Farewell to a team:

Farewell to a team:   Team East Asia has returned safely home.  As the team departed, I wanted to close off the journey of our team with some remarks as the Team Leader.   

The general consensus on the team was that this trip was nothing like we thought or anticipated it would be like.  Many signed up to go because of the foster home for children with serious health concerns, but we ended up being touched by all the different programs that our contact has set up.  One area that had great influence on our team was the english school.  The relationships that our team built with some of the students (ranging in age from 16-30) will be lifelong connections and are unlike anything I have seen on similar trip.  By staying in one location and working with the same students everyday, we were able to experience a depth in people that is unique for such a short trip.  There were definitely tears shed on both sides of the cultural divide as we said our goodbyes to students who had become such close friends to many of us.  The significance of these relationships weighed on me as our dear Coral held on to me and wept at the realization of our team's departure early this morning.   

Our team gave everything possible the last two weeks of this journey.  I am so proud of them.  There were times when they could have been relaxing or hanging out, and they chose to spend time with students instead.  They were working on those relationships and hoping for moments to share about what makes our team 'different.'  Nights when we could have done a movie night for the team, they chose to invite the students to a movie KTV party instead.  Days when our team traveled to see the great landmarks of this country, the team decided to bring as many students along as possible so that we could have more time together.  The team poured out.  Constantly.  And it did not go unnoticed.   

Some things our contact said about our team include: 
They were full of an energy that this place needed to see.
They came at the perfect time to be a breath of fresh air to everyone here.
There was a unique intimacy and desire to connect with the students that has not been seen before.  T
here is a passion within the group that is uncommon to see.  
This age group has limitless possibilities with the students, and with the children that other age groups don't.  This team sucked it up for all it was worth. 

I say all this in conclusion to say thank you to the team.  All 18 of you were incredible to work with (even if I was hard on you at points) and I appreciate you making the most of every moment and opportunity that we had on this trip.  Thank you for sacrificing you summer to defend the orphans, preach good news to the poor, learn to do good, plead for the widow, proclaim freedom to the captives, and bind up the broken hearted.  Your work and relationships here are eternally good.   

Some other final THANK YOUS: 
First, I would like to say thank you to our dear friend Jim Kitson who was the faithful updater of our blog.  We were not able to access the site where we were, so we would send our updates every few days and Jim would post them.  We are so grateful for what you have done for our team over the last several months.  You and your wife have been so good to us and you will be in our hearts and lives forever. 

Second, I would like to say thank you to Dr. Hank Lederle, Karin Swihart, and Global Infusion.  These three have done more to make this trip happen then anyone else.  Most of their work goes unseen but we owe them so much!  Thanks for dedicating your life to seeing these trips happen. 

Third, Thanks to the parents of this team.  You children have blessed my life and the lives of many….more than you can probably realize.  Not only were many of your children's lives impacted by this trip, but your children had a significant role in changing other people's lives forever.  I know many of you took a step of faith in allowing your child to travel to Asia, but on behalf of our contact, as well as the students and children we worked with, thank you for supporting your child to do this good work.   

Finally, Thank you to our contact here in E.A.  You have changed us forever.  

For HIS glory, Melissa Yarrow 

The Panda Warriors are home!

The Panda Warriors team trickled in all of last night and as far as I know, everyone made it home despite the storms. The team that came into Wichita was tired but in good spirits. I am sure they are ready for a little rest and are looking forward to getting acclimated back to their normal time zones and sleep schedule.

This will be my last post on behalf of Melissa and the team. It has been a honor an a pleasure to be part of their experience in China and I know the seeds the team planted are already starting to sprout.

Thank you all for following along and keeping the team in your thoughts while they were serving.

Blessings,
Jim K

Saturday and Sunday - Forbidden City & Tienanmen Square

(Forbidden City)

Saturday: it is what it is

The quote of the day is, “it is what it is” meaning today was the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and Silk Street Market. There is a saying in China, “People Mountain, People Sea”, and in the Forbidden City, all we saw was people, and a few buildings. Though the trip here was short, I feel that we accomplished a lot. The Emperor’s garden was beautiful with the pride and joy being the Mountain of Elegance, a single stone brought in from a distant province to be held solely by the Emperor. As we scaled the stairs we were at awe of the massive-ness of the buildings but as one of us saw, what was waiting for us in the next plane would be even more majestic.

Then we began a walk through Tienanmen Square. It was very eerie to find that the students we were with did not understand the significance of the place we were at. It was shocking to find that even in this modern world with information so available at the fingertips, that so many did not know the truth of history. Myself as a student of history walked in awe through a place that held so much value to me yet nothing for the national who walked beside me.  But our road was not to stop there and we continued to a Tea House and puppet show.

Our guide took our order and though we had been eating the food  eleven days none of us were ready for the feast that was giving to us. China has over 300 types of vetables, so when we ask what we are eating the reply would come, beef and vegetable, pork and vegetable, and chicken and vegetable, and truthfully that was all that was needed. While some of us were done with the food, myself was diving head on into another dish.  BUT that was not the show, on stage was a traditional Chinese Puppet Show. While I do not know the name, the plot of the crane trying to eat the turtle was easy to flow. And in case you’re wondering, the crane wings.

After the meal though a new quote would be ring true, “If you walk away and they are angery, then you go a good deal.” So welcome to Silk Street. J  Of all the places I have now been to in China this place we where I the most grateful to have a Native Chinese speaker with me. Martin who I am more than proud to call my friend, walked through the market we made a lot of people angry. I could tell the stories about the hackeling all day, but the one that stands out the most was when a woman chase us down the hall saying that “Yes 60 rmb would be alright.” What made me smile was she started at 580 rmb.

