Hello from China!

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated the blog! Time has been flying by the last few days, but we're starting to get into a routine now. Everyone who was leaving on July 27 made it to the airport on time, and should be back in the States by now, or at least close to it.

We have four new people who have joined our team; Beth, Lacey, Tyler and Katie. All four made it safely to China with no problems. When they arrived, they were all met with the unwelcome news that they would have to do several days of quarantine time before being allowed to work with our team. They have each had to spend their first three days in China staying in a room in an isolated area of our orphanage. We have been making sure they are cared for, but as you can imagine, it has been pretty boring for each of them. Beth, Lacey and Tyler finished their prison, I mean quarantine, time today, and were able to join in with our team. Katie still has one day left before she can join in. We have felt pretty badly about this, but of course, it is not under our control. This is just something with which we have to comply.

We have 22 people on our team now, and all of us are leading an English Camp in a kindergarten in Fang Shan, a community just outside of Beijing. Dennis, Sam and Autumn will be arriving on the train from Fuzhou today (Tuesday), and will become part of our team as well.

Working with Kindergarten kids is not something we normally do, but there is a lot of tension around the country, especially in schools, because of the H1N1 Flu virus, so it has been difficult to find schools that want Americans to come and work with their kids. We do believe, though, that this is not our work, and that we are not the ones who are in charge, so we accept this as the plan and carry on! This will give us an opportunity still to develop relationships with other adults who work in the kindergarten, teachers and other staff people, so we do see the value of what we are trying to do here.

Please keep thinking about our team. Everyone is healthy, but some are getting a little tired, so we need strength! We'll try to communicate a little more often over the next couple of weeks!