He Can Move The Mountains

In between worship in the mornings and the ministry sites at night there was plenty of time for us to have some fun as a family. We were able to go hiking in the mountains on two different days. The first time we took everyone, the second time we took just Jadon with us.

The first day we went to Estes Park and hiked in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We got to see Alberta Falls, a beautiful waterfall, and Bear Lake.

Right before leaving for Denver Todd had found a zoom lens for my camera on the Internet. They were asking $100 for a brand new lens, so Todd offered them $75 and they accepted it. We were hoping that it would come in time for the Denver trip and UPS brought it the day before we left. I was so happy. I was even more happy when I got to use it while hiking through the mountains.

Pictures of us at the beginning of the hike and at the end of the hike at Bear Lake and of our friends that we went with.

Todd and Matt on top of the rock they just conquered. The day started off foggy, but by the end of the day the sky was a beautiful clear blue.Some wildlife that we were able to see. We were surprised at how close the chipmunk would let the kids get.The second trip to the mountains was to St. Mary's Glacier. It was definitely a different hike as in it wasn't as pretty as the prior hike. But once we got to the glacier it was absolutely beautiful. Todd and Jadon played in the glacier. There was a definite climate change the closer you got to the glacier.
To give you an idea of how big the glacier is in the middle of picture on the right hand side you can barely see two people on the glacier. They were on skies hiking their way across it.

We have found Jadon's thing, he loves hiking and climbing rocks. He becomes a totally different boy once we put him in the mountains. He is usually a cautious fearless (I know those don't sound like they go together, but that's Jadon, he loves to do new and daring things, but he's going to go in prepared and cautious) and we're convinced his body if full of nerve endings since he has absolutely no pain tolerance what so ever. But put him in the mountains and he becomes a wild man climbing everywhere.

Just Like In The Bible

After being home from China for 10 days my family took off for Denver to a mission trip led by Global Encounter Ministries. Donna and I drove out with the kids on a Thursday and Todd flew out that next Friday after work. The kids did awesome with the 15 hour drive, they honestly couldn't have done any better. At one point I heard Haven ask how much longer before we were in Denver and Jadon leaned over to her and said, "remember mommy said it was going to be a loooonggg drive, I don't think it's been long enough. You will be okay." I loved it, encouraging his sister.

The kids have been counting down to Denver since several months out. We went last year and they absolutely loved it. Jude was just a few months old last year so it was going to be a different experience for him.

Our week was definitely blessed. Todd got to speak at 3 of the morning worship services, we spent our evenings going to the different sites and letting the kids participate in that group's ministry while I walked around and took pictures. It was a blessing to see all these students loving on the kids.

Our first night of ministry we went to the city park and another park, both just down the street from the church we slept at all week. I got to take pictures of some precious little kids and Todd got to stop a fight and physically walk a kid off the park. All was good until a mother of a couple of the kids attending the Bible club started rounding up her children. We weren't done or getting ready to be done, so I asked if everything was okay. She didn't know that Todd was my husband and she looked at me and said that she was worried that the kid Todd just confronted was going to go home and get his older, bigger brother who has a gang and come back for that guy (as she pointed at my husband).

That is not at all something you want to hear. I'm looking around wandering if I should grab the kids and at least put them in the car. I said something to Todd and of course he sees no problem... men! So, we have a watch out group and then he's spotted. The kid comes back with a group, we are told by locals his brother is not with him. Thank you God for your protection because his brother was not home when the kids went to find him.

That was the beginning story to D, that's the kids name. The rest of the story includes him coming back to Bible Club on Wednesday, the night the gospel was shared. D along with a couple of friends were led to Christ that night. The next evening at Family Night D went up to the youth pastor that had been at the park all week and asked prayer for strength to live his life for Christ amidst his environment and prayer for his brother because he really needed this. Brings tears to my eyes even now. So, if you think of D please join us in praying for him and his family.

D is the one in the Colorado Rockies hat. This picture was taken at Family Night, the reason for the painted face on his friend.

Another amazing God thing was the evening of Family Night. Isaiah Caldwell had a kid come to him with questions and he was led to Jesus. He then said my cousin needs this, left went and brought his cousin to Isaiah, who was led to Jesus. After praying he said my brother needs this, left went brought his brother to Isaiah and he was led to Jesus. This went on 2 more times until there were 5 kids in that family saved that night. Wow, isn't that what we read in the Bible, one person comes to Jesus and their entire family is saved. It was an amazing night of God showing Himself. We were in a highly Muslim area and we got to see one Muslim man saved and planted many more seeds with the children that were allowed to join in the activities at the parks.