So “it is what is”  and it is China. Though we have all accepted that we well not see the fruit from the seeds that we have planted, we know that we have watered them and some even sprout.



Sunday Kaleb Knighton’s P.O.V.

To say that today was a crazy day would be a huge understatement.  We woke up and jumped on the bus this morning at 7:30 so we could get to Baoding by 9:30.  Well what should have been a 2 hour drive turned into 3.  We got to North China Electric Power University in Baoding at 10:30.  As some of you might know this is currently where a few beloved graduates of Sterling College are teaching English.  The students that we were meeting with at the university were overjoyed to have us come and discuss culture with them.  For some odd reason everyone in China thinks that I (Kaleb Knighton) am a famous actor or rock star that lives in California.  I cannot tell you how many times some random Chinese people worked up the courage to come and ask me to take a picture with their family.  Well, it was no different at the university!  Except that they actually had full conversations with me before they asked to take my picture.  Some of the Chinese people actually refer to me as “handsome guy” (in Chinese of course).  Needless to say.. my ego is way bigger than it should be.  My family and friends probably could have guessed that!  Well after we finished up our “English Corner” with the students, we ate McDonalds and jumped back into the bus to start our journey back to our host here in Beijing.  I can pretty much sum up what our drive home was like by simply saying,  Mom, I’m glad you weren’t here.  After we nearly got ran off the road by a semi truck we encountered our next challenge.  Flat tire.  We had to stand out on the side of the highway about 30 minutes outside of Beijing for about 45 minutes to wait for another bus to come and pick us up.  After some random stranger stopped to try and help, he handed me two books, which we later found out were pictures and descriptions of Beijing!  Well the new bus came and found us and we safely made our way back to Beijing, which we aimlessly drove around in the dark for a long time because our bus driver had no idea where he was going.


(costume party)

Thursday and Friday

THURSDAY:
Today was an eventful day for me! I spent the morning in the classrooms like normal. Up until today I hadn't been placed in classroom 2 so that was exciting to get to know some more students that I had only known before just by their faces and classroom number. During our lunch break, we made a trip to the village to look for props for our costumes for the costume party that is tomorrow. Jess and I decided to be ping pong nerds, we already had matching t-shirts and headbands but we needed a few wristbands (because we sweat a lot playing pong!) and some spare ping pong balls to put in our fanny packs. It was very helpful having the students helping us because we would never of found the stuff we needed without them.
After lunch I spent my afternoon at the healing home. I got to ride with Bryan in the back of his bike-buggy, I felt pretty cool cruising the streets in that. The healing home was a very humbling experience. When I first got there, I got to hold Kia. Kia is a little girl that is just a few months old that had a serious case of the chicken pox. She has been crying since the moment I got there and once she was handed to me she stopped so I got to hold her the entire two hours I was there. Another one of the little girls, Wila really brightened up my day. Wila had a clubbed foot but you wouldn't even know from how great of a spirit she had. She is a very happy little girl that doesn't probably doesn't realize that anything is wrong. She had such a big heart for a little girl, you could tell with the way she interacted with the other kids and myself.
Overall today was just a great day for new experiences and new relationships that will stick with me for a long time.

-Amber


FRIDAY: Lesson learned: how to make a sweet costume in one hour.
Today in China it was Friday.  I was given the opportunity to go to the Healing Home, which is for orphan children who are recovering from surgery or having surgery soon.  There are eight children there now ranging from 4 months to 5 years old.  I had already been to the Healing Home Monday and made friends with Wilma who is three and has a clubbed foot.  My other friend was Joel and he is five and has Spina Bifida, so he sits and moves him self around with his arms, but neither of my friends were there because Joel was having his surgery and Wilma was getting a checkup.  I went on a walk with the other kids and then went to lunch and to three classes to work with the Chinese English speaking students.  Later that night we had a costume party, which was a success.  I went as a nerdy pro ping-pong player with Amber.  The Chinese students had some great costumes too.  The costume party had many skits and us Sterling students did an awesome dance to Sandstorm.


Saturday - KC

Sunday - Kaleb

Wednesday, June 2

The third day of VBS went well. The kids were very energetic, but the leaders did very well at getting them organized enough to play different games, make banana diapers, and learn about J.C.

As for the English students, every team member has really enjoyed connecting with them and finding out how similar our cultures really are. The past couple of days, we have been amazed at how 'open' the students have become, and how they are really starting to be more bold about asking us intentional questions about what we believe.  A couple members of the team even experienced some students hear the name of J.C. for the first time! However we are still trying to figure out how to teach them about our faith while still respecting their culture and the rules imposed on us by the country. Yet, we are really appreciating all that we are learning from each one.

Tonight, we hosted a Kung Fu Panda movie night in the dining hall. A lot of students showed up, and we pulled out some couches and rearranged the chairs, so it was kind of a stadium seating effect going on. We even found some chinese popcorn that said "Cream Sweet Flavor" which we concluded to be equivalent to kettle corn.

As I finish writing this, four of our team members- Rachel, Matt, Dani and Austin are just getting back from an engineering college in Beijing where they accompanied one of the American teachers there as he did a lecture on how to have successful interview. The four helped demonstrate a successful interview, and were on hand to answer questions and pass out invitations to the costume party the English school is hosting tomorrow.

