Recap of Week 2:
Health-wise, almost everyone who was sick is better. Pls be praying for Teacher Matt. He's on an antibiotic and still not feeling great. A few other teachers are starting to feel sick, but we're yarping that rest and liquids will help them kick the sore throats. (It's hard to tell right now if the sore throats is the smog or sickness or lack of sleep)
The second week of camp ended well. Each class performed a song or play as practice for their final performances (Where parents come and watch). The classes were all nervous, but they did a fantastic job.
Over the weekend, we visited the Great Wall. We requested that they take us to a different location than last year... and the location where we went had a ski lift you can ride up about half way, then hike some. And then you can either slide down, hike down or ride the ski lift back down. About 2 hours after we arrived at the GW, it started pouring. So the slide was closed and we rode the ski lift down. It was alot of fun (the location was perfect for Amer1can tourists) but everyone was soaked. So we cancelled the rest of the day's activities (we were supposed to go hang out by a man-made lake, outside for 3 hours), so we could all go home, get dried off and rest.
Sunday was filled with lesson plans, shopping at the pearl or silk market and wrship/B1ble study at our place. We had a handful of TA's join us. We learned that colleges here have started requiring a full-year course study of the B1ble. The entire year is spent criticising the Book and what we believe. So some of the TA's, when we've asked what they thought about our singing and study have replied with comments like, "I really like the singing. I can see why you are a Chr1stian and why you like the B1ble, but I'm not interested", etc. So we found many hard hearts when we arrived. But several of those girls have come to every singing/reading time and listened really carefully. So we trust Him to help them see the Truth and that He'll open their ears.
Our team is doing such a great job loving on each other and loving on their TA's. We haven't had hardly any relationship issues thus far (which is very unusual for a group this size). But the past couple of days we've noticed alot of culture shock, home sickness and exhaustion. We're encouraging them to get extra rest, get time in the Word, pryer, etc. But we'd appreciate all of us being covered from that end of the world.
Thank you for your encouragement and pr.yers. Each of us greatly appreciate the support! :)
FYI - the bl0g that we're using is currently blocked over here, so we're having to post in a round-a-bout way. We're having issues posting pics, but we'll hopefully have a few up soon. :)