Some pictures of the kids that came and Jadon and Haven enjoying the Bible Clubs.

This is the Pastor and his wife of the church we slept at. They are an amazing couple. They have a huge heart for those around them. Pray for them as well, they now have the task of making contact with all the families of the kids we that came to the Bible Clubs.

China Part 3

In the middle of the ministry we took a couple of fun days to go shopping and visit the Great Wall. The Great Wall was amazing and I am so glad I got to experience it in person. The day we chose to visit was a clear, hot day. It was nice to have it clear since many days there are smoggy.

I took this picture on top of one of the towers. Once Blaine, Brian and I saw that we had not reached the highest point we just had to get there. The rest of the group stayed back as we had to reach the top. Yes, my competitive spirit came shining through as I really wanted to keep up with the boys. This is us after reaching the top.

The shopping was definitely a unique experience. I had never bartered before in all my shopping experiences. At first I had to have someone do it for me, but by the end of the day I became more accustomed to the whole process.

I had been told before going over that you can get pearls for very cheap. I wasn't sure if very cheap was also my idea of very cheap, but I went hoping to get a pearl necklace and earrings that I can give Haven on her wedding day. Thanks to Brian and his incredible ability to barter I got a real pearl necklace and earring set for $5.50 American dollars. I consider that very cheap. The Pearl Market where we got our pearls and other goodies.

I also enjoyed some very unique eating experiences. We were fed lunch at the Village everyday, but for evening meals we had to go off site to eat. We did have McDonald's a couple of times and yes it tasted exactly like McDonald's in the States, but we also experienced some local dining.

This place was called Hot Pot and everything was brought out raw and we all had a fondue bowl with seasoned water that we cooked everything in. When the brought out the shrimp our interpreter instructions were to cook the shrimp until the eyes bug out.

China Part 2

Phillip Hayden Foundation (PHF) is a foster home for orphans. It began years ago when Tim Baker and his wife met another man named Phillip Hayden while they were English as second language teachers in China. Phillip had a heart for orphans and in their free time they worked with the orphanages in China. When Phillip was in his late 20's he died suddenly from a heart condition he had. To continue his passion and honor him the Bakers founded the Phillip Hayden Foundation. It started in their home and they took in as many orphans as they could.

Through God guiding them and blessing them they now have Shepherd's Field Children's Village. The land they now have they actually bought for the equivalent of 1 American dollar, through God's guidance and much prayer.

PHF is actually a business in China, they make banners and sell them in their store. The Baker's through a local business man found that if they made the foster home a business they would have more freedoms in the Chinese government. They did some checking and sure enough becoming a business gave them more rights under the law. This began the arts and crafts factory, that houses special needs orphans.

It is amazing to hear all that God has done through this place. They are literally tearing down walls in China concerning Christianity. They have had business men and government officials come to the Village to see what is going on and hear the children singing "Jesus Loves Me".

The government knows the Bakers and the volunteers they have are Christians and they teach the children about Jesus. The government overlooks this because they do such good work and they play by the rules. I am amazed at what God is doing through a few people as they love on orphans and all the Chinese workers they employee.

There are Nannies that take care of the children, chefs that cook the food for the children, the ladies that make the banners, men who make by hand all the furniture in the village, men hired to drive around volunteers. They have been able to see many of these employees come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. How exciting is that.

They are in the process of building a boarding house where they will house those children who do not get adopted. They see about 80% of the orphans adopted, but for the ones that do not get adopted they are just put out to either sink or swim. In China once a child reaches 14 they are no longer adoptable. So, by the time they turn 15 or 16 they are pushed out. PHF wants to provide a way for these children to thrive by teaching them life skills before sending them out into the world. Their hope is that they can take this approach to the Chinese government and they will implement this into their government run orphanages.

I love PHF and their vision. They are looking at the big picture and reaching China through very practical means. There is a huge orphanage rate in China. In the United States we have about 500,000 in foster care; in China they have conservatively 13 million orphans.

What a huge task PHF has, but they make it seem small by the way they do it.