Okay, so I must hit the hay… but thank you for your 'thoughts'. We appreciate all the support each of you have given us. Good night! Michelle

catching up - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

(The team on the Great Wall)


(Concert)

SUNDAY: Adventures in the Village

Today was our first (and only) "free day.". We had many different opportunities to travel around the village and immerse ourselves within the local culture.
A group of us decided to shop at a local Lunar Market, which is centralized around the Chinese Lunar Calendar.  To get to the market we had to travel about a mile down a very windy dirt road lined with wheat.
I could have sworn I was in Kansas.
It was only until a wooden rickshaw passed that I remembered I was in East Asia. When we reached the market we were met with a sea of people. The best way that I can describe this shopping center is that it is very much like a flea market. You could buy a wide arrangement of items including clothing, shoes, food, fabric and plants. The market even had a section that reminded me of the dollar section at Target (this was my personal favorite area:)).
We learned that this market is very rarely visited by foreigners (that would be us) and by very rarely I mean almost never (which would explain a lot of the staring). We also learned that Lunar Market used to be very popular in this country and for some reason they have slowly started to disappear. The one that we were able to go to was one of the very last surviving markets.
I was very surprised with the generosity and kindness of the people while in the market. I would not be surprised if we were some of the very first Americans that these people have ever and will ever see, yet they welcomed us into their tradition openly. I will be honest, my Chinese vocabulary probably consist of ten words or less but these people were never rude or impatient with working with me or any others in the group. While walking down the crowed streets of the market my group and I were surprised when we heard a very loud and excited "HELLO" from one of the locals working at one of the booths. This brought such a smile to my face because this man seemed so happy to see us and was very welcoming to us being there.
Now newly inspired, Brittany, Tillie, Matt and I decided to play the sweet and sour game (no pun intended) on our way back home by saying "Ne-hao" (hello) to everyone that we passed along the way.  Lets just say that we won that game one hundred percent of the time! But apart from smiling and saying hello to everyone going by being fun it was also very eye opening to me. I learned that all it takes is going out of your way to show kindness to anther is very rewarding, even if it is just being able to say hello.

This country has been completely different from what I thought before coming over here. The people have been the most surprising to me. Through American eyes these people have almost nothing but for some reason they have figured out happiness. They are joyful and welcoming even to a point were a couple of us were able to enter into their home. This trip has been very eye opening to me.

To my loved ones back home, I miss you terribly and I cannot wait to see you!
Mom I am still safe (don't worry)
Te amo- very much!
Missy

(The Lunar Market)


MONDAY:  Oh, the JOY of Children

Hello world! And by world, I mean the good ol’ United States of America. Long time no see! Just a forewarning, this might be a little scatterbrained and jumpy, but here goes nothing!

Well, as you know, we are in East Asia! Woot woot. Today the VBS crew (Andy, Missy, Paige, Austin, Kaleb, and me-Tillie) started bright and late at 8:30! (I say this because many of us wake up at the crack of dawn due to…jet lag? Perhaps.) Let’s just say that 8:30 seems pretty late here for most of us.  We played a couple of ice breakers with the kids to get them warmed up and enthused and all that kinda stuff. We did all sorts of fun things like make no-bake cookies (which we had to improvise a bit on…but they turned out pretty swell) and play “plus” also known as “finger fiesta!” (if you’re reading this Maggie… ).
In the kitchen during our no-bake extravaganza is where I first noticed that these kids were definitely not introverts as they so displayed at the beginning (those rascals!). Haha. The girls specifically seem to be very fond of laughter, pouring stuff into the “baking” of the no-bakes, and, of course…tickling! I was plum tuckered out from the extensive, no mercy tickling I had to endure! Good thing I had “tickle timeouts” (magical periods of time in which I suddenly became no longer ticklish…muahahaha) to recover. They are all great kids, though. Interestingly enough, if our VBS adventure in the kitchen a worldwide experiment, it would definitely prove the theory that women are drawn to cooking rather than men…only one boy really helped, and he was a rowdy little goober about the age of three. He was eager, though! Surely that counts for something. One point for the boys. After mixing the cookies and setting them out to dry we headed on down to the outside basketball court to play a nice game of basketball golf.  We kiiiiinda didn’t figure in the short factor. Let’s just say that many quickly abandoned basketball golf for the much more exciting and thought provoking game of duck, duck, goose. The kids were adorable. Little Benjamin (the 3 year old) got sooo excited every time….well…ANYTHING happened. It was hilarious. I tagged him on one round and then proceeded to baby step (newborn step might be a better explanation) back around the circle while he most excitedly followed behind me within fingers reach without getting me out. He did beat me to my spot, though! I guess you could say maybe I went easy on him…just maybe.
After sports we ate our delicious, crumbly cookies, and then Missy gave a little message about the Living Word (p.s. the VBS is for the “foreigners” kids…the people who work here). We split off into small groups and had a little discussion time after that. I would say the morning was a success… We began with mostly silent, introverted kids and ended with the loudest and most rowdy bunch of them all! Who knew a group of kids could change so much in one three hour period.

