grace at the airport today. She was a super hard working young lady who really has a heart for The Lord. She gave us tons of insight into the Chinese people and culture that was really helpful.
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