October 2009 - the 'C' team takes Building Families for LIfe to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guilin in Mainland China.
Our adventure began the first morning we awoke in Taiwan, after a short night's sleep in the home of Jin's sister and brother-in-law, in Jin's home village. We didn't feel tired even though we'd been travelling many hours, changing planes and getting to bed by 3.00 a.m.We were up and ready to go. After our first chinese style breakfast of won-ton soup, and a prayer, we were setting out to catch a train south, to a small town to introduce ourselves and the programmes to a mission there. Their first question to us was"Do you know anything about families?" as they were trying to help children through a homework club. We spent the rest of the day with our new friends and caught the last train home. We also took the programmes to the Headquarters of the Presbyterian church in Taiwan, they were still very involved with recovering areas of the country from the typhoon and didn't have a lot of time for us. However the parenting DVDs and manual in Mandarin were gratefully accepted.
We then moved on to Taipei and enjoyed the big city life and some great hospitality and visiting the Dr Sun Yat Sen Memorial,a vast expanse of paved areas, gardens and beautifully clipped hedges and edgings. We saw the 'changing of the guard' ceremony which takes place hourly.
We met many people and made some good connections for the parenting course to be used in churches and possibly schools. Then it was another move to another city where Jin had completed her studies. There we met one of her tutors, now getting old and very ill.
Soon it was a quick flight back to Hong Kong, setting up accommodation in the YWCA and meeting up with the rest of the team. While in Hong Kong we took the parenting resources to the Head Office of the Church of Christ in China and met with some pastors there. Then it was a rush to catch the train from Hong Kong to the border, walk through immigration and into Mainland China and catch the overnight train to Guilin. We had no tickets! So it was a case of being hopeful and walking through into the embarking area.We were asked to wait to make sure all the booked passengers were on board, then we were summoned through the gate onto the platform and onto the train, two cabins already alloted to us. Each cabin consisted of four beds with pillows, duvet, slippers and a flask of hot water supplied. Very clean and cosy. We were soon settled in to sleep through the 12 hour ride to Guilin.
Our accommodation in Guilin was in a small hostel located within the grounds of the Emperor's Palace, now a university.Some of the buildings are open to tourists, however most buildings are used by the students. The grounds are lovely and enjoyed by many as we noted sports, singing, and other activities, as well as the hundreds of tourists that flooded through the gate everyday. We felt honoured to be able to just walk in.We enjoyed getting to know our way around the city and which exit to take through the palace wall, for certain destinations. Again, there was a variety of food to choose from; local corner cook houses where it was usual to see businessmen, dressed up for a day's work, sitting on a tiny stool eating their noodle breakfast, and talking on a cell phone, to fine restuarants and the good old Macd's and KFC. We tried them all!
We had contacted the Three Self church in Guilin and met up with them on our first day there. They then set up times for us to present the parenting course - two night meetings, and all day Saturday and Saturday evening. Of course it was Jin who did most of the talking over those times, with Ian and Barbara having some small input, but with Jin interpreting that too.It was a very exciting time, with at least 500 people coming to each meeting, with more on the Saturday. We also presented a session of the Alpha Marrige Course on Saturday evening,with testimony from Stuart and Ping Ping, the younger people enjoyed it. Also thanks to Ping Ping for her translation of our one to one conversations. We would have been lost without those two ladies.
We enjoyed our time in Guilin, there are many sights to see and enjoy, and we met some lovely people. We had one tourist day driving into the mountains and seeing the lifestyle of the Yaos people. They live on terraced mountainsides, building beautiful wooden houses, two - three stories high, and growing rice also in terraces on the mountainside. They labour very hard with no machinery and live very simply. These little horses are able to carry very heavy loads. In spite of their simplicity there was the occasional TV dish on a roof!
So it was with a second 12 hour train trip we returned to Hong Kong and spent the day at the airport for our flight home, very tired but very satisfied.
September 2009, CWM Mission with Children
Ian & Barbara are in Samoa to train trainers to run their own parenting courses....
We're working hard, covering a lot of information, sharing resources and getting good rest breaks in between.We really enjoying being here, love the climate, the people and the scenery.
These photos are of Pago Pago where Ian was at the CWM Roundtable meetings. Here you see the plane he travelled in from Apia to Pago Pago and return, the Theological college where the meetings were held, the many countries represented at the meetings.The church and church service are those of the Theological college, plus a tropical sunset with it's beautiful colours, and the kava ceremony which is part of the opening and welcome.
This is a lovely place to be.On Sunday our day started at 5.30a.m. as we prepared for transport to our allocated churches, leaving at 6.30a.m.. We had breakfast with our hosts, then the 9.00a.m. service, a huge lunch and treated like kings, then back to college loaded with gifts.An incredible day with some very generous people.
Now we just have to finish the week's work that CWM Pacific has planned for us. This is a very worthwhile and inspiring event; Mission with Children, highlighting the needs of children world wide. Only CWM can do this.
Having just returned home it is with sadness that we hear about the tsunami that has struck various parts of the islands, causing tragedy and destruction- October 1st 2009.