After lunch, Amber, Chandler, Jess (an intern), and I did some cleaning in the foster home for a couple hours. We mostly just wiped down and cleaned the kitchens and bathrooms. At about 3 o’clock, I headed over to the Healing Home (a branch of the foster home) to work with the kids. None of the nannies speak English over there, so believe me when I say that being the only one around who speaks your own language is a pretty interesting experience. I found myself making up their conversations in my head. Haha. It was a really good day, though.
There is a little girl there that I just LOOOOOOOOVE, and I want to take her home with me. Her English name is Willa, and she is just the cutest little thing this side of the Mississippi (and that’s saying something!). She has the best laugh ever, and she loves to be tickled, and she has beautiful eyes, and she has the cutest smile. But enough about that. Oh…but have I told you about Willa???? Haha. But seriously. She is the cutest. Two of the nannies and I took 6 of the kids from the Healing Home on a walk in strollers. We just sat outside on a street corner in the shade of a tree for like an hour. You’d think it’d be boring, right? But the time flew! It’s amazing what you notice when you can’t understand. I saw the nannies teaching these little children right in front of my eyes. I could see how much they cared and how the kids were just soaking up everything that they said. I like to think that I have some innate sense of what they were talking about, but I’m pretty sure that I actually do. They were learning words. They were playing “What’s that?!” You remember that game, mom.  It was a really neat experience. On my way back, one of the nannies gave me a ride on the back of her motorized bike. She didn’t have to, I will probably never see her again, but she did. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, the same goes for her…but she gave me a ride. I guess love is the same in all languages. And that’s saying something.


(The Children)


TUESDAY: Never knowing what to expect....
One of the first things people tell you when preparing for trips like this is to not be surprised when things don’t go according to plan.

Today didn’t go according to plan. Surprise!

Each of us is supposed to get one full day in the foster home here and the rest of the time we are in classrooms teaching English to the students. Today was supposed to be my day, and I spent my morning holding and playing games with adorable little babies (most of whom have already had at least one heart surgery to save their lives). I loved hanging out with the kids and coming up with the simplest games that kept them amused for long periods of time.

During lunch, however, we found out that we had to re-arrange our schedule. We were previously told that tonight we were supposed to lead a time of music and encouragement for the workers at the foster home. After our meeting last night, we came up with a good plan of what we were going to do, but then we found out that the location was changed, and we were instead supposed to perform a “music concert” for all of the workers and all of the students (potentially close to 100 people). Needless to say, that was not our original plan.

About an hour before the concert was supposed to start, I arrived to help set up. We had three guitars, but none of them could be plugged in to the sound system. We had no guitar strap and a shortage of mic stands. Long story short, Andy, Kaleb and I each performed a few songs using two microphones that were literally TAPED to a position that was relatively close to our mouths/guitars. A few minutes before we started playing, one of the workers’ teenage sons asked if he could play drums for our band. None of us really had time to practice.

I really like order. Chaotic situations like this really challenge me. Despite my initial frustration and disbelief at the lack of organization, I was able to laugh about the ridiculous microphone situation and we did the best with what we had. Amazingly, things went well (all things considered). The students got a kick out of singing a Michael Jackson song with Andy and did their best to sing and clap along with the other songs that they didn’t know. It ended up being a fun night, and I think it’s safe to say that it was easily one of the most amusing “rock concerts” to ever happen anywhere in the world.

We’re continuing to build great relationships with the students, and everyone tells us that the students are hanging out with us much more than any other team that has come recently. We have really connected with them. They are such a fun and smart group of students. They are eager to practice their English, and they are always ready for a game of Knockout to break out on the basketball courts. It’s definitely hard to believe that we’ve been here a week already.

Surprise!
-Matt

Saturday's Adventure to the Wall....

Saturday's Adventure to the Wall....

 Today was an amazing eye-opening day!  For starters, us four guys didn't get lost (I haven't seen what anybody else has written, but Andy, KC, Austin and I live in an apartment about 1.5 miles from where the others are staying at…just ask me or somebody about us getting lost…it's a great story) on our way into town…but that's probably because a bus came and picked us up at our apartment to meet up with the rest of the team.  Anyways…we all hopped onto a bus and had about a 2 hour bus ride to get to the Great Wall.  There are some interesting stories that happened on that bus, but the only thing I can say is that we found out that Luke now has a little "girlfriend" over here! :)
 Then we finally got to the base of the mountain on which the Great Wall sits atop.  This is one thing I never really thought about, but I didn't even realize that it sat on top of a mountain, and it got me (and Melissa who I was sitting next to on the chair lift up there) to thinking…how did all of those guys carry all of those stones to the top of this mountain to build this few thousand mile long wall?!?!  That would have taken forever!  It's absolutely amazing what people could build way back then…and have it build so well.  One of my favorite parts of my day (as well as on the trip so far…not to take away from all of the other amazing things we've experienced so far) was on the ride up the mountain, it got to a point where you were just sitting in this ski lift seat, and it was completely silent with a light cool breeze blowing in your face; it was one of the most peaceful moments in my entire life!  So then we were finally on the Great Wall!  Some of us took the trip down the wall that lead to a place that was a part of the original wall (3 of the others took the other direction, but I'm not really sure of their experience…it was KC, Austin, and Kaleb, so you'll have to ask them about it).  Anyways, the way we went, some of the wall hadn't been refurbished or anything, and that was pretty cool.  The only thing was that we had to take tons and tons of stairs, and many of them were at very steep inclines.  Needless to say, many of us got a great work out for the day :)
 Then it came time to head back down the mountain…and this is probably just as cool as seeing the wall itself.  We got on these little carts, and got to ride them on this huge metal slide all the way down the mountain!  It kind of reminded me of bobsledding, but without the ice…and also, you were the only one on the cart, not 4 people…oh, and you didn't have to wear helmets, and you had to keep slowing down a lot because of slow people in front of you…so when I really stop to think about it, it's not really even much like bobsledding at all besides the going down the mountain on a track, lol :)
 After we all got back down we got to go to this nice restaurant and eat some pretty good food.  A lot of the people really enjoyed the "strawberry cotton-candy pears" that we had for dessert (we actually think it was little asian pears in watermelon juice, but we liked our name for it better.)
 Following that we got to go to an International Church in Beijing.  It was a really great experience and a really great sermon to hear.

 Then we went supper at an American Bar and Grill (I know…you shouldn't be eating American food while you are here because you may never get to go back, but I didn't care, because most of the group was headed there too.)  I had a bacon cheeseburger with bbq sauce and onion rings on it, and it was a really good burger, and I believe I saw somebody else get a pizza there as well :)
 That pretty much concluded what we did for the day besides the trip back to our place, except for the great conversation that I had with one of my team members.  Overall, it was pretty much an amazing day that really wore most, if not all, of us out, but soo worth the great experiences that we all had! :)
 

Great Wall day preview

The team was really wiped out after their day-trip to the Great Wall so I didn't get an update from them yesterday. I did get a couple of reports saying that it was amazing and fun.

Melissa says that we will get something tonight "with pictures" so I am pretty excited. Stay tuned...

Jim K

here is a teaser pic:

The day from two perspectives:

DANI
       Ok so the day started off pretty good, I woke up and went to breakfast, I couldn't really tell you what it was but it really felt like I was eating just all cakes and sugar so it was kind of odd.  I wish I could explain it better to you, but I can say that I really miss breakfast at home, even if it is just cereal.  Anyway... the rest of the day I was on a "field trip" so to speak, it was a sports day for the students here and they went to the park to have competitions against each other in their own teams, Matt and I were assigned to team 3 (which is the best team ever) and we were basically supposed to be their cheerleaders and just help encourage them when the were competing.  Turns out I ended up participating in 4 of the 6 events because there ended up being only one girl on our team so she couldn't do them all and she was hurt someway too.  I can't say that I was bummed because I love sports and competing and it was even more fun because I got to do it with the students.  All of the students here are really amazing and so easy to get along with they are just like us but living in a different part of the world, so it is really cool to get the chance to hang out with them and find out things that they like to do.  So my first event that I took part in was the long distance run which was a 400m run and I got last place, but let me explain why...  the people from our contact who were running the event asked if I would step in for my team and were telling me that most of these girls don't even know how to run properly let alone fast so they told me to take it easy on them and just don't win so I figured shoot this is all about them and I want them to have a great experience so I just ran really slow behind the last girl and helped her finish the race.  And doing that is a lot harder than you think, just fyi :)   Next came the long jump, which was really interesting because I am so short but surprisingly I did good against there girls, but they were much taller and pretty good at it.  I think my farthest jump was like 134in or so.  After that I did the sprint which was a 100m dash, and for those of you who don't know me that is kind of my specialty in running, but as before it was best if I didn't win so it was really funny watching me run this with them cause I would speed up and then slow down and so forth just having fun and I think I took 3rd in it, but could have totally blown them out of the water but how much fun would that have been.  Last was the team tug of war and I had to do that also once and we lost but it was really fun. Our team ended up getting 5th in the event!  But the best part of this was just getting to interact with the students during the times that I wasn't competing and just getting to know them better.  My favorite part of the day though was going out out to lunch with our team; we went to KFC, which is way better here than in the US in my opinion,  and we were all just talking to each other the girls sitting with the girls and the guys at the table right next to us talking among themselves, eventually we were all talking to each other and they decided to give Matt and me Chinese names.  I don't remember what Matt's was but Kevin a guy on the team gave me the name Xiao Qiao (ask me later to pronounce it for you) which means beautiful girl and it was kind of weird for me but really sweet of him.  Then he told me a story from Chinese history that was really cool, and I just want to remind you that a lot of this is in broken english so sometimes it is really hard to understand them but they usually do a good job, it was a story that kind of went along with the name he gave me.  And last but least the second best part of the day was finding Mountain Dew!  You have no idea how hard that stuff is to come by here, they have pretty much every pop here but Mt. Dew and Dr. Pepper so it was really exciting to know that there is some here, a lot of us were really excited about it.  So today has been really eventful and very fun and I can't wait to keep working with the students (which range anywhere from 16-28) and building a good relationship with them. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Dani




PAIGE
Nihao!
So we've made it through our first full day of "work." Most of our team was involved in sports day with the English students. The students were split into teams in order to participate in a tournament of activities including long distance run, 100M dash, long jump, and a variety of other competitions. They kept score of these different events and at the end of the competition, someone was declared the winner/gold medalist. Our teams' role in this competition was to be cheerleaders for the students. I was not one of the team members to participate in the field day. I stayed here along with Missy, Tillie, Kaleb, Andy and Austin. After breakfast, we were assigned to our work load for the day. Kaleb, Missy, and Tillie stayed behind at the headquarters to help out in the foster home. Andy, Austin, and I went down the road to the factory. We had no idea what we would be doing. Turns out, we were helping make a new product, book ends. They were made out of the same material as most of the other products. It almost feels like metal or wood, but it's a hard plastic. Our job was to sand down the book ends after they had been taken out of their molds. The Chinese lady was explaining the process of sanding to Chad, an employee there, I think he does the graphic design of products. Watching the lady sand the book ends didn't seem very complex. She was very thorough and adamant about the sanding. She completed a set of book ends in about 10 minutes. So, we sat down at the tables in the room full of clutter and boxes, and begin our sanding of book ends. We were given a crate of these and maybe we were expected to finish the crate, maybe we weren't... haha. We found out that sanding these book ends to the standards of the Chinese lady was not an easy task. It had to be exact and perfectly smooth. This was so funny to us. Something that seemed so simple was really fairly difficult. We continued to sand from 8:30 til 11:30 ish and I guess we all discovered how severe our OCD is. This is only one step to complete at the factory of making these book ends, after we sand them by hand, they finish sanding them some more and then they buff the product, then it is painted. So our job was really important to make sure there were no dips or flaws on the book ends. We had to make sure we didn't round off the corners or edges. Luckily we have Austin to communicate with the supervisor of our work. If you don't already know, Austin is a student from OU whose major is Chinese and French. He has studied Chinese for 2 and a half years and is such an asset for our team. It's amazing to me what all he knows and how the Chinese are so surprised when he just starts spouting off in their language. So after it was all said and done, we only completed a total of 14 book ends which was actually quite the accomplishment, but it was no where near as good as the factory workers could have done. Andy was the funniest during the factory work. He tried to keep a good attitude, but I don't think he talked the whole time were were working. Finally, we got to leave and we headed back to New Day. It was such a relief to go relax at lunch. The biggest lesson that I took away from working at the factory was appreciation for all my blessings. Working here at the factory is a great job for these Chinese. They would love to be employed at the factory. They are paid a fair wage, more than other companies would pay them and their work days at 8 hour days. They also have benefits and the opportunity for promotion. Our host place is a wonderful place to work with people who love and care about them. But, that doesn't make their job any easier. They still work hard and the jobs they do are repetitive and tedious. As Americans, working in the factory would be a last resort job. We would only do this if we absolutely had to. It just really put our lives in perspective for me. We are very fortunate and actually, spoiled. So, it's just a little reminder not to take our lives for granted when we're back at home, working. I can relate this back to ropes course from a couple weeks ago. Matt read us a passage about not complaining during our work. We did some mundane activities during ropes and it was a revelation to see this evident on our trip.
After lunch, we worked on our planning for VBS. If you don't know, the six of us are creating a VBS for the kids of the employees here at our contact. We had to go to the village market to get supplies for different things they will be doing...more on that in later days :) That was most of my day, I hope this gives you a good idea of what we're doing and hopefully you can appreciate your work days more as you relate to the factory work we did today.
If there is awful grammar, misspelled words, and other typos...ignore, jet lag is still in effect. haha
Please continue to pray for us!
love y'all!

-Paige

Our first real day!

 Day two for us started out with an early wake up due to jet lag.  Most of the team did not stay in bed past 6am.  With breakfast at 7:30am there was no delay to getting the day started.  After breakfast we had orientation where we met many of the leaders here with our host.  It was awesome to get to hear all of the leaders’ stories on how they came to work here and where their hearts are in visualizing the future that is in store for this place.  Brian (one of the leaders) shared with us many of the stories of the children in the foster home.  These stories were both heart breaking and a blessing to hear because of what they are doing to help these children.  All of the children in this foster home have some sort of illness.  What the foster home is doing is bringing in children from normal orphanages that are ill and need surgery, then providing them with the opportunity to be healed through donations from people all around the world.  They have already provided well over one hundred surgeries to children who would not have survived if they did not receive this kind of medical care.
 After orientation we were taken on a tour of the facilities.  First was the foster home where the children are.  This was the first time on the trip where we got to see some of the children.  Even though our time in the foster home today was very brief, there was already an attachment for every one of us.  Next we walked over to the factory where the organization produces all of their products.  It was amazing to see how all of it works and the time and effort that is put into every product.  We were able to walk through each room of the factory and the steps that are taken in producing these products that contain major detail.  If it was not for this business that started from one simple magnet that read “Pray for China”, then none of these other amazing things they are doing would even be available to children and students.
 Following the tour was lunch and then a little basketball with a couple of the English students that go to school here.  After that our afternoon was full with teaching English.  From 1:40pm – 4:40pm we spent our time in the classroom with students and discussing with them different life situations, English vocabulary, and anything else they wanted to talk about.  Head teachers here believe that the best way to learn English is to simply talk and carry on conversations.  So all in all we were not technically teaching, but in fact just getting to know some of the students one on one.  This was an amazing time for me and most everyone else in being able to build relationships with the students here and finding out what their desires and goals are.  Once class was over we all headed back to the basketball court to play some knockout with students here.  Even though we were just playing basketball it was a great time in allowing some of the students to open up to us and feel more comfortable.
 Later in the evening we all sat down to reflect on the day and discuss our favorite parts of the day.  Pretty much everyone was excited to see the foster home and cannot wait to get to work with the children their.  It is so awesome to see the heart everyone here has for the children and the love they cannot wait to extend to them.  During that same meeting we were blessed in hearing Jordan share his life story, and then followed by another blessing of great music led by Matt.  This was such an amazing way to end a great day of service and getting to know this beautiful country a little better.  I cannot wait to see what is in store for us over the next several days!  Please remember to keep us in your thoughts as we continue to follow the path we have been placed on.

Luke Redmon

The rest of the Team Member Bios

Andy Dinh, The Music Man/ The Garbage Disposal
Half ninja, Andy Dinh also recently celebrated his graduation from Sterling College, majoring in music and real estate. Andy is passionate about music and kids, hoping to one day start an orphanage, and he tries to eat as much pineapple as possible, no matter the cost (ask him about his experience in Kenya.) Also, he may (or may not) be engaged…

Dustin Johnson, The Media Hero
Hometown: Utica, KS. Graduation Date: May 15. 2010. Major: Communications w/ emphasis in Video Editing. Special Talent: Rocking the Bagpipes. Most well-known role: Traditional Scottish kilt, plaid, and face paint, taking on the role of the legendary Rowdy at many SC athletic games.

Amber Coons, The Kodak Moment Capturer
Though she may have trouble finding the right power adapter to buy at Wal-Mart, Amber is a great adapter to any situation- even if it means hoisting teammates through a spider web blindfolded. A 2010 SC graduate, Amber's major was Business Administration.

Jessica Todd, The Resourceful Team Problem Solver
Witty. Talented. Resourceful. Mysterious… All of these are excellent adjectives to use when describing Jess. An Elementary Education major, Jess is excited to work with the children of the orphanage, as well as teach English.

Tillie Wilbeck, Half of the Quote Catchers
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Tillie. She liked to dance and sing with the animals of the forest, sprinkle fairy dust on all she saw, and dream of somewhere over the rainbow. In her free time, she was a freshman at Sterling College, majoring in Music Education and actively participating in theatre and music productions. She also told an anonymous source the secret ingredient for the hot chocolate at the Metro in Hutch. Currently, she is looking forward to China, and singing and dancing with little kids and pandas. The End.

Rachel Gardner, The Other Half of the Quote Catchers
Rachel is a girl from Topeka, and she is really loud,
But she is gifted, making her team really proud.
She is an avid fan of TetrisFriends, her tag name is Glozelle
She is hip to the hop to the hippity hop, cooler than Michelle.
She has a gift for music, theatre, and spitting rhymes,
Also, she grows lots of trees filled with limes.

Paige Farmer
The epitomy of a Texan, Paige is the sweetest, yet feistiest girl you will meet on the soccer field. Funny story- her roommate is shorter than her. Yet, she can run further and balance on her toes longer than any one else on the team. Paige is a junior Athletic Training major.

Missy Larson
Coming from Minnesota, Missy is an organized, sensational elementary education major. She is as a delicate as a flower, and as fragrant as one too. She basically had everyone at "hello!" We all wonder if it hurt when she fell from Heaven, and if her brother's names are Michael or Gabriel. If she were a burger at McDonalds, she would be McGorgeus.

Luke Redmon
If you were to look up "Legitimate" in the dictionary, you would most likely find Luke's picture nearby… This Texan plays golf, hockey, and basketball. Random Fact: He won the High School National Hockey League.

Austin Taylor
An Honorary Sterling College Warrior, this man is fluent in so many languages, I couldn't even count that high. Coming from Oklahoma University where he majors in Chinese and double minors in French and Arabic. Random fact: he is more Asian than Andy Dinh.

Jordan Coleman, The "Look for an Asian Taller Than Me Investigator"
Jordan is a 6'6 football player from Florida, majoring in PE. In East Asia, he is excited to play with kids, sprint the entire length of the Great Wall, and find an Asian taller than him.

Kaleb Knighton, The Asian Gibberish Translator
Kaleb enjoys juggling, Shakespeare, girls with pink highlights, guitars, and dragon boat racing. At times, he fancied hitch-hiking to east Asia, but finals got in the way. Until then, he is looking forward to spending the plane ride catching up on his favorite TV Show, Gossip Girl. Also, he is a freshman, and not sure on what to major in (but we all know he should major in being ultra-fly, because he is).


Chandler Keenan, The Hourly Flight Updater
So, Chandler- he's from Stafford, KS, majoring in History/ Secondary Ed, and plays football for the Warriors. This will be his first trip out of North America, and his first time on a plane. In his free time, he enjoys watching the Office, going to his car to charge his cell phone, and ransacking Mel's apartment, looking for something to drink. (Wait, that's not in his free time, that's what he is doing right now, as I am typing this… weird).

Dani Burk, The Steven Spielberger
Shy at first, but she warms up quickly. She loves sports, mainly tennis and basketball, but anything works. She loves being outdoors! She also loves riding horses, but she doesn't have one (yet). She is a freshman at SC, and plays a pivotal role on the SC Tennis team.

Brittany Outerbridge, Morale Booster/ Team Cheerleader
Give me a B-R-I-Double T-ANY, yeah! Brittany! Woot! Our team cheerleader! *Spirit Fingers* Brittany is part of the lady warrior Cheer and Dance team, lives in Florida, and is a sophomore elementary education major. There is a special place in her heart for Druber's donuts, 6'6" boys named Jordan, and rice eating contests.

KC Higley, Team Historian.
I have been told the KC in "KC" stands for Kurt Curtis, and legend reveals that that, in fact, is correct. I have also been told that he is a huge OU fan, but I think that may be false. At any rate, Kurt Curtis will prove a major asset to the team, as he reveals his knowledge of history, random facts, and killer dance moves. He also aspires to be on the show "Jersey Shore".

We arrived!

We made it to East Asia!!! As I set here typing this I can barely keep my eyes open. It is only 8:50pm local time, however it is currently 7:50am back in the States and that is the time all our bodies are on still. The whole team has never been more excited to go to bed this early, lol. Anyway, before I do, I was asked to write the first blog to inform all those who care to know and recap our first day.

This day can easily be classified as the longest of most our lives cause it has been a few days in one. Please allow me to explain :). It began for me(Chandler Keenan) at about 6pm Monday evening when I arrived at Sterling to meet the team. There was only a few that met there cause some team members live in other states. So, Melissa, Missy, Andy, Michelle, Dustin and myself spent the night weighing our luggage time after time as we added more and more items to each. We brought everything we wanted to and still made our 50lbs limit for each bag, so yay! We pulled out of Sterling around 4am in the pouring rain(notice the time...most sane people are asleep at this time, lol). We arrived at the Wichita airport around 5ish. We were excited as you can be that early in the morning! Anyway, Matt's mom brought some awesome cinnamon rolls and we ate those. Then before we checked in we all got together and Jim lead us in a prayer. It was awesome! After some boarding pass confusion(the airport's fault) we made our way to the plane. We had to run cause of the boarding pass issue we were late and they were holding the plane for us. Ya, it was pretty intense! My flight didn't leave till 7:30am but three of our team member were flying out earlier. By the way, props to the girls, Rachel, Jessica and Amber for going alone(even if Andy and I weren't cool with it!) Oh and Paige too cause I think she caught up with them at San Francisco. You gals did great!

The plane ride was an experience in itself, at least for me, for this was my first time to fly! I was quite nervous because nothing about being 30,000ft in the air makes me comfortable, lol and that feeling didn't get any better when I saw our “plane”. I don't even know if you can call it that, cause I'm pretty sure I played with bigger toys as a child! The seating was 1, isle, then 2. I couldn't even stand up straight. Anyway, the take off was pretty scary and yet great! The landing not so much, lol. There are many times I feel like we were free falling while in the landing process. We landed in Chicago and my first time flying was over and I couldn't be happier to try a bigger plane, which everyone assured me was better...they were right.

Once we landed in Chicago around 9am we had a few hours till we left around 12. We also met up with KC, Luke, Jordan and Brittany there. The Chicago airport was really big and we had to use shuttle buses to get where we needed to be. After grabbing a bite and all of us emailing friends and family and/or updating our facebook for the last time, we began to board our plane. Now this was a plane! It was huge compared to the first and that made me feel just a little safer. It was 2, isle, 5, isle, 2. Take off was pretty intense, we had to be going a couple hundred mph to get a plane that big off the ground. The first few minutes were the worst for there was some bad turbulence, but once were got to our height it was pretty smooth for the most part. Once on the plane the trip consisted of naps, in flight movies, Sirius radio, reading, talking, getting up and walking around and trying to use the worlds smallest bathrooms. It really surprised me with all they had to do. We also tired getting some pictures out the really tiny windows. The flight was about 13 hours. We landed in Beijing around 2:15 on the 25, or the same day we left America. One interesting thing for sure on the trip was the fact that it was never dark. Our path to E.A. followed the Sun so that was strange yet pretty cool. After we landed, we went through customs and it went really smooth. One of the customs ladies even called Andy hot, lol! Oh and if you thought the Chicago airport was big, check out THIS airport. It is a city all by itself.

Once the whole team arrived we left with Peter who drove us about an hour to our host site which is where we will do most out work. I was really excited to see the city and the awesome architecture of the culture but unfortunately my body was not in agreement and I feel asleep shortly after we left. When we arrived, Andy(one of the guys we will be working closely with) showed us our rooms and took us to dinner. We all tried using chopsticks and some were better than others. Me being one of the not so good ones, lol. After we ate we had a short meeting to go over certain details and to get a brief outline of our time here. Then as I mentioned before we were instructed to go to bed at only 8:00pm local time but that was more than okay with us.

As I finish the recalling of today's events, all the guys in my room have long been asleep and I'm not far behind them. I hope this gave you just a small idea of our trip and first day in here in Asia. Take care and we'll see ya all in a few weeks!

Departure Day!

Hi all,

This is Jim (alias Kitserdog) and I will be the one posting the info from the The Panda Warriors' adventures to this blog. A small contingent was there to see the team off from the Wichita airport this morning and everyone seemed pretty happy and excited! The airline agent that checked in the team failed to give any of them going through Chicago actual boarding passes so there was a bit of a delay while Mel got that all straightened out. In the end everyone made it on the flight which got them to Chicago on time. It may be a couple of days before the team can get settled and we get another update.

I am attaching a few of the pictures I took at the airport...

Michelle Sumption, Assistant Team Leader/ The Resuscitator

Coming from Vinton, Iowa, Michelle graduated this past May with a degree in youth and music studies. Having had been to Belize, Brazil, and India previously with SC, Michelle is excited for East Asia for many reasons, but one reason is because she is passionate about working with children with special needs, a passion she hopes to incorporate into her future career. Little known facts about Michelle are that she got chicken pox twice, she has a fear of birds that stemmed from an encounter with two parrots on the Amazon, and she secretly hopes to become the fifth face of Mt. Rushmore.

Matt Ehresman, Cool Dude on Campus

From the streets of Wichita, KS, Matt just graduated from this past May, with a customized degree in whatever he felt like (basically, communications, music, and religion). Known for his supreme coolness, reign as student government president, and love for D2: the Mighty Ducks, Matt ranks, on a scale of one to awesome at least 3/4 awesome. This is his third overseas trip with SC, having already been to Kenya and Egypt. He is an Assistant Team Leader for this adventure.

Melissa Yarrow, Team Leader (aka the CEO, "Chief Everything Officer")

Hailing from Clay Center, KS, Mel graduated from SC in 2009, majoring in cross-cultural studies and communications. Currently, she is the resident director for one of the two women's dorms on campus, McCreery Hall. This is the third trip Mel has led with SC- her previous two were to Nicaragua in 2008 and Ghana, West Africa in 2009. In her free time, Mel enjoys taking pictures, sliding down the steps of Cooper Hall on closet doors, and studying the behavior patterns of her highly caffeinated resident assistants.

Tuesday. That IS the day.

May 25 we fly out.

From Kansas to East Asia.

A crew of 19, ready to spread a little love.

Here we come....